critique new comp setup

[srawal]

hi everybody, I just finished putting together a new computer, let me know what you think of it!

AMD 64 4000+ San Diego @ 2.7GHz on stock AMD cooler (Socket 939)
BFG BFGRNF4U nForce 4 Ultra Motherboard
2x1GB PC3200 DDR SDRAM Cas Latency of 3 after processor overclock
2x512MB PC 3200 DDR SDRAM Cas Latency of 3 after processor overclock
80GB Western Digital Raptor
320GB Western Digital 7200RPM SATA 1.5MB/s HD
BBA ATI Radeon X1800XT @ 690MHz Core/800MHz Memory
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Sony 16X DVD+/-RW DL Drive
Memorex 52x32x52/16X CD-RW/DVD Drive
ATI Theatre 550 Pro TV Tuner (PCI Bus based)
500W Super Alien See Through Power Supply
Generic Antec Ripoff Old Alienware Full-Tower Case Look-alike in blue
6 Antec Case Fans
Logitech G5 Laser Gaming Mouse
Saitek Backlit Keyboard
Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Surround Sound Speakers
Running with a Dell 17" CRT that maxes at 1600x1200 @ 65Hz
fUnc industries mousepad
Windows XP SP2 Professional

I will post pictures once I get back to college.

Edit: I intend on using the computer for approximatly a year to a year and a half, so I didn't choose dual core for now.

 

[EagleEye]

I've never heard of that PSU, so I hope that it is ok, but everything else looks great!

Persoanally, I would have gotten an opty 165 if you were going to spend that much on a 4000+ (and i did ), I bet that you will be regretting single core within your year and a half lifespan.

Also, you might want to get 2x 1gb stick of RAM so that you are not running in T2 command w/o Dual channel.

But over, nice build

 

[KoolDrew]

Very poor PSU choice.

 

[srawal]

I originally had an Antec TruePower 350W in there that worked fine.

I looked around my parts closet and found that power supply so I decided to use that. In my budgeting, somewhere along the way I forgot to pick up an Antec True Power 550W so I ended up with the super alien.

And the proc, I bought it off a friend for 30 bucks cuz he was swappin his out with an X2 4600+.

Thanks for the comments, I will monitor this PSU, if it starts to crap out ill buy an Antec or Enermax.

 

[alimoalem]

for $30, awesome cpu choice. i would've thought it could OC more considering the 3700 is clocked 200MHz slower and can reach 2.7 fairly easily

you have 2x1gb ram and 2x512? it's a waste to me. either sell the 2x512 and keep the cash (i recommend this) or get a second 2x1gb kit.

80gig raptor? is that the dell-specific one or the regualr 74gig? why didn't you get the sata II 16mb western digital drive?

how much did you end up paying?

 

[sniperruff]

6 freaking fans... i don't want to be within 20 feet of that thing.

 

[jc9970]

Specs look good. I however, have never been a big fan of mixing memory. I would drop the 2x512's.

 

[fire400]

for the a similar price on that 2nd hd you have, you could actually get a SATA drive that sports 300 mbps

 

[ProviaFan]

Depending on your usage, you can get better overclocking or memory speed by dropping the 2x512MB and going with "only" 2GB. However, in the unlikely event that you do a lot of work with Photoshop, VMWare, and other memory-hungry programs simultaneously, it may be worth the speed tradeoff to keep the 4 modules for 3GB total.

 

[ProviaFan]

Originally posted by: fire400
for the a similar price on that 2nd hd you have, you could actually get a SATA drive that sports 300 mbps

Which makes absolutely no difference, since no non-solid state hard drive today is limited by the transfer rate of SATA I. Yes, maybe he could find another model that would be faster and also happen to have 3Gbit/sec transfer rates, but the higher speed would be regardless of the faster interface.

 

[srawal]

yeah its the dell 80gigger raptor, i dont remember what I payed for the 320 gigger, I bought if off newegg a few months ago and never used it in the originally intended machine b/c i had to rma it.

as for the fans...yeah, its sounds like a harrier jet doing a vertical takeoff, but i dont mind, i have it on S3 standby while i sleep, or I use my Dell 700m laptop.

sata 2, the throughput isnt realized...so anothr reason why i did not get it.

Overall, I payed around $1000 for the whole thing.

as for the memory...no...i dont use photoshop...so for gaming, if i keep these oclocks, will gaming be faster with just the 2 gig sticks instead of the 2 gig sticks and 2 512 sticks?

thanks

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Nice find on the CPU. Let me know if he's upgrading anything else later

 

[srawal]

Finally, as per everyone's suggestion on the PSU being too weak, I have decided to splurge on the second item of this pc (after the X1800XT), I just bought a PC Power and Cooling 1 kW power supply that peaks at 1100W.

I am sure that will be more then enough for the next 3 computers I build.

 

[imported_LoKe]

Originally posted by: srawal
Finally, as per everyone's suggestion on the PSU being too weak, I have decided to splurge on the second item of this pc (after the X1800XT), I just bought a PC Power and Cooling 1 kW power supply that peaks at 1100W.

I am sure that will be more then enough for the next 3 computers I build.

Holy overkill batman!

 

[CraigRT]

Originally posted by: LoKe

Originally posted by: srawal
Finally, as per everyone's suggestion on the PSU being too weak, I have decided to splurge on the second item of this pc (after the X1800XT), I just bought a PC Power and Cooling 1 kW power supply that peaks at 1100W.

I am sure that will be more then enough for the next 3 computers I build.

Holy overkill batman!

yessum.

 

[KoolDrew]

Originally posted by: srawal
Finally, as per everyone's suggestion on the PSU being too weak, I have decided to splurge on the second item of this pc (after the X1800XT), I just bought a PC Power and Cooling 1 kW power supply that peaks at 1100W.

I am sure that will be more then enough for the next 3 computers I build.

Thats like 700w's overkill.