FINGER IS ON THE TRIGGER ! Changes made

[pibb]

Hello, its been a bit under a month since I first joined AT and made my first post.
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview...atid=27&threadid=1639392&enterthread=y
I appriciate the advice but what I took from the post is that I needed to wait off and READ(READREADREAD) up on the new technology, then I decided going with a more upgradable route probley would be more beneficial to me.

Soo, what do I need this for?
Games (BF2 Baby!), media storage for video/music/etc, surfing etc..

And after a month of reading reviews heres what ive come up with!

REFURBISHED: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130487R
$96.00 Shipped (I would really look into a DFI but im worried about my ram not being able to move onto a new DFI board, and the pain of its setup) *Also I went with the SLI really only because the SLI Platinum refurbed is cheaper than the non-SLI Platinum, if I could find non SLI Platinum for cheaper i'd probley rather have it*

AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3000+* 939pins, OEM __New E6 steppin__
http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=A64-3000BW&show=w + ArticSilver 5
$129.00 shipped (I'm hoping I can OC to get 2.4/5Ghz out of this)
This will be cooled with a ThermalRight XP-90(NOT C) w/ a 90MM Panaflo (Already purchased both together for $35.00 from SVC, No changing now)

gigaram 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820221004
**This will be moving from my current setup, no changing it! Though i'll probley end up adding another 1GB module later on**

XCLIO XClio 450BL ATX 450W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16817189003
$59.00 Shipped (Ive read much debate on Higher +12 vs. Dual +12, SOO Keep in mind that im looking to OC and lets hear some more debates )

*********************************************
For right now i'm going to be using a old PCI(**NOT PCI-E**) Voodoo3 3000 for video while I wait for the PCI-E versions of 6800vanilla's to drop below $180.. Any problems doing this?? >>>> THIS IS JUST FOR SETTING SYSTEM UP, NO GAMING, THIS WILL BE REPLACED IN A WEEK OR TWO WITH NEW PCI-E SOLUTION <<<<
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Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16822144415
$86.00 Shipped (I didn't spend a huge ammount of time reading on harddrives, just enough to figue out that 2sata raid wasn't worth the headache, and that Seagate is a good manufacturer, any thoughts??)


I ordered the case and some case fans when I ordered the XP-90/Panaflo from SVC. I went real cheap on the case since price was so low I figued if I didn't like it I could just sell it off. So here they are...

vvvVVVvvv !!Stuff below is already purchased!! vvvVVVvvv

ENERMAX CS-1251-B-RE REFURBISHED SLIM SERIES MID-TOWER CASE W/ NO PSU
http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/cs-1251-b-re.html
About $23.00 Shipped (Hey it was/is cheap!! Lol)

COOLER MASTER 80X25MM TLF-R82-ER 80MM NEON QUAD LED CASE FAN
http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/80comaneledc3.html
I got four for 1.29$ each, So I can't say I got hurt even if they aren't the best fans on the block!

COOLER MASTER VHC-L61-U1 COOL VIVA VGA CARD COOLER
http://store.yahoo.com/svcompucycle/vhc-l61-u1-19.html
$8.00 (Didn't find much info on this, but it was cheap so I picked one up, anyone ever used one of these??)

Finally.. DVDRW, Keyboard, Mouse, and Monitor (after a nice black vinyle dying) will be moving with me from current system.

Thoughts? Ideas? Thanks!

 

[feelthaflo]

That video card absolutely will not cut it with BF2. You'll also probably want to get that extra gig of RAM and run in dual-channel, but you have to make sure it is an absolute match! Brand, speed, and timings must all be identical, and sometimes that even won't work (see thread on Crucial dual-channel). The dual 68-vanillas would be a sweet setup for the price definitely, and would run your game super smooth. You may also want to check out getting one for now and then upgrading to two when you need it instead of buying two at once, if that's not what you planned on doing. There are 66-vanillas too for around 100 apiece, which would make for a decent setup in SLI, so that might be worth a look. I personally have seen fewer Western Digital hard drives die than Seagate, so I would recommend one of those. Newegg has 80's for 53 bucks right now. By the way, what's wrong with the Neo4-F that I have? Do you need an extra gigabit LAN for something? Because the only other difference with the ultra is the SATAII, which you aren't using anyways. Even the BIOS is the same!

