This is what I plan on buying, is it a good gaming pc? any help would be appreciated.

AMD Athlon-64 X2 DDR400 PCI-Express System

Coolermaster Ammo-533 Gaming Tower Case w/420W Power Supply

[939-pin] AMD Athlon-64 X2 4800+ CPU w/ Hyper Transport Technology

Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink

eVGA nForce-4 SLI Chipset Dual DDR w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB

1024 MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module

[PCI-Express 16x] Nvidia Geforce 6600 256MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )

180 GB HARD DRIVE 180 GB 7200 RPM Ultra ATA-100 Hard Drive)

16x DVD-ROM + 52x32x52 CD-RW Combo Drive

3D Premium Surround Sound Onboard

Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)

MS Windows XP Home Edition w/Service Pack-2

That CPU overpowers the video card big time.
If I were you, I would get a Athlon 64 4000+ or 3700+ and use the $400-500 saved on a 7800GTX.

Asus P4P800
P4 2.4c @ 3000 Mhz Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu HSF
ATI Radeon 9800 pro
1 GB OCZ pc 3500 ram
Sound Blaster audigy LS

so other than the vid card, what do u think frosty?

Doh!!!

Well, if I'm ignoring the price and the video card, it's definitely a good computer.
I know a lot of people on this forum will say that a dual core processor isn't necessary at this point in time but if you can afford it, go for it. How much is this computer anyway? 1500+ American dollars?

Asus P4P800
P4 2.4c @ 3000 Mhz Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu HSF
ATI Radeon 9800 pro
1 GB OCZ pc 3500 ram
Sound Blaster audigy LS

While I personally wouldn't get a dual core CPU, the case can be made to get one. However, I wouldn't get the 4800. The 4400 still has 1M cache per core, so it virtually meets the 4800 in performance and costs significantly less.

However, a 6600 with any dual core CPU is just not a wise purchase. You're obviously wanting top notch gaming performance. You should purchase a 7800GT at a min before you even consider buying a dual core CPU. Every game out there can take advantage of the 7800GT's performance, but the vast majority of games out there cannot take advantage of dual core currently.

"16x DVD-ROM + 52x32x52 CD-RW Combo Drive"

Come on. Spend another $10 and get a drive that can burn DVD's as well as CD's.

I'd also look into a higher end Power Supply than a 420W. Dual core high end CPU + a 7800GT if you take my advice? Get a 500W or higher from a reputable brand that's SLI ready since you're getting an SLI motherboard.

"Christmas and the New Year are actually two holidays.... I suppose you could say 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy New Year,' but you probably have sh!t to do." --Jon Stewart, on saying "Happy Holidays"

I agree with the above, dump the X2 & get a 3700+ San Diego instead...use the money you you save on the CPU & invest in a better video card.

There are better motherboards, but the reviews on that one actually aren't bad.

http://www.nvnews.net/reviews/evga_nforce4_sli_edition_mainboard/index.shtml

I suspect this is a configuration from either CyberPower or IBuyPower, but if it's not, you may wanna look into the deal that several vendors are offering...buy a eVGA 7800GT video card & get the eVGA 133-K8-NF41-AX motherboard for "free"! You may even be able to get a free copy of Quake 4.

http://www.evga.com/articles/public.asp?AID=258

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130238

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=322728

This space for rent

What's the price difference between a x24400 and a x24800? about 300 dollars? But to tell you the truth, if you do some real perfomance-price balance the difference should be about 50 dolars, a 100 at most. The 4400 also has the 1mg caché as heropsycho said, the only difference between the 4800 is the slightly increased clockspeed.
What I'm trying to tell you is: DO NOT GET THE 4800! GET THE 4400 AND WITH THE 300 BUCKS GET A 7800GT VIDEO CARD!
also, get a good power supply... 500w or more (from a reputable brand).

hmm what's ultra-ata?? I haven't read about it... But as far as I know the SATA (serial ata) disks are the fastests... but don't quote me on that.

Free

I'll top that - DO NOT GET AN X2, PERIOD!

This space for rent

"hmm what's ultra-ata?? I haven't read about it... But as far as I know the SATA (serial ata) disks are the fastests... but don't quote me on that."

Ultra ATA is PATA-100/133. And, no SATA drives are not the fastest, only the interface is (yes you do get some overhead gain fron SATA, but it will be inperceptible). However, I would still go with SATA as it is just easier to wire and the cables are nice and small which will help airflow.

Michael J

"Ultra ATA is PATA-100/133. And, no SATA drives are not the fastest, only the interface is (yes you do get some overhead gain fron SATA, but it will be inperceptible)."

I disagree it's imperceptible. The benchmark people have been referencing on this forum did not show multiple drives daisy chained on one PATA cable compared to SATA's. That must be kept in mind in case drives are added in the future.

"I'll top that - DO NOT GET AN X2, PERIOD!"

There are reasons to buy a dual core. I would say that most people as a general rule shouldn't at this point on strictly price/performance considerations when you're talking gaming, but it is certainly understandable to buy one now if you're doing heavy multitasking, or graphics productivity apps that are multithreaded.

