Thank you all for your previous advice but I need more...

[Eric]

I'm persuaded to discard the idea of upgrading this computer at any
time. I'm pretty much settled on the cpu I think. I hope to
overclock it from 1.8GHz to 2.5GHz Total cost is ~$740.00 Canadian.

This is the set up I'm thinking about:

Mobo: $126.00USD newegg
EPoX "EP-9NDA3+" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard For AMD
Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL
nForce3 Ultra chipset, ATX size 2.0 GTs HT FSB / DDR 400 / AGP-8X /
8ch audio/ 8 USB2.0 GbE LAN / 4 SATA-RAID / 1394
Support Socket-939 based AMD Athlon-64/ Athlon-64 FX up to 3600+ with
2.0GTs Hyper Transport
Support System Memory:
Four 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets
Support single-sided or double-sided 2.5v DDR-333/400 DIMMs with dual
channel architecture in 128/256/512Mb technologies
Support Asynchronous clocking mode between FSB and DIMM
Support up to 4GB system memory
Expansion Slots:
Five PCI connectors compliant with PCI v2.2
One 1.5v AGP- 8X/4X connector compliant with AGP v3.0
PowerBIOS for excellent over clocking features:
Support Asynchronous FSB/DIMM timing mode and 1MHz fine tuning on AGP
clock
Support BIOS adjustable CPU clock and voltage, AGP voltage, DIMM
frequency and voltage settings.
more- http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/products_content.php?ps=322

CPU:$185.00CD
Athlon64 3000+ S939 512K Athlon64 3000+ (1.8GHz) S939 512K 800FSB HS &
FAN (hope to oc to 2.5GHz) (need to get wenchester core)
dual channel mem controller.

Video Card:$240.00CD
N368 6600GT 128M PCX eVGA 6600GT 128M DDR TV-o, DVi-i PCI-Express

Ram:$135.00USD newegg
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - OEM

1) Since the mobo doesn't seem to have pci-e should I change the video
card and save some money instead of getting a useless feature?
Suggestions?

2) Does anything look totally out of whack? Is the video card too
much for the cpu? Am I wasting money on a component?

3) Is it worth the money to get high end ram at twice the cost? Like,
G.skill (Samsung TCCD) Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR
PC-4400, Model F1-3200DSU2-1GBLE - Retail $275.00 USD.

Thanks again for your help
Eric

 

[Tony Hill]

I'm persuaded to discard the idea of upgrading this computer at any
time. I'm pretty much settled on the cpu I think. I hope to
overclock it from 1.8GHz to 2.5GHz Total cost is ~$740.00 Canadian.

Hmm.. didn't realize you were also up here in The Great White North..

This is the set up I'm thinking about:

Mobo: $126.00USD newegg
EPoX "EP-9NDA3+" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard For AMD

That could work, though www.ncix.com currently has a very similar MSI
K8N Neo2 on sale at $174CDN (click on the "boxing day sale" banner at
the top of the screen, though note that it's pretty much the same as
the "sale" they have every week :> ). Having owned both Epox and MSI
boards in the past, my money would be on the MSI one.

Sadly Athlon64 boards with PCI-Express slots do not seem to be
available yet up here.

CPU:$185.00CD
Athlon64 3000+ S939 512K Athlon64 3000+ (1.8GHz) S939 512K 800FSB HS &
FAN (hope to oc to 2.5GHz) (need to get wenchester core)
dual channel mem controller.

Not a bad choice if you're looking to save some cash. This one is
listed on sale at NCIX for $180.

Video Card:$240.00CD
N368 6600GT 128M PCX eVGA 6600GT 128M DDR TV-o, DVi-i PCI-Express

This card will not work in the board you have selected.

Ram:$135.00USD newegg
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - OEM

Should be fine.

1) Since the mobo doesn't seem to have pci-e should I change the video
card and save some money instead of getting a useless feature?
Suggestions?

Replace "useless feature" with "unusable card". You've got a
PCI-Express video card but a motherboard without a PCI-Express slot to
stuff the thing in. This flat out will not work (what was it that
Keith said about parts requiring a hammer to install being a bad
thing? :> ).

NCIX has an AGP card with the 6600GT chipset listed at $280CDN (again,
part of their boxing week sale).

2) Does anything look totally out of whack? Is the video card too
much for the cpu? Am I wasting money on a component?

Other than the video card not working in the motherboard, seems ok.

3) Is it worth the money to get high end ram at twice the cost? Like,
G.skill (Samsung TCCD) Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR
PC-4400, Model F1-3200DSU2-1GBLE - Retail $275.00 USD.

In a word: No.

