DescentBB

got seperated from the wifey and let the kid keep the old compie, on a budget but don't think i did too awfully bad, unless yous gurus think otherwise?

CPU: (939-pin) AMD ATHLON64 3500+ CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
CD: LG GWA-4161 16X DVD+/-R/+/-RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
CD2: 16X DVD ROM
HDD: 160GB Hard Drive (SATA150 - Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache)
MONITOR: Gaming LCD ViewSonic(R) VA712B 17" 8MS Response Time w/ 350:1 Contrast Ratio
MOTHERBOARD: (Sckt939)Asus A8N-E nForce4 Chipset SATA133 RAID PCI-E w/GbLAN,USB2.0,&7.1Audio
VIDEO: NVIDIA Geforce 6600 256MB 16X PCI EXPRESS VIDEO CARD
MEMORY: 1024 MB (512MBx2) PC3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR MEMORY (Corsair XMS High Performance Memory w/ Heat Spreader
POWERSUPPLY: ULTRA X-Connect 500W ATX PS w/2 80mm Fans

be here next week to christen the new digs

Looks like a solid machine to me, but what do I know?

Unless you have a reason for wanting two CD/DVD readers, ditch the second one.

Never heard of that PSU brand before, beware NF4 motherboards reqire a 24 pin PSU (or you can get a 20 --> 24 pin adapter).

Also, the CPU you have is strong, the video card is weak. Balence it out better, drop to a 3200+ CPU and use the extra to get a 6800 GT PCIe instead.

I've seen ads for that P/S before, but didn't want to buy one for my rig because I hadn't seen any reviews of it anywhere. Sounds interesting in theory, but how well will it work?

changes made, thanx for the input!

Looks like a no-name power supply to me. I highly recommend you switch to a Fortron Source power supply. Preferably one with a dual +12V rail.

I agree on the PSU. There is absolutely NO WAY that system will EVER draw more than 250 watts. I have a very similar box which contains 4 HDDs, floppy, 2X Optical drives, card reader, 1GB RAM, X800XL graphics, sound card, TV-Tuner and at idle it draws around 170 watts, and at 100% CPU with constant disk work it never rises above 240 watts.

A good 350 watt PSU is all that system requires. (Mine is the Coolermaster RealPower 400Watt - but the only reason I got a 400 is because it aint available in a 350W edition.

2X 80mm fans in a PSU is a really bad idea - it'll be noisy as all get out. The Realpower has a speed controlled single, 120mm fan, and it can't be heard at all in normal use.

The same box used to house 11 fans, and sounded like a 747 winding up - but I have come to realise that queitness is a true virtue in a PC. The noisiest thing in my box now is the 2 x 200GB SATA (NCQ) drives.

I may need to build another machine this fall.

I'll likely follow this pattern

939 chip and Asus MB



Mmmmmmmm new plastic smell and tower case metal cuts . . . .

I second what Krom said. Also, I'd recommend buying a 19" LCD with 8ms response time(Hyundai L90D+ is a good one. It sells for < $350 on newegg) It's just that 19" is 10x better than 17". I'd drop down to a 3200+ or even a 3000+(if you're willing to OC a bit) cpu, and get at least a 6600GT as a trade off. Corsair is fine for RAM, but I've found OCZ to be cheaper, and it has very good benchmarks against Corsair. You can find some CAS 2 OCZ for around $100-110 on newegg.

Have fun with it, man.

heh, i shall, got the stuff yesterday will put it together this weekend.....