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1GB RAM/nForce4/6800 GT/A64 3500+ for ~$1500!

X

xtknight

Elite Member
Mostly from NewEgg:

CasEdge Black/Silver 3G ATX Mid Tower Case, Model ~$51
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe [nForce4 SLI] Motherboard ~$300
AMD Athlon 64 Winchester 90nm S939 3500+ ~$295
pqi TURBO Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR PC-3200 ~$148
XFX GeForce 6800 GT Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, Dual DVI/TV-Out, PCI Express x16 ~$450(?)
Antec 480watt NeoPower ATX 12V v2.0 ~$116.50
Samsung Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive ~$6.75
Maxtor 200GB 7200RPM SATA2 NCQ Hard Drive ~$117
Samsung Black 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive ~$35.99

TOTAL -- $1520.24

Will the neopower 480 provide enough power for this system, the video card in particular? Which is better for overclocking: the Athlon 64 3500+ 130nm or the 90nm?

Should this have been in general hardware instead of the video forum? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention which forum I posted to 😕
 
Hey,

There's a couple of things that I would recommend to u.

First, neopower sounds like it's an ok brand but if u're serious about overclocking u might want to consider an Excellent psu like an Antec TrueControl or a Turbo Cool. Power supply is more important than u think when it comes to overclocking.

Second, the core size shouldn't make too much of a difference. The important spec to look for is the core style: newcastle, sledgehammer, clawhammer, etc., etc. Also of some importance is it's stock core speed. 2.2 GHz or 2.0GHz. And obviously u wanna pick a board that u KNOW gives u a lot of control over clock settings and voltages and the like.

Hope that helps and if u already new all this I'm sorry for having bored u ;-)

~Jason
 
Thanks for the reply. Well I thought Antec's cream off the top was the NeoPower 480W but I could be wrong. I also need PCI Express connectors and future BTX compatibility (NeoPower has it I think). The CPU comes with a stock speed of 2.2 GHz. And the $300 A8N-SLI I hope will give me a bunch of overclocking options because that's a lot of money to shell out for a motherboard. I believe it does though, with all the ASUS ProActive AI stuff on it. I have an ASUS AI motherboard now and it's superb for overclocking my P4C from 2.6->3.4GHz, with an Antec 300W classic power supply.
 
You can also look into the 470W/480W (I forget which) Enermax Noisetaker, which are supposed to be excellent. In general I place Enermax at the top in terms of quality PSU's.

That's a lot of money for that motherboard - $300! Are you sure you want to get an SLI board this early in the game, or can you afford to wait a month or so for the cheaper NF4 Ultra boards to come to market (which have everything but two PCI-e 8X/16X slots in them and should be considerably less)?

Also, I'd get a DVD burner with that setup. They're probably about $20 extra over the DVD/CDRW combo you picked, which is well worth it (they also burn CD's).

Check the price of the Maxtor 250GB drives also, which have 16MB of cache vs 8MB on the 200GB ones. If the price per megabyte is similar, I'd get the 250GB Maxtor.

Otherwise excellent choices for superior out-of-the-box performance: A 3500+ with a GF 6800GT, a gig of RAM and an NF4 board will rock withouth any tweaks; tweak and o/c that system and you will have even better performance 🙂 .
 
Well, about the motherboard. Here's the problem. If I buy a $175 (probably minimum) Ultra board from a brand name like ASUS then next year I will have to buy the SLI board and the graphics card which I doubt I can afford. In the end that's about $500 or so on motherboards which is downright insane. I'm hoping if I spend it all now I won't have to worry about it later. This year was an exception, I don't usually get to spend this much on xmas.😀

I wish the Maxtor 250 GB drives came in SATA2 NCQ flavors. Quick correction: they do, but I probably won't be able to afford them. I love the cache on them but maybe I'll order those later or something when they come down in price. The other problem is I'm basically a few pennies away from reaching my limit. This has to be $1500 by the time xmas gets here, and I'm hoping that extra $20 will fall off by the 20th so I can have my sys by xmas time. It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to spend $20 more on an NEC dual layer. Excellent suggestions.:beer: I'm hoping for miracles in terms of sales on newegg.com for this stuff. Good catch on that 16 MB cache because I didn't even know they had them.

