Budget gaming rig: Opinions please

[scottydawg]

I'm specing a budget gaming rig, here's the basics:


ABIT KN8 SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
Patriot 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model PDC2G3200LLK
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Manchester 2000MHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor
2x Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 SATA NCQ 3Gb/s ST3160812AS 160GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Sunbeam NUUO SUNNU550-US-BK ATX12V/ EPS12V 550W Power Supply
eVGA 256-P2-N563-AX Geforce 7900GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card


The full list can be found at
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wishlist/PublicWishDetail.asp?WishListNumber=3225283&WishListTitle=Game+PC


So will it kick butt?  I need to keep this reasonable so my wife doesn't kill me.

[scottydawg]

Also some of the specs are because I want a QUIET PC. My current Dell sounds like a freaking jet plane.  Specifically the case, cpu cooler and PS are extra quiet.

[shiningpathb4me]

different than mine. Those specs approach what I would consider a dream system. If you've got the bucks go for it.

AMD 3000 (939)'s go for $111

See the thread on "best video card for under $200" to see how you could save another $100. 2 hard drives? Another $100. 2 Gigs ram as opposed to 1? about $80. Thats at least $300 you could save and still get good game performance. Maybe in another year you'll be able to get a X2 processor for the 939 $300 less than what they are now. You can always sneak in a 1gb ram stick in a few weeks when the smoke clears from this purchase.

[scottydawg]

I was looking for a rig under $1500 including controllers. I wanted to build it myself, since I've been doing that since '94.  

I already have a 6600, which is OK, but it's agp and the motherboard I have uses PC133 Ram, a major bottleneck, and the ATA66.

I was looking for more than an incremental increase in performance.

[shiningpathb4me]

I finished one 3000+ system tonight. Tomorrow (hopefully) I'll get the OS installed and update drivers. It's going in my sons room.  Hopefully UPS will deliver the rest of mine tomorrow - still waiting on case, cpu, os, and a couple of drives. I'd have to check my invoices but I'm pretty sure I came out around $800-$900.  I chose the XT800GTO card. I've been playing on a 1ghz celeron w/ 256mb ram and a geforce mx4000 for 2 years - so I'm getting a major upgrade! Good luck and let us know what you you got . . .

[humble]

A couple of things I'd question.....

1) AH doesnt work well with a dual core CPU so you'd have to turn one "off" for AH....

2) the PS is only a 72% efficiency so its not super quite....look for 80% if you want HTPC level db's

3) the taisol HS is actually awful good, your buying a retail box so your voising the 3 yr warranty for no reason (IMO) by buying after market also...

4) case is decent but only has 1 fan included
I'd suggest case instead but you still need extra fans IMOPS

Just suggestions....but it should scream as you have it....