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Building A New System Sometime Soon... And Need Help!

E

EvilRage

Senior member
Alright, so I've been hungering for something top-of-the-line (or at least as close to it as I can afford) and when I heard about the A8N-SLI and two 6800 Ultras, I figured what better time to build a new comp when you can do it with two video cards? Anyhow, the one I'm planning to build will be the second comp I've ever put together from the ground up, and I'm fairly sure everything will work. I won't be doing any overclocking (Don't know how, don't want to risk heat damage with my oh-so expensive components), and my primary use will be for gaming, internet browsing, and music downloading. Well, here goes nothing:

Processor: AMD FX-55
Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
Video Card(s): 2x eVGA 6800 Ultra PCI Express
Ram: (Undecided. Either 2x1GB sticks, or 4x1GB sticks. Not sure if the extra 2 will increase performance enough to justify cost.)
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Power Supply: PC Power And Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 ATX Deluxe
Hard Drive(s) 2x Western Digital 74GB Raptors. (I also know nothing about RAID. bleh.)
Storage Drive: 160GB Seagate 7200RPM 8MB Cache
DVD-ROM: (Undecided)
CD-RW: (Undecided. Don't think I'll go with a DVD-RW drive until Dual-layer discs are more widely available. Only use for DVD-RW would be to back up my DVDs)
Case: Silverstone TJ03 Nimiz
OS: Win XP Pro SP2

Stuff I already own:
Mouse: Logitech MX700
Keyboard: Standard Dell Keyboard (I'm used to it. *shrug*)
Monitor: Viewsonic G220fb 21" CRT Flat-screen
Speakers: Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Ultra

So, I guess the basic questions are... will the power supply have enough power, and have enough connections for all my crap? Will the PSU work without a hitch with this mobo? Will it run too hot? Should I install additional fans? Water-cooling? (do not plan on doing water-cooling, mostly because I don't know anything about it, and seems like it'd be expensive and/or over-doing it) Any recommended RAM for this type of setup? Any help I can get is greatly appreciated. =)
 
1)I would go with a 3500+ 90nm and save some cash because there is no noticable differnce between it and the FX-55.
2) That PSU is one of the best out there and will work fine with that system
3) Consider dumping the Raptors if you want to save some money as they really have no difference in performance unless your running a server
4) Stick with 2GB or even 1GB if you want as 4GB is overkill for day to day work
 
If gaming you don't need 2 gigs of RAM; one is fine. (By the way, since you're not overclocking, all you need is value PC3200. Timings mean jack diddly sh!t on an A64.) Dump the Raptors, go down to 2x6800 GTs (if you MUST have SLI), and a 3500+ and you have basically the same performance for a significant bit less.
 

1) No noticble difference? Hm... so why is the FX-55 about $600 more? I'm just curious.

2) Ok, cool, that may have been the component I was concerned about the most. I'll stick with it.

3) After reading articles, reviews, and other recommendations, I was led to believe the Raptors are a good choice for gaming. Have I been steered in the wrong direction?

4) Since I'm planning on using this as a gaming machine more than anything else, I'll probably go with at least the 2GB. Would 4GB still be overkill for games like HL2, Doom3, Farcry, and even stuff that hasn't been released/developed/conceived of yet?
 
Why is the FX $600 more? Because there are stupid people willing to pay that much for a CPU, those that must brag that they have the fastest, most riced-out system in town--despite a significantly cheaper component yielding 90% of the performance of the bleeding-edge stuff. 😉 (I don't mean for any of this to be directed at you as an insult to your intelligence or anything. I was this kind of a n00b to hardware myself just under a year ago.) Same applies with Raptors and 6800U's, go figure.

(Enough of that. The one advantage to the FX is an unlocked multiplier, which you don't need to worry about since you're not overclocking. The technical reasons why it is $600 more, I am not sure of, but the economical reasons should be obvious, to a point.)
 
Originally posted by: EvilRage

1) No noticble difference? Hm... so why is the FX-55 about $600 more? I'm just curious.

2) Ok, cool, that may have been the component I was concerned about the most. I'll stick with it.

3) After reading articles, reviews, and other recommendations, I was led to believe the Raptors are a good choice for gaming. Have I been steered in the wrong direction?

4) Since I'm planning on using this as a gaming machine more than anything else, I'll probably go with at least the 2GB. Would 4GB still be overkill for games like HL2, Doom3, Farcry, and even stuff that hasn't been released/developed/conceived of yet?
Click to expand...

1) Like TS3433 said it's basically bragging rights

2)PSU is good

3) They might speed up yiur load times by a couple of seconds nothing noticeable though

4)4GB is overkill because AFAIK Windows only lets each program use up to 2GB. If games are released that need more ram just pop another stick in there then. It probably won't be for a while though
 
Hmm. So far with the given input, it looks like I'll be making a few money-saving changes that shouldn't hurt performance:

AMD 64 3500+ (instead of FX-55, save ~$600)

Using Seagate 160GB HD as primary drive, additional relatively cheap HD for storage (instead of two raptors and a seagate 160, save ~300)

1 GB of Value RAM. Any trusted brands? I was originally thinking of Corsair or Crucial, now I'm thinking maybe Kingston.

2x XFX6800 GTs (instead of 2x eVGA 6800 U's, save ~400)

Hmm. That cuts costs by $1300, not including the RAM.

Would it be a different story if I were to give overclocking a try?
 
