Tsk tsk, you're skimping on the wrong components there and over doing it on a few others as well.
ABit AN8 32X SLi Socket939 NForce4 7.1channel audio GLAN ATX ------> Chuck this and go for the one below it. Most of these enthusiast boards have everything belted on which just wastes cash. Try something like a Gigabyte NF4 Pro board.
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4800+ ------> Once again it's a waste of money. The 4800 is a 1mb chip, which are being discontinued by AMD. As a result you pay a price premium for (wait for it) a whole 3% average extra performance. Is that worth double the price on the 4600+? You decide.
BFG NVIDIA 7900GTX 512MB DDR3 PCI-E -------> This is where you should be spending the money you saved on the two above. Don't bother getting last year's fastest card. The price difference between this and a 7950GX2 is minimal, and the performance advantage over the 7900GTX is massive. A hell of a lot more than a faster CPU and fancy board will offer.
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 Dual Channel Platinum Series ------> Are you overclocking? Probably not. So chuck the fancy RAM and go for something in the middle. Remember, you want to put most of your cash into a nice GPU and this is a good area to lose some of that chubb.
FSP Sparkle FX700-GLN Epsilon 700W ATX2.0 PSU ------> Ooooh sparkle. Why am I thinking of an Engrish advert with lots of scantlily clad nekkid women? Good idea going for a high wattage, but for crying out loud don't waste your money on a no name brand. Chuck this and get yourself something from Enermax, Akasa or Thermaltake. You'll regret buying cheap when it blows a month down the line.
Western Digital Raptor 150GB WD1500ADFD 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache ------> Nice enough choice, but WD isn't a marvellous brand. Chuck the 150 and get a pair of 74gb Raptors for your OS, then put all your games and shit on a nice and tasty Seagate Barracuda 320gb 7200.10. 2 drives with a split are a better idea than 2 tiny drives. Remember, speed isn't everything when you've used up all the space on a 74gb RAID. Or even worse when 1 drive fails and you're sitting there wondering why it was soooo important to be into the game 2 seconds early.
Pioneer DVR-110 16 x 16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter ------> Oh wow, you made a good choice. Nice one.
Might I add:
Zalman CNPS 7700 AlCu 120mm CPU fan. The AMD stock cooler is a bit crappy really.
Remember, buying a good computer is not about getting the biggest and the best. It's about spending wisely, because 2 years down the line you'll realise that spending 100% over one part for 20% extra performance is not worth it. Better to save your money for later and enjoy a new and much faster part later on - or even better (and this is a scary thought) spend the money you saved on games for this new beast.
Last edited by chuckle_hound (2006-07-24 18:14:54)
