new pc build....

[seen316]

living in the toronto area & building a pc for a friend of mine.....budget of $1800 CAN....gonna be using it mostly for gaming & porn surfing....NO OC'ing....here are the specs:

AMD ATHLON 64 3200+ SOC 939 - $173
ASUS A8N-VM PCIx16 SOC 939 - $81
EVGA 7900GT CO PCIx16 - $384
OCZ 1GB (2x512MB) DC VALUE SERIES (CL2.5) - $98
WD 160GB SATA 8MB CACHE x 2 - $158
LITE-ON SHW160P6S 16X DVD+/-RW - $45
ASPIRE X-QPACK CASE w/ WINDOWS + 420W PSU - $129
ANTEC SP500 SMARTPOWER 2.0 500W PSU - $89
ACER AL1916W 17" LCD MONITOR 8MS - $262
LOGITECH DESKTOP EX110 KEYBOARD/OPTI MOUSE - $39.50
LOGITECH X-230 2.1 SPEAKER SYSTEM - $46
ZALMAN CNPS7000B-CU-LED COPPER CPU HSF - $48

this all came about to $1785.38 CAN after taxes....willing to change anything except the monitor & case...I also hear that the psu that comes with the case is a P.O.S. so I was wondering if that one I've chosen will be good enough & also will it fit in the case?...would like to have the psu modular so that there's no extra cables hanging around in the case.....should I also change the memory from dual channel to single channel since I wont be oc'ing?...to me this looks like a great build...but maybe u guys can help make it a bit better & still keep the budget in range.....thanks!

 

[LordBritish]

You definitely need a better monitor and video card for pr0n surfing.

You need extra high resolution !!

 

[gwai lo]

I've heard some Smartpowers aren't so "smart" (read: fan turns off when PSU is hot). Not so sure on it fitting though...I don't want to say anything incorrect.

As for the modular thing, it's personal preference really...if you want to clean the cables up and get them out of the way, then go for it. Extra cables aren't all that evil...and modular connections add resistance.

There's no such thing as "dual channel" memory. It's all on the memory controller end, everything else is just a marketing gimmick. The only difference is probably the fact that "dual channel" RAM is tested at the factory. The only thing you'll need for overclocking is high quality RAM sticks, but since you're not overclocking, you don't. Value Select RAM is fine for stock.