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I just bought myself a new case/psu+mobo. Just trying to figure out what's best to put in it. I was looking at tiger direct and they have "Corsair Value Select." Now, I've learned that Value, SE and SE ME MX Type R kind of names aren't usually good. Anyone know anything about this line of RAM? $146 for 512 seems to be a good deal to me (Canadian, keep this in mind.) If it's anything like the past "SE" type shit I've bought, I won't go for it.

Also, no limit on budget, what's the best video card to get? (Not getting it for another month or two.)

Edit: One last thing: Are DVD Player/CD Burner combo drives bad? Should I just buy them seperately? If combos are good, who makes the best one?

If there's really no limit on budget, NVidia's new line (6800 I think) should be coming out real soon.  ATI will of course counter with their next line of Radeon's.  Look to spend about $500 though if you're going latest/greatest.

I have a samsung DVD player/CD burner that burns at 48x and I love it.. has been the best CD burner I've ever had..

I'm looking at a review of the 6800U on Toms right now. 2 fucking ATX cables? That means a new PSU. Somewhere around 500W to handle the behemoth power. I think I'll wait to see what ATI releases. If it's the same, I'll just cash in on the price drop for the 9800XT.

Both BenQ and Pioneer has new models out/just about out which will be firmware upgradeable so they can burn doublesided DVD's.
Rumors has it, that the NEC 25000, which I just bought, will be the same, but I doubt it.
As far of it being a combo goes - I have no problems, it's a brilliant drive.

The pioneer combo is the best rated out there right now, it's what i'm gonna put in my system.  Was gonna go with 2 drives, but it's really not necessary nowadays.

I'd like to point out that NiX mentioned a combination dvd reader/cd burner, not a dvd burner.  My other bay has a sony DVD+/-R/RW drive that works well, but I'd personally wait for the dual layer stuff comes out before I got a dvd burner.. or at least I'd make damn sure that my drive would be firmware upgradeable.

Personally, I'd say that splurging on a massive video card and at the same time skimping on ram is not the way to go.  I would get Kingston HyperX way before I ever spent money on Corsair Value and the best bang for the buck card to go along with it is a Radeon 9600XT.  If you think you may want to do some video stuff go ahead and get the 9600XT AIW card.

Just my opinion really.  I've always been more of a sucker for great ram and best value video cards though.

Anyone know much about the Radeon 9500 line of cards? I thought the 9500 was a better line than than the 9600 but I want to make sure.

I'm looking at this refurb card from NewEgg:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=48&manufactory=1340&Type=Refurbish&sortby=14&order=1

Thanks

Might not have to wait long (http://forums.f13.net/viewtopic.php?t=441).

The 9500 Pro is better than the 9600 Pro.  The XT line is better than the 9500 Pro though.

I have a Biostar M7NCD (nForce 2 400) and I was wondering if it's worth it (or if I'm able) to go for a Dual Channel DDR kit? (Probably 512x2.)
What's the benefit of ECC registered RAM?

I think I'm going to get an Athlon XP 3000+ and a Radeon 9600XT, would there be a bottleneck using those two?

I'm torn between LG and Samsung for DVD Reader/CD Burner. Anyone had any experience with either?

I have a 9500 Pro and while it's an adequate card, I'd recommend spending a little more and grabbing a 9800.  For the additional cash it's a nice jump in performance.  Also, with the new cards hitting soon, you should be able to buy a 9800 (128 version) for around $200.  Best bang-for-the-buck in my opinion.

Yup, people are selling their 9800 Pro's on anandtech for ~$195 right now.  I'm tempted to dump my 9500 Pro and get one of those now.