First Build Specs

This is my first build and I wanted to get some second opinions before I buy parts. Open to any suggestions, but I really dont want to have to spend any more.

Case: Antec Super LANBoy Aluminum Atx Mid-Tower . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $64

Case Fans: 2 Antec 120mm Case Fans TriCool Blue LED . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $22

Power Supply: Antec Smart Power 2.0 500w . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $64

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego Core (2.2 GHz, 2000 MHz fsb, 1 mb L2,
Socket 939) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$316

Thermal Paste: OCZ Technology OCZ Ultra 5+ Silver Therm. Paste . . . . . . . . . . . . $5

Mother Board: Asus A8N-E Socket 939 nForce4 Ultra chipset . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $103

Memory: Corsair PC3200 1GB (2 modules) DDR Dimm TwinX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $121

Hard Drive: Hitachi DeskStar SATA 250GB 7,200/8mb . . . . . . . . . . . . $116

Optical Drive: Lite-On SOHc-5232K DVD/CDRW 16x DVD 52x/32x/52x CD . . $35

Video Card: Power Color Radeon x800XL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $280

Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Gamer (bundled with Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Halo, Rainbow Six 3: Raven Sheild, Splinter Cell and Tomb Raider). . $97

Speakers: Logitech Z-5300 5.1, 280 watts, game console adapter . . . . . . . . . . . . . $92

Monitor: View Sonic VA12B 17” LCD, 8ms response time, 1280 x 1024, DVI . . .$250

Total . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (about) $1620

 

if you're gaming, LCD's are bad. Also replace thermal paste with arctic silver

 

Yea, go for dual CRT's for the same price. Dual monitors can be very handy for multi-tasking. Or you can go with one CRT and save some money that should be spent on the video card. Also, you should definately go with the Artic Silver 5.

 

How do LED fans affect gaming?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820221134
that's pretty cool RAM

I'd get a Western Digital hard drive, personal preference.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001178
that's a pretty damn good monitor

 

they look really pretty, that's about it.

 

Yea Western Digital is better than Hitachi (had Hitachi on my last box, have WD on my new one), but Hitachi is still very good. As far as LED fans, they do nothing as long as you have a big enough PSU. But even then they take up very little extra power.

 

You can concider this ram as an alternative: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220045, Patriot is a very trusted brand.
I'm very impressed with that soundcard, the games alone make it worth it:good: The monitor is very good for the price but you'd be better served with a CRT unless you go to LAN parties a lot. Better color accuracy, responce time, higher resolutions, and resolution switching without degredation, more sturdy, and more screen for your money.
Generally speaking LED fans usually don't perform as well as high end non-LED fans. Why, manufacturers often appeal to users wanting cool looks over performance (air-flow/noise levels). You'd think they'd make a powerful quiet LED fan but I haven't found anything yet that looked really promising. But unless you're really serious about your fans the average LED fan won't give you trouble. My one suggestion for fans is if your (very cool case) supports 80mm fans I'd go for a "silent" 80mm fan instead of a 120mm fan. You still get good airflow but contrary to what I read a while back the 80mm fans are often quieter.

 

or you can get a 8ms or 4ms LCD, some are very good in performance

IMO id get a 120mm, better CFMs for a quieter rate of RPM

and I second about the patriot RAM, they're also known for good overclocks, tho G.SKill kinda takes all the glory

 

Generally speaking 120mm fans are pretty noisey but they do a great job at cooling. Here's the ultimate 120mm fan if you can use it:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811999127

 

i think Girtho961 got mixed up with LCD and LED, as ninja posted about LCD's not being good for gaming

 

Well, I don't know about that but they Ex and Ninja are right about LCD monitors, they are teh suck!!!1!!1 But uhhh, yea if you're gonna be gaming a CRT is definately the way to go. I personally have found that my 85 CFM 80 mm Tornado is around 2-3 times louder than my 100 CFM 120 mm fan. So uhhh, you might want one if you can fit it in.

 

yeah LCD's arent good for gaming, get a high quality flat crt with a good resolution and refresh rate, i use a tft but i dont game so i'm not really bothered, i got it as it doesnt take up too much space and for the smae price i would have wanted a 21" flat crt and that would have been too big, plus my monitor doesnt have the fastest response time in the world but its okay for what i do. (its a Hansol H550 by the way, its in the My Computer part under my name on the left hand side)

 

Well, unfortunately quality equals $$$$$$$$$$$$$.

 

Yeah that's the prob, you can get a really nice LCD that will play games beautifully, even one for $250. But when you look at a 19" CRT for $180 you begin to wonder why you bought the LCD. Well that's my opinion, CRT's aren't for everyone I know, do what you can afford and will enjoy.

 

I have a L90D+ from hyundai, never saw ghosting or any slowdowns yet on this baby, even while going berserk on doom 3 with nearly max settings.