Hello guys. I know you reply to a ton of these posts but for newbies like me, the opinions of the knowledgeable in these forums help a lot when it comes time for a large cash outlay. I don't have a limitless budget but I'm not afraid to spend some money now to have quality components that will last me a while.

I'm going to buy a new system in the next day or two. My inteded use for it is to play games. I want to be able to run EQ2 at reasonably good settings (if?)when it launches in a few months, but in the meantime I want to play some Doom 3, FarCry, whatever else I've been unable to play on my current rig.

This is what the initial layout looks like:

ASUS KN8-E Delux Motherboard
Athlon 64 3200+ (512k or 1mb L2 cache? I gather from the posts the 512k with the higher clock speed is the way to go?)
Corsair TwinX 1GB PC3200 Cas2 DDR DIMM Kit (2x512MB) (Is this the right ram to go with? Should I opt for something different?)
Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Drive Black
LG 8x DVD-+R/RW Drive w/Software Black
Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive (I heard EQ is going to need a *ton* of space hence the big HD. Is there another cost effective option that would be better than this?)
Asus V9999GT Geforce 6800 256MB Video Card
Antec Sonata Quiet Black Case w/380W Power Supply
Viewsonic P95f+B 19" Monitor Black

Then maybe a Linksys WRT54G Wireless Router.. it's either that or run about 50 feet of cable through the house to where I want this computer to live. I want to take it out of the family computer room and put it in the den, but the cable outlet and the family computers are in this room..

Windows XP Pro
Keyboard, Mouse Speakers all that I already have...

So is there anything I'm missing? Would it be more worth it to buy the A64 3000+ now? Then upgrade to the 3700+ some months down the road? Or should I opt for a 3400+ now and forget about the 3700+ totally and go socket 939 when the time comes?

Thank you kindly in advance for taking the time to read and reply to this. I really appreciate it.

you are kind of mixing between a value system and a top end system.

if you are worried about money right now, i would go with 754socket.
BUT, for you i would reccomend going 939, with the 3400+, 1gig dual channel RAM (you dont need CAS2, A64 has an onboard memory controlers and the low lat. isn't worth the extra money), a 200GB WD drive is cheaper then the Maxtor but thats all up to you, and the 6800GT is a nice cap off to this system.

You could build a system with a A64 3000+, 1gig brand name value RAM (socket 754 does support dual channel so its a waste to get it), 200GB WD SATA, and a 6800GT......and with that much lower cost system you will be flying through games. The extra money for 939 is merely for the upgradablility but the lower cost system will run very well for quite a while.
by the time you need to upgrade the lower cost system you will want a whole new seup because of new hardware that came out.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>

A64 3200+ (2.2 GHz, 512k L2 cache) is better than A64 3200+ (2.0 GHz, 512k L2 cache)

I recommend LiteOn SOHW-832S dvd burner

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ASUS KN8-E Delux Motherboard Great, I love mine.
Athlon 64 3200+ 512k 2.2 is the way to go.
Corsair TwinX 1GB PC3200 Cas2 DDR DIMM Kit (2x512MB) Is way too expensive when samsung generic will give about the same perf
panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Drive Black is fine.
LG 8x DVD-+R/RW Drive w/Software Black May as well get the dual layer version.
Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive Funny, Sandra says my pata 40 gig Seagate outperforms this drive by 16%
Asus V9999GT Geforce 6800 256MB Video Card Paying a lot for the Asus name, but a very nice card.
Antec Sonata Quiet Black Case w/380W Power Supply I hate the door. If it lasts a month, you're doing great.
Viewsonic P95f+B 19" Monitor Black A real beauty, expect to buy a new color chip every 6 or so years.
And that's the way I see it.

Recent reviews indicate Crucial Ballistix to be an optimal choice for Athlon 64.
http://www.anandtech.com/memory/sh [...] =2145&p=19

Price is pretty good too.
http://www.crucial.com/ballistix/store/listmodule.asp

Thats nice link you threw up there but its not quite the same.....1st off thats an article for a 2-2-2 RAM and not about the A64 board.

