Building a new gaming PC

[StayingOccupied]

this will be used for mostly gaming and video encoding, i have my mac for graphics...

Anything you could suggest to me will help..
IM looking at

Apacer 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
81$

MSI nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "K7N2 Delta-ILSR" -RETAIL
116$

AMD Athlon XP 3000+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
166$

APPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -RETAIL

OR

POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "XF98-C3L" -RETAIL

both 224$

all from newegg


any suggestions or compatibility issues you know of please let me know.. thanks

[The Real Bingo]

I would buy a slower, cheaper processor[a 2500+, which I use], and get another 512 mb of ram.

What about a hard drive and a case and such things like that?

[Starfury_2260]

I would suggest the Abit NF7-S only $100 (price was like 80 a few weeks ago :O )
I would also suggest 1gig of ram. 512 is kinda the minimum now so i would take it to 1gig. dont know anything about apacer ram.

you could also probably save by getting a 2500+ ($75!) and a good HSF and overclocking it to 3200+ (11x166 to 11x200)

[StayingOccupied]

Originally posted by The Real Bingo
I would buy a slower, cheaper processor[a 2500+, which I use], and get another 512 mb of ram.

What about a hard drive and a case and such things like that?

i've got a case, dvd rom and just traded for a dvd+rw and 160 gig 7200 WD hard drive...

how big is the difference in performance between the 2500+ and 3000+?

thanks

[CraigK]

all that stuff looks pretty good for a gaming rig, all your missing is the sound card. I would suggest the SB Audigy line of cards but a lot of people here seem to like Turtle beach cards. You might also want to get another stick of 512 memory, you can never have to much RAM.

I wouldn't get the 3000+ Barton though. from what i've heard you can OC a 2500 or 2600 for cheaper.

[The Real Bingo]

Yeah the 2500+ is real good for overclocking to 3200+ speeds. Just need a good heatsink and some case fans to cool it. Buying a 3000+ is a waste of money, I think. Save the money for ram or a sound card like Craig said.

[StayingOccupied]

ok, i am gonna switch to the 2500+ barton... and got 2 sticks of the ram.. Can you guys suggest a good fan/HS? i only have a 3500watt power supply if that makes any difference.. my case has 2 fans on it already too..

[The Real Bingo]

This is what I have on top of my 2500+. Right now its running at 38C under full load with the processor @ 2700+ speeds. Keep in mind I have 4 more case fans than you, though.

350 watt should be plenty assuming you dont have any lights or anything on the case.

[StayingOccupied]

Originally posted by The Real Bingo
This is what I have on top of my 2500+. Right now its running at 38C under full load with the processor @ 2700+ speeds. Keep in mind I have 4 more case fans than you, though.

350 watt should be plenty assuming you dont have any lights or anything on the case.

ok, the case has a LCD with clock temp on the front... Should i pick up 2 more case fans, theyre only like 2$?...

P.S. this is my first time building a new computer, if you havent figured it out

thanks

[The Real Bingo]

Originally posted by StayingOccupied


ok, the case has a LCD with clock temp on the front... Should i pick up 2 more case fans, theyre only like 2$?...

P.S. this is my first time building a new computer, if you havent figured it out

thanks

If you have no problem installing them, then another 2 case fans wouldnt do any harm.

What you have now may be good however, because chances are you wont be running it at full bore all the time, and even if you are in the 45C temperature range, that's not too bad.