And yet another =)

[Slyser]

Hey there, I'm been floating around this forum for quite a long time now but I finally decided to make an account. I'm gonna finally do my own gaming comp and wanted some input. These are the parts I'm looking at atm:

ASPIRE X-Navigator Black Aluminum ATX Mid-Tower Case with side window and 500W Power Supply, Model"ATXA8NW-BK/500" -$159

MSI Black 52x32x52 CD-RW Drive, Model CR52-M Black -$27

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3500A BK- $68

Seagate 120GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA II with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST3120827AS, OEM -$88

Logitech Cordless MX Duo USB/ PS/2 104keys -RETAIL -$69

PDP SYSTEMS Memory Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200, Model PDC1G3200LLK - Retail -$184 (Cas Latency: 2-3-2-5-T1)


EPoX "EP-9NDA3+" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL $129

AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 2.2 GHz (Winchester), 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Socket 939 Processor - Retail-$290

BFG 6800 OC- $260

Comes out to around $1250 which is pretty much my budget.

Ok, so gimme some input on these parts. Lemme know if I'm paying too much, or if xxxx is crap or if xxxx is the greatest part ever! All opinions are appreciated.

 

[Qwertyman]

2 things:
-As everyone will tell you. throw that psu out the window and get something better
-whats PDP ram?

 

[Slyser]

Actually, one of the reasons I picked the x-navigator is because of the "decent" psu that it comes with. Check the volts here- ( http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=11-144-090&catalog=23&manufactory=BROWSE ) It's one of the pictures in the album. The PSU retails for about $50 alone and I have $100 by going with the aspire over a TT tsunami + Antec PSU or Powerstream combo.

PDP is somewhat of an unheard of company. Some people say they are good, other say its too risky to trust no-name branded memory but hey, its much cheaper than corsair/ocz/geil etc... for the preformance that you get.

 

[scottatwittenberg]

everything looks good to me.. i don't specifics on s939 motherboards.. but if you researched in the mobo forum then you probably picked a good one.. why get a retail processor? i would get oem and a better heatsink.. even if you don't overclock you can stil lkeep it cooler and quieter..

stay with the PDP ram.. i hear its great.. check outpost.com it is cheaper there..

maybe get a bigger HD.. but that's on you..

other than that it looks good

 

[Slyser]

Woot, ty for the response Scott. I decided on the Epox after reading an Anandtech review. Most people go for the MSI neo2 but I've been hearing too many problems with them and Newegg doesn't warranty them through the site =\
As for the processor, the difference b/w the OEM and retail proc was only like $10 so I figured why not, comes with a 3 year warranty instead of 1 year and with an extra set of HS and fan. For the aftermarket HS, what would you guys recommend? XP-120?

 

[Ballz2TheWallz]

Woot, ty for the response Scott. I decided on the Epox after reading an Anandtech review. Most people go for the MSI neo2 but I've been hearing too many problems with them and Newegg doesn't warranty them through the site =\
As for the processor, the difference b/w the OEM and retail proc was only like $10 so I figured why not, comes with a 3 year warranty instead of 1 year and with an extra set of HS and fan. For the aftermarket HS, what would you guys recommend? XP-120?

yes and if it dont fit your motherboard then XP-90

 

[Slyser]

If I had to cut $200 from this system (to go towards a monitor), how should I do so???

 

[Apologenetic]

get an MSI Ne2 Plat and a Winchester 3000+ or 3200, They can get to 2.6 no problem, my 3200 is...

 

[ikellensbro]

As the first reply said, don't use that POS power supply. Nothing from Aspire in the power supply category is "decent", just look in the stickies in the Power Supply forum for what you want.

A $50 psu is cheap, not in a good way. That psu won't give your system 500 watts at all, look for something more along the lines of Fortron/Antec/Enermax, and look for at least a 470 watt psu, trust me & anyone with exeperience (yes, 15 year olds have fiddled around with stuff before), you will want something of high quality that will be more expensive.

Get another case then, something room with good airflow, maybe an Antec with a good psu in it, but generally not one that comes with a cheapo power supply. Just read the psu forum stickies, they will help you.

I can't think of many ways to lower your price, other than maybe a K8V mobo (Kyle likes it) that will save a few dollars, a rebated $0.25/gig hard drive from a Black Friday sale, I'm not really good at cutting costs.