What hardware should I get?

Alright, I'm putting together my first PC! Here are the parts I have so far:

Raidmax Scorpio 668 ATX Tower Case
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...acture=Raidmax

ANTEC TRUE POWER 2.0 TPII-480 480W ATX12V V2.0 24PIN 120MM FAN
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...ufacture=ANTEC

ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Motherboard NFORCE4-SLI S939 DDR 2XPCI-E16 2PCI-E 3PCI SATA RAID LAN Sound 1394
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=ASUS

EVGA E-GEFORCE 6600GT 128M DDR3 PCI-E VGA DVI HD Out Video Card
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.p...nufacture=eVGA
*I bought this new from a friend and still haven't opened it. If I can have this sold I would probably be looking to upgrade.

So I'm still looking for a processor, hard drive, and memory. For the processor I was thinking of either an Athlon64 3000+ or 3200+. For the HD, I don't need much room (most I'll use at any time will probably be 40GB), probably a Seagate drive as I hear they're stable and quiet. I'm not sure what memory to get. I do have a stick of Samsung 512MB RAM I could transfer over from another computer. I really have no idea what RAM timings/bandwith/etc. are, so I would appreciate recommendations here. Also, would 2x512MB in dual channel perform better than 1 stick of 1GB RAM not in dual channel?

My budget for the three components is about $300 including tax. I got the other parts for $350 so this would bring the total price to $650 or so.

Also, how are my overclocking options (keep in mind I'm clueless when it comes to OC'ing)? Will I be OK following a guide or should I stay away from it and not risk damaging my parts?

Thanks!

Originally Posted by iWong

So I'm still looking for a processor, hard drive, and memory. For the processor I was thinking of either an Athlon64 3000+ or 3200+. For the HD, I don't need much room (most I'll use at any time will probably be 40GB), probably a Seagate drive as I hear they're stable and quiet. I'm not sure what memory to get. I do have a stick of Samsung 512MB RAM I could transfer over from another computer. I really have no idea what RAM timings/bandwith/etc. are, so I would appreciate recommendations here. Also, would 2x512MB in dual channel perform better than 1 stick of 1GB RAM not in dual channel?

My budget for the three components is about $300 including tax. I got the other parts for $350 so this would bring the total price to $650 or so.

Also, how are my overclocking options (keep in mind I'm clueless when it comes to OC'ing)? Will I be OK following a guide or should I stay away from it and not risk damaging my parts?

Thanks!

With your limited budget, I'd go for the 3000+. It's served me well. Just get some 80 GB HDD to go along with it, WD or Seagate are the best brands nowadays, just make sure it's SATA.

Then the rest on ram, the OCZ Premier kit I got is a pretty good deal for mid-range performing memory for a good price..

http://search.ncix.com/displayproduc...Z%20Technology

Two 512 mb modules in Dual Channel will be about 20-30% faster then a 1 GB module in single channel.

What's the part number of the Samsung 512 MB Ram? You may or may not be able to get a second module of similar ram and run it in dual channel to save you some money that you could put to upgrading the 6600 GT.

If you get the 6600 GT upgraded to a 6800 GS, or X800 you'll be able to play anything recent with good frames.

If you arent plannig to run SLI, just go for A8N-E so save some money for faster Hdd or more RAM.

160GB hdd would be enough for many users, unless you planning to download a lot.

1 GB ram would be good enough, and stick with 1 stick of 1 GB Hynix or Samsung ship ram, if you can get CL2.5 it'd be good too.

3200+ is a good overclocker(you need to read a bit anandtech or xbitlabs OC posts), or go for 3700+ which has 1MB cache on it. iis a lot faster than 3500+, although they both runs on 200Mhz speed.

the suggestions I made will cost you more than your budget I know, but once you getting it you may consider spend a bit more and keep the system for a year or so, since there will be new AMD CPUs coming 2nd or 3rd Q in thiss year.

don't forget to budget for a heatsink/fan combo for the processor too!

Originally Posted by matkun

What's the part number of the Samsung 512 MB Ram?

Part #: SAMSUNG3200-512M
Samsung PC3200 512MB DDR400 184PIN DIMM OEM

I would like to simply get another stick of this to pair with my existing stick. What would be the performance difference between that and the OCZ Premier Kit?

Originally Posted by CRXGSR

don't forget to budget for a heatsink/fan combo for the processor too!

Will I need to? How are the stock heatsink/fans that come with the processor?

Originally Posted by iWong

Part #: SAMSUNG3200-512M
Samsung PC3200 512MB DDR400 184PIN DIMM OEM

I would like to simply get another stick of this to pair with my existing stick. What would be the performance difference between that and the OCZ Premier Kit?

I could only find that part # at NCIX, and the timings that people get with it are all over the place, from 3-3-3-8 to 2.5-3-3-7.. So your mileage will vary, but probably won't be much different from the OCZ set. Will have worse OCability, but unless your going hardcore, I wouldn't bother with it.

Originally Posted by iWong

Will I need to? How are the stock heatsink/fans that come with the processor?

You won't need to, again unless your planning huge overclocks. The stock cooler on my Athlon 64 3000+ handles a 20% overclock (240 FSB) without any sweat.

Great, will save a bit of money there then.