My Future Setup (Advice?)

[cheesedood]

This is going to be my future system. I plan on overclocking the CPU a decent amount and overclocking the 6800 GT to Ultra speeds. However, I won't be buying these parts for another year. I'm currently a 15 year old living off $20/month. However, I plan on getting a job before school starts and hopefully by next summer I'll raise around $2500 for this computer. Nothing can stop me from getting this computer.

Most of these items are from Newegg with the exception of the video card.

Case: Lian-Li Aluminum Case with Side Panel Window & 1 Ball-Bearing Fan on the Top (Black), Model "PC-65B" -RETAIL

Power Supply: Antec 550W Power Supply, Model "TRUE550" -RETAIL

Motherboard: MSI nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Athlon 64 Socket 754 CPU, Model "K8N Neo Platinum" (MS-7030) -RETAIL

CPU: AMD Socket 754 Athlon 64 3700+, 2.4 GHz, 1MB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor - Retail

CPU Heatsink/Fan: COOLER MASTER CPU Cooler for AMD K8 and Intel P4, Model "KHC-V81-U1" -RETAIL

Memory: Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail

First Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD360GD, OEM Drive Only

Second Hard Drive: Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model HDS722516VLSA80 Part# 13G0254, OEM Drive Only

DVD-RW/CD-RW Drive: Plextor 12X DVD+/-RW Drive, Model PX-712A Black, Retail

Floppy Drive: SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model MPF920, OEM

Video Card: BFG Technologies GeForce 6800 GT OC 256MB GDDR3 AGP Graphics Card

Sound Card: Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0350" -RETAIL

Monitor: SAMSUNG SyncMaster 710T-Black 17" LCD Monitor -RETAIL

Keyboard: Logitech Elite Keyboard USB/ PS/2 104keys -RETAIL

Mouse: Logitech Blue Performance Optical Mouse PS2/ USB, Model "MX510" -RETAIL

Mouse Pad: Func Surface 1030 Black Base Mousepad, Model SU-BK-BK -RETAIL

Speakers: Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers -RETAIL

Headphones: Logitech Extreme PC Gaming Headset -RETAIL

Fan Controller: VANTEC Nexus Fan Controller Panel (Black), Model "NXP-201"

Have/will the A64 3700+ processors have Newcastle cores? I heard that the Newcastles are better and they all have CG stepping, unlike the Clawhammers where only the recent ones have CG stepping.

Which heatsink/fan should I use for my processor? At first I was thinking about the Zalman 7000 until I read about compatibility issues with the MSI K8N Neo Platinum motherboard. I heard fairly good reviews about the Cooler Master Hyper6. Is this a good HSF?

I currently have an Intel P4 1.5 Ghz processor, 256 MB SDRAM, and a Geforce 2 MX 100/200. I'm pretty sure I deserve an upgrade. Badly.

Thanks in advance for your help

 

[BillLeeLee]

I think in a year's time, the prices will have dropped considerably and you'll probably have changed your mind on all the parts, so I'm not really gonna judge a system 1 year off in the distance.

One thing though: I'd rather get the Logitech MX510.

 

[cheesedood]

Alright, I changed it to the MX510. I thought the only difference between the MX500 and the MX510 was the colors. I googled it and it turns out the MX510 is more accurate. Thanks for that little bit of info there.

 

[MWWInc]

Looks solid, but like BillLeeLee alluded to, a year is forever in computer terms. Other than that, I have just 2 comments:

1. I heard that heatsink doesn't have the best clipping mechanism (think it was at hexus.net). I'm not up on my A64 coolers, but you can probably find a better HSF for the money.

2. There's a decently good deal on that sound card running til 10/3... just thought I'd pass it along. You could probably use it in your current rig til it's time to upgrade.

 

[Darth Flatus]

Aren't the z-640 speakers a low end speaker system?. Your specs are high end so why not get the z-5300's or even the z-680's (though that'll cost more).