BUying a computer in the next hour.. help FAST

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BBock7271

Banned
Jan 11, 2005
197
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this is what i got so far
i want to spend about 800$

3000+ 939 winnie (retail for now 3$ extra) until i can afford better fan/heatsink

MB Asus A8N-SLI (please tell me how this board is if anyone knows!)

512x2 Patriot 3200 XBL (someone please tell me what i look for for good overclocking ram, i dont know what stock clockings should be etc.) should i get the 3200xbl or the 4200 standard for the same price??

Antec Sonata (is this really a good case?) can it handle my system? 380W seems small for an SLI system but i cant afford too much more. You think i should just get a cheap 500w powersupply and hope for the best for the time being till i can upgrade w/ a 100$ one? If so help me pick out a case and psu that would be about the same price or less !

6600GT.. i plan to SLI these. But im only gonna get 1 for the time being. Let me know what PCI-6600GT i should get. (Overclocking / performance / price)

Thanks in advance!
------------------------
MONITOR= Keeping Sony 19in

HDD= Keeping 2 250gig

SOUNDCARD= Keeping SBLive for now

Optical drives= Keeping my PIONEER AO6 and my PIONEER 16x DVDROM
 
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dtboos

Member
Dec 12, 2004
120
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Do not skimp on your PSU. A quality 380w PSU > a cheap 500w PSU. You run the risk of frying alot more than just the PSU unit with a cheap unit.
 
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housecat

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
1,426
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i personally would get the retail 3000 as you are, and would never leave the retail HS/fan personally..i think they work good/ are fine.

the a8n is a stellar board from those i know who have it.. highly recommended by my close friends (one of them runs a major hardware review site, not AT)
i wouldnt worry about good overclocking ram, just get decent quality (corsair,kingston ect) for best price.. should be around $130 on pricegrabber, newegg has some good deals on 1gig pc3200
all antec cases are awesome. cant to wrong. sonata is quite heavy though, but very high quality. if you are looking to travel, look into the super lanboy. both are great choices you wont regret.
leadtek 6600gt, hands down. unless you can save alot of money ($40+) going to a different brand. i'd stay away from XFX if you could, it'd be more of a gamble than the rest.

gl
 
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ts3433

Platinum Member
Jun 29, 2004
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I wouldn't recommend the SLI route, especially not with 6600GTs. You'll get slightly better performance with a single 6800GT (go AGP if you have to on this one; a good board would be the Epox EP-9NDA3+). The Antec Sonata's True380S will be better than any generic power supply, and should fare okay with 6600GT SLI, but no more advanced SLI than that. (It's also the best value on a case and PSU at the moment.)

Go with value RAM ($140 for 2x512MB from Corsair/Mushkin/Crucial). You don't need fancy RAM to OC an A64; look at the sticky in the CPU/OC forum.
 
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BBock7271

Banned
Jan 11, 2005
197
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ok well do you think 380w will be enough to do 2x 6600GT , 2 harddrives, 2 optical drives etc? or do i need to go higher?
 
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housecat

Banned
Oct 20, 2004
1,426
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if its quality, yes.

essentially enermax, antec, fortron source.. all safe bets.

some of these fly by night brands people rant and rave about are probably good too.. im just passing on what works for me, and has for years and years.

you could use a good quality 350watter with that 6600gt sli setup. i wouldnt recommend it, but you could probably do it just fine.

try for a quality 380 or 400 watter.


i like the antec neopower 480watt with modular cables for $100 or so.
but you will need a 24pin adapter for that asus board with most PSUs.


otherwise, antec makes a great PSU with a 24pin power connector native, which is what that board requires. but an adapter will work fine too.
 
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imported_brad

Member
Jan 6, 2005
172
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dont go for the cheap PSU. the only real cheap thing you can have and get away with is ram, and that's not always true either.

i have this PSU and case, and i love it. Extra hand and elbow room when assembling is always nice :)

ANTEC 430W
 
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BBock7271

Banned
Jan 11, 2005
197
0
0
dammit.. i just ordered mine.. do you think the sonata or the antec 430w is a better case/psu?

Ill call tomorrow morning and change it if the consensus is its better. Its only 15$ difference.
 
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ts3433

Platinum Member
Jun 29, 2004
2,731
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They're probably about the same, though actually you may want the True430 in the Plus1080AMG with 4 drives. The Plus1080AMG will probably be a bit louder, heavier, and bigger, though.
 
