Building my first system from scratch

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
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OK narrowed down my parts basically I just need you guys's help on a few more questions

First off im going with the -- msi k8n neo4 platinum in the specs it says it supposrts the amd processors 3500+ and up ofcourse will it run an amd 939 3000 or 3200+ just fine or do I HAVE to get a 3500+ for this board.


Also i'm going with either the evga 6800ultra or the 6800gt single for right now.

with that said if I do go with the amd 3k or 3200+ will i see any difference in FPS and game performance and also what about 3d modeling but gaming is mainly what this rig will be used for. Also on that topic I can afford the 6800 ultra but is the $120ish dollars I can save getting a GT yield much more performance for the price? basically does the ultra trounce the GT? or is it slightly better with the rig I will go with.


i'd like to spend as less as possiable is why i ask i'd prefer if the msi can run the 3000amd and GT and maybe oc it? but would there be any point too?

i'm going with a gig of corsair value ram cas2.5s

i nixed the dual phillip 19"s and am getting the benq 19" lcds with dvis the fp931.. also anyone got this one? IS there ANY ghosting on it? i read it was supposed be pretty good.


please let me know about what proc the msi sli plat can handle so i can decide and please let me know how much a 3000/3200 over a 3500 would effect gameplay.


i'm getting the ocz modstream 520wattter of course to run all this aswell.

also going with dual deagate sata 72k 200gbs


please let me know asap i didnt order the parts last night because i wasent 100% sure but im almost there! much appreciated.





 

Wags1974

Member
Feb 6, 2005
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I guess the SLI is cool, but youre going top of the line, well about third from top in vid cards now, so in a year or so from now youd probably be buying two diff cards as opposed to tossing in a second 6800gt, which by then will be a mid range card like the radeon 9800's and geforce 5 series is now.

Just an idea, Im not going SLI because it is hard keeping up with gfx cards as is with me, getting two im affraid may never be in my cash grasp. PCI-E will allow for alot more advancement in gfx cards as is, not that it does a darn thing for us now over agp.
 

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
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Raptor is a good line, WD's only good line. I'd get a Seagate for a storage drive.

The AMD 3500 price/performance ratio vs a 3000 is terrible. Waste of money for a gamer.
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
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Originally posted by: ribbon13
Raptor is a good line, WD's only good line. I'd get a Seagate for a storage drive.

The AMD 3500 price/performance ratio vs a 3000 is terrible. Waste of money for a gamer.

So I should save the cheese and go with the amd 3200 winchester? does anyone else agree? plus i can always upgrade later

Wags1974 I hear you on that about the sli route but then that adds another quandry for me is the pcie worth it also? should i save more cash and go the AGP route?

people please keep the suggestions coming because i'll mostly be playing games like I said top of the line ones and I know that a 6800gt/ultra either way will suffice me for quite awhile for gaming and 3drendering/photoshop correct? by then i'll probably get a new mobo by the time i have to upgrade my vid card or what do you guys think, is it worth the savings. argg so hard to decide I could get other stuff with the cash saved most likely.

keep the info coming im so ready to order this babby and get to work on it because i'm typing this on an alienware laptop w a 9600 ati.... and i just cant take it anymore.
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
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Originally posted by: KoolDrew
Drop the Raptor.

but why? are they really not that fast over a 7200rpm drive if so what 7200rpm would you recommend seagate?
 

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
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Do NOT get AGP for a new system. There may be no difference now, but AGP is going out of style quick. In a couple of years, AGPs are likely to limited to budget/midrange cards. And the video in on PCIe is sooo much better. AGP's bus upload sucks.

I'd say keep the raptor for a boot drive, and get a seagate 16mb for storage later.
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
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Originally posted by: ribbon13
Do NOT get AGP for a new system. There may be no difference now, but AGP is going out of style quick. In a couple of years, AGPs are likely to limited to budget/midrange cards. And the video in on PCIe is sooo much better. AGP's bus upload sucks.

I'd say keep the raptor for a boot drive, and get a seagate 16mb for storage later.

okie thanks ribbon well i had just got done editing my original post with agp setup specs so I guess that was pointless.

Since i'm not going sli, but still pci-e what's the best mobo for that then. true i wasen't thinking agp is dying no need to build a new system around it. regardless the few $$ i'd save oh well. thanks ribbon.

Also for you hd guys would it make much difference if I went with the 30ish gig rapto for boot XP alone?.. and ran games everything else off the seagate? would this make a huge increase? or should i maybe try and get a 30gig raptor and 70gig raptor for games/apps but when it comes to pagefile i'm clueless how would this best go setup and on wich drive etc? PAGEFILE setup let me know thanks guys!

and will please someone answer my question how much of a difference in performance and gaming over 7200rpm drives or raptor10k setup as stated above? is it even worth it really? i've never used a raptor sorry for the exstensive questions but this babby will have to last me for quite awhile.
 

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
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You can run a single pcie video card on the same motherboard you had picked out.

