Help a n00b select parts

[brain stew]

Ok guys, I am a n00b to both the PC building and DFI, but the pc makers are charging too much for too little and DFI looks (and sounds from my lurking !) to be the best AMD 939 board maker right now!

 

I'm no stranger to the inside of a case, but as I said I haven't done this before and I would like to know if there are any incompatibilities I should watch out for. So, if I could, I'd like to run my dream system specs and you guys can tell me what you think.

 

Case

Antec P180 Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower

PSU

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500w

Mobo

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D

CPU

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice

Memory

OCZ Premier Value 1GB OCZ4001024V3DC-K

Video

ATI X700 w/ 256 RAM

Storage

Western Digital Caviar SE 160GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA II

NEC Black DVD Burner

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM

TV Tuner(Can't just play games guys !)

Hauppauge PVR-500MCE Dual Tuner

 

I plan on flashing the bios to the 6/23 update btw. Any other tips?

[Angry_Games]

im not a big fan of Antec psu's. Others might be. I prefer the Enermax 535w, 600w, or OCZ Powerstream 520w or 600w.

 

I do not recommend anything that says VALUE in these boards. It might work, it might not. Putting VALUE anything in a super high performance overclocking board is like putting cheap low-grade gasoline into a racecar

 

I prefer Hitachi SATA II drives over anything else, but WD's are always good drives (I just dont have any SATA II WD's to go from experience with)

 

everything else looks good. I do prefer all aluminum cases, but cases are always a personal preference.

 

you going to use stock cooling? If you got an extra $29.99, go to www.svc.com and get a Thermalright XP-90 heatsink + 92mm fan (combo price)

 

for the money, that cooler cannot be beat.

[brain stew]

I read the big PSU thread and you said that the SmartPower II 500w was a best bang for the buck :confused:

[Angry_Games]

i didnt say anything about the Antec

 

davidhammock might have, but I surely did not. I have had nothing but trouble with Antec psu's, and in tech support we have nothing but trouble with even the new Antec 24-pin psu's.

 

Like I said, others might like them, but I avoid them like the plague. This doesn't mean they are crap, it just means that I have seen too many problems with them in both support and my personal experience.

 

I tend to stick to Enermax 600w, OCZ Powerstream 520w and 600w, PCP&C 510w SLI

[brain stew]

My mistake. I apologize for attributing that comment to you.

 

How this this RAM?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820146969

 

And the Enermax Whisper II 530w?

[Angry_Games]

this is my favorite OCZ memory:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820227211

 

you'll find one of my extremely rare reviews at newegg about it:

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/FeedBa...20227211&page=3

 

 

this stuff is also good:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820146890

 

 

the psu looks ok, i prefer the 600w version myself

[cpuz]

yo brain stew, another native philly man here.

 

I like what ag suggested to you better that what you selected. also i like the sleekness of that case, however, i'm concerned about airflow. how many fans does that case have access for?

 

EDIT: I see it comes w/ 2 120mm fans. I like to have a side panel fan too for that board especially if you are going to be on air.

 

I just picked up one of these....maxtop It was a breeze to put together and great airflow. pretty sweet price @ 35.50. just don't use the psu. only prob is w/ the blowhole, w/ the ocz psu, i have to remove the fan from inside and put it outside. other downside is no filters for fans.

[brain stew]

Mid-Atlantic region is the best .

 

As for the case: as far as I can tell, there is a place for a fan on the back, 2 fans on the front sandwiching the 3.5" bay and place to mount a VGA fan, so 4.

 

Is there that much difference between the copper OCZ and gold btw?

[red930]

To help you future-proof the rig, you might also look at the Hitachi SATA II drives. We've had excellent results with them which you can see over in the hard drive benchmark thread. You can get one now and when you feel like stepping up to RAID-0 get another drive and be screaming along in no time.

 

I would also save up some money and get a CPU with at least an 11 multiplier. If you ever decide to overclock you'll appreciate that extra multi.

[brain stew]

Also, while it looks like there is low airflow in the case they designed it to create thermal regions to separate the heat generated from different components. I was surprised when I first looked at it, but it has gotten pretty positive reviews from what I've seen.

[cpuz]

Also, while it looks like there is low airflow in the case they designed it to create thermal regions to separate the heat generated from different components. I was surprised when I first looked at it, but it has gotten pretty positive reviews from what I've seen.

 

 

well, good, get it then, it sounds nice and looks elegant.

 

PS: had any philly pretzels, tastykakes, cheesesteaks lately?

[brain stew]

well, good, get it then, it sounds nice and looks elegant.

 

PS: had any philly pretzels, tastykakes, cheesesteaks lately?

Had some pretzels Friday. I haven't had any Tastykakes in awhile, but the peanut butter kandy kakes are my favorite :drool:. As for cheesesteakes, I should probably lay off them and Yuenling for awhile since I am starting to get a gut...