Indeed, I am configuring this rig for excellent overclocking abilities. The PQI Turbo memory use a new type of performance-boosting PCB board (according to benchmarks) that corsair,kingston,geil,anybody else doesn't use as of yet. Plus, it's an excellent deal for $143 with the rebate.

Power supplies: Enermax Noisetaker... I'm not worried about noise in the least bit. Infact, I don't care if this thing sounds like a jet taking off as long as its fast. Is this better overall than the NeoPower in terms of power AND noise? If so, I'll definitely get it, because one of the PFC 485W versions is the same price as the NeoPower +$5.

I'm stuck on buying ASUS motherboards because of my past experiences with overclocking. Unfortunately that brings a price premium upon me too, but I'm willing to sacrifice money for quality.

P.S.: I edit my posts a lot.
 
Im pretty sure the MaxLine3's come sata2 and16MBcache in 200,250 and300GB . I saw the 300GB for 202.00 a nice price for storage.
 
Originally posted by: stelleg151
you dont NEED sli, by the time you want another GT, there could be a new generation of video cards out.
Click to expand...

You're right, but if I do decide to go SLI I'm screwed unless everything gets really cheap. I am concerned about compatibility and power usage though so I might choose to save some dough (no rhyme intended). Most likely there WILL be a fast-ass single video card for cheaper than that whole SLI configuration and less hassle. If I run into money problems that's the first place I'll cut 🙁.
 
Originally posted by: xtknight
Well, about the motherboard. Here's the problem. If I buy a $175 (probably minimum) Ultra board from a brand name like ASUS then next year I will have to buy the SLI board and the graphics card which I doubt I can afford. In the end that's about $500 or so on motherboards which is downright insane. I'm hoping if I spend it all now I won't have to worry about it later. This year was an exception, I don't usually get to spend this much on xmas.😀

I wish the Maxtor 250 GB drives came in SATA2 NCQ flavors. Quick correction: they do, but I probably won't be able to afford them.
Click to expand...

It's ok, the performance of the 16MB cache won't blow your socks off or anything so it's not a huge loss. Plus you can still find 200GB Diamondmax 10's, which still have the new 100GB platters, etc.

I don't think the hard drives are fully SATA2 though (ie 300MB/s), I think they're SATA 1 + NCQ (ie burst is limited to 150MB/s like all other SATA drives), but regardless it's a nonissue with current gen drives, even in RAID. 150MB/s per drive is fine considering sustained transfer speeds are 40-50MB/s tops.


It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to spend $20 more on an NEC dual layer.
Click to expand...

Most definately. I've got an 8X NEC dual layer DVD burner and it's awesome - I love it 🙂 .

Power supplies: Enermax Noisetaker... I'm not worried about noise in the least bit. Infact, I don't care if this thing sounds like a jet taking off as long as its fast. Is this better overall than the NeoPower in terms of power AND noise? If so, I'll definitely get it, because one of the PFC 485W versions is the same price as the NeoPower +$5.
Click to expand...

I suggested the Noisetaker because it's supposedly one of the best quality (if not the best, most stable, best for overclocking) PSU's in it's class. Not for it's noise-reduction gimmick thing. I've found Enermax to be better than Antec, and Neo Power is often overpriced too.

I'm stuck on buying ASUS motherboards because of my past experiences with overclocking. Unfortunately that brings a price premium upon me too, but I'm willing to sacrifice money for quality.
Click to expand...

ASUS is, and has alway been my #1 motherboard manufacturer overall. I've had the fewest problems with them and find that after years and years they still run great. ABIT is my #2 (with such gems as the NF7-S 2.0 and IC7 series being arguably the best in their class).

If you feel you really want the SLI capability in the future, then I guess you will have to shell out the $300 for the board now, because as you said, even with selling your board in the future and buying a new one, that might save you $50 tops, and it's not worth the hassle at all. I only suggested NF4 Ultra because I was wondering how important SLI was to you - apparently you want to keep the system for awhile, so go for the SLI then 🙂 .
 
