Gaming Only Machine

[Pongo]

Ya they are very simular cases. I considered the Thermatake.
I havent looked at OCing my 3700 yet.
Did I mention I love the mouse?

[Reschke]

Updated to this. I am probably going to go with a different mothoerboard and an FX-55 chip. I have had a little boost to the yearly salary pop up here that is going to make this a much easier purchase. I am thinking about buying the motherboard and processor today since they are running a special on those as a combo. If you buy the processor today they are tossing in the motherboard for free.
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1 Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail    $104.99  

1 ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$166.99  

1 BFG Tech BFGR78256GTOC Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail  $319.99  

1 Thermaltake Silent Purepower W0014RU ATX 480W Power Supply - Retail
 $59.00  

1 AMD Athlon 64 FX55 San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADAFX55BNBOX - Retail  $811.00  

1 mushkin High-Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model 991434 - Retail  $229.99  

1 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM  $155.00  

1 Logitech Cordless Desktop MX3100 967513-0403 2-Tone PS/2 RF Wireless Standard Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail  $113.99  

1 PLEXTOR Beige SATA DVD Burner Model PX-716SA/SW - Retail  $119.99  

1 LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9SV - Retail  $19.99  

1 Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS SB0350 7.1 Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - OEM  $75.00  

$2,175.93

[38ruk]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/display/athlon64-fx57_8.html

There is a good benchmark graph for the amd 64's. The fx-55 is a good performer , althought the 4000+ isnt that far behind in most games , i beleive the 4000+ is about half the price of the fx 55 thou . All in all the 55 is great cpu , im sure you will be happy with your new build . 38

Edit , the x-fi extreme music is a nice upgrade over the audigy2.  I paid 129 for mine a month ago, you might want to check the price difference between the A2zs, and xfi . I had a standard audigy2 , and the x-fi really performs much better . 38

[wrag]

IMHO ..........

Wireless keyboard and mouse could be a BIG mistake.  Known several people that had them and everyone of em in the end hated em.

The batteries thing was just part of it.

[indy007]

I like that build... everything except for the wireless keyboard & mouse Just personal preference though. Everything else looks great. I'm a big fan of the WD Raptors and Mushkin ram. I've had great customer service from Mushkin on all 2 occasions I needed it in the last 6 years. Had a stick fail, ran memtest, emailed the results, had a new stick in my mailbox the very next morning. Only Skuzzy has rivalled them in getting my problem fixed immediately

[Reschke]

Well I haven't had any problems with the current Logitech wireless combo I have now. I like having fewer wires cluttering up my desk area especially with two boys (9 and 2 1/2) and a wife that likes to toss crap on the desk.

As for the Raptors I am purely going with what was suggested here. I would have liked going with the 3.0 Gb SATA drives but with the recommendations I got here that sent me to them and the Mushkin. On the CPU side I just couldn't pass that deal up today. My wife is gonna kill me but that mobo/CPU combo lands here at the office by Monday and my bonus package for sales last year should hit within the next month. Thats one reason I went ahead and tossed the money down on that board and CPU.

[eagl]

There is a new raptor drive out now that is better/faster/larger than the older 74 gig ones.  Get that one instead.

As long as you're spending $800+ on the cpu, get the 512 meg version of the 7800 GTX.

Get an x-fi sound card instead of the audigy2.

[38ruk]

Well if your wife is gunna kill ya anyways , might as well go all out ! Get the 150 raptor , X-fi sound, a 512 GTX would be nice . While your at it get 2Xraptors (Raid)  and 2Xgtx's (SLI) , Really make it worth the argument hehe  38

[Reschke]

Well as I said I got a killer deal with the CPU/Motherboard combo. Go here to check it out.

http://promotions.newegg.com/AMD/AMD_Nvidia/020706/index.html

On the SLi I don't play anything that needs it and I doubt I ever will. Should I decide to go that route then I can pick up one cheaper in a year or so and make it happen.

They didn't have that big Raptor when I started down this road. Now I can step in and order that one as well.

[Delirium]

I agree with Reschke, rather than get 2 SLI based vid cards, get the best one you can. Later, when the price drops on that card, you can pick up a clone and throw it in.

[38ruk]

Im not running sli either, for basically the same reasons . It nice to know down the road that there is always an option to add another . Thats a good deal from newegg.

[eh]

I am now very leery of BFG vid cards. Their overclocked 6800 GT caused me intermittent boot problems (boot failures) which, over 6 months, grew so bad that the machines won't start at all. I wrote to BFG, and they admitted that their cards are known to cause this problem on some computers. They also admitted that they didn't know what was causing the problem, and that I was stuck with it til they figured it out. Not bloody likely.

The machines have been returned for credit, and I am now awaiting a third from a different manufacturer with a different vid. card maker. Incidentally, the machines had different motherboards. Both had ABIT AMD 64, one with the VIA and one with nVidea NForce chip, so it wasn't a motherboard problem as I originally had thought.

Anyhoo.. if you get intermittent boot failures that increase in frequency, troubleshoot the BFG vid card first (or get one from another manufacturer to begin with).

eh?

[Reschke]

I have the same card in my system now and haven't had any issues related to that card.

[Krusty]

Small comment: I *HATE* cases that hide the front from my access. By that I mean I *LOATHE* them with all my might. When I want to open my CD drive I don't want to have to swing open a stupid door/flap/panel to do it!!!!

Same goes for power buttons and/or floppy drives (which I currently don't have installed) and front panel access.

It's a gaming rig, not a beauty pageant contestant. Get a case that actually lets you get to the stuff you need to get to.

[38ruk]

Originally posted by Krusty
Small comment: I *HATE* cases that hide the front from my access. By that I mean I *LOATHE* them with all my might. When I want to open my CD drive I don't want to have to swing open a stupid door/flap/panel to do it!!!!

Same goes for power buttons and/or floppy drives (which I currently don't have installed) and front panel access.

It's a gaming rig, not a beauty pageant contestant. Get a case that actually lets you get to the stuff you need to get to.

I have a front door on my case , you make it sound like you have to use a combination to get into it lol.