A Raptor 36 would give you fast booting and isn't terribly expensive, though the 74 is a tad faster. With multiple SATA drives I would have the page file equally distributed with fixed size. like 512mb on C and 512mb on D.
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
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Very helpfull but thanks for the free bump and grats on another post count...... as I stated in my edited post i've already decided on my parts So your witty retort was moot. I just don't want to make any conflicting pieces ala the specs that the msi k8n sli plat stats 3500+ and up but i've read someone was running a 3k on it so I wanted to make sure.



but again thanks for your help..
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
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Originally posted by: ribbon13
So what have you decided then?

well im trying to get a definitive answer if the msi only supports 3500+ and up 939 procs or will it support a 3000+ or 3200+

"Originally posted by: ribbon13
Raptor is a good line, WD's only good line. I'd get a Seagate for a storage drive.

The AMD 3500 price/performance ratio vs a 3000 is terrible. Waste of money for a gamer."


so if the msi will run a 3k or is th 3200+(in the same boat ratio/price/performance vs the 3000+ as the 3500+) and it will WORK IN the msi(this is what im trying to figure out im not sure the spec sheet stats 3500+ and up 939's? I want to save money and go with a 3000+ or 3200+ and ribbon since you said that about the 3500+ wich would you recommend for the msi if it will run a 939 under the 3500+?

This is basically what i'm trying to figure out. If not then i have no choice as to go with a 3500+ but i'd like to save the money to get other parts if it's not needed and not that better than a 3000+

that and if i should get the evga 6800 ultra or get the evga 6800gt the gt will save me another $130ish bucks... this is all I have left to decide.


btw i've been in laptop land and out of the pc loop, ribbon care to tell me the diff between the necastle and winchester cores?
 

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
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You have nothing to worry about... do you really think motherboards would sell if they only supported one chip? Get your msi and 3000. The difference in games would be nil.

The GT. The $130 isn't worth the 5 minute flash and overclock to ultra speeds.
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
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I understand that ribbon no offense but check this link here and youll see what i mean about the 3500+ and up is why it's confusing me, heh.

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p_sp...p?model=K8N_Neo4_Platinum/SLI&class=mb

"CPU
? Supports Socket 939 for AMD® Athlon? 64FX/64 processor
? Supports 3500+, 3800+ Athlon 64FX 53, FX55 or higher CPU
"

And thank you for all your help thus far. Also thanks to everyone else who replied, except *cough* *cough* just joking.... I've learnt alot, about pc's again just researching this and the new technology is impressive so are the prices! hahahha.
 

ribbon13

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2005
9,343
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Those specs are probably from before Winchester cores existed. Like I said, you have nothing to worry about. Generally, if it can handle 'or higher' there's no reason it can't handle 'or lower' :p
 

guynexdoor

Member
Sep 5, 2004
177
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Don't get the SLI board...I'm getting the same mobo, but non SLI...

in reality, you're not really going to buy the same v card down the line, you'll probably want to upgrade by that time. SLI is not worth it.
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
0
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Wee this is what I got.

292403 Zalman ZM-RS6F+M Real Surround Sound Headphones Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** $49.99 1 $49.99
251795 Netgear WG311 54Mbps Wireless PCI Adapter Retail *** Free 2nd Day *** $39.99 1 $39.99
172503 NEC ND-3520A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Bare Drive (Beige) ***Free 2nd Day*** $65.50 1 $65.50
233225 BenQ FP931 19in LCD Monitor (Silver/Black) Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** $366.00 2 $732.00
110403 Mitsumi MTM43W 1.44MB 3.5in Floppy Disk Drive *** Free 2nd Day *** $13.75 1 $13.75
101565 Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3200826AS 200GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer ***Free 2nd Day*** $135.00 2 $270.00
80699-2 AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Processor Socket 939 Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** $160.00 1 $160.00
241158 MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra Athlon 64 Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** $154.99 1 $154.99
322705 eVGA e-GeForce 6800 Ultra PCI Express 256MB DDR3 Video Card w/TV-Out & Dual DVI Retail ***Free 2nd Day*** $599.99 1 $599.99
80097-18 Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PRO 1GB Kit DDR400 XMS3200 Dual-Channel ProSeries Memory w/Heat Spreader Retail *** Free 2nd Day *** $228.00 1 $228.00
145006 Logisys CS888UVBL Assembled UV Blue Acrylic Case (Clear) Retail $72.99 1 $72.99

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sub Total: $2387.20

plus $140 shipped seperate for the OCZ Modstream 520w PSU.

all 2nd day. can't wait. will post finish shots when it is completed


and thanks to all who helped me out.
 

ElDood

Junior Member
Dec 9, 2004
19
0
0
end result, with money shots. All in all i'm pleased with the dual benqs only thing i'm not happy with so far is the netgear card. Where I have it, signal is way weaker compared to the same spot of my pcmcia laptop netgear card. Other than that im pleased with my setup.

eq2 dualbenqs
case
eq2 dualbenqs upclose
case side
ocz modstream/amd cpu/corsair leds
Triallian and IE
ut2k3 select screen
split nvidia logo
ut2k3 spectate
ut2k3 dualbenqs char split


also my 200gb seagate barracudas 8mb cache 200gb satas both show up as 127gigs max each, what's up with that?! lol.. sigh

-eldood