Another "How's this system" question

[opuntia]

As you can see from my number of posts, I?m real new here. I?m only days away from buying a new system and I?m looking for comments/opinions/suggestions. My main goal is quietness w/good looks and speed. I?m not really a gamer, but I want a fast system:

Coolmaster Wavemaster TAC-T01 ? Mid Tower
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice
Patriot 1GB (2x512) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR400 Unbuffered Dual Channel
Leadtek PX6600GT Geforce 128MD PCI-E x16
Seasonic S12-500 Powersupply
Seagate Barracuda 250GB SATA150
NEC 3520A DVD Drive
Plextor PX-Premium CD Drive
Antec Flash PRO-9 11-in-1 Card Reader
Coolermaster Aerogate II Thermal Controller
Zalman VF700-CU VGA Cooler
Zalman NB47J Northbridge Cooler
Zalman CNPS7700-CU 120mm 2 Ball Cooling Fan

My only two questions concern the graphics card and the powersupply. For the graphic card, there?s also a Leadtek PX6600GT Extreme?is that really any better? And for the powersupply, is that Seasonic overkill? They also have a S12-430W. I picked Seasonic because they?re known to be quiet and efficient.

Thanks in advance for you comments and suggestions.

 

[Cheesetogo]

Your psu is overkill. Downgrade your proccessor to 3200 and then use the saved money on an x800xl.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

The SLI-Deluxe sucks. Go with the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D, because the voltages it can provide are awesome, allowing for maximum overclocking. If you really want to overclock a lot, a Thermalright XP-120 is the best heatsink for overclocking.

 

[xTYBALTx]

Will you be overclocking? If not, I suggest Corsair ValueSelect RAM in place of the Patriot memory.

Since you seem to be going for a quiet PC with all those Zalman coolers, get a Zalman CPU cooler while you're at it as well. As Cheesetogo said, go with an X800XL over the 6600GT - a huge difference in performance for a relatively small price. The 3500+ is a good CPU. . .keep it if you can.

 

[imported_Kensai]

If you can squeeze in an x800XL, it'll make it worth your time. Very good for it's relatively low cost.

 

[opuntia]

The X800XL seems to be popular, but on newegg it's about $120 more than the 6600GT. Is it really that much of an improvement?

 

[Bicen]

id say it is, doubles the cards memory for one.

 

[KoolDrew]

Are you overclocking? Get rid of the SLI motherboard. Get a Chaintech VNF4 Ultra (w/o overclocking) or DFI Ultra-D (with overclocking).

If you are overclocking drop down to a 3200+. Get Crucial value RAM.

 

[Insomniak]

Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
The SLI-Deluxe sucks. Go with the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D, because the voltages it can provide are awesome, allowing for maximum overclocking. If you really want to overclock a lot, a Thermalright XP-120 is the best heatsink for overclocking.

He's a complete noob, you fool! He's not going to be doing any hardcore overclocking!

That said, the A8N-SLI is a very feature ruch and stable board, but it is not an excessively high overclocker. It certainly *doesn't* suck. If you plan to overclock in the future, look towards DFI and Gigabyte boards. If overclocking is not a concern to you, consider ASUS, MSI, and others.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Insomniak, even if he's not overclocking, the Lanparty Ultra-D can easily be modded to SLI anyways, so why not? Also, if you want features, the MSI Neo4 Platinum SLI is even better; dual gigabit Ethernet, SATAII support, onboard Sound Blaster Live, and much more, for about the same price. I just assumed he would be overclocking because of all the extra unneeded cooling components.

 

[penceman]

Dont use ASUS. Anything but ASUS.

 

[opuntia]

I definitely a noob, but who knows, I may decide to try overclocking in the near future, but nothing too crazy, just something faster and stable.


I have all the extra cooling componets because I was under the assumption that those items would also help quiet the computer.

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: opuntia
I definitely a noob, but who knows, I may decide to try overclocking in the near future, but nothing too crazy, just something faster and stable.


I have all the extra cooling componets because I was under the assumption that those items would also help quiet the computer.

The Zalman choices are very good. I just bought and installed the CNPS7700-CU, and it really has made a major difference. It is a very well built item.

