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Checking for compatibility before the buy

T

tongqi2

Junior Member
Hi all, it's been around 4 years since I've last done this but I'm about to build a new gaming system. I do NOT intend to overclock. I was wondering if this looks like a decent build and more importantly if the machine as a whole will work well without any problems. Here's what I've decided to buy:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500BPBOX - Retail

Motherboard: DFI LanParty UT nF4-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4-4X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Memory: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model VS1GBKIT400 - Retail

Video Card: JATON Video-PX7800GT Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

PSU: ASPIRE ATX-AS520W BLACK ATX 520W Power Supply - Retail

HDD: Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

DVD: NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM

Got case, monitor, mouse, keyboard, headphones/speakers I'm happy with.

Overall, does this look like a wise upgrade?
 
DFI lanparty with Corsair Valueselect is a bit of a stretch. I'd recommend either a different board or different RAM beucase that combo is known not to play well together (you might be able to get away with it with a BIOS update though).... Might as well get a different board since you're not overclocking, what about the EPoX 9NPA+? Last time I checked it was $95 and hell it saves you some money 🙂.

ASPIRE PSU? Please. Stay away from that crap. Just get an Antec Smartpower II 400W or a Fortron 40W power supply.

One thing I'm unsure about is the JATON...sure, it might get the job done, but why not shell out a few more bucks for a Leadtek, eVGA, or BFG? The warantee alone is enough to justify the cost, IMHO.

Edit: One more thing...about the Raptor. A lot of drives outperform it right now...just get a Seagate 7200.9 (or .8 if .9 isn't out yet) SATA II drive.
 
I read the DFI board is for overclockers. I'll be buying a new computer soon so i'm in the same position and i dont plan on overclocking either. It seems all the motherboards have some issues that scare me. I was set on MSI from the anandtech review but then i read the forums and people seem to have some bad experiences with it. Then i thought about Asus, then i read its selective about memory and has some issues also. I wish there were a solid motherboard without issues but i cant seem to find one.

I'll probably be getting the Enermax 535 power supply, its SLI ready. I dont plan on going SLI initially, just want to leave the possiblity of upgrading to SLI if somewhere down the line i can find another 7800GT for cheap. who knows.

And after reading all these recent comments about the Raptor not being that good, i'm strongly leaning away from it and more towards the Western Digital C400gb one.

I wish there were clearer answers, it seems like the forums contradict some reviews, even user reviews from Newegg contradict what many people say. Its hard to get a bottomline answer when it comes to computer hardware it seems 🙁
 
I've decided to swap the Raptor with the WD SATA II 250GB and the DFI with the EpoX. Also, I've switched the PSU from the Aspire to Antec Truepower II 480W and I hope this will all work out nicely. Dropped the generic brand and went with BFG also.
 
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