Building my first pc to be used for intense spreadsheet analysis and database management......oh okay, it's really for playing WoW, Doom3, HL2. In need of direction/opinion/resources for building this. - Trying to keep the total cost under $1000, do not need monitor, keyboard, mouse, speakers - Trying to make it upgradeable for when I have more $ to spend Preliminary specs: AMD Athlon 64 3200 Socket 939 retail $210 Abit AV8 K8t800 Pro w/ AGP 8x $110 Rosewill ATIRadeon 9600XT 256mb 128bit $159 Is the Abit mobo a good choice considering the next generation of graphics will probably be PCIe or do you think AGP8x will be around for awhile? I plan on using Athlon CPU's in the forseable future, so I am counting on Socket 939 to be compatible for future CPU's. The Video card will be my first upgrade but will the 9600XT get me by for awhile? Also how much of a factor is the 128bit vs 256 bit card? Lastly, I am confused about dual channel memory; Is it a function of the mobo or the RAM? and since I do want to take advantage of it, does the AV8 mobo support it? Any suggestions for RAM? Should I consider a P4 so I can use PCIe later on? Thanks for any help!

The dual channel ram is a function of the CPU. I don't think you will get that with a AMD 64. But I've been wrong before. YO

YOYO is wrong because Dual Channel is one of the advantages of socket939 cpus. It's a function of the memory controller that allows it to use two similiar ram modules like one with a 128bit bus instead of seperately with 64bit. Normally that controller is inside the mainboard chipset but with the socket 939 cpus it's build directly in the cpu and allows direct access between cpu and ram! I read somewhere it's about 1,67 times as fast as single ram. If you think about upgrading the ram later too I suggest to start with two single sided 512MB 400MHz (PC3200) modules (ram only on one side of the modules) because there is a know problem about the build in ram controller. If you run 4 double sided ram modules in dual channel mode the ram is usually clocked down to 333MHz. In a test I read the only board that was able to run 4 moduls of the double sided test ram with 400MHz was the Abit AV8. But better go with single sided ram to avoid problems. If you want to go up to the full 4GB ram those boards allow you have to go with double side ram because I had trouble to find single side 512MB modules. The only good I came up with was MCI/MDT Ram. About the Abit AV8 I don't know much other than that it didn't fit into my specifications. I'm just planning to build an upgrade to socket939 and I was thinking about an Asus A8V Deluxe with WiFi card and an MSI K8N Neo2 Platium. At the moment I think it will become the MSI with an Athlon64 3000+. Just read somewhere how they OC that combination to 2700GHz and it was faster than the FX55 and the fastest Pentium4! About the graphic card I'd suggest nothing lower than a FX5900XT or a 9800pro because they are wuite a bit faster than the 9600XT. Especially with Doom you may need the extra speedif you want to get the full graphic experience! The question about AGP or PCI Express is difficult because the PCI Express cards are not a bit faster until now and neither are the actual PCIe systems. But PCIe will become the future so building a complete new system you may think about a PCIe board with the new NForce4 chipset! In my case I upgraded part for part over the years so now I need a new board, cpu and ram but will keep my FX5900XT and two 120GB drives and the rest of my hardware. I hoped for a good board capable of PCIe and AGP but obviously that will not happen!

Thanks FW! I also considered the MSI mobo, although it does increase my price considerably, it does look like it is more future-proof. I've also heard of a recent board with socket 939 and a PCIe slot. I can only imagine how much it will be. If I understand your reply, I should try to use 4 modules of 256mb single side ram, assuming that I want to have a total 1 gb, to receive the full advantage of dual channel.

It's nice to know that the YOYO is wrong every once in a while. Good catch! AMD lulled me away with no dual channel for a long time. And finally it caught up with me. HEHE!!! YO

If you want to go with 1GB than 2x512MB would be a little bit faster than 4x256MB. The reason it that the ram controller of the Athlon64 has an internal latency that needs to change from 1 to 2 if you use 4 ram modules. Running at 400MHz you can mesure the difference but I doubt you will really feel it. If the four modules go down to 333MHz in addition to that latency that you will feel! If you never plan to go above you can use two fast 512MB double sided modules but I suggest to go with two single sided 512MB modules because that always leave the obening to upgrade to 2GB by just adding two additional modules of the same ram. I always thought I'd never need more than 512MB with my old Athlon and now I'm stuck with it because of 2x128MB and 1x256MB SD Ram. Replacing everything makes no sense on that old thing. Still it will replace my old Asus P2B as multimedia computer and Lan gaming machine so 1GB would have been nice!

the ati 9600xt wont be able to keep up with doom 3 and may run into troubles in half life 2. the new card the x800 cant run doom 3 that well so good luck with the 9600