Help on building new gaming comp

Hey everyone this is my first post and I need some advice in making a new gaming pc. Im looking for motherboard, cpu, graphics card, and memory. For motherboard I was thinking between the Asus AN8 NF4 sli and the DFI lanparty NF4 sli. I am leaning towards the AN8 because im not that computer literate and probably wont be overclocking a lot, but if anyone can say why the DFI one is better than I will hear them out. Also what are the differences between AN8 SLI regular, deluxe, or premium. For graphics cards I was thinking about the ATI x850xt or pe depending on what deals I can find. I have heard that there have been problems with the ATI cards and the AN8 anyone else hear this. Should I go for one of the Nvidia ones or not. I was thinking about it since they are the only ones making sli graphics cards, but i figure the x850 will be good enough for a while and I can upgrade to SLI cards later. For memory im just looking for something cheap but effective enough to play games. I was thinking 1 gig. CPU I was thinking AMD 3200. Another question is will I have to upgrade my powersupply. Right now I have a 20 pin 450 watt power supply. Can I just get a converter to 24 pins or would it be better for me to get a 24 pin power supply. Right now, I have a pretty big budget (under 2000) but i really want to keep it around 1500 max. Anyways I know the post is long but any advice would help. Thanks.

The DFI has slightly better voltage options and memory timing options that the Asus A8N-E (not AN8) does not. In my opinion the Asus is a better choice for most people. I've built several single and dual-core systems with the board and it has been flawless. All have used ATI videocards, so no issues with that.

SLI Deluxe is same as the A8N-E but it's SLI and has an extra drive controller that you probably don't need. The Premium is also SLI but has a passive heatpipe cooling system for the chipset and VRs. It's a decent board. I'm still testing it.

If your budget only allows for a 3200+ then don't wast your money on a $500+ videocard. Get an X800XL or a 6800GT. If you want to use an X800 XT PE or 7800GTX get a 3700+ minimum and overclock it to 2800MHz+ so you can realize the benefits of such a card!

1 GIG of any high quality PC3200 will be fine. Get two 512MB sticks of course to allow dual channel operation. For the power supply you should grab an OCZ Modstream 520 or better. All of that should fall easily into your budget.

For future posts, if you break up the text a little its much easier to read. Often it is nice to re-read sections and its hard to find them in a block of text. Sorry for just criticising and not helping with your problem.

Theres a few "Need A Gaming PC" threads so have a look around those also to get some ideas. :)

Thanks everyone for the help. I have read throught the other forum post and got a couple idea. One question I have is would it be practical to buy a sli mb when I might not even use sli for like 1-2 years. If not should I just stick to one pci-e slot. Also will my 20 pin 450 wat powersupply be good enough for any mb.

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Originally Posted by Jming1084

Thanks everyone for the help. I have read throught the other forum post and got a couple idea. One question I have is would it be practical to buy a sli mb when I might not even use sli for like 1-2 years. If not should I just stick to one pci-e slot. Also will my 20 pin 450 wat powersupply be good enough for any mb.

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is it a q-tec antec enermax? it all depends on the quality of the psu.

if ur not planning on going sli u might as well purchase a non-sli version.

If you are not going SLI now you should just get a non-SLI board, because later SLI should be better and cards will come down in price where they'll be far more attractive. Also motherboards will be improved and we'll have more options, namely an ATI option which should be superior to the nVidia in a lot of ways. You need to have identical videocards for best results with SLI (although you could get luck buying one and then another later).

Alright I got everything. Here's the system im think about

MB: Asus A8N-e NF4
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3800+ 512K 90nm Rev. E Veni
Heatsink: Thermaltake A1838
Mem: DDR (400) 3200 1 GB (2x512) OCZ (OCZ4001024v3dc-k)
PSU: OCZ OCZ52012U ModStream ATX 2.0 520W Power Supply
Grapics: ATI (Connect3D) Radeon X850 XT Platinum Edition 256MB PCI-E

All this is going to cost me about 1100 dollars. What do you guys think?

Awesome rig, and if you ever need dual-core you'll have a great motherboard already. You'll be able to just pop it in. I'd suggest dual-core now except you said it's primarily a gaming rig so it's not really a good idea to spend the extra money on a core you probably will not use.

Should be very good. What HD?