One problem. I want this comp by xmas.. badly 😱. That eliminates the solution of getting just an nForce4 Ultra board because even the SLI boards aren't quite here. I would rather have the room to upgrade if I wish to.😉 Thanks for the excellent advice. Be back tomorrow afternoon.
 
Did u choose those PQI Turbos thinking they were TCCD's, because they are not. If you really want to OC then get some TCCD's these Turbo's are the ones with TCCD's and people have been hitting 300+ FSB with TCCD's. Secondly the 90nm are basically all Winchester, so they should overclock fine. Looks like you plan on being able to upgrade so SLI is not a bad idea. For the cost of a new video card you could just drop in another GT and OC it to Ultra.

Definitely go for Enermax when it comes to PSU. Otherwise you setup looks fine. Idk about that case, but make sure you have good cooling or spare WC parts lying around.
 
Originally posted by: Megamixman
Did u choose those PQI Turbos thinking they were TCCD's, because they are not. If you really want to OC then get some TCCD's these Turbo's are the ones with TCCD's and people have been hitting 300+ FSB with TCCD's. Secondly the 90nm are basically all Winchester, so they should overclock fine. Looks like you plan on being able to upgrade so SLI is not a bad idea. For the cost of a new video card you could just drop in another GT and OC it to Ultra.

Definitely go for Enermax when it comes to PSU. Otherwise you setup looks fine. Idk about that case, but make sure you have good cooling or spare WC parts lying around.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing that out. That probably was my original intention, but the Brain Power PCB is included on all of them to give me a 10% boost over other brands as well. How do I tell if they're TCCD or not? I will definitely go with an Enermax now, and the NeoPower seems a little overpriced anyway. As long as it can power PCI Express, or with a Molex converter adapter.
 
For the love of god, man, wait a little bit. The SLI boards will drop at LEAST a hundred dollars within a month, as well as the processor, video card, etc. There's really no sense in paying an exorbitant premium for instant gratification. But anyway, that setup is nearly identical to mine. Well, the one I'm eying, anyway.🙂😉
 
Originally posted by: slash196
For the love of god, man, wait a little bit. The SLI boards will drop at LEAST a hundred dollars within a month, as well as the processor, video card, etc. There's really no sense in paying an exorbitant premium for instant gratification. But anyway, that setup is nearly identical to mine. Well, the one I'm eying, anyway.🙂😉
Click to expand...

As hard as that seems I may decide to hold off a few days or weeks on ordering the motherboard and video card. If I have money left over I will get an ATI Theater 550-based TV tuner card.
 
Originally posted by: xtknight
Originally posted by: Megamixman
Did u choose those PQI Turbos thinking they were TCCD's, because they are not. If you really want to OC then get some TCCD's these Turbo's are the ones with TCCD's and people have been hitting 300+ FSB with TCCD's. Secondly the 90nm are basically all Winchester, so they should overclock fine. Looks like you plan on being able to upgrade so SLI is not a bad idea. For the cost of a new video card you could just drop in another GT and OC it to Ultra.

Definitely go for Enermax when it comes to PSU. Otherwise you setup looks fine. Idk about that case, but make sure you have good cooling or spare WC parts lying around.
Click to expand...

Thanks for pointing that out. That probably was my original intention, but the Brain Power PCB is included on all of them to give me a 10% boost over other brands as well. How do I tell if they're TCCD or not? I will definitely go with an Enermax now, and the NeoPower seems a little overpriced anyway. As long as it can power PCI Express, or with a Molex converter adapter.
Click to expand...

The TCCD chips should be rated to run at 2-2-2-5 CAS timings (although I believe one manufacturer rates their TCCD's very conservatively at 2-3-2-5).

Non-TCCD RAM chips will have inferior timings and will not overclock nearly as well. Those PQI Turbo's that Megamixman linked are the "good stuff" so to speak. That 'brain power' PCB sounds like hype to me; it's the chips that make the main difference.
 
The PCB does effect since, we?re talking about the nanosecond timing range, and slight cross-talk can cause problems on the bus lines which that means less Overclock on the memory. The PQI's I linked are the TCCD's, or you might go with OCZ plat rev 2's if they are still using them. I hear somewhere the OCZ 4200 platinum?s are using TCCD's now and not the 3200 Rev2
 
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