New Computer Config - Please comment

[usxhe190]

Antec Fusion v2
Athlon 64 x2 6000+
Corsair 2Gb PC-800
Asus DVDRW SATA
Samsung 250GB
Abit AN-M2HD
GeForce 8600GTS 256mb

Any comments?

[staffsMike]

Whats it for? HTPC?

[smugla]

what monitor size are you going to use?

[tigerboyce]

os? if its xp i would get a x1950 XT

[BUFF]

should be very nice

[usxhe190]

Thanks for all the replies!

staffsMike, It is mostly going to be used in my bedroom for surfing, working with office applications, watching movies etc, maybe some 3D gaming (e.g. RTS games, maybe FPS but very much doubt it). So I need 100% GPU decoding (i.e. 8600gts or ATI 2600/2400)

smugla, planning to get a 22" or 24" monitor, so more area for office applications and movies watching on my bed

tigerboce, OS - I think I am at the moment planning to have XP since Vista seems not 100% developed yet (although their MCE OS is pretty good). I think I will use XP/Vista rather than MCE since getting cordless keyboard and mouse.

If you have any suggestions it would be great!

Some concerns I have:
1. Is the setup ok for the PSU involved? It is only a 430W.
2. If I get a cheaper case (i.e. NSK2400), is the supplied 380W enough?
3. I am also happy with a cube case (e.g. Sugo, Lanbox) but for around the same price, i think i would have to be the Lanbox Lite. But it seems a Fusion v2 looks better in my bedroom? Any thoughts?
4. For the GPU, should I use ATI 2600/12400 instead of GeForce. I still want some 3D power though...

Actually I am very new to all of these so any comments are most welcome and appreciated!

[staffsMike]

The GTS is supposed to be good for media stuff but the ATi's are handy for that stuff too so i'd say go with the one that you feel happy getting. The GTS and the 2600 will provide fairly decent gaming performance at low resolutions but at 20" plus you will have to lower in game resolutions for it to cope with the more demanding games you may wish to play.

430w should be OK as long as it's a good'un.

AMD are great for bangs for bucks if you don't want to overclock but if you do then consider one of the Intels. the 3000+ will also need some fairly decent cooling as it's just a clocked version of the lesser chips.

[usxhe190]

thanks again staffsMike!

no problems with the resolution, i doubt I will play "full" 3D games on the system...and if I do, it wont be full FPS games. However, I would be great to play games at 1680 x 1050 if possible (for 22")....

ANother question, do you think a 380W PSU is ok? I see the cheaper NSK HTPC case with that PSU but was scared that 380W is not enough for the above with spare power for USB stuff (like cordless mice, keyboard, cam, usb sticks etc)

Thanks for the tip for AMD and Intel! I am going for AMD solely because it is cheaper than Intel for an equivalent version...

as for cooling, can I just use the stock cooling for the AMD 6000+? there are two 12cm fans right next to the board from both the Antec Fusion and the cheaper Antec HTPC case which hopefully is ok?

[Rishi]

Looks a good spec mate, one thing I would change if it were mine would be the HDD capacity, 500GB are quite cheap now, if you can afford it then I would reccomend it.

[smugla]

i really hate big hdd as it takes ages to back up id rather go with 2x250s