Feedback on parts before first build, please: AMD 64 Gamer PC

Would love some feedback on this list of components: It is my first
build and I will be using it mostly for 3D gaming. What do you think?
I have tried to balance cost, performance and above all
upgradeability.

Computer › Cases / Housings › Midi-Tower ATX : ANTEC P160 Silver,
without power supply

Computer › Cases / Housings › Power supplies: ANTEC TrueControl 550,
550 Watts Dual Fan, PFC, ATX, Front Control Panel

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

Computer › Mainboards › Socket 939 Motherboards (Athlon 64/FX) : ASUS
A8V Deluxe, Via K8T800Pro Dual-DDR400, UDMA/133, Serial-ATA,
Dual-RAID, Gigabit-LAN, FireWire, Audio, Wireless 802.11g (optional)

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

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

Computer › DVD-ROM / DVD-RW › DVD+RW / -RW IDE : LITEON SOHW-1213S,
DVD±RW, Retail 12x/4x/12x DVD+RW 8x/4x/12x DVD-RW 48x/24x/48x CD-RW

Computer › PC-Sound › Soundcards PCI : CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy 2
ZS 7.1, THX, ASIO 2.0

Looks good. Next you need ram and an operating system.

Jeremy wrote:

Would love some feedback on this list of components: It is my first
build and I will be using it mostly for 3D gaming. What do you think?
I have tried to balance cost, performance and above all
upgradeability.

Computer › Cases / Housings › Midi-Tower ATX : ANTEC P160 Silver,
without power supply

Computer › Cases / Housings › Power supplies: ANTEC TrueControl 550,
550 Watts Dual Fan, PFC, ATX, Front Control Panel

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

Computer › Mainboards › Socket 939 Motherboards (Athlon 64/FX) : ASUS
A8V Deluxe, Via K8T800Pro Dual-DDR400, UDMA/133, Serial-ATA,
Dual-RAID, Gigabit-LAN, FireWire, Audio, Wireless 802.11g (optional)

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

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

Computer › DVD-ROM / DVD-RW › DVD+RW / -RW IDE : LITEON SOHW-1213S,
DVD±RW, Retail 12x/4x/12x DVD+RW 8x/4x/12x DVD-RW 48x/24x/48x CD-RW

Computer › PC-Sound › Soundcards PCI : CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy 2
ZS 7.1, THX, ASIO 2.0

Jeremy wrote:
Would love some feedback on this list of components: It is my first
build and I will be using it mostly for 3D gaming. What do you think?
I have tried to balance cost, performance and above all
upgradeability.

Computer › Cases / Housings › Midi-Tower ATX : ANTEC P160 Silver,
without power supply


That case is cavernous for the components you have listed. I notice
newegg has a very high Votes/Reviews ratio for the P160, which makes me
think they may be deleting negative reviews. I would be alert to
possible cooling problems for that case.

Vote(s): 72 Review(s): 38

Computer › Cases / Housings › Power supplies: ANTEC TrueControl 550,
550 Watts Dual Fan, PFC, ATX, Front Control Panel


With the components you have listed, you would be using about half of
the output of that PSU. What upgrades do you have in mind?

Yeah, sorry left off the RAM: KINGSTON ValueRam KVR400X64C3AK2/1G,
1024MB, PC400, CL3 2x 512MB

And I'd be using my old XP Home. What about fans etc.?

Can you suggest a better case/PSU combination? I went big and powerful
because I am stuck with a dell compact case at the moment that I cant
swap the mainboard etc in and it pusses me off, was looking to keep
the case going forward to the next build etc. I plan to keep upgrading
and keep just on the downside of the price curve (ie after the prices
first drop off). But I am very open to ideas.

And with the high rating, I have also read very good reviews of the
P160 - could it be that it is just good?

Jeremy wrote:

Would love some feedback on this list of components: It is my first
build and I will be using it mostly for 3D gaming. What do you think?
I have tried to balance cost, performance and above all
upgradeability.

Computer › Cases / Housings › Midi-Tower ATX : ANTEC P160 Silver,
without power supply

Computer › Cases / Housings › Power supplies: ANTEC TrueControl 550,
550 Watts Dual Fan, PFC, ATX, Front Control Panel

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

Computer › Mainboards › Socket 939 Motherboards (Athlon 64/FX) : ASUS
A8V Deluxe, Via K8T800Pro Dual-DDR400, UDMA/133, Serial-ATA,
Dual-RAID, Gigabit-LAN, FireWire, Audio, Wireless 802.11g (optional)

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

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

Computer › DVD-ROM / DVD-RW › DVD+RW / -RW IDE : LITEON SOHW-1213S,
DVD±RW, Retail 12x/4x/12x DVD+RW 8x/4x/12x DVD-RW 48x/24x/48x CD-RW

Computer › PC-Sound › Soundcards PCI : CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy 2
ZS 7.1, THX, ASIO 2.0
if you can afford that video card, spend the extra on some 10k rpm hard
disks (or at least a single one for the OS - extra geek points for twin
WD raptor drives in raid 0 config for speed) - it makes *such* a
difference....

otherwise, all looks good, if a bit spendy.

ric