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General discussion

Need some help with the desktop configuration

Aug 7, 2005 7:10PM PDT

Hi
I'm planning to build a desktop myself even though I have no experience in it whatsoever. I'm an impatient kind of person and I really want my computer to be fast, yet not that expensive (not more than $2200). I mainly do some photo-video editing, and I play video games (not a big gamer though). I want the configuration to be decent for the next couple of years without upgrading.
Here's the configuration (Used newegg.com for all the parts):

NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM - $45.99
ASPIRE X-QPACK-AL/420 Black/Silver Aluminum MicroATX Desktop Computer Case 420W Power Supply - Retail - $85.00
Fujitsu MAU3073NC 73GB 15,000 RPM SCSI Ultra320 80pin Hard Drive - OEM - $439.00
NU QL-711V 2-Tone 17" 8ms LCD Monitor - Retail - $235.99
ABIT AN8-ULTRA Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - $125.00
eVGA 256-A8-N344-AX Geforce 6800GT 256MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail - $294.00
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM - $7.99
VANTEC ICEBERG DDR-A1A Aluminium RAM Heat Spreader - Retail (4x) - $18.20
OCZ Value Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model OCZ4002048V3DC-K - Retail (2x) - $387.90
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Manchester 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4200BVBOX - $499.00
Logitech Cordless Desktop Optical 967320-0403 Black PS/2 RF Wireless Standard Keyboard Mouse Included - OEM - $19.95
Subtotal - $2,158.02

So here it is.
I'm not that into all this computer stuff so I'd like to know if I'm missing something important, or if there's maybe something not really worth buying, generally, ANY SUGGESTIONS YOU CAN POSSIBLY GIVE ME.
Any help is extremely appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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good except
Aug 7, 2005 9:38PM PDT

for the SCSI video card. There is no need for $439 on a wimpy 73GB of storage. If you really want speed, get two Raptors and stick'em in RAID 0. Then, get another drive with lots of space(300GB minimum) and add that. That way you have speed and storage.

Your RAM is also way too expensive. Fancy RAM performs about 2% faster than value RAM. Try this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146970

Also, you don't need Arctic silver if you are not overclocking. Use the stock fan and thermal pad.

Other than that, I think it's good. Happy

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no, those won't work
Aug 8, 2005 1:25AM PDT

your case, the aspire, only accepts micro atx mother boards. you have selected an atx mobo. you will have to look for a new micro atx mobo. second, your graphics card is agp, you motherboard only accepts pci express, so you would have to buy a 6800GT PCI Express 16x model, instead of the agp.

other than that, its a good build.

konny

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Fujitsu MAU3073NC 73GB 15,000 RPM SCSI Ultra320 80pin Hard D
Aug 8, 2005 5:34AM PDT

SCSI??? You will need a SCSI controler card!! Which you DO NOT have in your list!!!
Yes get the WD raptor SATA drives!!! Suggested in the other post. John