Building an Athlon 64 machine

[Zimdesign]

I've been mulling over which parts to build my new rig, since I have a limited budget (around $700CDN) here are the options I have narrowed it down to:

CPU: Athlon 64 2800+: $280 or Athlon 64 3000+: $310 (both retail)

Mobo: ASROCK K8S8X SIS755: $130 or ASUS K8V/BASIC K8T800: $150

RAM: 2X 512MB DDR400 PC3200: $246

My current thinking is I should get the 2800+ with the K8V which would allow me to o/c a bit if I ever needed that little extra power...

 

[Shyatic]

As I understand it... the 2800+ doesn't OC as well as the 3000+. You are probably better off spending the cash on the 3000+ (like I did) and getting the Chaintech or MSI board that AT just reviewed here as they are both great OCers. You should be good to go after that

 

[EngenZerO]

cpu -> AMD64 3000+
mobo -> AOpen AK86-L (my friend has none, rock stable board, I just ordered a MSi K8N don't have it yet, so I dont know how it really performs)
ram -> Mushkin Level 1 PC3200

 

[Insane3D]

Just a heads up, and it might not fit in your budget, but there is a great deal right now on a Thermalright HSF kit. You can get the Thermalright SLK-948U, a tube of Arctic Silver 5, and a 92mm Panaflo for $29.99.

If you can swing it, it would be a nice, performance HSF setup, without the noise. That combo should perform a good deal better than the stock HSF...IMO.




Deal is here

:beer:

 

[Markfw]

CPU: Athlon64 3000+, the 2800 just doesn;t cut it from what I've read.
Motherboard: I still like ASUS. Get one of the new Kt800pro chipset ASUS boards.
Memory: Mushkin PC3500 level 1 or Kingston Hyperx. Need a little OC headroom.

That HSF looks like a good deal. My Thermatake Silent Boost K8 is also a great choice.

 

[Zimdesign]

Thanks for the tip on the HSF deal, I'll look into that

About these new KT800Pro mobos, I have 2 questions:

-how long until they become available

-how much of a price premium are we looking at versus the older boards out there

 

[sisooktom]

I just ordered the 3000+ with the Asrock board. I've heard nothing but good things about it and don't need the extra features of the higher priced boards. Not to mention I hate VIA

 

[ath50]

How long do you think that deal will be up? That looks nice

 

[Markfw]

Originally posted by: sisooktom
I just ordered the 3000+ with the Asrock board. I've heard nothing but good things about it and don't the extra features of the higher priced boards. Not to mention I hate VIA

I don't know why you hate VIA. Until the second generation of motherboards for the Athlon64, the VIA was king. Now the Nvidia chipset and VIA are about on the same level.

 

[jacktesterson]

NCIX.com has a Soltek Board with the Nforce 3 350 chipset, Raid, SATA etc on sale this week for $95 canadian...

I'd pick that board up...Soltek is developing a good name for itself past couple years (there customer support is excellent as well)

 

[imported_oralpain]

None of the K8T800 Motherbaords OC very well, they have no agp/pci lock. Get an NF3 150/250 with locks if OCing is a priority.

I agree with EngenZerO that the AK86-L is a good board, but you will likely run into trouble over over 220MHz or so as the pci/agp busses get farther out of spec.

ASROCK boards tend to be crap.

 

[Runner20]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

Originally posted by: sisooktom
I just ordered the 3000+ with the Asrock board. I've heard nothing but good things about it and don't the extra features of the higher priced boards. Not to mention I hate VIA

I don't know why you hate VIA. Until the second generation of motherboards for the Athlon64, the VIA was king. Now the Nvidia chipset and VIA are about on the same level.

I agree. Via is better than the NVIDIA chipset, INHO. It just offers better performance and is generally better for gaming.

 

[Metron]

Read this ATOT article if you plan to overclock...

Metron

 

[sisooktom]

Originally posted by: Markfw900

I don't know why you hate VIA. Until the second generation of motherboards for the Athlon64, the VIA was king. Now the Nvidia chipset and VIA are about on the same level.

I didn't say Via boards were bad performers, I said I hate Via, meaning the company. I just think they have shoddy business practices, not to mention I remember the days of the KT133.

 

[Zimdesign]

Overclocking is not a priority... I was just thinking it would be nice to have a board that supports some performance adjustments for the future. I am currently leaning towards getting the 3000+ with the ASRock to get slightly better performance out of the box.