My picks would be these (Norwegian prices as of yesterday):
MB: MSI K9N SLI Platinum: nForce 570 SLI, ATX, Socket AM2, 2 PCIe x16, 2 PCIe x1, 3 PCI, Realtek 7.1 surround (198 EUR)
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+: 2.2 GHz, Socket AM2, 1 MB cache (153 EUR)
CPU fan: Zalman CNPS9500 AM2: Ultra Quiet, Socket AM2 (47 EUR)
RAM: TwinMOS DDR2 PC5300 1024 MB: 64M8*16chip, 667MHz (120 EUR)
PSU: Thermaltake Silent Purepower: 20/24pin (80 EUR)
GFX: MSI GeForce 7900GTO 512 MB: GDDR3, PCIe, 650MHz/1320MHz (287 EUR)
HD: Western Digital Caviar SE 16 400 GB: SATA2, 16 MB 7200RPM (155 EUR)
Fan: PAPST 80x80x25: 19 db (17 EUR)
Total 1060 EUR.
Also planning on these parts later:
Sound: 7.1 surround system, probably Logitech
Monitor: NEC 20" LCD MultiSync 20WGX2 Gaming
Got some questions tho, and this is kinda why I'm posting this stuff... I'm a computer n00b, and these questions might be very stupid, so be nice
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)
MB: From the detailed info:
ATA-133 - contact(s): 1 x 40-pin IDC - 2 Unit(s) - RAID
Serial ATA-300 - contact(s): 6 x 7-pin serial ATA - 6 Unit(s) - RAID
Cables included: 1 x IDE cable
*I got 1 DVD ROM, 1 DVD Writer, and 2 IDE HDDs, and something tells me that's gonna be tricky to use... Any advice?
CPU: I've been recommended the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ (2MB cache), but it's too expensive.
*Is there a chance it will drop in price sometime soon?
RAM: 2 GB is a little too expensive for me atm, but I'm hoping prices will drop a little around/after Xmas...
*Is 1 GB enough today?
GFX: Considering the Gainward GeForce 7950GX2 instead, it's way too expensive atm, but I've heard prices will drop when the 8xxx series come. Hope that's true, coz the card seems great.
*Anyway, it's probably nothing, but I read the card I've chose is "built for Vista". Does that mean it won't work with my XP SP1?
*Fans: Are MIST fans any good? They're a lot cheaper than PAPST...
Hopefully, this will last at least 3 years, before I need a new upgrade. I was gonna wait one more year, but after the built'in sound card died last weekend, I've been forced to speed things up a little. Tempted to buy a cheap sound card while I wait for prices to drop tho...
*Final question: Is this stuff good enough?
![Razz :P](./images/smilies/icon_razz.gif)