Opinions Welcome For New PC Parts

[TomK]

I've never built a PC before so I would welcome your opinion about the choices I've made:

1. Cpu --- AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 939 Pin

2. Motherboard --- Asus A8NE

3. Case --- Antec Sonata II 450 watt power supply

4. Memory --- Crucial 512 GB (256x2) DDR PC3200 CT2KIT3264Z40B
Or --- ? Crucial 1GB (512x2) DDR PC3200 CT2KIT6464Z40B

5. Hard Drive --- Western Digital Caviar SE 80 GB WD800JD Or 160 GB WD1600 JS

6. Video Card --- Gigabyte GeForce 6600 GT

7. Sound Card --- Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi

8. DVD Burner --- Sony DRU-810A

9. DVD ROM --- Sony DDu 1615/B2s (Oem)

10. Monitor --- Viewsonic VG920 19" LCD

Main use will include ripping MP3s, burning CDs, photoshop programs, and possible gaming.
Thanks,
Tom

 

[MarxSoccer]

Almost identical to my setup. Processor is nice, video card is nice, DEFINATELY go with 1gb, you'll kick yourself if you don't

 

[mammikoura]

yep, atleast 1GB of ram. And I'd take the bigger hdd, 80GB just ain't enough for me. But if u don't need the extra space then u could save some cash and get the smaller one.

 

[badninja3]

u should go with the smaller hdd. cuz it doesnt seem like u need that much. i dont think most people do. i think the bigger ones are for storing like dvd backups and stuff. and DEFINATELY get the 1gb of ram.

 

[Ð88]

Naw 80GB can be cutting it close in the long run. I would definitely be on the safe side and go with the 160GB hdd. Definitely go with the 2x512Mb RAM. You will be much happier with that. Everything else looks great. That is a nice mobo btw.

 

[TomK]

Thanks for the input. I think I'll go with 1GB. Maybe a 160GB Western Digital Caviar SE. It's only $30 more. As for the video card is there a big difference between cards have 128MB and cards that have 512? Are they worth the extra money?
Tom

 

[Gamingfreak]

yes theyre worth the extra money but keep in mind video cards are dependant on things other than memory such as, clock speeds, pipelines or shaders, if ur only going to be doing some light gaming that 6600gt will be fine