The X2 3800 for example is only $320. At $100 more than the 3700, it's not really all that costly, although I still believe the 3700 is a better value.

The 4400 Toledo core at $500 I can even understand for high end workstations due to it having 1M cache per core, although I seriously doubt this user will need it, and honestly should bump down the the 3800, or go with a single core CPU for now.

But there flat out is absolutely no reason to go higher than a 4400. I will say with absolute certainty it's a complete waste of money for virtually anyone to go above that.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

Okay, here is what I'm looking that. I know everyone says AMD for gaming, but I have never had an AMD based PC so hopefully you can see why I'm sticking with Pentium. This PC will be used 80% for gaming and 20% for internet, audio/video editing. What do you think?

Case: Coolermaster Ammo-533 Gaming Tower w/NZXT PF-500 500 Watt Power Supply

Processor: [Socket-775] Intel® Pentium-4 Processor 660 [3.6GHz, 2MB Cache, 800MHz FSB, 64-Bit + HT Ready]

Processor Cooling: Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink + 2 Extra Color Lighting Case Fans

Motherboard: [DDR2] Asus P5ND2-SLI nForce4 Chipset w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, IEEE-1394 Dual PCI-E MB

Memory: [DDR2 MainBoard] 1024MB [512MB X2] DDR2-533 PC4200 Memory Corsair-Value or Major Brand

Video Card: [PCI-Express 16x] Nvidia Geforce 7800GT 256MB w/DVI + TV Out Video

Hard Drive: 120 GB HARD DRIVES [S-ATA] Seagate 120 GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Hard Drive

I would like to get a dual PCI-Express set up but that's out of the question right now, so I got the motherboard that will support it and hopefully I can add it on later. Thanks for the inputs so far.

I think you took a serious step backwards by going Intel.

"Christmas and the New Year are actually two holidays.... I suppose you could say 'Merry Christmas' and 'Happy New Year,' but you probably have sh!t to do." --Jon Stewart, on saying "Happy Holidays"

Maybe, but compared to what I own now, HP P4 2.26, 512 DDR Ram, 80 Gig HD, Geforce MX 440 w/64 Ram, motherboard not even worth mentioning...... I think it's a step forward.

Undoubtedly, it's better than what you have. The problem is it's not going to be as good as it could be. Look at any independent benchmarks, and you'll see AMD Athlon 64's are significantly better than Intel CPU's in gaming, and a majority of other applications as well, plus it will probably end up costing you a tad less.

There's nothing to running an AMD that's particularly special compared to Intel, so lack of experience with AMD isn't going to hurt you.

I'd also get a bigger hard drive. You're not going to spend much more going to say a 250gig drive.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

Good point, after looking at those tests on tomshardware.com, the 4000+ scored alot higher than the P4 I was looking at getting. I'm gonna go ahead and get the AMD based system. Thanks for the inputs hero.

-Coolermaster Ammo-533 Gaming Tower Case w/Enermax EG565P 535 Watt Power Supply [SLI-Ready]
-[939-pin] AMD Athlon-64 4000+ CPU w/ HT Tech
-Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit
-eVGA nForce-4 SLI Chipset Dual DDR w/7.1 Sound, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Dual PCI-E MB
-1024 MB [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory
-[PCI-Express 16x] Nvidia Geforce 7800GT 256MB w/DVI + TV Out Video )
-Maxtor 160 GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache HD
-MS Windows XP Home Edition W(/SP-2)

Final recommendations...

Don't bother with the 4000. Either get the 3700 San Diego, which will run a tad slower but save you $100, or get a dual core CPU for your video editing, although current games won't perform as well as with the 3700, this will change as more games become dual core optimized. Personally, I'd get the 3700, and wait for more stuff to become dual core optimized and the prices to fall. Your mobo will accept all current X2 dual cores, and probably the FX-60 as well.

The 3700 compared to the 4000 is simply clock speed. You will probably not even notice the difference. In the case of doing video editing/encoding, etc. that $100 would be better spent on 2GB of RAM instead of a single gig, or an additional hard drive with more cache that's separate from the OS drive.

Also, I strongly recommend you check prices on hard drives. I've seen even 300 gig SATA drives going for $100 after rebate. Remember, a less than half filled drive runs faster than a more than half filled drive.

"Liquid CPU Cooling Fan System Kit"

Completely unnecessary. My Athlon 64 3000 overclocks from 1.8GHz to 2.5GHz with stock cooling with the retail boxed CPU, and the reason it won't go higher is not heat since my CPU temps are 34C underload. Put the money on more RAM or an additional and/or bigger/faster hard drive.

Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.

www.redcross.org

I can get the 4000+ and cooling from a friend who has been pushing for me to switch over to AMD. As far as the HD, I plan on gutting my old PC for it's 120 & 100 gig HD's as well as the additional fans. I can get the memory later on I guess. Thanks for the help hero.