can't believe i'm doing this

[TWills]

After buying my car I have roughly 700 simoleans left to buy a new gaming rig with, so here goes...

PNY 2x 512mb 3200 DDR (for dual channel)

Leadtek 6600 gt 128mb pci-e (for SLI later)

A64 3200 (was going to get 3000 but instead 3200 for the extra cache. would venice be wiser than winchester?)

Asus SLI premium or MSI Neo 4 (which would be better w/cpu)

I already have everything else, so how 'bout it?

 

[imported_Kensai]

Venice > Winchester.
MSI > Asus in your case.

 

[rise]

get the venice. and the 3200+ has the extra multi, not cache- 10x vs 9x.

and i'm partial to the dfi. you can get the UT sli-dr for 180 or so.

but if you get the dfi you should look at the ocz el plat rev 2 3200.

other than that looks great

 

[smthmlk]

msi better than an asus? what?

 

[TWills]

i liked the asus mostly for the inclusion of the wireless nic, but would happily discard it in favor of the MSI or DFI if one of those had one. (I don't really like that silly talking the asus makes anyway...)

 

[birdpup]

Not much information is provided since anything can be included in the phrase "I already have everything else". What else do you have? Do you already have a 6600 gt video card? SLI is for two video cards and is not needed if you will only have one video card. A non-SLI motherboard is much cheaper. Will you overclock your cpu? Whether you overclock or not will change the recommendations received. A monetary amount is mentioned with little idea how much is needed to purchase.

motherboards - DFI, MSI, Asus - in that order.
video cards - if on a tight budget, check out NewEgg's refurbished goods section. I purchased a perfectly working Asus 6200 128mb for half price at $51. But then I am not a gamer.

cpu - depending on your budget, you may want the 3000+, 3200+, or even the 3700+. Yes the Venice is better than the Winchester, but only if you will overclock it. When did the 3200+ obtain extra cache over the 3000+? Last I checked, they possessed the same amount of cache.

 

[TWills]

Originally posted by: birdpup
Not much information is provided since anything can be included in the phrase "I already have everything else". What else do you have? Do you already have a 6600 gt video card? SLI is for two video cards and is not needed if you will only have one video card. A non-SLI motherboard is much cheaper. Will you overclock your cpu? Whether you overclock or not will change the recommendations received. A monetary amount is mentioned with little idea how much is needed to purchase.

motherboards - DFI, MSI, Asus - in that order.
video cards - if on a tight budget, check out NewEgg's refurbished goods section. I purchased a perfectly working Asus 6200 128mb for half price at $51. But then I am not a gamer.

cpu - depending on your budget, you may want the 3000+, 3200+, or even the 3700+. Yes the Venice is better than the Winchester, but only if you will overclock it. When did the 3200+ obtain extra cache over the 3000+? Last I checked, they possessed the same amount of cache.

Umm... I meant I was getting the posted parts, and I already have a hard drive, PSU, optical drive, and I'm building my own case.

I thought I read somewhere that the 3000 had 512 cache and the 3200 had 1mb. I do want the 1mb of cache, and if the 3000 has it, I can spend my money on that instead of a 3200, since I will be overclocking.

Finally, I am going to get one video card for now, then add another later when I have more money burning a hole in my pocket.

 

[thaugen]

NOOB question: What do you do with two video cards?

 

[birdpup]

Ah, ok. The 3700+ San Diego has the 1mb cache but it costs $335. The 3000+, 3200+, and 3500+ Venice each have 512kb cache. If you are overclocking and on a budget, I would think it would be a choice between the 3000+ or the 3200+. However, the 3700+ would probably be the fastest cpu. The 3000+ and the 3200+ are able to be reliably overclocked up to 2600MHz with some going higher. The 3200+ would allow a higher multiple (x10) for lower FSB speed, which would allow a higher memory divider.

People tend to recommend cheaper memory and higher quality video cards for gaming, with general uncertainty concerning which cpu is best between the 3000+ and the 3200+.

