building A new computer

[meh]

hi, im building a new computer and need some help. I think i found all the parts i need but im unsure. I want it to be able to handle the newest games and more. so far this is what i have:

Ultra Black Aluminums ATX Mid-Tower with Ultra X2 550-Watt (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2215103&sku=TC3J-2145)
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition AM2 ATX (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2224204&sku=A455-2300)
AMD athlon 64 X2 4400+ (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2205239&sku=CP1-AM2-4400)
Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2206874&sku=C13-2022)
Western Digital Caviar SE 16 250GB (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2179837&sku=TSD-250KS) x2
EVGA GeForce 7900 GT CO SuperClocked (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1945392&sku=E145-7832) x2
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1618860&sku=C44-3232)
Lite-on SHM DVD Burner (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1740403&sku=L12-1076)
Viewsonic 19" (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1785939&sku=V18-1960)

also i have a few questions... is there anything i should change? i want to keep it around $2000. this setup is $2465 with shipping. also i haven't built any pc's before and was wondering if u guys know any good guides that can help me out. and could someone explain the wireless and raid part of the motherboard. and i've been reading about the 7900 and problems people are having with it... should i be worried? where could i find a fan for am2 processors? any help would be appreciated. thnx

[thrash_head]

Don't use tiger direct. Your price will go down a lot by using places like Newegg.com or zipzoomfly.com

And if your going to spend that much on parts, get a nice 2ms viewsonic monitor.

[Dave]

I've heard Ultra PSU's aren't that good, I'd go with something else, perhaps an Antec or Forton (sp?).

And it breaks my heart to say it, but you might want to look at the new Conroe cpu's from Intel, they should hit the street by the end of the month, and they are flat out killing AMD in the benchmarks, and word is they will be cheaper. Of course you would need a dif motherboard and memory.
SLI is a waste in my opinion, any two cards you buy now will be slower than the single fastest card out in a year. That's just my opinion though, if you really like SLI and don't mind the cost, then enjoy, I'm just a cheap old fart.

[esaka]

Don't use tiger direct. Your price will go down a lot by using places like Newegg.com or zipzoomfly.com

And if your going to spend that much on parts, get a nice 2ms viewsonic monitor.

If all of his links are from Tigerdirect, I'm willing to bet that he lives in Canada. You sure newegg ships to Canada?

Try using canadacomputers.com instead.

[thrash_head]

Shit, I didn't think about that. I still wouldn't use TD though.. I would use a Canada store, or even zipzoomfly. Does anyone know if zipzoomfly ships to Canada?

[meh]

i actually live in california and was using td because newegg has the 4400+ on auto notify and they charge me tax. but looking at new egg each product is cheaper so i guess i have to change my setup a little bit.

[thrash_head]

Have you looked at the opterons? You might save some money, and if you want to OC your computer opty's OC like a motherfucker.

Also, Get THIS (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116375) monitor

[Cent]

With the memory + motherboard you mentioned, dont you mean your getting the AM2 processor? and its only $10 more.

[andr3w]

SLI is so expensive =\

BUT my geforce 7900gt is running great isnt over heating at all.....i recommened purchasing an alternate heatsink and fan for it though just in case.

[adamantium]

I too have heard bad things about the Ultra PSUs. If you want a modular PSU, I recently got this: Hiper 580w SLI-Ready PSU (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817128001) . I haven't had any problems with it at all. It's modular, it's 580w, it works, and it's pretty. I would definitely recommend it.

[Commander]

Wait for Intel Core 2 Duo...

[Janus]

another vote to wait for Conroe/Core 2 Duo. It will be out by July and a $300 processor from them (with a bit of OCing) beats out an FX-62 pretty easily (over $1000 cpu). Definitely worth the wait. And also, I wouldn't waste teh money on SLI. Either get a 7900gtx or a 7900gt. The cost/performance ratio isn't really worth it, especially if you are only gaming on a 19'' lcd screen (limited to resolution). If you go SLI don't get anything less than a 24'' widescreen so you can actually use the power of the cards.

[dakine`]

Are you serious janus? About the 300$ processor?

[Dave]

Yes he's serious. Thats why three or four people said "wait for Conroe". It beats AMD in every benchmark, it's cheap, and it looks like it's going to be a great overclocker as well.
Intel got it right with this one, while AMD came to the party with a new cpu that does nothing better than the cpu it replaces.

[ass*assassin]

Yes he's serious. Thats why three or four people said "wait for Conroe". It beats AMD in every benchmark, it's cheap, and it looks like it's going to be a great overclocker as well.
Intel got it right with this one, while AMD came to the party with a new cpu that does nothing better than the cpu it replaces.

ditto, IF you can wait a month or so, it would be in your best interest to do so and look at the conroe. looks mighty tasty, eh?

[Janus]

refer to Dave's post.

yeah, after a small OC (which from the Engineering Samples that I have read about at XS) on air it can hit over 3.0ghz easily and completely blow away any of AMD's offerings.

[thrash_head]

Yeah, This is possible the first time i've seen Intel > AMD. I'm sure my boys at AMD will come up with something in a year or so to blow the conroe away.

[jabroni]

i keep reading that as cornrow.

fucking shit bigrichard

[Pro]

I was going to get Pentium D 940, should I wait for these new Conroe?

[thrash_head]

I would wait considering it's coming out pretty soon.

[ass*assassin]

I would wait considering it's coming out pretty soon.

ditto, IF you can wait a month or two, it would be worth your time, methinks..