Ok so I am building my 1st rig from scratch. The rigs sole purpose will be to play MMO's. Here is a list of what I have picked out to go into the build. Any advise or modifications and reasons why would be much appreciated.

Thermaltake SViking Black Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

GIGABYTE GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2

eVGA GeForce 7600GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI

COOLMAX "SLI" CXI-500B ATX v2.01 500W Power Supply

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb

SAMSUNG 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With 5X DVD-RAM Write

So those are the guts of what I have planned. I will be starting the build in 1 week and would like to add a 2nd GeForce 7600 in a month or so. I appreciate your thoughts and ideas on anything thight might need to be changed or could improve this while not breaking the bank.
Thanks to all !

Personally I think building a system right now isnt the best idea, with Directx10 graphics cards out and Vista around the corner id maybe wait till prices start fallling.....

Id personally replace the processor and go for an intel core 2 duo, The E6700 offers the best value for money, especially if your considering overclocking but either way these chips kick the living daylights out of the AMD chips

Obviously your gonna have to rethink the mobo in that case.... and im sure the techspot peeps can help more there!

As for your graphics card id get the geforce 8800 series of cards being the only direct x 10 cards currently out on the market... sure they are expensive but if you are planning to upgrade in a few months when they are cheaper there is no point spending so much on the card you have selected


Other than that it should be plain sailing.... hope this helps

Cpt,
Can you explain the motherboard issue. It is not so obvious to me? The case specs says it holds either ATX mobo 12" X 9.6" or Micro ATX mobo 9.6"x 9.6" So I am not sure why it would not fit in the case if thats what you ment?

As far as waiting to build. I wish I could however if I want to game at all I will have to go forward with this build as the wife has now taken the other comp over due to her being back in school.

As far as the Core 2 Duo E6700 i think i saw the price on that at around $500 This is alot more expensive than the AMD I have picked out ($148) d like a nice setup but it doesnt need to be the most uber..

As far as the graphics card. Again not looking to spend the money that the 8800 is going for now. I was just wanting a card that would hold me over until everything with Vista & Direct X10 settle down. The 7600GT is on sale at a local store right now for around $115-$120. I can handle this expense for the time being.

I appreciate the comments and if you could possible touch more on why you think the MOBO will not work with the case I would appreciate greatly.
Thanks,

What I mean about the mobo is that if you go to a core 2 duo chip you would need a lga775 socket motherboard is all.

Obviously you know what you want and need better than I can but I would recomend a core 2 duo chip over the AMD chips,

Ok i follow now. Thanks for the advice. On the topic of the core 2 duo. Are there any cheaper versions that you now of other than the e6700 that would still out perform the AMD CPU I had listed. Thanks and sorry for the confussion.

Everything else looks really good, You should get atleast 1.5 gigs of RAM for MMOs like Warhammer ( WoW doesnt really have high-end graphics so dont worry about that )

Also COOLMAX "SLI" CXI-500B ATX v2.01 500W Power Supply change to this
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817341002

It's a 700w PSU that really last ( all my machines have it and they run 100% great! :D ) or if you want stay with the 500w but a 700w would be better just incase a 500w doesnt hold all your components

thanks for the advice Time. I was a little worried about the PSU mainly because I thought about possible adding a second Geforce 7600 to the rig. I will definately look into that.
Also do you have any feedback on the question from earlier regarding the Core 2 Duo E6700. Are there any cheaper versions of the core 2 duo that would still out perform the AMD i have listed?

I really appreciate all the help!

The Core 2 Duo E6300, the lowest spec of duo's, costs about 40 dollars more on average than the Athlon 64 X2 3800+ but according to benchmarks for that little bit extra you get a chip that outpaces even the Athlon 64 X2 4600+

But before making a decision id do some research into the comparisons... what I would tell you is if the benchmarks look that good id invest the extra 40 dollars and get a system with much more grunt! :)

Hope this helps....

Yeah also when you put the Thermapaste onto the CPU part... DONT eat the paste ;)

Also if you dont know how to put the paste onto the CPU part dont go crazy and put the whole thing on it because it will mess up your machine, Get someone who knows how to do it or look for a guide on google

The Core 2 Duo E6300 can be overclocked to around 2.4GHz with stock cooling and at that frequency, it is able to outperform the FX-62 which is the fastest AMD has to offer. I highly recommend u get it or, if u can afford it, the E6400.

The Core 2 Duo E6300 can be overclocked to around 2.4GHz with stock cooling and at that frequency, it is able to outperform the FX-62 which is the fastest AMD has to offer. I highly recommend u get it or, if u can afford it, the E6400.


I new the E6300 could smoke the equivelant AMD's but I had no Idea it could gank the FX-62 also!

A C2D at 2.2ghz is faster than any AM2, at 2.5 it's faster than any overclocked AMD(without phase.) Core2 Duos can do over 3ghz with stock cooling.

AM2 is good enough. If you have a 7600gt you will never see any difference in games any way. It will be the limiting bottleneck. For gamming it may pay more in FPS to spend the money on a 7900gs.

