Hi, I was hoping I could get some help with a computer I've been wanting to build but I want to make sure all the hardware is compatible first. If not, please let me know what kind of tweaks I should make to maximize performance and reduce the likelihood of problems I may encounter.

Here's the list so far:

Sound Card: Sound Blaster X-Fi Elite Pro
(SKU: 70SB055000002)

Mother Board: Asus A8N-E
(Athlon X2/Athlon FX/Athlon 64, Socket 939, nForce4 Ultra, ATX, 4GB DDR, 2000MHz Bus - SKU: A8NE)

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ Dual-Core
(2.4GHz, 2MB, 2000MHz FSB, Socket 939 - SKU: ADA4800CDBOX)

Memory: Kingston 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM - (4x)
(SKU: KVR400X64C3A1G)

Video Card: ATI Radeon X1800 XT
(512MB, PCI Express x16, Dual DVI, VIVO - SKU: 100435705)


Any help is very appreciated, thanks!

I am not exactly sure what you mean by compatible. Which operating system will you be using w2k3, xp, or xp64? The products you've chosen will undoubtably have little problem with the first two. XP64 is a little lame in the driver department so you would want to visit the websites of your peripherals like your video card and sound card to see if the have 64bit drivers.

Other than that the only other compatibility problem is whether your pocket book will suffer unduly (just kidding)

Originally posted by Sampson:

"I am not exactly sure what you mean by compatible. Which operating system will you be using w2k3, xp, or xp64? The products you've chosen will undoubtably have little problem with the first two. XP64 is a little lame in the driver department so you would want to visit the websites of your peripherals like your video card and sound card to see if the have 64bit drivers.

Other than that the only other compatibility problem is whether your pocket book will suffer unduly (just kidding)"

I hadn't even thought about XP64, would that be a good idea (drivers aside)? Other than that I would most likely just use good ol' XP.
The reason for my concern is that I've heard people go and build their own computers and then things just dont run as top-notch as they expected. So I wanted to avoid that.
Is there anything out there that would better the overall performance in place of something already there? Say, different memory or a different motherboard.
Thanks again.

Just looking at your list, I do not see anything that would not work together. The only thing is that having put together a few of these, a person tends to like certain pieces over others just because we are familiar with them. Call it bias or laziness. Some would prefer Corsair memory over Kingston. Some would prefer GeForce 7800GT - and while we are at it, you might think of a Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe. • NVidia NForce4 SLI chip set so that you could set up two 7800's. Most reviewers would choose nVidia's solution over that of ATI's crossover.

And, you haven't selected the hard drives and the configuration you wanted to use in setting them up.

Anyway, you've chosen some sound hardware that should not inherently give you any problems - but that is theory. When you put them all together sometimes they work and sometimes they fight you at every corner.