A64, 4GB, Workstation

[21stHermit]

I'm planning to assemble a "budget" workstation using the following components:

Initial Configuration:
Athlon 64 3000+, Skt 939, Winchester, OC ~2.5GHz
MB: ATI chipset w/integrated video or nF3 w/low end VGA
2 - 1GB PC3200 DDR
WD 60GB IDE boot HD (have this)
Coolmax Tuarus 120mm 400W PS
WinXP Home (have this)

Final Configuration:
Add 2 - 1GB PC3200 DDR (total 4GB)
Win64 (should MS ever decide to release it)
WD 74GB SATA Raptor (boot and swap)
2-3 200-400 GB HDs (IDE, SATA?)

My primary use will be to stitch photo arrays, I've already stitched 500MB TIFFs on my Celeron laptop. Task Mgr shows it using 800MB RAM and hammering my puny laptop HD. The stitching plus a process called Enblend (gets rid of the seams) can take 3 hours for a 80 MegaPixel final image.

I'll be running this box remotely from my laptop via ethernet most of the time, therefore don't need killer video.

My biggest question is the memory, brand, timings, bang for the buck? Do you see any flaws?

 

[Geomagick]

Can't see any problems here, the athlon 64 performs well with just about any ram. Just make sure you buy good quality branded - more for reliability than anything else.
Timings aren't so important on A64

 

[Vette73]

Looks good, but check out the board you will use very well. A lot of them have problems running 4gig and even then most can only run at PC2700 with 4 slabs.

But even then, the A64 does not need a lot of mem speed like the P4/Xeons, so I doubt you would notice.

 

[mechBgon]

I suggest a high-quality power supply such as Enermax, Antec, Fortron or PC Power & Cooling. Also, can I suggest getting an Opteron instead of an A64, because then you should be able to drop in a dual-core Opteron later if you want to really cut loose And with lots of memory modules, the Registered ECC memory that goes with an Opteron will ensure stability.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
I suggest getting an Opteron instead of an A64, because then you should be able to drop in a dual-core Opteron later if you want to really cut loose. And with lots of memory modules, the Registered ECC memory that goes with an Opteron will ensure stability.

Thanks for the detailed reply. But, don't the suggestions you made drastically move away from budget ?
Also, I thought that dual-core A64 processors would fit Skt 939 and be available late `05.

 

[mechBgon]

Opterons start under $200, Opteron boards start under $200, and yeah, Registered ECC does cost more than unbuffered non-parity, but the stability might be worth it.

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Opterons start under $200, Opteron boards start under $200, and yeah, Registered ECC does cost more than unbuffered non-parity, but the stability might be worth it.

Two Thoughts:
1) Opteron, its like I'm starting over at square one, up til now I've only thought of A64 and P4. Can you point me to Opteron 101 so I can learn more?
2) If Registered memory cost more, already the 2 - 1GB sticks I proposed cost more than everything else combined. So I buy stability, how will I notice this feature?

In any case, very much appreciate your comments.

 

[Markfw]

Opteron is almost the same as the Athlon64 939 pin version, except 1 more pin, and the 2xx series cpu's can be run in dual cpu motherboards. I think mech was pointing you to a 142 or 144 or 146 cpu. 1 gig corsair registered is $273 right now.(each) You really didn;t state a budget for the parts.

Edit: the opteron 146 is $270 right now (2 ghz)

 

[21stHermit]

Originally posted by: Markfw900
You really didn;t state a budget for the parts.

Don't really have a budget, just want to get by as cheaply as possible . . . where have you heard that before.

As I understand your post, 1xx Opterons run single and 2xx's can run single or dual in dual MB's. My guess is that Mech pointed to the 1xx so I could upgrade to a dual-core Opteron next year.

 

[Thermalrock]

two cheap opterons, can upgrade to two dual cores if needed. if that costs too much start with 2 gb ram and add the other 2 later?

 

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: 21stHermit

Originally posted by: Markfw900
You really didn;t state a budget for the parts.

Don't really have a budget, just want to get by as cheaply as possible . . . where have you heard that before.

As I understand your post, 1xx Opterons run single and 2xx's can run single or dual in dual MB's. My guess is that Mech pointed to the 1xx so I could upgrade to a dual-core Opteron next year.

At least some (if not all - I'm just not totally sure) dualie Opteron boards let you run with just a single processor, so an option is to start out with a single 200-series Opteron on a dualie board and the later upgrade to a second chip when the prices have dropped some (probably when the DC Opterons are out in force). That way you don't have to buy a whole new motherboard with the second chip in order to go dualie. Then when the dual core chips get cheap, sell the 200-series chips and replace them with some dual cores for some cheapish quad-processing goodness at the end of the system's lifespan.

 

[jpeyton]

To overclock a 3000+ to 2.5GHz, you are looking at a very high HTT clock.

My suggestion is a 3200+, with a 10x multiplier, requiring a more modest 250MHz HTT clock to reach your 2.5GHz overclock. Furthermore, if your motherboard has a 5:4 HTT/RAM divider, your 2GB memory will remain at a stock 200MHz which is best for stability.

Speaking of memory, stick with a reliable brand like Corsair, Mushkin, Crucial, etc., and get their cheapest 1GB module. Don't pay extra for low latency memory because your motherboard will likely default to CAS2.5 or higher latency (and they'll probably be more stable that way).

Motherboards; I'd try and wait for a low end NF4 motherboard if possible. The newer SATAII and more feature-rich RAID capabilities of the newer chipset would lend itself to your multi-disk workstation.

If you can't wait, then get a MSI K8N Neo2 or a Asus A8V Rev2; those seem to be the best 939 boards right now, with the overclockability edge going to the MSI, and the stability ease-of-use edge going to the Asus. Both should get you to 250MHz FSB without a problem, though.

For a cheap video card, I'd suggest either an Chaintech XGI Volari card ($45 @ Newegg), which has VGA/DVI/TVO, 128MB RAM, and is DX9 compatible (which I hear will be required for Windows Longhorn). Another choice would be a Jetway ATi 9600 128-bit ($70 @ Newegg), which also has VGA/DVI/TVO, 128MB RAM, DX9 compatible, but it's noticeably faster in games. Both are passive cooled.

 

[kamranziadar]

Well i tried so many memory brands like kingston, crucial etc. But the only memory brand i liked is Samsung you can overclock like hell, with stalibilty.