A Asus P5NSLI and E6300 will cost $40-$50 more and perform more like a 4800+ or 5000+ X2 (http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=430&model2=464&chart=166).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131032
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005

That mobo is not a good overclocker. A evga 680i is much better but the price is a killer.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813188009

Yeah eVga makes awesome Mobos / Videocards, If I have enough money I might get that board and get Core 2 EX6800 and do some OCing :D

Aye thats what my plan is...... but with the Asus striker extreme board........ not sure if I should invest in the quad core though.... its not as good for gaming but that might change when proper multithreading comes into force!

Quad Core is just a waste of money, Get duo core and you'll be fine :D

That thing will take E6300's to X6800's overclocked speeds. Very nice indeed.

I new the E6300 could smoke the equivelant AMD's but I had no Idea it could gank the FX-62 also!
It's amazing to see the FX-62 getting the crap beaten outta it by a CPU costing around 7X lesser than it. Check out the review here (http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802&p=9).

Yeah Intel are making great CPUs every year, Soon AMD would just fade away :haha:

I don't think AMD is going away. They seem to be doing very well in the OEM market. They can sell AM2 chip as fast as they can make them. It's just like what Intel did with the Prescotts.

To say AMD will just fade away is abit nieve, sure they are losing this round as far as performance goes but they are making a killing in sales.... I dont think Intel are gonna remain top dog, its just there turn at the moment, even if we wait 10 years AMD will be king again.... its the beuty of competitiveness between companies.... one gets to complacent and then get their teeth kicked in :)

Thanks for all of the advice guys. After the information I received from everyone and links with the comparisions. I have decided to make a change in my CPU. I have always had a computer with an AMD in it however I think I will give Intel a shot. I think I am going to go with the E6300 or E6400 still waying the reward for the extra money.

Now I know a few where throne out but I know I cant spend $200+ on a MOBO. So what is the best mobo for gaming purposes with the socket 775 that falls within the $100-$175 range. That is really all the budget can handle.

Thanks for your opinions and I can't wait to get this finalized and built and hopefully post a few pics of it.

Thanks guys....

Gigabyte DS3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128012

Asus P5B
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131030
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131030R - Risky and mobo only

No SLi with those so don't skimp on the Video card. A x1950pro might be good, and AMD will still gets some of your money.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA=0&type=&Description=x1950pro&Submit=ENE&N=0&Ntk=all

Cpt_Subtext you're right, they wont fade away but they will start to lose the picture in performance ( sortof what I ment )

AMD has really good prices for CPUs these days ( about $80-90 for entry levels )
and Intel is still top-dog but they still have really high prices ranging from about $100-200 for popular Duo Core and stuff

Yeah..... I get what you mean but still I wouldnt be suprised if sooner or later AMD took the performance crown again

Yeah the P5B is a very good mobo for that price bracket. However, if u can spend a little more on the video card, get this (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102067) one. It's among the fastest that ATi/AMD has to offer upto now and is a lot more powerful than the X1950PRO due to the 4 extra pipelines and higher memory and core clocks.

Oh that's a nice videocard Rage, I might have to CrossFire that :haha:

For the moment Intel has better processors than AMD.
The competition is fierce, but is good for the end-users.
We all have to gain from this, but if you want some power buy a dual core as it was suggested previous.

Yeah the Duo Core is a really good processor but since I like to build alot of computers for LAN gaming I build AM2 systems ( because they are alot cheaper, Like the Duo Core system fully loaded is about $1300 and AM2 is about $700 ) So if I ever get rich enough i'll just build alot of computers at once with my friends and just mass-sell on Ebay or something ;)

:confused: I build AM2 systems because they are alot cheaper, Like the Duo Core system fully loaded is about $1300 and AM2 is about $700


Fully loaded? Where do you think you can save $600. :suspiciou

3800+ X2 vs. E6300 = $20-$30 different, Mobos $40-$100 different or even less. For the life of me I can only see a $60-$130 difference on the low end. Higher end is going to be closer to the same price. The X2 4800+ and E6600 are priced about the same. Even the X6800 vs. FX-62 is not going to be $600 cheaper.:rolleyes:

Well what I mean about Fully Loaded is SLI / CrossFire :haha:

AM2 Crossfire mobos are $73-$150. Really about $130 for a good one.
Lowest - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157102
Highest - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136017

Core2 Crossfire mobos are $84 to $228, about $165 for a i975. (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136168)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813157096
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131025

AM2 SLi are $83 to $300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128321
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131026

Intel C2D SLi is $95 to $410
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813135026
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131074

So your numbers are more than just a little fuzzy.

Comparing a striper AM2 mobo (Gigabyte SLi) with a $3800+ to a fully loaded Intel mobo(evga 680 SLi) with a E6600 is about $330 different. Thats not a very fair comparison at all and still well under your stated $600.

I like to a "loaded" crossfire system for $700, the dang video cards could cost that much.

about $1300

Like I said "About" ;)

I wasnt really adding up the prices but just giving a sortof... guess in price for the system after I looked at all the parts