Corsair and Mushkin are fine, though Buffalo seems to make good sticks for dirt cheap (someone else recommended this; I don't know anything about their quality, so you'd be on your own here). Crucial and Kingston, while good, have more marketing $$ figured into the prices, though many still swear by Crucial and attest to its overclockability. A gig of Corsair Value (2x512 MB) should run you around $150.

By the way, if you want a quiet system, you may want to rethink getting a PCP&C PSU. They're known to be a bit noisy, from what I've heard. (You can also save some money here too by opting for a Fortron, Enermax, OCZ, or Seasonic amply rated (probably in the 450W-600W range) for 2 graphics cards.)

If you were to give overclocking a try, you would likely drop your processor to a 90nm 3200+, get some better RAM if you want to run 1:1 CPU:MEM (something cheap with Samsung TCCD--Patriot PC3200 CL2 and G.skill PC4400 come to mind), and definitely use something other than the stock cooler (try a Zalman or Thermalright + Panaflo fan for your price range and what fits on your mobo--the Thermalright XP-120 is a monster accepting a 120mm fan, if your board will accomodate it). You would also have to research if the A8N-SLI is a good overclocker, because I don't know OTOH how well it does (check the CPU/OC forum here, maybe?).
 
Originally posted by: EvilRage
Hmm. So far with the given input, it looks like I'll be making a few money-saving changes that shouldn't hurt performance:

AMD 64 3500+ (instead of FX-55, save ~$600)

Using Seagate 160GB HD as primary drive, additional relatively cheap HD for storage (instead of two raptors and a seagate 160, save ~300)

1 GB of Value RAM. Any trusted brands? I was originally thinking of Corsair or Crucial, now I'm thinking maybe Kingston.

2x XFX6800 GTs (instead of 2x eVGA 6800 U's, save ~400)

Hmm. That cuts costs by $1300, not including the RAM.

Would it be a different story if I were to give overclocking a try?
Click to expand...



Make sure you get the 90nm version, they are a little more but if you give OCing a try they OC much better than the 130nm. And if you OC with the 3500+ you will probably hit FX-55 speeds with it so you will have an FX-55 for $600 less. I would also recommed Corsir memory

Here is the 3500+


here is the memory I recommend
 
Originally posted by: Computer MAn

Make sure you get the 90nm version, they are a little more but if you give OCing a try they OC much better than the 130nm. And if you OC with the 3500+ you will probably hit FX-55 speeds with it so you will have an FX-55 for $600 less. I would also recommed Corsir memory

Here is the 3500+


here is the memory I recommend
Click to expand...


Other than the price difference, and the 2 slots vs 1 slot difference, what would be the difference between the 2x512 MB value pack, and the 1GB single stick value RAM? None noticable?
 
I forgot you were going for 2x1GB sorry. 1GB sticks usually cost more and have a higher latency so are bad at OCing. But since Lantecy isn't important on the A64 dont worry about it 1GB sticks will be fine

Here is a 1GB stick for you
 
When/If the day ever comes that you NEED 4 gb of ram for gaming, that fx-55 and those dual 6800U's will be "slow", so I'd stick with 1 or 2 and save a bucketload of cash.
 
I say stick with your choices, but get a 56x CD-ROM, and then a very nice combo drive, the 56x CDRom drive is specifically for gaming.Get the best of everything so that you wont be out of date for a while. Although i agree about the 3500+. I would actually wait until after christmas to see if anything new is released. Just make sure your system is prepared for what 2005 has to offer.
 
I haven't purchased anything yet (except for the things I already own and am using on my current setup) I'm actually just doing research and trying to find out what kind of setup would be good. I probably will begin to do my purchases in January or Febuary, once the holiday madness dies down a little bit and maybe demand and prices drop. We'll see. I like to have loads of information on hand before I make a rather large purchase such as this one.
 
My advice is don't worry about the speakers, CD-R/RW/DVD-R/RW, mouse, keyboard, ect and focus on the main components. Besides, you can check the B/S/T and Hot Deals forum here to get way better deals then New Egg.

I agree, go with the 3500+ and the dual 6800GT, for the sake of saving money. If your not OCing, your case, PSU, and RAM should be decent but not anything fancy. If you are going to OC, then the case, PSU and RAM should be adjusted, which in return means more money.

That should be a sweet setup, let us know if you have any further questions 🙂

BlackEvo
 
Originally posted by: live2game
Get the dual 6800 Ultras they are much better.
Click to expand...

The difference between a single 6800 GT and a single 6800 U is very small; I doubt that'd change when comparing dual GTs to dual Us.

An extra 56x CD-ROM or even an extra DVD-ROM is probably not a bad idea, actually--some game copy protection doesn't play nice with burners.
 
Basically, if upgradability is a concern, then definitely go with the Socket 939, especially the 90nm one. While there seems to be no difference spec-wise, I'd prefer the 939...
 
It would be an increase from the 3200, certainly (dual channel + Winchester improvements = something between 5-10%), but the 3500+ is more comparable to the 2.4 GHz 3400. Since you want SLI, you need to go S939, at least for now.
 
I am planning a similar system, same Mobo, except that I am considering OCing and going with a Koolance set up. If I am going to with 2 gig of mem should I use two 1G or four 512s? Any why doesn't latency matter with A64?
 
the fx-55 will give about 9% - 19% performance increase in games. whether that is worth the $600 price difference depends on how much money you have really. if i really had the money for the fx-55 then i'd go for it. if i was spending all my money just to get the fx-55 then i certainly wouldn't. A gig is good enough for any game there is. I also might go with some bfg 6800gt's since they have a lifetime warrenty which is always nice.
 
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