First Build AMD 64 Socket 939

Hi People,

I am doing my first build and want to balance price and power for 3D games, and make sure I can upgrade easily into the future. I have compiled a list of components but before I order I would love some feedback. Particularly whether all the stuff actually works together, though I am pretty sure that is okay. Someone also suggeted I get a smaller case and less powerful PSU, what do you think? I wouldn't mind to downsize, but not if this will screw with future upgrades. Will use old XP Home edition. Cheers, SG.


Midi-Tower ATX : ANTEC P160 Silver, without power supply

ANTEC TrueControl 550, 550 Watts Dual Fan, PFC, ATX, Front Control Panel

AMD Socket 939 (Athlon 64/FX) : AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 2200MHz, 200MHz FSB, Boxed 64 Bit, 512kB L2 Cache

ASUS A8V Deluxe, Via K8T800Pro Dual-DDR400, UDMA/133, Serial-ATA, Dual-RAID, Gigabit-LAN, FireWire, Audio, Wireless 802.11g (optional)

KINGSTON ValueRam KVR400X64C3AK2/1G, 1024MB, PC400, CL3 2x 512MB

nVidia GeForce 6800 : ASUS V9999GE/TD, nVidia GeForce 6800, 256MB GDDR3, AGP, Retail TV-Out, DVI

Serial ATA : MAXTOR DiamondMax SATA Ultra Series (L14M160), 160GB, Retail 8MB Cache, Serial-ATA/150

LITEON SOHW-1213S, DVD±RW, Retail 12x/4x/12x DVD+RW 8x/4x/12x DVD-RW 48x/24x/48x CD-RW

CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1, THX, ASIO 2.0

 

I'm sorry but thats ludicrous. The PSU is a vital component and that there is a VERY good PSU. I own one myself!

As for the other choices, all pretty good. I'd be a little wary of the "value" ram, but as you're not OCing you shouldnt have a problem.

You might consider a Plextor CD/DVD writer, because they are EXTREMLY fast and very reliable.

Personally I wouldnt bother with the Audigy, but thats just personal preference. I've found nForce audio to be more than acceptable for everyday use.

 

The thing with the Audigy is that I am going to hook up a set of surround speakers... in the future once my bank balance heals.

 

Are you going with two hard drives? Think about setting up a raid0 array.

 

Excuse the ignorance, but why are two better than one?

 

Your mother board will handle raid that's why I mentioned it. Do a google for 'raid'. Look at raid0 & raid1 for starters.

 

That board already has 7.1 channel audio onboard! No need to get an extra sound card.

RAID improved disk I/O, but its not strictly nececary. It just means its makes two physical hard drives one logical drive and stripes the data between the two.

What Is RAID

 

you might also want to think about getting an ASRock mobo, has less features but is equally good as an Asus mobo.
(ASRock is a full subsidiary of Asus)