AMD 939 setup - comments?

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
I

InfiniteLurker

Senior member
Mar 3, 2004
235
1
81
Hello all -


Here is what I'm looking at putting together. I'm about to pull the trigger and get the following:

Motherboard:
DFI "LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D" NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor - Retail

Video Card:
Powercolor ATI Radeon X800 XL Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, DVI/HDTV, PCI-Express, Model "R43C-TD3D/BULK" -OEM Bulk

Memory:
Geil Ultra Series Value Dual Channel 184 Pin 2GB(2x 1GB) DDR PC-3200 w/ Blue Heatspreader - Retail

Case:
Antec Solution Series Black ATX Mid Tower Case, Model "SLK3000-B" -RETAIL

Optical:
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3520A BK, OEM

Hard Drive:
Seagate 160GB Barracuda 7200.7 7200RPM SATA with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST3160827AS, OEM

PS:
Antec 550W Power Supply, 24-Pin, Model "TRUE550 EPS12V" - Retail


I'm not 100% sure yet on the memory, the video card, or the power supply. Any help
would be appreciated for all the components. System will be used for development, gaming, and pretty heavy use of Virtual PC for multiple OS installs and testing (hence the 2GB RAM to give 1GB when running a virtual system). I am also hoping to future-proof a bit with this setup for when the dual-cores (Toledo) come out. I'm not sure I'll be jumping on dual-core immediately - it depends on price... I figure I'll wait 6+ months to upgrade.

My main concern is stability. I'm most likely not going to be overclocking, but I
absolutely can not have this system self-rebooting, locking up or anything else of that nature. I had a bad experience with an incredibly unstable VIA chipset MB previously that had turned me away from building myself, until now.

Thanks in advance for any input...


 
I

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
4,276
2
76
Originally posted by: InfiniteLurker
My main concern is stability. I'm most likely not going to be overclocking, but I
absolutely can not have this system self-rebooting, locking up or anything else of that nature. I had a bad experience with an incredibly unstable VIA chipset MB previously that had turned me away from building myself, until now.
Click to expand...

If you don't plan to OC, and you want stability, then I don't think the DFI is the right choice. I suggest you look at the Chaintech VNF4U. Runs stable and will still give you some OC if wanted, while being ~$40 cheaper. From my reasearch the DFI seems to be the most unstable of the NF4 boards (still a very good board though).

The PSU is way overkill. Nothing really wrong with it, but there cheaper and better PSU's out there and you do not need 550W's.
 
I

InfiniteLurker

Senior member
Mar 3, 2004
235
1
81
Ike0069: Can you suggest some of those cheaper and better PSU's? I might end up adding a couple of more SATA drives to this setup in the near future...

I'll go do some looking, but what will the Venice cpu's bring to the table?

Thanks and keep the comments coming!
 
I

Ike0069

Diamond Member
Apr 28, 2003
4,276
2
76
Originally posted by: InfiniteLurker
Ike0069: Can you suggest some of those cheaper and better PSU's? I might end up adding a couple of more SATA drives to this setup in the near future...

I'll go do some looking, but what will the Venice cpu's bring to the table?

Thanks and keep the comments coming!
Click to expand...

Well, the Seasonic ribbon linked is a very good deal.
A few more: Might be able to find them cheaper with a little searching.
Fortron 400W ATX12V v2.0
ENERMAX 420W ATX12V Ver2.01
ZIPPY/EMACS 400W Power Supply With SATA Connector


 
Q

qbek

Member
Mar 12, 2005
110
0
0
Originally posted by: InfiniteLurker
I'll go do some looking, but what will the Venice cpu's bring to the table?
Click to expand...

The main improvement in Venice, IMO, is the improved memory controller. From what I have heard that would mean no 2T penalty and DDR333 downclocking when using more than two memory sticks.
I believe it's at least a month till Venice will be availabe in retail though.
 
C

crisscross

Golden Member
Apr 29, 2001
1,598
0
71
Originally posted by: Ike0069
Originally posted by: InfiniteLurker
My main concern is stability. I'm most likely not going to be overclocking, but I
absolutely can not have this system self-rebooting, locking up or anything else of that nature. I had a bad experience with an incredibly unstable VIA chipset MB previously that had turned me away from building myself, until now.
Click to expand...

If you don't plan to OC, and you want stability, then I don't think the DFI is the right choice. I suggest you look at the Chaintech VNF4U. Runs stable and will still give you some OC if wanted, while being ~$40 cheaper. From my reasearch the DFI seems to be the most unstable of the NF4 boards (still a very good board though).

