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building a system on Epox 8RDA+

R

ref81fi

Junior Member
I'm planning to build a new system and need some advice and encouragement.
The components I've been thinking to use are listed below. Feel free to give me some new ideas or inform me if I've made a bad choice. I'm running on a not so big budget.

Epox 8RDA+ (a good deal and capable?)
XP 2500 Barton (fairly good deal?)
Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu (quiet and effective?)
Kingston HyperX 3200 2*512
Sapphire Radeon 9000 Pro 64 All-In-Wonder (Can't afford a faster one. Need for AIW features. Will it work with 8rda+?)
Maxtor 7200RPM 80GB
Antec Sonata Piano (Quiet, isn't it?)
I'm planning to use the integrated AC'97. It's good enough for my logitech 340, isn't it.

alltogether about 880 euros

How is the system going to overclock? experiences?
 
i have a similar system. except my 2 8rda's from newegg came doa. getting my 3rd one this week.

other than that it looks fine. u might wanna get the 1700+ dlt3c ( dont know if this is available in europe) if ur overclocking. if not the 2500+ is fine. also for the case i would recommend getting a slk3700 from antec. it does'nt seem that ur gonna have a lot of stuff in ur computer so i think a 350w smartpower would be sufficient.

 
The 8RDA+ has excellent onboard sound; you should be pleased with it. The only thing I don't like about their setup of it is that there are three jacks - one is for front speakers. The next is Line-In OR rear speakers. The remaining jack is Mic OR Center/Subwoofer. So if you get a 5.1 setup, you can't use it and do input at the same time - this is bad in games that'll let you use the mic to talk to other players.
I have 2 8RDA+'s and both needed the VDD mod to reach 200MHz bus speed and remain stable. I didn't bother with the SMD grabbers; I just soldered wires right to the board.
Hmm, seems the site's pictures aren't working right now; hopefully they're working on that.
 
Originally posted by: ref81fi
I'm planning to build a new system and need some advice and encouragement.
The components I've been thinking to use are listed below. Feel free to give me some new ideas or inform me if I've made a bad choice. I'm running on a not so big budget.

Epox 8RDA+ (a good deal and capable?)
XP 2500 Barton (fairly good deal?)
Click to expand...

Excellent combination. I've built several...easy 2.0-2.1ghz on stock voltage

Zalman CNPS7000-AlCu (quiet and effective?)
Click to expand...

Bleh. I'd go with a Thermalright SLK800 and NBM or Panaflo. I like to be able to choose my own fan 🙂

Kingston HyperX 3200 2*512
Sapphire Radeon 9000 Pro 64 All-In-Wonder (Can't afford a faster one. Need for AIW features. Will it work with 8rda+?)
Maxtor 7200RPM 80GB
Antec Sonata Piano (Quiet, isn't it?)
Click to expand...

No problems there

I'm planning to use the integrated AC'97. It's good enough for my logitech 340, isn't it.
Click to expand...

Onboard sound is excellent. More than enough for your 340s.

How is the system going to overclock? experiences?
Click to expand...

Very well. As above...2.0-2.1 on stock voltage isn't an unreasonable expectation. I've only done customer builds with the 8RDA+ and 2500, so I haven't pushed it more than 200x10, but if it'll do that on stock voltages...you should be in for a treat 🙂
 
i still wonder why so many people like the 8RDA+. i mean it is cheap cheap cheap but i've seen many DOA in the forums so maybe there is a bad batch or something.

but about the video card. if you only get it because you want the tv tuner, get the leadtek tuner for $50, then get a 9100 or something which is faster

and the RAM... i mean you ARE tight on money, but you're gettin ONE GIG of some rather expensive stuff. i play games and do all kinds of stuff but i rarely use anything over 300mb or so. 1 gig of ram is an overkill IMO

then again, correct me if im wrong
 
Originally posted by: sniperruff
i still wonder why so many people like the 8RDA+. i mean it is cheap cheap cheap but i've seen many DOA in the forums so maybe there is a bad batch or something.
Click to expand...


Offer an alternative motherboard
 
Originally posted by: sniperruff
but about the video card. if you only get it because you want the tv tuner, get the leadtek tuner for $50, then get a 9100 or something which is faster
Click to expand...

for what I've seen is that radeon 9000 pro has been faster than 9100 and 9200 but I may be wrong. Anyway the case is that I don't play much. If I needed more speed I would propably choose a Ti 4200 64MB. Anyway I'm going to buy the radeon 9000pro AIW because of the AIW features, ok speed, picture quality and the price. And with a little overclocking it will be fast enough for gaming every now and then.

and the RAM... i mean you ARE tight on money, but you're gettin ONE GIG of some rather expensive stuff. i play games and do all kinds of stuff but i rarely use anything over 300mb or so. 1 gig of ram is an overkill IMO
Click to expand...

you're right about that. I've been thinking about 2 * 256 HyperX 3200 all the time. I just made a mistake when writing the original listing.
 
Originally posted by: techwanabe
Originally posted by: sniperruff
i still wonder why so many people like the 8RDA+. i mean it is cheap cheap cheap but i've seen many DOA in the forums so maybe there is a bad batch or something.
Click to expand...


Offer an alternative motherboard
Click to expand...

maybe a soltek board costing a couple dollars more.
 
i recently bought an epox 8rda+ with a barton 2500+ and have had ZERO problems. the sytem runs very nicely. It's a good overclocker as well. I haven't even tried to push the system, but I got it to 10x200 without a hiccup on generic air cooling.
 
im not saying it's a bad board. it's just that when quite a few people report having it DOA or having stability issues then it is not worth the trouble to get it to save $5 or so.

it's just that i don't see what's so special about this regular nforce2 board, except that it's cheap
 
lot of dead on arrival issues with those things...I like the Soltek Nforce2 board myself...can be had for $20-30 cheaper with same features and o/c's very well
 
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