Mind you, I don't go for super overclocking, so I'm not sure what
you're looking at will handle being overclocked or not. I haven't
really looked into how the memory controller's clock division in
Athlon64 chips works when overclocked. I would guess though that
there are some options to keep the memory more or less clocked right
even if the chip is hugely overclocked.

FWIW I only mentioned NCIX in this post as that is where I buy pretty
much all of my computer equipment. They seem to be a very reliable
vendor with good selection and good prices, though you could probably
find something cheaper if you hunt around enough.

 

[George Macdonald]

I'm persuaded to discard the idea of upgrading this computer at any
time. I'm pretty much settled on the cpu I think. I hope to
overclock it from 1.8GHz to 2.5GHz Total cost is ~$740.00 Canadian.

This is the set up I'm thinking about:

Mobo: $126.00USD newegg
EPoX "EP-9NDA3+" NVIDIA nForce3 ULTRA Chipset Motherboard For AMD
Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL
nForce3 Ultra chipset, ATX size 2.0 GTs HT FSB / DDR 400 / AGP-8X /
8ch audio/ 8 USB2.0 GbE LAN / 4 SATA-RAID / 1394
Support Socket-939 based AMD Athlon-64/ Athlon-64 FX up to 3600+ with
2.0GTs Hyper Transport
Support System Memory:
Four 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets
Support single-sided or double-sided 2.5v DDR-333/400 DIMMs with dual
channel architecture in 128/256/512Mb technologies
Support Asynchronous clocking mode between FSB and DIMM
Support up to 4GB system memory
Expansion Slots:
Five PCI connectors compliant with PCI v2.2
One 1.5v AGP- 8X/4X connector compliant with AGP v3.0
PowerBIOS for excellent over clocking features:
Support Asynchronous FSB/DIMM timing mode and 1MHz fine tuning on AGP
clock
Support BIOS adjustable CPU clock and voltage, AGP voltage, DIMM
frequency and voltage settings.
more- http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/products_content.php?ps=322

No need to give details on mbrd specs here.

CPU:$185.00CD
Athlon64 3000+ S939 512K Athlon64 3000+ (1.8GHz) S939 512K 800FSB HS &
FAN (hope to oc to 2.5GHz) (need to get wenchester core)
dual channel mem controller.

Video Card:$240.00CD
N368 6600GT 128M PCX eVGA 6600GT 128M DDR TV-o, DVi-i PCI-Express

Ram:$135.00USD newegg
Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 - OEM

1) Since the mobo doesn't seem to have pci-e should I change the video
card and save some money instead of getting a useless feature?
Suggestions?

2) Does anything look totally out of whack? Is the video card too
much for the cpu? Am I wasting money on a component?

What's out of whack is that a PCI-Express video card will not fit in a mbrd
with AGP 8x. You can either spend more to get the AGP 8x version of the
video card or get a PCI-Express mbrd.. which are in the early stages of
distribution right now... your choice.

3) Is it worth the money to get high end ram at twice the cost? Like,
G.skill (Samsung TCCD) Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR
PC-4400, Model F1-3200DSU2-1GBLE - Retail $275.00 USD.

Personally I wouldn't. The key to memory performance on an Athlon64 is the
1T command timing, which you're more likely to get with 512M-bit chips...
IOW get 512MB DIMMs with only 8 chips on one side. I got the Crucial
PC3200 8T parts and they work fine at 3-3-3-8-1T. 2T timing loses ~1GB/s
on bandwidth testing speed; lower latency on CAS, Trcd etc., which you get
from the high end DIMMs has marginal gains.

Rgds, George Macdonald

"Just because they're paranoid doesn't mean you're not psychotic" - Who, me??

 

[RusH]

overclock it from 1.8GHz to 2.5GHz

on nforce 3 ? nope you dont

Mobo: $126.00USD newegg
EPoX "EP-9NDA3+" NVIDIA nForce3

there are nforce 4 boards available, go for them (PCIe)

Video Card:$240.00CD
N368 6600GT 128M PCX eVGA 6600GT 128M DDR TV-o, DVi-i PCI-Express

wonder how your gonna fit that in AGP sslot

1) Since the mobo doesn't seem to have pci-e should I change the
video card and save some money instead of getting a useless
feature? Suggestions?

no, get a hammer and work on it ..

2) Does anything look totally out of whack? Is the video card too
much for the cpu? Am I wasting money on a component?

with BOX cooler you wont reach >2.2GHz

3) Is it worth the money to get high end ram at twice the cost?
Like, G.skill (Samsung TCCD) Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x
2) DDR PC-4400, Model F1-3200DSU2-1GBLE - Retail $275.00 USD.

lol no

Pozdrawiam.