[gcbro]

Ok my DH has been after me to build a gaming computer for him. He did the research and gave me a list of components. He wants quad nvidia video cards. I should also say this will be the FIRST computer I have built. I guess my first build should have been a little more "basic", lol.

Any comments/advice welcome.

Thanks,
Gina

This is what it looks like so far.

MOTHER BOARD:
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce SPP 100 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131568

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60/2MB Cache/2000MHz FSB/Socket 939/Hyper-Transport/Dual-Core/Processor with Fan
http://www.tigerdire...e...=2&NoMapp=0

VIDEO CARDS: (2 cards)
BFG GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual GPU / 1GB GDDR3 / PCI Express / Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card
http://www.tigerdire...mp;Sku=B52-7848

HARD DRIVE:
Western Digital / Caviar SE 16 / 400GB / 7200 / 16MB / SATA-150 / OEM / Hard Drive
http://www.tigerdire...e...660&CatId=0

MEMORY: (4 gigs)
Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC8500 DDR2 1066MHz E.P.P. Memory (2 x 1024MB)
http://www.tigerdire...e...470&CatId=0

POWER:
Xion / 600-Watt Ver. 2.0/ ATX / 140mm / SATA-Ready / SLI-Ready / 20/24-Pin / Power Supply
http://www.tigerdire...p;Sku=A406-1046

CASE:
Gigabyte 3D Aurora Black Aluminum ATX Full-Tower Case with Front USB, FireWire and Audio Ports
http://www.tigerdire...e...&CatId=1510

DVD/CD
Lite-on SHM-160P6S
http://www.tigerdire...mp;Sku=L12-1076

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Couple of problems you have picked a 939 mobo and CPU you want AM2 if you are going AMD, you also have picked ddr2 memory which is compatible to AM2 but not 939.

The hard drive is allright but get a SATAII instead of a SATAI, when you pick an AM2 mobo dont get an ASUS.

Also quad Nivida cards dont work for builders its been locked out at the moment only mass builders are being given the neccesary bios updates to do it. Also its tottally unneeded you would be cheaper burning the money than using quad sli its pretty useless its alot of power and nothing to do with it two 7900s are enough for any game to be maxed out let alone 4. I would get a single card either one 7900 or one x1900, as DX10 is going to be out inside 6 months and its best to wait for that.

If you are going dual gfx cards i would probably be tempted to go crossfire after reading about the different directions that are going with it to allow one gfx card to act as a physics card, but dual gfx unless you have a very very high resolution monitor is not needed.

You might want to consider going intel as well with the core 2 in gaming the performance advantage against the fx62 is negligible but its better all round but if its just a gaming machine you might not one to bother.

[warriorscot]

Couple of problems you have picked a 939 mobo and CPU you want AM2 if you are going AMD, you also have picked ddr2 memory which is compatible to AM2 but not 939.

The hard drive is allright but get a SATAII instead of a SATAI, when you pick an AM2 mobo dont get an ASUS.

Also quad Nivida cards dont work for builders its been locked out at the moment only mass builders are being given the neccesary bios updates to do it. Also its tottally unneeded you would be cheaper burning the money than using quad sli its pretty useless its alot of power and nothing to do with it two 7900s are enough for any game to be maxed out let alone 4. I would get a single card either one 7900 or one x1900, as DX10 is going to be out inside 6 months and its best to wait for that.

If you are going dual gfx cards i would probably be tempted to go crossfire after reading about the different directions that are going with it to allow one gfx card to act as a physics card, but dual gfx unless you have a very very high resolution monitor is not needed.

You might want to consider going intel as well with the core 2 in gaming the performance advantage against the fx62 is negligible but its better all round but if its just a gaming machine you might not one to bother.

[gcbro]

Hi warriorscot,

Thanks for taking the time answer this rookies questions.

when you pick an AM2 mobo dont get an ASUS

Why not ASUS? Is there a brand you like better? I narrowed my choices to an ASUS and ABIT AM2 mobo, but still chose the ASUS (mainly based on reviews).

I changed to an AM2 CPU and mobo and 2 7900 GTX's for video cards. I also changed the hard rive to SATA II.

Would you mind taking a look at my revised choices?

Thanks for your help .

Gina


MOBO:
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131013

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 FX62 Windsor 2000MHz HT Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor Model ADAFX62CSBOX - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103861

VIDEO CARDS: (2 cards)
XFX PV-T71F-YDE9 GeForce 7900 GTX EXTREME (675MHz) 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150136

HARD DRIVE:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822136014

MEMORY:
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820145033

POWER:
Xion PowerReal XON-600F14T-201 ATX12V V.2.01 600W Power Supply - Retail - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817190007

CASE:
GIGABYTE 3D AURORA GZ-FSCA1-ANB Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811233002

DVD/CD:
LITE-ON Black 16X DVD-ROM 52X CD-R 32X CD-RW 52X CD-ROM 1.5M Cache IDE Combo Drive - Retail
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827106992

[warriorscot]

Asus have a bad reputation with AMD boards we saw alot of them on here with problems at the start of this year and with that many problems they go in my do not buy books for a while, personally i prefer MSI, ABIT or gigabyte as they tend to offer better value for money, if i had to pick a mobo it would be the MSI K9N Diamond nForce 590.

I still think they pair of 7900s is a waste of money dual cards dont represent good value for money and considering hes going to be champing at the bit to replace the things inside 6 months i really wouldnt bother just one is fine even a GT or an x1900XT would be the better bu i dont recomend getting expensive cards at the best of times but now its just insane to consider it with DX10 and vista being released inside 6 months. DX10 will be out before christmas and ATI are releasing a ddr4 x1900 in the Autumn to tide people over till the Xmas DX10 releases, just doesnt make sense as it will be a nightmare to offload old dx9 cards.

I would probably lean towards a bigger brand PSU, maybe an Enermax or an Antec would be a better choice, Enermax make huge PSUs and Antec has a good 3 year warranty.

Edited by warriorscot, 16 July 2006 - 12:19 PM.