good gaming rig?

[cornputer]

hey
im getting a new comp after christmas but im rly hyped up already so i picked out some parts at newegg.com. im do a lot of gaming. do you guys see any potential problems with this setup? i just noticed the ps says p4 but i didnt think itd be a problem

its at 911.96 right now without shipping and im hoping itll drop lower also

AMD Athlon XP 3000+ "Barton", 400 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM
$206.00

Thermaltake Volcano 11+ Xaser Edition, $28.99

Kingston HyperX Series Dual Kits 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200
$110.00

Asus nForce2 Ultra 400 Motherboard for AMD Processors, Model "A7N8X Deluxe" RETAIL
$119.99

WESTERN DIGITAL SPECIAL EDITION 80GB 7200RPM IDE HARD $74.00

AMS GMONO Model#CF-2029 (BLACK) MID-TOWER CASE- Retail. $39.99

Lite On Black 52x32x52 CD-RW Drive, Model LTR-52327S, OEM
$38.00

LITE-ON BLACK 16X DVD ROM Drive, Model XJ-HD166/XJ-HD 165H, OEM
$35.00

Antec P4 ATX12V 400 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans - Retail
$60.00

Asus RADEON 9600XT, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/VIVO, 8X AGP, RETAIL
$199.99

[Direct1]

Welcome to SysOpt!

Everything looks great except, I would get the ABIT NF7-S v2.0 motherboard though. A little cheaper and very nice. Good luck!

[cornputer]

thanks.. now for the waiting

[RamonGTP]

I would go with a single 512 stick instead of 2x256... Sure you won't get dual channel, but thats a marginal performance boost anyway.

If you go with the 256 sticks, you'll only have one more slot left, and you'd have to put in another 256 if you want to maintain the dual channel capability. That limits you to a maximum of 768MB of ram that you could put on the system. If you go with a single 512, you can always get another 512 later and run it in dual. Than you'll have 1GB of ram and still have another slot for another 512 if you ever needed it.

Oh yeah... Welcome to SysOpt!

[Someone Stupid]

Overall not bad, I'd have to say go with a single 512 stick as well. I'd look for a 9800 (hard to find plain 9800's these days though) though if you can't find it, a 9600XT or a 9800SE will give you a better boost in the graphics dept. without having to reach into the 290-300 dollar range for a 9800 Pro. The plain 9800 or the SE (or 9600XT) will give you a bit more life out of the card, though it will work great for everything now, just with everything else being rather highend such as the proc and mobo, you might as well round it out with a high end card if your looking for a "good gaming rig" that will last.

If you know about overclocking, I'd go with a 2500 barton and use the 100 in savings plus a bit extra if you can't find a plain 9800 non SE non Pro and get the 9800 Pro. But the single stick of 512 I HAVE to recommend as games will be wanting 512 for optimal performance before you want to retire that rig. The 9600 will do, just that I imagine that it already is a SLIGHT bottleneck at high resolutions with AA and AF cranked way up along with game settings for true D9 games.

[ichorid]

yeah thats all good advice SS, but main important thing is: barton 2500 will easily reach speeds of 3000+ if youre willing to overclock

have fun

[ESHAW]

save money on the cpu and go with a xp2500 and spend the difference on a 9800 pro. A 2500 will reach 3000/3200 speed's

[cornputer]

thanks for all the advice guys
so my new comp will be smth like this
amd athlon 2500
512 pc3200 ram (1 stick)
a7n8x deluxe
radeon 9600xt or 9800 (doubt i can afford pro)
80 gig hd 8 mb cache
400w psu


oh btw if i oc it to 3000 speeds will the stock fan be enough if i run with the case open all the time
and what about a geforce 5700 ultra, would that be better? my friend said some gd things about it

[RamonGTP]

5700 Ultra is a good card, but the 9600 XT is the better card out of the two IMO... If you can overclock it to those speeds without having to increase the voltage to the CPU, which many people are doing with great success, than the stock fan should suffice. If you have to increase the vcore to maintain stability however, that adds a bit more heat than just overclocking alone and you may want to think about a 3rd party HSF. Something like a Vantec Aeroflow which I used in my friends computer thats running a 2500+ overclocked to 3200+ with no voltage increase at all.

[cornputer]

aite thanksss

i guess im set

[bblqj78]

Why would you want to run with the side of the cases off?? Would surely be better running with a few of case fans... two intake and two out...I guess that this would be cooler too. You may not have to increase the CPU voltage and therefor may generate no more heat from OC'ing.
Definitely the ATI 9600XT

[cornputer]

i run a 12 inch fan through the whole comp coz i though it might be cooler that way with my comp right now. i only have 2 in and one out on the case i have right now. glad u brought that up coz i always thought a big fan is cooler than those little fans. haha u learn smth everday

[RamonGTP]

FYI, you WILL generate more heat if you overclock wether or not you increase the voltage... Its just that the increase is USUALLY neglagable until you start increasing the voltage, than it gets significant. The current core steppings for the 2500+ however seem to have no problems going to 3200+ with no voltage increase.

[bblqj78]

i run a 12 inch fan through the whole comp coz i though it might be cooler that way with my comp right now. i only have 2 in and one out on the case i have right now. glad u brought that up coz i always thought a big fan is cooler than those little fans. haha u learn smth everday

It may well be....but paying all that hard earned stuff for some good technology...you want it to look sweet! Side panel off and a house fan blowing in IMO doesnt look vry good. Get another case fan...and have 2 in 2 out...with you Volcano should be planty cool enough...unless it over 100 degrees F in your house!

[Yoshi]

Opening the case will bring in lots of dust that will harm your hardware.