[nylax4]

I'm finally going for it. Tomorrow AMD is dropping the price of the X2 series by 20% and I'm jumping on a Athlon X2 3600+. If there is anything wrong with this build please let me know because I'm dropping about $400 on it, that may not be a lot for some of you but it is for a high school student.

CPU - Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Brisbane 1.9GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail
Motherboard - Newegg.com - BIOSTAR NF520-A2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 520 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
RAM - Newegg.com - OCZ Gold 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail
Video Card - Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N554-AX GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Hard Drive - have samsung 160gb 7200 rpm
Optical Drive - have Lite-on DVD burner
CD Drive - have Asus CD Drive
Power Supply - Newegg.com - FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, RoHS, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, 20+ 4 pin, PCI Express, 400W Power Supply - Retail
Case - Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Speakers - have logitech x-230's
Monitor - have Westinghouse 32" LCD HDTV
Mouse/Keyboard - have logitech
Operating System - have Win XP Pro

Here are some comments you can digest: I'm going to use this PC for some Photoshop(nothing heavy just simple image editing), AIM, Firefox, and some games(Oblivion,source games,etc.).I want to overclock the 3600+ to around 2.4ghz, once I get everything acquainted I would love if someone could walk me through OC'ing. Is there a reason the OCZ gold is so cheap? It looks good enough. I would go for the 8600gts but if I really want to play DX10 games I'll just wait to get an 8800gtx or some 9 series GPU in the future. Can the Fortron Source 400w handle all of this?

[phucng_10]

For the power supply, I suggest you get at least a 500-600W Power Supply. 400W seems a bit low for all the items you've listed up there.

[fade2black2004]

the fortron would run all that just fine but if i were you i would go with the 550 watt Xcilo Greatpower for like 50 bucks

as for ram save some money and go with GSKILL they will overclock better

[b1gapl]

The GREATPOWER is $100. I think you were referring to the GOODPOWER 500w, that's for $50....but the FSP 400w, will run that system just fine.

I think you should go for the Arctic Cooling Freezer Pro 64, instead. Haven't really heard of the Alpine 64's performance.

[fade2black2004]

yea i meant goodpower sorry

[nylax4]

I'd glady add G.skill ddr2 800 RAM if you can find it cheaper. And I added the Freezer Pro 64.

[vernong1992]

Originally Posted by nylax4

I'd glady add G.skill ddr2 800 RAM if you can find it cheaper. And I added the Freezer Pro 64.

with all the additions mentioned, i think u've created an awesome value system

[Sora]

Um first off you aren't going to overclock that chip to 3.0ghz with that motherboard. you are going to NEED at least this board right here.

Newegg.com - BIOSTAR TFORCE 550 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Then for the memory OCZ is good but overpriced. This s just as good and cheaper.

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail

Then take that money and upgrade the card to one of these (only 5 more after rebate)
Newegg.com - EVGA 256-P2-N624-AR GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 KO Video Card - Retail

You will not see good performance on most games (especially not ones like oblivion) with a 7600GT. The 7900GS I own and it plays oblivion in dungeons at medium settings good FPS.