Selecting the right Mobo/Processor combo

I don't think you can go wrong with the 8RDA+. I went for the Asus A7N8X Deluxe myself and it is hands down the best MB i've ever owned. I think the only difference between the Asus and the Epox is the Asus has onboard SATA which is no big deal right now. The onboard sound is exceptional, I ditched my Augidy which was a static squealing POS. The on board dual NIC's are great.

The unlocking power though of this chipset can varry. I've heard post ppl have the most luck with the NFS-7 rev 1.2 from Abit for unlocking without using thermal tape or lead, etc. I've had some marginal success with my XP2400 Thoroughbred. I take it for $180 your getting the Barton XP2500? I thought about switching to that one but I think AMD just annouced Barton would go to 400 mhz soon, and if the NF2 handles them I'll wait on it.

Ram is really important with the NF2 boards if you want to run dual channel. I bought 2x256 Corsair XMS 3500's, the best they had before the TwinX stuff came out. I think the 8RDA+ has had the most luck with running memory above 210 mhz so far. I haven't gotten mine close to 200 yet but I need to improve my cooling big time.

Check this site also:
http://8rda.com/
Very good forums. I don't you will be disappointed though by this choice. As for the other things, my suggestions would be:
PS = Sparkle in the 460 range
Video = Ati R350 in the next month or so

 

If your getting a new CPU, defintely get the Barton. No reason not to, except for price. I think the Barton XP2500 @ $180 is a solid deal for performance.

I might be worried about that PS. Any 400W PS that costs $35 new is going to be sketchy quality. If you look at the Antec line they have 2 different lines, the Smartpower i think and the Truepower. There is a reason why the Truepower PS's cost 3 times as much and weight much more. The heavier the PS, the better the quality is a general rule.

If your getting a GF4, its not as big a deal. The 9700 Pro and Ultra FX's are power hogs and require very stable power on the 5v and 12v rails. $135 sounds like a pretty good price for the 4200/128 for a card today. The only other sub $200 option I would look at is the 9500 Pro/128, which many of them you can software hack to turn into 9700 Pro but it varies board to board. I've never had a Jaton board, but I think they've been around a while. The board is prolly pretty close to Nvidia reference and as long as you get some kind of warranty it should be fine.

 

I'd be sketchy on that PS as well. Sounds like it's quite underpriced for what you're getting. I'd recommend one of the higher-grade Antec or a solid Enermax supply.