It is basically saying this....*IF* you want to buy 2-2-2 RAM for a 939 board the crucial balistix is the way to go.

But find me a link where Crucial balistix on a 754board OR a 939 board and gives a 100% increase in performance over Value RAM. Because the price for 1 Gig of Balistix is 100% more then Vaule RAM.

For a top end, money is no issue computer, i would have reccomended that, but AT BEST the Balistix ram gives like 25% increase for 100% the price.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>

Um, your perspective is screwed up! If your system cost $800 and going with faster RAM cost you another $80, that's a 10% increase. If you got 10% more performance, it would be an even match. Even if one type of RAM cost $8 and the other $88 (a 1000% increase in price), the entire system would only have to perform 10% better (not 1000% better) to make it worthwhile.

Having said that, I think the biggest gains you'll see using low latency RAM are probably around 2%, so in this case the cheaper RAM is a better deal, but not for the reasons you mentioned.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

i know what your saying and i was trying to say the same thing. but less of a system as a whole, and more as a part by part comparison.

I guess i look at it differently then you. I can't think of an example where you would have to look at the whole system cost to make something worth it.

Bang for the buck is exactly that....why spend $75 for a mouse when buying a $3,000 system? your logic would say "its only 2.5% of the computer system so its ok", but if a $20 mouse does the same thing....who cares about the total cost of the system?

why overpay for ANY piece of hardware because of the total cost of the system?

also its not another 80bucks, he and i were talking about a gig of ballistix, which would be 316(on new egg today) Vs Mushkin which is 146(again newegg).

So if the system with value ram was 800...the fast ram would be 970...which isn't a 10% increase, it would be a 21.2% increase.

We arn't debating pennies, saving 170bucks for a very small drop in power....who cares about what the total system is?

Only someone who wants a top of the line, money is no object, kind of computer wouldn't want to save $170 even if the total system is $1500 or more.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>

If a mouse made you use your computer twice as quickly it would be worth it to pay 10x as much. But we both know there's not a mouse that can do that, and even if there were, someone would copy it and sell the copy for $20.

You're not looking at how much faster one component is (Cas2 memory 33% quicker than Cas3), you're looking at how much faster it makes the system (Perhaps 2%), and deciding whether that 2% increase in total system performance is worth a 10% increase in total system price. If it were a 2% increase in total system price (say $20 more on a $1000 system), it would be a no-brainer.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

I have the Antec Sonata case and love it. You can remove the door easily if you don't like it. It has 2 USB 2.0 ports in front, great for gamepads or USB memory sticks + audio jacks & firewire.

Check out the BFG-tech GeForce 6800GT 256mb. I got mine for $400. I hear it is the best performance as it is an OCed card, but stable, with a lifetime warranty and 24/7 tech support.

Have you considered the Pioneer DVR-108 DVD burner? $100 from bananapc.com. 16x DVD -/+ R, with 4x Dual layer burning, 32x cd burning. I am very happy with this drive and had a pioneer DVR-105 prior and never had a problem.

Maxtor HDs are personally my least favorite. I have had 3 die in the past couple years. I have been much happier with western digital. This may just be my personal experience, but I'd go with the Western Digital, or a Seagate. SATA is a good choice.

I am not sure, but I think the Viewsonic G90FB is a better monitor? This is what I was told (just bought a new system in the past week). Anyone know? I'd look into the G90FB model though - its a 19" as well. $220 from newegg.com w/free shipping.

A wireless router should be fine, assuming you can get a good connection between the hub and comp. If you have the latest firmware and a good connection you should not have problems losing the signal. It will not bottleneck your internet because it is faster than your net (well, assuming you have DSL). What it WILL bottleneck is file transfer between comps if you have them networked. This may or may not be a big deal to you. I would prefer to have them physically wired, but if its going to be a pain you should be just fine with a wireless connection.

Don't know much about the Athlon systems and all that so I don't have anything to say there. I do know that the AMD systems generally have a slight edge in performance over Intel when running games. I will also tell you that your system will run Doom3/Far Cry with details maxed at a smooth frame-rate, with headroom to spare. So no worries there.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!

