What things would you change on this build?

[Geoff]

I am not a gamer (do not need sli) but I . . .
- do video editing
- sometimes watch dvd's
- do office type work
- surf

I want this system to work with windows vista when it is selling to the
masses and drivers are easy to find. One bad thing is I prefer a more beige
color case but I guess black is the only option for the sonata.

Samsung 204T 20.1" Monitor $550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001194

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $92
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice core $219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
$240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145574
NOTE: There is other cheaper memory but this is the memory asus says to
use.

Antec Sonata II case w/ Antec 450 watt SmartPower 2.0 power supply $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

EVGA 6600GT PCI Express video card $149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130214

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Hard Drive - OEM $115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

ASUS Black Enhanced-IDE (ATAPI) DVD Burner Model DRW-1608P - OEM $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135033

Kensington Black Wired Keyboard - Retail $14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823155013

Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 Silver - Retail $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826105178

Windows XP Professional OEM $142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102062

Norton SystemWorks w/Anti-virus $63
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832108272

 

[Odie Ferrous]

I am not a gamer (do not need sli) but I . . .
- do video editing
- sometimes watch dvd's
- do office type work
- surf

I want this system to work with windows vista when it is selling to the
masses and drivers are easy to find. One bad thing is I prefer a more beige
color case but I guess black is the only option for the sonata.

Samsung 204T 20.1" Monitor $550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001194

I have a Samsung 213T and am very satisfied with it.

ASUS A8N5X Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $92
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice core $219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533

Do yourself a favour and get an AMD X2 dual-core processor - even the
least powerful.

CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
$240
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145574
NOTE: There is other cheaper memory but this is the memory asus says to
use.

Kingston are great for memory. Avoid "Corsair Value" as it is not
entirely compatible
with all systems.

Antec Sonata II case w/ Antec 450 watt SmartPower 2.0 power supply $109
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129155

EVGA 6600GT PCI Express video card $149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130214

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
Hard Drive - OEM $115
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701

Avoid WD. I am getting a high volume of these in for data recovery.
Stick with Seagate (or Seagate, or even Seagate) - even if it costs
a little more.

ASUS Black Enhanced-IDE (ATAPI) DVD Burner Model DRW-1608P - OEM $50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135033

Kensington Black Wired Keyboard - Retail $14
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823155013

Microsoft Comfort Optical Mouse 3000 Silver - Retail $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826105178

Windows XP Professional OEM $142
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102062

Norton SystemWorks w/Anti-virus $63
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16832108272

Norton? You serious? If you want endless problems with your computer,
then install Norton. No "proper" professional IT person uses Norton.
Norton causes more problems than it supposedly "rectifies."
Something like AVG (free version) will do the job very nicely.


OD