z_best

I am building my first machine and have a newb question? Should I apply the thermal paste to the entire surface of the heat sink or just the part that appears to be in contact with the CPU? Never mind, I found another thread related to applying thermal paste.

Thanks for your suggestions. I decided to go with the Monarch pre-built system with a few changes. Case: Thermaltake VA3000BWA Tsunami Dream Power Supply: PS 535W - Enermax EG565P-FMA REV.2.0 ATX Motherboard: DFI Lan Party UT nForce4 SLI-DR Audio/GB- Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 512K 90nm Rev. E Venice Thermal Grease:Shin-Etsu G675 Thermal Grease Heat Sink Fan: Thermaltake A1838 AMD Opteron/Athlon 64 Memory: DDR (400) 3200 - 1 GB (2 pcs 512) Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL Hard Drive: SATA - Western Digital (WD360GD) 36 GB/10 CD-RW/DVD-RW:DVD-RW - NEC ND-3520A/GNB 4x-DVD+R DL/16x Floppy Drive: Mitsumi Floppy 7-in-1 USB Card Reader/Sma Video Card: BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC 256MB GDDR3/PCI-E/ Operating System: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition w/SP2 CD-RW Software: Ahead Nero 6.3 Suite DVD+-RW Software I went with the better video card, 6800GT, for my eventual SLI upgrade. (probably need a better processor at the same time) I will add a second 36GB Raptor/RAID 0 or another larger capacity drive later. The 3000+ seems to have good OC potential, so I will definitely tinker with it. I will definitely return to these forums for OC assistance. Thanks again for your input.

I went with 36GB drive because I planned to add a second 36GB drive and go to RAID 0 when space became a problem. If RAID 0 isn't that big a deal for gaming, I might as well get a second dirve now or get the 74GB version. When I do look at overclocking...... About how much performance gain should I expect? 20% Does it make sense to start my O/C efforts with CPU or memory tweaks.

I am looking for some opinions on getting a new desktop for on-line gaming. My current machines are starting to show their age (5+ years). I don't think I am ready to "bite the bullet" and build my own system. The risk outweighs the potential savings since I have 50+ year old fingers. I want to place the order on June 3. I have four objectives: 1) Handle existing/upcoming games (HalfLife2, Battlefield2). 2) Allow for a three year upgrade path. 3) Sink in as little money as possible up front. 4) Try my hand at overclocking (probably small tweaks only) Monarch Computer seems reasonably priced with good customer service. How does this look for a $ 1,225 system with potential for overclocking / upgrading? Monarch Furia Custom Desktop with SLI Case: Antec Plusview 1000AMG Case w/Cle Power Supply: 535W - Enermax EG565P-FMA REV.2.0 ATX Motherboard: DFI Lan Party UT nForce4 SLI-DR Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 512K 90nm Rev. E (Retail w/ fan) Memory: 1 GB (2 pcs 512) Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL Hard Drive: Western Digital (WD360GD) 36 GB/10K RPM CD-ROM: Sony CDU5221SV/10 52X CD-ROM DVD-RW: NEC ND-3520A/SV 4x-DVD+R DL/16x4x16xRW Video Card: Gigabyte Geforce 6600 GT 128mb DDR/PCI-E/ Network Card: Use the one from my existing machine OS: Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition w/SP2 Potential upgrades over the next few years: Upgrade CPU since it sounds like socket 939 will be around a while Add a sound card Add a second video card and use SLI Add a second HD and switch to RAID 0