new MicroATX PC Build, advice please

Q

qqg3

Newcomer
Hi

I am going to be building a new computer soon, it'll be packed into a Thermaltake Lanbox, I've lined up some components after extensive research. Are there any major problems? I'm looking at gaming with this machine after some minor overclocking...

Gigabyte GA G33M-S2 Micro ATX
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC2-6400C4 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit
Western Digital RAID Edition 160GB SATA-II 16MB Cache
Intel Core 2 Duo E2180 "LGA775 Conroe" 2.00GHz
Pioneer DVR-115DBK 20x DVD±RW IDE Dual Layer ReWriter 17.61
NVIDIA 8600 8600GT 512MB PCI-E
Antec Basic 500W PSU 39.94
Thermaltake VF1000SNA Lanbox
 
Looks good.

However, while the 8600GT is a deal at the prices it is at these days, it's also a fairly slow card. You might want to look into a Radeon 3850 instead, which is much faster. 8600GT may be perfectly adequate for you though, depending on what you want to play. A passively-cooled 8600GT might be very nice, actually. I have one of those and stuck an 80mm fan on it for some very effective cooling.

Just in case though, this is a nice example of a 3850:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161211

Might want to skip the more expensive WD RE drive in favor of a WD SE-16. Cheaper and it still has a 3 year warranty.
 
Thanks for the advice on the HDD. I'll go with a 250gb WD SE16 which is just a bit more than the WD RE, still seems great though.

About the graphics card, this is my biggest problem, finding something decent (320mb or 512mb) that will fit into the ATX case. I admit I am an nVidia fanboy, so I'm unsure about the Radeon 3850, the 8600GT looks great but I'm not all to sure about its handling of the latest games, the most recent titles really demand some power from the pcu and videocard.
 
a 9600GT will be much better than a 8600GT, you could wait for it and actually use the intel IGP that is on your motherboard (or use an interim card)
 
Hmm, looking at the 8800GT now, looks brilliant, aswell the Rad 3070 which is close on performance. Gah, too many options!
 
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