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Zap Brannigan

Golden Member
Oct 14, 2004
1,887
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I have the Sonata; over all I like it.

The 380 watt psu powers my XP2800+ OC's to 3200+/ eVGA 6800 GT/ 2x512 Mushkin ram sticks/ Audiotrak Prodigy 7.1/ mouse and keyboard with out a glitch.

I do have a spare Antec 430 Watt True power supply that I thought I might need but no.
 
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BBock7271

Banned
Jan 11, 2005
197
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what is gonna drive me nuts is... im prob gonna need to scrap the whole powersupply for overclockin anyway. Since the one that came w/ my case is only rated at +12v its only rated 18a and even the 430 is only 20a. i heard u need higher for good OC's. Does the sonata case really only have space for 1 fan? is that enough ? 1 case fan and 1 cpu fan?
 
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Zap Brannigan

Golden Member
Oct 14, 2004
1,887
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It has the space for two 120mm fans. I find the one 120mm works as well as the 3 80mm fans I had on my previous case and is much quieter.

I do have a second 120mm fan installed which is only supposed to kick on if the case gets too hot. I don't think it's been on once as of yet.
 
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BBock7271

Banned
Jan 11, 2005
197
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oh and one more thing... I have so many slots on this new motherboard.. if you look at my motherboard and my case, does my case have enough slots to utilize all those slots on the mb? Maybe i do need a bigger one
 
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Zap Brannigan

Golden Member
Oct 14, 2004
1,887
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OK; I just opened my case just for you and fan #2 is on. The only way I could tell was to look as the 120mm are that much more silent than the 80mm.
 
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Zap Brannigan

Golden Member
Oct 14, 2004
1,887
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My mobo temperature is hovering in at 20c idle. It's warm in this room too. My cpu OC'd is comming in at 41c. Again this room is warm; during the summer when my AC is on my CPU is in the 30's.
 
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imported_brad

Member
Jan 6, 2005
172
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0
Originally posted by: BBock7271
dammit.. i just ordered mine.. do you think the sonata or the antec 430w is a better case/psu?

Ill call tomorrow morning and change it if the consensus is its better. Its only 15$ difference.
Click to expand...

im sure both would be fine for you. 380w should handle just about anything unless you go nuts on it with like 3 HD's and all that jazz. I just prefer the larger case for ease of use and expandability, and that model there has a side breathing hole that yours doesnt have.
 
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BBock7271

Banned
Jan 11, 2005
197
0
0
i might just upgrade the powersupply later.. i have 2 hdds now and 2 opticals.. i plan on adding a 10,000rpm drive in the near future and the other graphics card.. but i might as well just buy another psu then.

As long as u guys think i can keep this case very cool etc. ill be fine
 
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BBock7271

Banned
Jan 11, 2005
197
0
0
i just read those few posts about value ram. You think i should look to buy value ram instead of my ram and use that 50-100$ for another part?
 
Googer

Googer

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
12,576
7
81
Originally posted by: housecat
if its quality, yes.

essentially enermax, antec, fortron source.. all safe bets.

some of these fly by night brands people rant and rave about are probably good too.. im just passing on what works for me, and has for years and years.

you could use a good quality 350watter with that 6600gt sli setup. i wouldnt recommend it, but you could probably do it just fine.

try for a quality 380 or 400 watter.


i like the antec neopower 480watt with modular cables for $100 or so.
but you will need a 24pin adapter for that asus board with most PSUs.


otherwise, antec makes a great PSU with a 24pin power connector native, which is what that board requires. but an adapter will work fine too.
Click to expand...


People think enermax are good psu's. Enermax is a rebaged and dressed up generic psu, and because it has a High price tag they think it must be good. Infact there are cheaper PSU's that out perform enermax, and haver better voltage regulation.
Enermax = junk
Antec is better but = mediocre
PC Power and Cooling = Mercedes Benz

I cannot speak about fortron, I know little about them
 
Googer

Googer

Lifer
Nov 11, 2004
12,576
7
81
Originally posted by: BBock7271
i just read those few posts about value ram. You think i should look to buy value ram instead of my ram and use that 50-100$ for another part?
Click to expand...

Value Ram is great, I would recommed Crucial instead for the same price you get a lifetime warrenty and some of the best ram chips (don't confuse chips with modules or DIMMS) made on this plannet.
 
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