i need you guys to check this set up b4 i purchase please

[truflip]

ok i set up some parts for my new PC but i wnat to check with the experts before i go n blow some money... here it is.. oh yea.. my budgets only $900.. Canadian Dollars.. yes cheap but wut can i say lol

>>AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 939 $184.99

>>Asus - A8V-DX - Socket 939, VIA K8T800, DDR400/333 $152.99
http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A8V Deluxe&langs=09
OR
>>Asus - A8N-E - Socket 939, NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra, DDR400/ 333 Dual Channel, PCI-E, SATA, 8ch Audio $152.99
(http://usa.asus.com/prog/spec.asp?m=A8N-E&langs=09

for the motherboard.. im not sure whcih to get but im trying to get the best value.. if u see a better one on the link below, pls suggest to me
http://cas-tech.ca/products.asp?L1=816&L2=34

>>1GB OCZ DDR400 RAM ($59.99 x 2)

>>WD 160 GB 7200RPM 8M SATA $102.99
http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=66

>>Pioneer DVR-109 16x DVD-RW DL $69.99
http://www.pioneer-eur.com/eur/product_detail.jsp?product_id=9914&taxonomy_id=43-92

>>ATI Radeon 9600 PRO 128MB 400/600mhz $117.00
Not sure bout the card but my budget's really tight

>>Logitech Internet Pro Keyboard and Optical Mouse (black) $34.99
its wired. n cheap.. n its black lol

>>Logitech X-530 5.1 Speakers wit SubWoofer $85.00
http://www.logitech.com/index.cfm/products/details/CA/EN,CRID=2,CONTENTID=9067

>>ThermalTake 480 Watt PSU $89.99
i heard some bad stuff about thermaltake PSU's.. can neone gimme ne good ones from this link plz?
http://cas-tech.ca/products.asp?L1=823

>>ThermalTake Soprano Case 129.99
http://cas-tech.ca/product.asp?PID=6418

Total: $1086 (with 15% tax: $1248.90)

PS: the system will be mainly used for school.. goin to University n laptop died so yea... of course i'll be playing games casually, nothing hardcore.. prolly mainly just some CS and CS:Source.. u kno.. mid-light games.. also gonna be encoding/decoding movies/songs n such medias..

also if u think there are some ****ty parts in there n u have another to suggest.. pls feel free to say n give a link to the product.. =]

thanks soo much in advance!!!

hmm.. the PC is 186$ over.. =[

i changed the case to this one.. its generic but its $39.99
http://cas-tech.ca/product.asp?PID=5904

also changed is the PSU.. its now an Enermax 350 Watt Dual Fan for $69.99
with the set up.. how much should i have? 400 watt? not gonna be doing too much upgrades in the future.. if anything.. an SLi set up vid card n maybe a dual core CPU.. in like.. what.. 4 yrs.. after school lol

new total is $976 wit no tax.. i think i can live with $76 over my budget.... so wut do u guys think?

 

[zephead]

for motherboards i reccomend the msi k8n neo2. better performance, and it costs less. here in chicago they are selling for around $110 (USD). you'll have to use an agp card, which brings me to my next point. your suggested nforce4 board uses pci express, forcing you to buy a more expensive card based on the more recent ci-express interface. the k8n neo2 and said 9600xt will serve you well. if you decide to go for a 9800, don't. get a 6600gt based card instead.

>>WD 160 GB 7200RPM 8M SATA $102.99

maxtor diamondmax 9 (model 6Y120MO)'s are better drives, and are 120GB in capacity (114 actual). these days they can be had for $80 (USD) each.

>>ThermalTake 480 Watt PSU $89.99

you'd be best off with a not-as-fancy antec, raidmax, or thermaltake atx+12v model of at least 420 watts. my raidmax 420W cost me exactly $35 (USD). another thing...if you're switching over from a laptop odds are you're in need of a monitor. decent tubes of good dot-pitch are in abundance, i reccomand a name brand.

if you still have money concerns at the end, perhaps you coulkd hold back on that surround sound speaker system. you're still going to need software and games, keep in mind.

i build lots of computers on a budget for people and this would be my approach to the situation, given how said combination of parts have worked out in the past. i hope this makes the process easier for you.

 

[truflip]

thanks for replying zephead

im getting most of the parts from www.cas-tech.ca and they are going to be putting the pieces together for me.. so im trying to get as much as i can from their store.. another alternative for me is www.pccyber.ca and i did find a Maxtor HDD in there for $109 - 160gb..

also about the PSU i found this.. http://pccyber.ca/scrItem.asp?product_id=6147&product_subtypes_id=30&product_types_id=30

tell me wut u think.. PC Cyber offers more varieties than cas-tech... so if u dont mind.. feel free to look around here http://pccyber.ca/scrMain2.asp?product_types_id=30 for PSU's because im not so sure about those +12v rails.. i dont know what they are.. i found a couple of enermax that says +12v but theyre 350watt

as for the motherboard. did u mean K8T? or K8N because the K8T is the one that costs less.. K8N is $174 CND

here is the K8T Neo2 http://cas-tech.ca/product.asp?PID=6379

n thanks for pointing out the PCI-express stuff.. its tru bout the pci-e vid cards i jus thot id get a pci-ready incase i ever wanna jump from agp to SLi .. jus a thot u kno... tryin to open up doors for the future.. but yea i think im gonna go for the MSI mobo.. as it costs 20$ less

PS: softwares n games.. will be transferred from my other desktop n CDs... so i think im safe from those.. WinXp jus gonna use winxp cd from the laptop

 

[Midgetmax]

Ibuypower.com...its a great site, build a computer like that for under $900 probably

 

[truflip]

in USD yea.. i can prolly get it for 700 something.. but hey i live in canada.. so yea.. n that site is in cali.

 

[zephead]

as for the motherboard. did u mean K8T? or K8N because the K8T is the one that costs less.. K8N is $174 CND

i said k8n neo2, and i meant it. i guess that proce might be acceptable, what with the canadian currency and all. (i'm assuming the USD is stronger at this point)

PS: softwares n games.. will be transferred from my other desktop n CDs... so i think im safe from those.. WinXp jus gonna use winxp cd from the laptop

if it is a system restore cd provided by the mfg, you aren't going to be able to use it on your new rig. some hp and dell copies of xp have trouble with other systems. i guess you could wait and see if it works out or not, as there is no gurantee that it will fail.

your info indicates you are located in ottawa, a major city if i am not mistaken. i reccomend you take your shopping list to a few local pc shops and see what they have to offre. unlike websites, many local establishments will order the parts you want if they don't already have them in stock. this way, you wouldn't have to juggle multiple orders fcrom websites. on top of that, you'd have a physical place to go and people to talk to should you encounter trouble. hell, you could probably have 'em build it for you too if you wanted. just consider it.

 

[truflip]

oh ok.. bout the OS.. its a full OS CD purchased retail.. as for the websites.. those are physical walk-in and buy shops.. they jus have a website incase u jus wanna sit at home n see wut they have in store =]

n yea ive taken the shopping list to the shops as u said.. they did wut i wrote up der. wit a few changes.. came up to a lil over 1000 with taxes.. .good enuf for me =] thanks a lot!