Building a new system

[flamingspinach]

My planned system is here. I'm on a slightly flexible budget of $1500.

Questions:

1. Sound card. I am looking for some nice sound (surround sound would be nice, but not really paramount I guess), geared mostly towards gaming and MIDI, since I don't really listen to MP3s much. Must support soundfonts - don't know if this is standard, or a software issue or what. Will Audigy2 do the trick? And if it does, is it overkill? I only plan on a 2.0 or 2.1 speaker setup as you can see. So should I stick with onboard sound, or spring for an Audigy2? Or maybe take the middle road with a Turtle Beach card?

2. Motherboard. Asus has a great reputation, and so does nVidia, so I've gone with an Athlon64 socket 754 nForce3 250 Gb chipset motherboard from Asus. However, I'm told that socket 939 is much much better than 754. Are there nForce3 motherboards that support 939? I know Asus doesn't have any. Can anyone recommend a solid, well-known motherboard company that would allow me to have s939, nForce, and AGP at the same time?

3. Video card. I'm going with a 6800, and everyone tells me BFG has a great policy for tech support and warranty, not to mention they are overclocked out of the box and are a small, quality company. However, is this worth the extra ~$30? Are there some other chips that have physical hardware advantages, rather than simply service advantages, for about the same price (~$300)?

4. CPU. I'm going with Athlon64 definitely, but what's a good speed? 3200+ seems nice, but I don't know if it's over- or underkill compared to the rest of my system...

5. PSU. Anyone ever heard of Coolmax? Newegg customers gave it rave reviews but I'd never heard of it before...

6. Mouse. I have been recommended the Logitech MX Duo, a combo of a wireless keyboard and wireless mouse. Does anyone have this? Does it work well? Are there transmission problems? Is the mouse good? Should I just go for a generic keyboard and the Logitech MX 510 mouse instead of the MX Duo?

I'm trying to plan the "perfect" system by Christmas (planning to buy the day after or some time around then) - though that's obviously not possible - if you have any other suggestions, I'd welcome those too... thank you.

-fs

 

[gwai lo]

Socket 939 supports dual channel memory, which already makes it better. Also 754 is going to get phased out, so when you need a processor upgrade in the future you'll have a motherboard already. If you are going 939 then I'd suggest the MSI k8 neo2 (crap I think that's the name..all these confusing mobo names =/)

BFG is pretty good..their lifetime warranty doesn't detract from them. There aren't really "physical hardware advantages" because they're all based on the same chips...

3500+ or 3200+..doesn't really matter...just get a Winchester core.

For PSU I haven't heard of them..but Antec, OCZ, or PCP&C are pretty good.

yeah..nothing to say on the rest

 

[w00t]

1 get s939 (socket 939)
2 get xp-90 with panfola fan ( how ever u spell it) smaller and higher performance.
3. get msi neo plat. nf3
4 stay with 3200 oc it later on
5 better psu only 400watt
5 get a 6800gt oc to ultra speeds laters. i would say xf
6 get some better oc capabilty ram ocz el plat.
7 dont get those speakers or that headset. get audio 90's. get a 2.1 channel sound card the live
8 dont get that sound card 7.1 channel the speakers u wanted were 2.1
9 take out the BELKIN Nostromo Speedpad keep the controler i guess.
10 dont get wirelss mouse or keyboard mouse lag. always gonna move it and u will be able to tell its moving slower. you will tell when you go on a good wire mouse.
11 dont like case but that is my opinon.
12 do some research on that t.v tuner i would get the ati hdtv turner but that is just me.


edit get enermax or ocz psu somthing better. good choice to go with mx-510 i would say best mouse out. i prefer wires considering dont want to have to replace batterys or charge also mouse lag and somtimes doesnt pick up i have used the mx1000 i dont like i was playing call of duty and it suxed.

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: gwai lo
Socket 939 supports dual channel memory, which already makes it better. Also 754 is going to get phased out, so when you need a processor upgrade in the future you'll have a motherboard already. If you are going 939 then I'd suggest the MSI k8 neo2 (crap I think that's the name..all these confusing mobo names =/)

BFG is pretty good..their lifetime warranty doesn't detract from them. There aren't really "physical hardware advantages" because they're all based on the same chips...

3500+ or 3200+..doesn't really matter...just get a Winchester core.

For PSU I haven't heard of them..but Antec, OCZ, or PCP&C are pretty good.

yeah..nothing to say on the rest

actually dual channel doesnt make a big performance increase because there is a built in memory controler on the a64. also 754 is dumb because its gonna fade out plus s939 is better for upgradability and performance. "just get a Winchester core"

 

[gwai lo]

well I know its built in...is it on all A64 processors then? Wasn't too sure about that aspect...

 

[w00t]

Originally posted by: gwai lo
well I know its built in...is it on all A64 processors then? Wasn't too sure about that aspect...

dont worry about it man. now you know i learned from somone else too

 

[flamingspinach]

bump Keep them coming! Thanks for your help.

-fs

 

[ts3433]

Going down your list of questions...
1. Don't worry about a soundcard if you don't have high-end speakers. That $92 would be better used to get a Winchester and a S939 mobo, or maybe just to go up to a S754 3400+.
2. If you go S754, get the DFI or Epox NF3 boards; S939, get the Epox.
3. The slight overclock on the BFG probably isn't worth $30; you'll likely be able to do that yourself with another card still from a quality name (eVGA?).
4. A 3200+ is fine, most likely.
5. Never heard of them, so I'd stay away. Try the usual PSU suspects (Antec, Enermax, Fortron, et alii)
6. I know nothing about wireless keyboards and mice other than their lag, sorry.

 

[flamingspinach]

*bump*

Thanks for all the replies so far! The more details the merrier!

-fs

 

[KamiXkaze]

754 vs. 939 do a search and you will see which is better
1.it is real hard to future proof any system things change within a year.
2as for dual channel ram A64 suport it, but there not much of a advantage over single channel(only p4 prescott tend to take advantage of that)
3.sound cards are not needed unless you need EAX and most of the time the onboards ones handle just fine
4.wired keyboard/mouse serial or usb will always outperform wireless atleast for now.

 

[flamingspinach]

I think I'll stick with 754, since the K8N-E Deluxe motherboard with nForce 3 250 Gb from Asus seems to be more stable than the MSI's nForce3 Ultra board. Also there's price to take into consideration.

I looked up EAX, it sounds awesome... now the question is whether I should really go with the Audigy2 ZS, or switch to the Audigy2 Value card, or even a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or something like that... any opinions?

Thanks!

-fs

 

[flamingspinach]

bump?

 

[flamingspinach]

bump again... sorry for all these bumps but I'd like some more input... and it's been a week...

-fs