Christmas Rig

[Arcuivie]

I really need some help on deciding my new Christmas rig. I have a general idea of what I want, but I also have this general idea of how much money I have, and the two don't seem to want to get along. I'll have about 1650~1850 (depending on grades and how much my dad wants to fork up, he's already disagreeing though, since I just built my current rig a year and a half ago) to spend by the time Christmas shopping for myself rolls around (around Dec. 30 ). My current rig is as follows:

Case: Antec Lanboy (with 350w Smart Blue power supply)
Mobo: Asus A7N8X Deluxe
CPU: Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton"
RAM: Two sticks of PNY 512 PC3200 (and a gig of Mushkin LV2 sitting in the trunk of my car, can you mix brands?)
Vid Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600Pro
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Hard Drive(s): Western Digital 120 GB 8MB Buffer x2
CD/RW: Lite-On 52x42x52 (or something like that)
DVD: Samsung something..

Anyway, I think that?s about it. I plan on selling the Case/Mobo/CPU/Vid Card combo to help raise even more money, how much do you think I can get for them? The case is modded, just a blow hold in the top with an alien fan grill and an Antec (92 or 80, don't remember), it is a bit scratched though. I also have a pretty expensive heatsink sitting on top of my CPU, which is keeping it around 35C idle, 42C load.

And now we move on to my dream:

Case: Thermaltake Shark (Silver or Black, depending on my decision of which water cooler to get)
Mobo: ASUS SLI-Deluxe (this thing is expensive...)
CPU: Athlon64 FX-55 (I have my heart set on this)
RAM: The Mushkin, and maybe with the PNY if you can use two brands at once, if not I'm selling the PNY along with everything else)
Vid Card: Dual 6800GT's, not at the start though, single for now, dual around Feburary.
Sound Card: Same
Hard Drive: Same
CD/RW: Same
DVD: Same
Water Cooling: Still haven't decided, not sure if I want to go internal or external, an all in one kit with the cool LCD readout screen (Coolermaster or Koolance) or a do-it-yourself system from Swiftech.

Final Price: ~1900-2000

I really need help deciding on the water cooling, since I've been debating it for weeks now, and also the most expensive things (the damn MOBO, CPU, and VID).

Thanks .

 

[CheesePoofs]

I would NOT recomend getting the fx-55, its a complete waste of money in my opinion. You could save around $450 and get a 90nm 3500, which will not be noticable slower. That would bring the price down into your range, and give you more money to spend on something that will have a bigger impact on performance, like the graphics card.

You didn't list a PSU, so are you planning on using the one that comes with the thermaltake case? Because if you are going to spend that much on a system you really should consider getting a high quality power supply.

You can mix memory brands most of the time, but occasionally you can get stability problems because of it.

 

[Arcuivie]

I forgot to add the Ultra 600W PSU to the list, sorry.

But doesn't the FX-55 (and 4000+) use strained silicon?

I also can't seem to find a PCI-Express 6800 Ultra anywhere.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Arcuivie
I forgot to add the Ultra 600W PSU to the list, sorry.

But doesn't the FX-55 (and 4000+) use strained silicon?

I also can't seem to find a PCI-Express 6800 Ultra anywhere.

no offense, but you seem to be dishing out a ton of cash for stuff that is only a hair faster than something $500 cheaper. my rig in my sig will be able to keep pace(except for your dual 6800's) with your "dream" machine and i spent roughly half of what you are

 

[CheesePoofs]

Originally posted by: Arcuivie
I forgot to add the Ultra 600W PSU to the list, sorry.

But doesn't the FX-55 (and 4000+) use strained silicon?

Only the fx-55 uses strained silicon, the 4000 is just a fx-53, so it doesn't.

Originally posted by: nick1985
no offense, but you seem to be dishing out a ton of cash for stuff that is only a hair faster than something $500 cheaper. my rig in my sig will be able to keep pace(except for your dual 6800's) with your "dream" machine and i spent roughly half of what you are

I agree completely here, the 600W PSU is way over the top, even for SLI, and your having your heart set on an fx-55. You could spend half as much and probably loose a tenth of the performance.

 

[Arcuivie]

Hmm, I guess your right, but I just need something that will be able to perform now and then, if you know what I'm saying. Like, I do a lot of 3d work, so 3ds Max 5 is constantly up and running, along with Photoshop CS. Running the two simultaneously now is kind of hard, so I'm constantly switching between the two, which takes up a lot of my time. And of course, once I upgrade to 3ds Max 7, I'll need a better system to ease the tax on my equipment.

What is causing the price to spike in the transition between 3500 and 3800?

 

[Dethfrumbelo]

The 3500+ is 90nm and the 3800+ is 130nm. More cores per wafer, better yields.

BTW, I agree with the other posters. Save some money and get the 3500+ and use that money later on to go dual core.

 

[Arcuivie]

Thats actually a really good idea...alright, I'll do that.

Anyway, I think that?s about it. I plan on selling the Case/Mobo/CPU/Vid Card combo to help raise even more money, how much do you think I can get for them?

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Arcuivie
Thats actually a really good idea...alright, I'll do that.

Anyway, I think that?s about it. I plan on selling the Case/Mobo/CPU/Vid Card combo to help raise even more money, how much do you think I can get for them?

price checks are against forum rules. sorry

 

[Mrvile]

Arcuivie, Ultra 600w psu? Ew. Get something a bit better quality and lower wattage, like an OCZ 520 or something. OCZ, Antec, Enermax, PCP&C, Fortron, Tagan, Sparkle.

 

[Arcuivie]

Alright, 500~550 will be sufficient enough to run what I'm getting? What is wrong with Ultra btw? I've been seeing really good reviews on their stuff.

quote:
Originally posted by: Arcuivie
Thats actually a really good idea...alright, I'll do that.

quote:
Anyway, I think that?s about it. I plan on selling the Case/Mobo/CPU/Vid Card combo to help raise even more money, how much do you think I can get for them?



price checks are against forum rules. sorry

I apologize , won't happen again.

 

[Mrvile]

If I'm not mistaken, Ultra makes those modded PSU's that you can remove the molex connectors? They've fried countless peoples' parts on these forums, I'd stay away from them.

 

[Arcuivie]

Ahh, I found the topic you were talking about. I guess I will go with OCZ or Antec (brands i'm familiar with), but the question still remains: is 550 W enough?

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: Arcuivie
Ahh, I found the topic you were talking about. I guess I will go with OCZ or Antec (brands i'm familiar with), but the question still remains: is 550 W enough?

Yes 550 is more than enough