f13.net

Heya, luv newegg and building my system (I'm getting tired of using my son's and don't want to fix my old one):

Case and power supply:
ASPIRE X-Navigator ATXA8NW-BK/500 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 500W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: ATXA8NW-BK/500

motherboard:
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: A8N-SLI Premium

graphic card:
ASUS EN7800GTX/2DHTV/256 Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: EN7800GTX/2DHTV/256

processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3800BPBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3800BPBOX

memory:
CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model Twinx2048-3200c2 - Retail
Model #: Twinx2048-3200c2

Hard Drive:
Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD1500AHFD

OS:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional X64 Edition 1 package - OEM
Model #: ZAT-00007

I also got an Acer 19" (8ms) LCD monitor, 2 dvd burners, keyboard, flopy, modem, keyboard, and MS Office for it too :)

I learned my lesson on my son's computer, no small hard drive, I'm getting the big one and his computer is too.  I'm just getting one big 7800GTX card instead of duel 6600GT's like his right now.  I figure I can get by with it for now, and get another 7800 later on (and upgrade his to that too later).

I'm debating on the processor...not sure if going ahead and getting a duel core...or just paying double the money ($811 for a FX-55 and ASUS motherboard combo) or going with what I have price above for $449.  Right now, the 3500 AMD is chewing up any game I have thrown at it, and with the duel graphic cards it has been sweet.  Not sure the extra $400 is worth it.

Thanks in advance for any ideas!

Well stroked.

I've put together an almost identical system for my next build.  The only parts that I'm struggling with are the Mobo and the case.  I've owned a number of Asus boards and have been pretty pleased with them, but I've been hearing rumblings in the community that their quality control may be slipping a bit. 

It looks like a solid system with the ability to handle what's currently out coupled to some expandability in the future.  Overall, I'd say you've hit the performance/cost point almost perfectly. 

I'm putting together a box almost like that. Substitute a 7800GT for the GTX, an Athlon 64 X2 4400+ for the 3800+, 1GB of Ram for the 2GB, a 200GB WD HDD, and an Antec fulltower + 500W TruePower 2.0 PSU.

The HSF combos for the new Athlons are crazy. Huge, copper, heatpipes ,the whole works.

So what're the prices on these killer systems?  Mine's going to be 4 years old this summer, and while I could upgrade ram to 2gigs and be peachy, I have Rdram so it'll cost me an arm and a leg to do it.

I'd consider getting a "branded" power supply that's known to support SLI for your system. Since you are getting premium components for everything else it doesn't make sense to potentially skimp on the PS. You can check out the NVIDIA's SLI certified power supply list (http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone2_build.html#certified_powersupplies) as a starting point. There are plenty of other power supplies that support SLI that aren't on that list but that'll give you an idea of who makes these sorts of high-end PSes.

My preference these days when deciding how to split the money between the CPU and the video card is to spend the extra on the CPU. CPUs these days are usually much harder to upgrade than video cards since you usually have to take out the motherboard to uninstall the heat sink.

I'd also avoid the 64-bit version of Windows unless you don't mind dealing with driver and other compatibility issues on a regular basis. You won't get any game performance improvements using 64-bit Windows -- it's really just there right now for people who need the extra memory space.

That was the sort of system I was looking  at until I realized there wasn't a PC game coming out that would force me to upgrade for nearly 8 months to a year.

Around $1500 - $2000 just for the "box" (no monitor, etc.).

Get 2 GB of RAM. Skimp on the CPU if you have to (doesn't matter if you have oodles of CPU power if you are swapping to disc all the time).

Well, just bought my monitor from tigerdirect since newegg was out of them, for about $293.57 (that includes shipping) for an Acer 19' Lcd.

$1895.90 plus shipping is what I'm looking at from newegg so far.

My biggest decision today is to decide on the processor, do I get the FX-55 and free mother board for the extra $400, or go with a dual core and spend only $200 more, or stick with the 3800.  That and what type of power to upgrade (thanks for the idea Trippy).  I'm leaning on the FX-55.

You can check out various CPU benchmarks (http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q2/athlon64-fx57/index.x?pg=1) to help you decide. Be forewarned that often times with CPU comparisons the games they test are running at low res to emphasize the differences in CPU performance but at more typical resolutions you don't necessarily see such differences and in addition some games (http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/fear_cpu_performance/page3.asp) are more GPU-bound than CPU-bound.

You know what'll happen, don't you?  Your son will be playing on YOUR computer now.  It would unfair not to let him.

For the one I'm building it cost just a hair over $1275 with shipping.

I second this heartily.  If you're just running consumer-grade apps, you will be hurt by Win x64 more than helped.  You'll end up running most games in Windows-On-Windows emulation mode, which won't help matters, on top of the issues finding 64-bit drivers and whatnot.  When I got my Win64 RC, I dual-booted it with normal XP, and ran benchmarks.  There was basically no difference performance-wise.  The only reason to go with x64 is if you're in a server environment with known x64-built apps that are going to want more than 4Gigs for RAM.  SQL Server 2005 or something.

Alkiera

He's a mole imo.