made after extensive research on this website and
many others. (this is my first post here)
base system:
- cpu - athlon 64 3400+
motherboard - msi k8n-neo platinum (nVidia nForce3 250Gb chipset)
memory - 1Gbyte - corsair valueselect vs1gbkit400
video - sapphire atlantis radeon 9600 256M (passive heatsink)
disk - western digital WD740GD 74G SATA 10,000 rpm
dvd burner - pioneer dvr-108 16X dual-layer
flash memory drive in 5.25" bay - aftech p9
keyboard - liteon 85-key usb
mouse - logitech
operating system - WinXP Pro
for an additional $400 i intend to get the following:
- upgrade the case to a Lian Li PC-V1100B
case fans - i plan to try: nexus d12sl-12, enermax uc-12fab,papst 4412fgl
cpu cooler - zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu
northbridge cooler - zalman passive northbridge heat sink
power supply - seasonic ss-400agx
temp & fan speed monitor / controller - mCubed T-Balancer XL
disk suspension - improvise something using 1/2" sorbothane
the choices i'm the least confident about are the motherboard, memory, and disk drive. i'd appreciate any insight anyone may have about any of this. i realize the lian-li case adds a lot of cost and no added performance, but i really like the way it looks
thanks!