New PC Tower Advice

[ssar]

So I need a new PC tower & having not really kept up with all the latest hardware of late, what's folks' advice on the following?
(Gonna build it ourselves, running WinXP Pro)
(Prices are AUD$ found recently via online research)

MAINBOARD: ASUS A8N-E, nForce4 Ultra, S939, DDR400, PCI-Ex, SATA-II, GigLAN, RAID, ATX - $181

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+, Socket 939, "San Diego Core", HT2000 MT/s (HyperTransport System Bus), 128K L1 Cache, 1MB L2 Cache, Frequency 2.2GHz - $390

RAM: Some reputable brand of 2 x 1GB paired DDR in dual channel (2GB total)
(e.g. GeIL 2048MB (2 x 1024MB) High Performance Dual Channel DDR400 w. Heat Spreader - $336)

HD: 1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 250GB 7200rpm SATA-II HDD 8MB Cache - $199

VIDEO CARD: ASUS EN6600-TD-256 Extreme N6600, GeForce 6600, 256MB, TV/DVI, PCI-Ex16 - $186

CASE: Some sturdy medium tower with good quality/rated PSU & an extra cooling fan or 2

I was originally thinking:
- A "Venice core" Athlon 64 3200+ or some such cheaper CPU with 512K L2 cache, but expect the 1MB L2 cache in the "San Diego core" would be worthwhile.
- 1GB Single channel RAM or 2 x 512MB Dual (1GB total), prob don't need more but am a fan of a lot of RAM.
- 2 x HDs in RAID0 (striped/performance) array, but am convinced would be better off saving the money as the system will be for general home use.
- Onboard video may suffice, but thought better of it as I'll probably get into more 3D gaming and reasonable SATA-II mainboards appear not to have it anyway, so considering a cheap PCI-e card.

Main usage will involve many multiple windows apps/utilities running all at once, or sometimes graphical gaming.
Want the guts to hum along nicely for as many years as possible.

Thoughts?

[Ruxur]

sounds like you got a good setup going, lots of quality products,

suggestion, invest in a better graphics card.

the e-vga 7800 gt (289$) is an amazing card for the price.

[Kifle]

sounds like you got a good setup going, lots of quality products,

suggestion, invest in a better graphics card.

the e-vga 7800 gt (289$) is an amazing card for the price.

Definately! I have that san diego core and I honestly don't see much of a performance gain from my s754 newcastle (2.0ghz). Don't get me wrong, you'll want s939 for future concerns and duel channel memory, but you may want to look at a cheaper chip. I've heard nothing but great things from the dual core opterons and those are pretty budget.

[Ruxur]

the best deal in dual core cpu's is the 3800+ 300 bucks and can easily be overclocked to 2.6ghz

[ssar]

Still researching, this case looks like it will do the trick:

CASE: Thermaltake Soprano Silver Steel case w/side window, 2x 12cm fans, 430w PSU - AUD$154


As for CPU, the only Opteron that appears to be within my price range might be:

AMD Opteron 148, 1MB L2 Cache, Frequency 2.2GHz, Socket 939 Box CPU - AUD$429
(or theres an Opteron 146 which has a 2.0GHz frequency I think, for a bit cheaper).

Am still researching the differences between those and the Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego.

[Nokar]

You will need to put a bigger powersupply in the case. I think the minimum you'll have to run without problems is a 550. I had to put a 550 in mine because that is what the mobo requires. Check the specs on your asus mobo on their website.


L8r

[Ruxur]

antec sonata 2 piano black, sleek elegant, nice case. comes with a truepower 450w

[ssar]

Thanks for your input guys, I am still researching and examining how far I can stretch the budget.
From my research thus far, my list of probable core components is now:
(prices AUD$)

---

CPU:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor, Socket 939, "Manchester Core", HT2000 MT/s, 2 x 512K L2 Cache, Boxed - $435


MAINBOARD:

ASUS A8N-VM Motherboard - NVIDIA GeForce6100 + nForce410, HT2000, Dual DDR400, PCI-X16, int. VGA, SATA300 RAID, LAN, USB2.0, 6ch, mATX - $145


VIDEO CARD:

Onboard video for now, possibly toss in some lower-end PCI-e card later


RAM:

Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2 1024MB (2x XMS512MB) PC-3200 Dual Channel DDR RAM, 2x64Mx64non-ECC, 184-pin DIMMs, Unbuffered, CL2, Lifetime warranty - $222


HDD:

1 x Seagate 80GB 'ST3808110AS' SATA II 3Gb/s NCQ HDD 7200rpm 8MB Cache 5-year warr - $121 OR
1 x Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000rpm Serial ATA150 HDD 8MB Cache - $253
(Primary windows/apps drive)

1 x Seagate 160GB 'ST3160812AS' SATA II 3Gb/s NCQ HDD 7200rpm 8MB Cache 5-year warr - $159
(Secondary storage/data drive)


CASE:

Thermaltake Soprano Silver Steel case w/side window, 2 x 12cm fans, 430w PSU - $154 OR
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Midi Tower Case with 450W SmartPower - $188


PSU:
Other PSU's I will try and look into include:

SilverStone Strider Series ST46F 460W ATX Power Supply with 120mm Fan - $121
Antec TruePower 2.0 480W ATX 4 SATA Connectors - $165
Antec Neo Highly Efficient 2.2 500W ATX & EPS 12V Power Supply SATA Connectors - $189
Cooler Master RealPower RS-550-ACLY

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Unsure if I can even get some of those PSU's easily here.

The raptor as the primary/apps drive idea came up recently.. from what I hear those things hum along very nicely.

More food for thought..

[kiryan]

I went with the amd 4400 to get the step from 2x512 to 2x1mb.

[Ruxur]

you are paying WAY too much for that cpu man

newegg has it for 300

[Yasden]

You forget that he's in Australia. Take the conversion factor into account.