New build...

[azzey]

Okay, so here's the deal. I have this P4c machine that I built last year, and I'm going to upgrade it. Well, more like upgrade it now, then eventually buy back the parts so that it can be used for something else (a server, I'm thinking).

Anyways, the old computer is as follows:
Intel Pentium 4 (Northwood C) 2.6ghz with HT
Asus P4P8T socket 478 mATX
Viking 512mb PC2100
NEC DVD-RW combo drive
Western Digital 80 GB SATA HDD
Seagate 120 GB IDE HDD
ATI Radeon 9200, 128 MB

It was built from an Asus Terminator-2 barebone kit (case, mobo, psu).

Now, I found a very good deal on an Athlon 64 X2 4200+ about a month ago, and bought it. I also bought an A-Bit K9N-SLI motherboard (AM2). So I have the workings of a new PC.

I have ordered a case (Cooler Master Centurion), and I'm not sure what it has for power but I can order a PSU if I need to. I will be reusing the DVD-RW drive, floppy drive, and hard drive from the old computer.

I need RAM and a video card. I'm thinking 1GB of RAM, and perhaps a 7900GT that I could put in SLI later. I'm not on the world's biggest budget, but I could probably do about $100 or 150 CAD for the RAM, and $250-300 for the video card.

If anyone has any suggestions, that would be awesome.

[saphalline]

You'll need low latency DDR2-800 to take advantage of that CPU, plus an OC to 2.4GHz to balance out the CPU:RAM ratios. So 1GB of DDR2-800 RAM with 5-5-5-15 timings at the very least. If you can afford it, go for 4-4-4-12.

For the vid card, get a factory OC'ed 7900 GT. A 256MB version should be plenty.

[azzey]

Yeah, I knew I should have gotten the 2.4, but the 4200 was just such a good deal... I couldn't pass it up! Normally I would have gone with just a plain jane Athlon 64, 3200 maybe.

I settled on this (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2341284&sku=C13-2032) RAM, DDR2-800, 4-4-4-12.

I pretty much settled on either this (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2227157) or this (http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2146534)video card. I'll probably go for the OC'd one. I don't have the money for it right now, but I will in a week or two. Also, I'm still waiting for my case to come, so I don't know about power right now.

[azzey]

Okay, so I'm finally ordering the RAM... it turns out that the sticks I had picked out in my previous post were sold out, and the way things played out I ended up waiting. Now, the system is assembled minus the video card, which is on the way, and the RAM which I'm about to order.

Do these look good?
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2176262&CatId=2259
or...
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=2240432&CatId=0

If you have any other suggestions, I'd be open to that too. Only catch is that I would really prefer to stay with TigerDirect as I can then combine my orders. Also, I'd like to stay at a modest price (the ones I linked to really hit the spot!)

[saphalline]

Those prices looked a bit high until I realized they were in CAD! :p

I'd take that Kingston HyperX over OCZ anyday! I don't care if it's more expensive, I've heard of too many problems with OCZ RAM to really trust it.