P4c 3.2Ghz @ 800MHz Northwood / ABIT AI7 / 1GB Corsair XMS-Pro CL2 Pc3200 / 160GB Seagate SATA 7200rpm 8mb cache / BFG-Tech Nvidia GeForce 6800GT 256mb / Antec Sonata case w/Antec TruePower 380W PSU

Hi All, thanks to those that posted advice on the system.

I've made a few small revisions to the build.

ASUS KN8-E Deluxe Motherboard
Athlon 64 3200+ (521k Cache 2.2 clock speed)
* Corsair VS1GBKIT400 1GB PC3200 CL2.5 Kit
Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Drive Black
* As of yet to be determined Dual Layer Optical Drive
* Seagate 200GB SATA Hard Drive
* ? * Asus V9999GT Geforce 6800 256MB Video Card
Antec Sonata Quiet Black Case w/380W Power Supply
Viewsonic P95f+B 19" Monitor Black

In response to the question about the G90FB, it was my understanding that the P95f+ was the preferred monitor. I read this in a guide/review on this site. I imagine they're both very nice monitors though.

As for the graphics card, the ASUS is currently unavailable in the area. I'm being told by suppliers that they don't even have an ETA from ASUS for the next shipment which means a minimum of 3 weeks before the next batch arrives. A 6800 GT by PNY can be had but it costs roughly $160 more from the supplier (Canadian Dollars). I doubt whether or not 3 weeks is worth $160. If I were going to pay that it might be more worthwhile to explore a 6800 Ultra. I looked into the BFG but it is unavailable from any suppliers here. It probably isn't CSA approved. So I'm kind of at a loss as to what to do for the graphics card. I may end up having to wait over a month just to take delivery of the system. Newegg isn't an option given my geographic location. By the time the cards are available, I might need to revise my build. Hah... any ideas, insights?

Thanks again guys.

THis might work...but maybe not

If you know someone in the US....buy the card online and ship it to them. and have them Fedex it to you.

but that way you avoid the hassle and get the card you want. But if you dont know anyone you trust then its a moot point.

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<font color=blue> I am on an express train to hell. I hope I'm in the front row, the ride is ALWAYS better in the front. </font color=blue>

Howdy all! I saw this thread and decided to post this here

Its my 1st time building a computer and getting a new pc since 10 years! so what do you think of this set up

MSI "K8T Neo-FIS2R" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU $113.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProd [...] 434&depa=1

AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor $287.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProd [...] 484&depa=1

http://www.crucial.com/store/listp [...] &submit=Go

Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, MODEL WD2500JB, OEM Drive Only $154.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProd [...] 309&depa=1

Leadtek GeForce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 AGP 8x Video Card with DVI, TV-Out, VGA, DirectX 9.0: WinFast A400 GT TDH $399.
http://www.xpcgear.com/6800gt.html

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0350 $79.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewprod [...] 162&DEPA=1

Sony Double Layer DVD Recorder, Model DRU700A $116.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewprod [...] 228&DEPA=1

Cooler Master Wave Master Black MID-TOWER CASE, Model "TAC-T01-EK" $148.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProd [...] 030&depa=1

ZALMAN Noise-free 400W(PFC, ver 1.3)/ ATX12V power supply Supporting Intel P4 & AMD CPUs, Model "ZM400B-APS" $88.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProd [...] 213&depa=1

windows XP pro $137.
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewprod [...] 143&DEPA=6

I tried to get everything from newegg, all except for the video card and RAM, I couldn't find them on newegg or didn't know what to look for? anyways does everything match up is ther anything I'm missing?

I already have an old CRT moniter and keyboard I plan to use, and I'll probly go to best buy and pick out a mouse there.

I apreciate any advice, thanks in advance!

I dont know much about xfx, but <A HREF="http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1004011&sku=P450-8608" target="_new">http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/searchtools/item-Details.asp?EdpNo=1004011&sku=P450-8608</A> tiger says they are available, while supplies last.
I believe the P (profesional) series crts from viewsonic, have the highest refresh rate of any same size monitor. I'm still using an old P775, cause I cant bring myself to part with it.