BF2S Forums Looking for help with DIY PC

Ok, so after all of your suggestions, here is where I am at.

$111 ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6813131530
(I like this board because it will handle an X2 proc in the future, but doesnt have SLI which saves me a few bucks, as I just dont see myself being able to afford 2 matching vid cards in the future.)

$201-233 Processor
I can't decide whether I should buy the 3500+ Venice with 512 L2, or the 3700+ San Diego with 1MB L2?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6819103533
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6819103539
The only difference appears to be the Core & L2 cache, is it worth the extra $30? I have no idea on the difference between cores, but am pretty sure that more L2 is better. I've never overclocked, as mentioned before, but want the ability if I have the choice.

$48 Atrix ATX Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6811209010
I know its cheap, but it comes with a 480W PSU, and I can upgrade the PSU later on after I get some xmas $$. Also, I've always had a stock retail case (HP/Compaq) and want something that looks cool, the included LED side fans are a big plus for me, with space for more fans etc. A few people noted that it wasnt as solid as they wanted, but I NEVER move my tower, so I'm not too worried about it.

$90 OEM Win XP w/ SP2
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6837102151
My current version is recovery only on my HP hard drive, no disk (

$250 OCZ 2x1GB PC3200 RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6820227210

$129AR XFX 6600GT 128MB or $126 PNY 6600 256MB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6814150098
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a … 6814133154
I've learned from my last card that more MB on a vid card isnt the most important thing, so I am leaning towards the 6600GT, which seems to have respectable performance. Also, I've heard that XFX are better for overclocking, which I may be doing in the future, and at a $4 price diff after rebate, why not?

That is my complete current shopping list, and with tax and shipping, brings my total to $889.46 US after $20 rebate. This is for the 3700+ processor. Subtract $30 if I decide to go with the 3500+ instead.

Let me know what you think, and PLEASE let me know if there is anything else I need to order for assembling the new pc, I've never done it before. If you know of a good guide that will get me started, post a link!

As always, thanks in advance!

I thought you only spent $600? I am cannabilizing my extra 200GB hard drive and my DVD burner from my current system, all the rest might as well be trash these days. Maybe someone will want to buy my old system for their kid this xmas. It runs like a champ except on brand new games, halflife2 played well at regular settings. I'm checking around work and stuff, even if I only get $200 or less, it will help me buy a sound card/new PSU.

Well, as someone else posted above I believe, and I've seen on other forums, onboard sound can consume anywhere between 5-25% of processing power. Not sure how accurate that number is, as I personally can't imagine sound taking up 1/5 of the processor, but I'm willing to fork over $50-75 bucks for a decent sound card. I usually just play with my headset (no echo/feedback from teamspeak), but I have a nice set of 4.1 computer speakers I got from work that I havent been able to hook up yet, because I need a different cable or jack or something. I havent really taken the time to figure it out, I just know it didnt work with the cable I had.
And as always, looking for advice/deals/info.....

Last edited by foofdawg (2005-11-04 20:28:02)