building new sytsem need advice please

[canadianguy28]

Ok it's time to retire my old dell p4 1.8 with the arrival of battlefield 2 in the near future.I've been reading articles like mad trying to get a great gaming system without destroying the budget. This is what I've come up with, any advice from more knowledgable people then myself would be greatly appreciated.

3500+ amd 64 939 socket cpu
asus A8N SLI motherboard
1gig of OCZ Hi performance DDR400 ( 2x512 mb )
MSI 6600gt 128mb DDR3
LG 16x dvdRW dual layer
sound blaster audigy 2 card 6.1 sound
80 gb seagate sata hard drive
windows xp home
450 watt 24 pin power supply
generic case.

Ok let exlain my reasoning behind this system and then you guys can tell me if I'm on the right track.basically I chose this sytem because of the SLI (yes I know I only have 1 vid card listed atm) I can't afford a 6800 gt or ultra and from what I've read the 6600GT will meet all my current gaming needs, also later this year when the price on the 6600 gt's drop farther i can add an other one, giving me a pretty decent vid set up.Also i figure that when windows 64 is released I can upgrade the ram with a couple 1024 sticks all in all giving me 3gb of ram, which from what I've read the 64 windows will be able to take advantage of.Basically I've designed this machine to be a goo comp and for it to become even better by years end.

The small (by todays standars ) 80gb harddrive is basically a cost issue, that and the fact that since I primarily use the machine for gaming I don't really need that much HD space.The generic case is again a cost issue, also I kind of like the thought of the machine looking all meek and wimpy and actually being a pretty darn nice system inside.Basically I chose to spend my money where it counts and cut a few corners on stuff like the case and HD to save a few bucks.

One thing i have been wondering about is it better for me to buy just a plain old 3000+ 64 and just overclock it up to near 3500 speeds? It looks like it would save me like 100 to 150 bucks or so. If i buy the 3500 as planned I dont think I'll be overclocking it anytime soon as at the cost i wouldnt want to fry it.But I'm think if I just buy the 3000+ and overclock it, it should do me pretty well and i can just buy a cheaper CPU again down the road and do the same thing.Basically getting more bang for my buck.

Last question windows 64 is now available in beta.Does anyone know how stable it is?It would be nice to realize the full potential of my 64 bit cpu as soon as possible, but as you can tell I'm not all that tech savvy so I'm wondering if it's something I should just avoid for now.

Anyways any help would be greatly appreciated, I've been window shopping and reading reviews like mad and this to me appears to be the right oath for me.Can anyone point out and flawed logic in my reasoning or even just plain blunders.This system is going to cost me alot by my standards so I want to do it right.......

 

[Charchris]

well from whatthe heard i woundn'r get that mobo

 

[canadianguy28]

Could you please elaborate on why you wouldn't recommend the mother board? Since I'm aiming to go with SLI it kind of limits my options, as far as I can tell only 4 companys make SLI mobo's at the moment Asus, MSI,DFI, adn gigabyte. I could always switch to another Mobo' like the MSI ( would actually be nice to have the Mobo and vid card by same maker lol ) just don't know how much that would jack up the price as I believe MSI's only comes in a delux model atm.

I decided to go with the Asus just because they have such a good reputation overall.I ruled out the gigabyte because apparently it lacks alot of overclocking features (although I've never OC'd in my life, would be nice to have the option tho) The MSI like i said appears to only be available in a delux model atm and hence a fair bit more so I ruled it out originally because of cost, and the DFI board I really haven't seen anything on it.

Anyways if you could please tell me why you think it's the wrong Mobo to go with I would appreciate it, and also if you could recommend which one you would go with, that would be great too.This system is going to cost me a fair bit and I really want to do it right, thanks in advance.....

 

[Charchris]

Well i heard that the A8N- SLi MOBOisn't really good for SLi since the SLi lanes are actally 8x Each which makes up a total of 16x.... which its supposed to be 16x each PCIe slot amounting to a total of 32x some MOBO makers do this and some don't i'm not sure about other ones

 

[99nasha]

That MSI mobo looks sexy. Go with that!

 

[Kage]

For the mobo, if you want overclocking advantages, go for the ABIT AV8-3rd Eye. Costs about 80 quid, but is only for socket 939 (3500+ would work, dont know about the 3000+). It's an AGP board, but has so many functions and features, it doesn't really matter!

It makes overclocking soo much easier I've heard too, because it has overclocking features built in with a clock to tell you settings and temps. That's what it was built to be able to do, overclock! Also the fact it saves custom settings for games and stuff I think is really kewl I'm also getting it for my new system!

*KaGe*

 

[canadianguy28]

thanks guys keep the ideas coming.

 

[jack22]

Well i heard that the A8N- SLi MOBOisn't really good for SLi since the SLi lanes are actally 8x Each which makes up a total of 16x.... which its supposed to be 16x each PCIe slot amounting to a total of 32x some MOBO makers do this and some don't i'm not sure about other ones

PCI-E is like that on everything. You still get double the preformance(agp x 2) And 1 6800GT almost equals the performance of 2 600GT, it only trails by about 2fps.

 

[blah blah]

I cant believe no one is actually answering his questions.
OK, on ur cpu u need to get a winchester core, whether it is the 3500 or 3000+ and it NEEDS to bte a socket 939, like u have selected. I would seriously suggest the msi or gigabtye mobo, i sold my asus and bought an msi, and there was an immediate difference. And u might want to get some extra fans for a super cool system. And the idea to upgrade as u go along is VERY smart, as long as u purchase the EXACT card again(came brand and model) and it shoul dbe a dope rig. Also look into Crucial Ballistix Ram its top notch, very oc'able, very low latency, very fast.

 

[canadianguy28]

thanks blah