My 3000+ and memory (2x512mb patriot) allow:
a 2/3 memory divider at 290MHz FSB x9 for 2610MHz.
a 5/6 memory divider at 270MHz FSB x9 for 2430MHz.
a 1/1 memory divider at 225MHz FSB x9 for 2025MHz.

 

[knothead34]

Originally posted by: thaugen
NOOB question: What do you do with two video cards?

the op stated he was going sli .....the reason he wants or is going to get a second video card.

 

[Stokes]

Originally posted by: birdpup

My 3000+ and memory (2x512mb patriot) allow:
a 2/3 memory divider at 290MHz FSB x9 for 2610MHz.
a 5/6 memory divider at 270MHz FSB x9 for 2430MHz.
a 1/1 memory divider at 225MHz FSB x9 for 2025MHz.

I'm a newbie when it comes to memory dividers, what exactly does it do for you, and I hear all the time people talking about 1 to 1 just like you mentioned there, almost implying that 1/1 was better then the other options?

 

[birdpup]

Check out Zebo's recommendations in this thread. Many people ask similar questions to this each day. It will help to read some of the other similar threads, expecially in the CPU/Processor category. Only then will you obtain a better feel for the equipment since some questions do not always receive the same attention other similar posts receive.

 

[ArsenHazzard]

A memory divider allows the ram to be run at a slower frequency than the FSB, allowing for a higher overclock. For the A64s, using a memory divider impacts performance very little.

 

[birdpup]

I'm a newbie when it comes to memory dividers, what exactly does it do for you, and I hear all the time people talking about 1 to 1 just like you mentioned there, almost implying that 1/1 was better then the other options?

Concerning computer architecture, the cpu communicates with the main memory (RAM) through a bus called the Front Side Bus (FSB) or HyperTransport (Terminal?) (HTT). These three components (CPU, FSB, Memory) usually all run at the same frequency. The memory is typically not able to run at the same high speeds as the cpu and FSB, therefore the memory will run at a slower speed. This slower speed of the memory needs to be aligned in some manner to still be able to communicate with the higher speed of the cpu so certain speeds are selected, which correspond to either a (A:B), 1:1, 5:6, 4:6, or even a 3:6 relationship. This means that the memory is running at 'A' clock cycles for every 'B' clock cycles of the cpu. If the memory is running slower than the cpu, then some cpu cycles are not able to access the memory.

Therefore, a 1:1 relationship means the memory runs one cycle for every one cycle of the cpu and no cpu cycles are lost. In a 5:6 relationship, the memory runs 5 cycles for every 6 cycles of the cpu and one cpu cycle is lost for every six. The AMD64 possesses an onboard memory controller, which allows the cpu to more efficiently prepare for these lost memory accessible cycles and perform other work at this time. This increases the overall cpu efficiency and allows the use of cheaper RAM memory to overall achieve only slightly lower performance than the better, more expensive memory.

In my example with my system, my DDR400 memory is not able to reliably run faster than 225MHz (it fails at 230) but my cpu is able to run at 290MHz and my FSB can handle 320MHz. This means my memory is limiting my overall system performance. I could purchase DDR500 memory that is able to run at 250MHz but I have already spent money on the DDR400, which is rated at 200MHz. To allow the faster speeds, I set my memory to its maximum of 225MHz and then find a ratio with the CPU to allow the fastest and most efficient system speed. A higher CPU MHz speed requires a lower memory divider to allow the memory to keep up with it.

 

[birdpup]

Back to the OP. Something people are commonly doing now, such as myself, are purchasing the 3000+ for $150 now, which possesses incredible speed capability for such a small price. In a year or two, a dual core X2 can hopefully be purchased for a lot less.

 

[TWills]

Ok, looks good. I'm going to build my own case out of wood (birch probably), so I can mess around with air flow. The typical atx layout isn't good enough for me anymore. And I guess I'll get the 3200 venice just for kicks I guess.

 

[birdpup]

Wood is an excellent sound/noise damper but it also allows resonance if a component, like a fan or power supply, touches the wood. The 3200+ is a good choice. I am not familiar with PNY memory, but Crucial is supposed to work well with any board.