Another Buying Advice Thread:

[Arhra]

Everything is from NewEgg.

The two things I'm concerned about is the memory and the PSU. I've heard some horror stories about the Kingston HyperX RAM. I'm also not sure if that is a generic PSU or an actual Antec PSU. Here goes:

Windows XP Professional OEM - $143.00
Antec SOHO SX1040BII w/ 400W PSU - $94.99
Epox 8RDA+ - $92.00
Lite On Black 48x24x48x16 CDROM/CDRW/DVD Combo Drive - $62.00
Western Digital SE 120GB 7200 RPM 8 MB Cache- $124.00
Athlon XP 2800 Barton - $222.00
2 x Kingston HyperX 256 PC2700 - $90.00
PowerColor Radeon 9700 Pro 128MB DDR - $300.00
Thermaltake Volcano 10+ - $19.99

TOTAL: $1145.98

Thanks in advance

EDIT: Is there any reason to believe the R9700 Pro will fall in price in the near future?

 

[AthlonXP]

Ditch the powercolor for a sapphire or a FIC, powercolor has been known to underlock there cards. The 400W PSU is an antec smartpower, it'll be more than nough. Ditch the PC2700, they can't overclock as good as the Hyper-X PC3000 or pc3200. You can also get corsair xms pc3200c2 for around $100. Ditch the epox 8rda+ and get an Abit NF7-S revision 2.0, it has barton 200mhz fsb support and overclocks alot better (get it at excaliber pc). BTW thermaltake hsf's suck, get a thermalright slk800/900 with a ys-tech tmd fan, much better.



everything else looks good.

 

[Arhra]

How is the Buffalo Technology 256MB DDR400 (Winbond)?

I was looking at that RAM chip in addition. I wanted a Sapphire, but they are sold out at NewEgg. I'll take a look at the FIC R9700 Pro. EDIT: It is sold out at NewEgg.

EDITED: For formatting.

 

[Celstar]

Get faster memory than pc2700:

 

[JZilla]

If you plan on upgrading in the future, get some PC3200. And rather 2x512mb than 2x256mb, that is if you play BF1942 or do something else that's demanding.

 

[MikeMike]

check svc for a good price on heatsinks