Potential[New semi-budget system] Feedback appreciated.

This is a semi-budget system. My self imposed spending limit was $1000.

Newegg.com - ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce SPP 100 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1681 3131568)
Newegg.com - G.SKILL Value 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682 0231036)
Newegg.com - SCEPTRE X9g-Naga V Black 19" 8ms DVI LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 800:1 - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682 4112177)
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682 2144701)
Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego 2.4GHz 1MB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 19103037)
Newegg.com - APEVIA X-CRUISER-AL Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 11144152)
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100196L Radeon X1950PRO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 14102075)
Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, UL - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 17182017)
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner With LightScribe Technology - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 27151141)


$949.90 Roughly. I'm considering bumping the CPU up but I'm not certain if I'd like to go the entry-level dual core route as of yet. They're cheap enough but :shrug: . I chose the mobo in anticipation of additional upgrades a year from now.

Definitely go dual core. There's no reason not to.

and get 2GB ram.

Oh yeah, didn't notice that. Yep, 2 gigs is the way to go.

That actually was the 2gigs price, didn't show that though so my bad.

Seeing as how I would want to go the dual core route I switched to an AM2 motherboard.

Here's the revised system:

Newegg.com - AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 19103773)
Newegg.com - Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E1682 2144701)
Newegg.com - APEVIA X-CRUISER-AL Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 11144152)
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100196L Radeon X1950PRO 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 14102075)
Newegg.com - Rosewill RP550-2 ATX 2.01 550W Power Supply 115/230 V CSA, CB, TUV, FCC, UL - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 17182017)
Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Black 18X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 18X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 12X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2MB Cache SATA DVD Burner With LightScribe Technology - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 27151141)
Newegg.com - MSI K9A Platinum Socket AM2 ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 3200 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 13130057)
Newegg.com - Patriot eXtreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168 20220144)

$1106 after shipping and before the $75 MIR. The CPU has already dropped $50 and looks to be going down more on the 9th.

Your processor - $239

Newegg.com - Buy Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! (http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=E NE&DEPA=0&Description=e6400) - $218

Overclockability of your proc on regular cooling:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ - Hot Hardware: HotHardware.com (http://www.hothardware.com/viewarticle.aspx?page=2&articleid=929)
Ultimately, we were able to take the new Athlon 64 X2 6000+ to just under 3.2GHz with an HT clock of 214MHz. The 192MHz overclock equates to a 6.4% increase in clock speed, which is relatively small by today's standards. As we mentioned in our Quad-FX platform coverage a while back, it seems that AMD is getting close to hitting a clock speed ceiling with their 90nm SOI manufacturing process.Not that good.

Overclockability of an E6400 on air cooling:
Cheap Thrills: Core 2 Duo E6400 Overclocked to 3.33 GHz | Tom's Hardware (http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/10/10/cheap_thrills/page3.html)
Using the stock cooler, we were able to reach 3.1 GHz at 387 MHz FSB and 1.45 V using the Intel stock cooler, where increasing the voltage only made the CPU overheat sooner.
Pretty good. Supposing you don't even up the voltage, you should be able to get the clock speed up to 2.8GHz most likely without any problem.

:shrug: Admittedly, the pricing on your AMD proc is VERY attractive.

You do NOT want to buy a Rosewill PSU. Look for Fortron (aka FSP), about the same price and infinitely higher quality.