Make sure to get some Artic Silver or Ceramique (I prefer the second one myself) for your Zalman products.

 

[Valkerie]

kill the SLi and get an nForce4
get a Radeon
don't go zalman products unless ur gonna OC, it's a rip off
skip the 250 gigs - RAID dual 80 or 160 gigs for performance

 

[theMan]

3200+venice
msi k8n neo4 platinum sli
x800xl or 6800gt
thermalright xp-90 or xp-120

 

[UsandThem]

Originally posted by: Valkerie

don't go zalman products unless ur gonna OC, it's a rip off

Please explain

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: Valkerie
kill the SLi and get an nForce4
get a Radeon
don't go zalman products unless ur gonna OC, it's a rip off
skip the 250 gigs - RAID dual 80 or 160 gigs for performance

Some of the SLI boards have really nice features. If I could afford the Neo4 Platinum SLI instead of the non-SLI version, I'd take it. It's really feature-rich, and who knows, maybe he'll want to get another 6600GT in the future. Overall, I don't really recommend SLI boards for the SLI capabilities, rather for their great features. Think of the actual SLI as a small bonus. The 6600GT is a great midrange card, and the OP said he wouldn't be gaming much. The 6600GT is probably the best bang for your buck in the midrange department. GeForces are just as good as Radeons; there's no need for fanboism.

 

[Waylay00]

Get the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium, not the Deluxe. It overclocks just as well as the DFI NF4 (with the exception of the high voltages). It features a passive NF4 cooling solution also. Don't listen to these people saying "ASUS sucks" or "Don't buy ASUS, buy DFI". Only get DFI if you need the extreme voltages. Otherwise, I see know reason in not buying the A8N-SLI Premium, besides the price (since it's new). It will drop though.

 

[xTYBALTx]

Originally posted by: UsandThem

Originally posted by: Valkerie

don't go zalman products unless ur gonna OC, it's a rip off

Please explain

No explanation is possible. Zalmans has a sterling reputation.

 

[opuntia]

I want to thank everybody for the comments and suggestions. Based upon the posts I think that I'll change the videocard to the x800XL and the motherboard to the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI.

 

[Cheezeit]

Originally posted by: opuntia
I want to thank everybody for the comments and suggestions. Based upon the posts I think that I'll change the videocard to the x800XL and the motherboard to the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI.

good choice on the video card. actually, the msi isn't that good either. I really reccomend the DFi sli if you are going sli.

 

[Waylay00]

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium is a very good contender for SLI.

 

[bob4432]

Originally posted by: opuntia
I want to thank everybody for the comments and suggestions. Based upon the posts I think that I'll change the videocard to the x800XL and the motherboard to the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI.

if you are going to get a ati card, don't waste the $$$ on a sli board, no reason as you can't connect to ati cards on a sli board.

ocz vx value ram is good and cheap ~$110/1GB kit and from what i have read o/c very well.

is there any reason you want a sli board so bad? just get a nf4ultra board.

you say in the first post you are really not a gamer but want a fast system. fast for what? for a responsive system i would get a 74GB raptor in addition or instead of your current hdd and put the os/apps on the raptor.

if you do game, what games do you play?

 

[opuntia]

Originally posted by: bob4432
if you are going to get a ati card, don't waste the $$$ on a sli board, no reason as you can't connect to ati cards on a sli board.

ocz vx value ram is good and cheap ~$110/1GB kit and from what i have read o/c very well.

is there any reason you want a sli board so bad? just get a nf4ultra board.

you say in the first post you are really not a gamer but want a fast system. fast for what? for a responsive system i would get a 74GB raptor in addition or instead of your current hdd and put the os/apps on the raptor.

if you do game, what games do you play?

I like the MSI board because of the extras, especially the onboard soundblaster, audio is important to me and from the review in AT, the audio barely uses any system resources. I like the raptor and memory suggestions, I'll look into that. I'm not into games...yet.

 

[myrcgarage]

Does MSI board still have the noisy fan problem? I am in a process of building a new computer too and I am torn among DFI, MSI and Asus. I don't what to get yet. I want a systetm to be fairly quiet. If the fan is noisy, it won't be on my list then. Please advise.