The PSU is way overkill. Nothing really wrong with it, but there cheaper and better PSU's out there and you do not need 550W's.
Click to expand...

DFI is not stable? I am looking at building a system myself and like InfiniteLurker I just want a stable PC no overclocking.. will check out the Chaintech.. thanks
 
M

Maluno

Senior member
Mar 28, 2005
697
0
0
You can go cheaper than the DFI if you arent going to be overclocking. Also, dont worry too much about waiting for the venice cores for the same reason.
 
akugami

akugami

Diamond Member
Feb 14, 2005
6,210
2,551
136
Video card is bulk which is the same thing as OEM. It has a 30 day warranty only. If it's not significantly cheaper than a retail version (longer warranty) I'd go with the retail version instead.

If you're going to be having Virtual PC with multiple OS installs, I'd suggest getting a larger sized HD. Something in the neighborhood of 300GB would be nice and you can get some 300GB Seagates for about $200-220. You should probably go with the latest Barracuda 7200.8's instead of the older 7200.7's.

If you can hold off two weeks or so, the newest revisions of the Athlon 64's will be out soon. These should have better thermal properties. b
 
T

theblaznee

Member
Jan 28, 2005
45
0
0
As said before, don't pick DFI unless you want to oc.. It's "tricky" hardware, but reeeeaally nice if you know what you're doing.. DFI is not for the plug-and-play minded :)

I have a NorthQ 500W silent PSU.. If you can find it it gets my warmest recommendations! It's cheaper than the Antec, and just as good..

Lastly I would consider going for the 3500+ cpu instead - use the money you save on the PSU..
 
I

InfiniteLurker

Senior member
Mar 3, 2004
235
1
81
Would there be a benefit of going with two SATA drives in RAID? It's my understanding that RAID 0 would be faster but that it doesn't account for a drive failure... If it gives a large performace boost, I'm interested in doing it. I backup data, so if a worst case means buying a new drive and reinstalling everything it doesn't bother me...

 
P

Promethply

Golden Member
Mar 28, 2005
1,741
0
76
If you're not planning on overclocking, then you may want to consider the ASUS A8N-SLI/A8N-SLI deluxe, but otherwise, you planned system seems quite solid.

For reqular non-server use, you won't see much benefit using RAID...the performance boost is mainly in transfer rate, which make a difference only if you regularly work with huge sized files.

And yeah, then there's the increased probability of drive failure in RAID systems.
 
E

EndGame

Golden Member
Dec 28, 2002
1,276
0
0
That's odd, I've got a regular A8N-E and it's one of the best boards I've ever had! I've also got the DFI and the Asus B/M's just as fast and the overclocks are about even. The DFI has lot's more bells and whistles especially bios wise, but the downside to that is, if you're a newb or unsure of yourself.......all those setting can be confusing and get yourself in a big mess! Don't believe me......go look at all the other forums with people completely messed up and confused with the bios settings. The Asus was out the box, install, install Windows XP SP2, solid as a rock......overclock was simple and straightforward and like I said, the systems benchmark almost evenly across the board.

I'm building one right now for someone with the Asus board and can't decide if I should go ahead and order the chip..........or take a chance and wait for Monday and see if the Venice chips will be available and if their cost will be similar or gouged at first......LOL!

 
O

overclock

Senior member
Apr 28, 2001
720
0
0
My commentary on RAID.

Done it. Don't need it. Can't wait to get away from it.

I currently have 2 Seagate 200GB drives in RAID 0. Not worth the risk. Now my problem is that I have almost 200 gigs of History Channel recorded that I can't move off of the RAID and reformat. What to do?
 
W

w00t

Diamond Member
Nov 5, 2004
5,545
0
0
i would replace the ram and the psu

i would get the OCZ modstream 450W very good psu i think everyone will agree, and ram i would get corsair value ram 2.5cas 1gig if no ocing if ur going to ocz get ocz el plat rev 2.
 
S

shumgeek

Junior Member
Apr 1, 2005
1
0
0
I'm building a similar system with same CPU but i'd like to get a cheaper MB. Any suggestions? i'll check out the chaintech. tia
 
R

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
0
0
Nothing touches the DFI Ultra-D and TwinMOS ram.... seriously, the motherboard is like the spine of the system. Don't want to cheap out on it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom