Slide's new Rig. Comments Welcomed Thanks

[Bodyslide]

Below are the Specs I am going to order in the next day or so. It will be my first PC build. Does anyone have any suggestions on any of the pieces of Hardware. I am alos considering getting 2gb of ram.I already have the Video Card an ATI AIW 9200, and 100 gb Main drive and 200 gb Video Drive, Sound card and Firewire card from the PC it is replacing.

Case
Motherboard 1
Motherboard 2
CPU
Memory
IDE Cables
Misc
Power Supply


Total cost around 500.00

Added Power Supply

[redwudz]

I would go for MB #2 as Nvidia NForce3 250 chipsets perform better with AMD CPUs, especially if you ever plan to overclock, IMO.

2GB memory is OK, but your video programs will never use the second 1GB. A few programs like Photoshop and some CAD/CAM programs may.

The only problem with the case is the PS. May be good, I don't know. At that low of a price for the case, I am a little suspicious. I much prefer a aftermarket PS like Antec or Thermaltke or similar with a known quality.

The Arctic Silver is good. You will have to carefully scrape off the thermal pad that is on the factory heatsink first with a piece of plastic. The factory cooler is fairly quiet and does give you a three year warranty on the CPU when included.

[offline]

For around 500 bucks, why follow the sheep when you can get yourself a wolf?

An Opteron 144 with a gig of PC 3700 ram can be o/c to 2.5Ghz with stock cooling, but for safety I'd add a Zalman 7000. With that rig I'd normally suggest a LanParty mainboard, but your need of a AGP slot means some checking around is necessary.

[Bodyslide]

Offline- So if I get the Opteron 144 can I still use the Motherboard #2 above? I was also looking at this MB as well.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131541

[redwudz]

I hate to say it but a AGP motherboard is a limiting factor, especially with AMD 939 CPUs. There's not that many AGP MBs out there anymore. If you are thinking of ever overclocking, VIA chipsets are limited, at least the K8T800. I have it on a Asus MB with a 754 AMD CPU and 220Mhz FSB was as far as it would go. With the same CPU and a Nvidia Nforce 3 250 MB, 240Mhz FSB is no problem, even with stock cooling and no voltage adjustments.

In the 939 CPUs, Nvidia NForce 4 is popular, but then you would need to go to a PCI-E video card. But you would be somewhat more 'future proof'. There are quite a few MBs for the 939 in PCI-E configurations.

[Bodyslide]

I know the PCI-E would be the way togo but I am limited to 500.00 Max. Unless I wait until the end of year. So I will probably go with the Asus MB and will look at getting the Opteron 144. Thanks for all your help..

[Bodyslide]

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