 

[pibb]

Originally posted by: feelthaflo
That video card absolutely will not cut it with BF2. You'll also probably want to get that extra gig of RAM and run in dual-channel, but you have to make sure it is an absolute match! Brand, speed, and timings must all be identical, and sometimes that even won't work (see thread on Crucial dual-channel). The dual 68-vanillas would be a sweet setup for the price definitely, and would run your game super smooth. You may also want to check out getting one for now and then upgrading to two when you need it instead of buying two at once, if that's not what you planned on doing. There are 66-vanillas too for around 100 apiece, which would make for a decent setup in SLI, so that might be worth a look. I personally have seen fewer Western Digital hard drives die than Seagate, so I would recommend one of those. Newegg has 80's for 53 bucks right now. By the way, what's wrong with the Neo4-F that I have? Do you need an extra gigabit LAN for something? Because the only other difference with the ultra is the SATAII, which you aren't using anyways. Even the BIOS is the same!

I'm just using the Voodoo so I can order barebones sooner, new PCI-E video will follow withing next 2 weeks. Is SATAII and 2nd LAN the only difference? I need to run PCI sound, and a TV Tuner and without 2nd NIC I can't network to my xbox without using the only other avaliable PCI on any of the S939 nF4 boards.

 

[feelthaflo]

You'll probably be able to play with the Voodoo for the time being, but I doubt the framerate will really be what's generally accepted as 'playable'. Yep, those are the only 2 differences between NF4 vanilla and Ultra chipsets, and MSI boards actually use the same BIOS for both. Too bad you can't go without the other LAN, you could save some money, but it looks like you have your heart set on SLI anyways. If you go for single-GPU, the best price/performance is by far the X800XL for under 300 with 256 GDDR3 and 16 pixel pipes (mine's on the way from ATI now).

 

[pibb]

I won't be playing any games with a voodoo3, just settings up the system

REFURBISHED: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16813130487R
$96.00 Shipped (I would really look into a DFI but im worried about my ram not being able to move onto a new DFI board, and the pain of its setup) *Also I went with the SLI really only because the SLI Platinum refurbed is cheaper than the non-SLI Platinum, if I could find non SLI Platinum for cheaper i'd probley rather have it*

Not really stuck to SLI idea, but for price it is a good upgradable route

 

[feelthaflo]

Yeah that is a sweet price, but whenever you get what's on top, it'll be replaced very soon. NVidia's coming out with a dual x16 SLI chipset (as opposed to dual x8), and ATI's Crossfire is due sometime before the end of the year (I hope). It seems to me that, the way prices are going, motherboards are more replacable than GPU's nowadays, which is why I opted for my current setup. The silicon and graphics are the most expensive, but x800xl's are Crossfire ready and my CPU overclocks nicely but leaves room for an upgrade without replacing the motherboard if I want. I personally would rather spend 300 on a 16-pipe GDDR3 card than 400 on 2 12-pipe DDR's, but that's my personal preference, and I'm looking at upgrading even more within the next 6 months when Crossfire comes out. I also love ATI, so go figure...

 

[pibb]

that board has dual 16x so whats with 8x SLI??? Again im not SET on SLI, I just picked the board because it was only 25$ more than Neo-F, But you do make a very good point about board being more replacable these days...

 

[feelthaflo]

When running two GPU's in SLI, the current NVidia chipset splits the bandwidth of a single PCI-e slot up between the two cards. It's one of the shortcomings of having the chipset make the rules. They are making a new chipset, however, which will designate 16x bandwidth to each of two cards in SLI. It's called SLIx16. Sorry, SLI is an interesting topic.

Anyways, the board sounds like a good deal, and you might as well buy an NVidia card if you already have an SLI motherboard. I'm not really sure if a 6600GT or 6800 vanilla is a better card though. 66gt is 8 pipe, 128MB GDDR3, 68vanilla is 12 pipe, 256 DDR. There may be a way to unlock the extra 4 pipes in the 68, making it effectively a 68gt, but with slower memory. I would look into it, but it's time for some much-needed sleep now before work. Good luck and I'll check this thread again tomorrow.

 

[pibb]

bump before I goto bed, night all and please lets hear some conversation.. thx

 

[pibb]

damn all night and no comments? on the way to back to drop off some $$ bump

 

[theMan]

i wouldnt recommend getting a refurbished mobo. its very easy for something to go wrong with a mobo. you shouldnt risk it. also, you should get corsair value select ram. and with the voodoo3 3000 you wont be able to play any current games. so unless you want to hold off on games untill you get your new card, you should get something now.

 

[pibb]

The voodoo3 is strickly for settings up the system using a card I already own, i'll be being a card here in next couple weeks. Are refurbed boards not able to be returned or something?? Ram for now atleast is already owned so I can't afford to buy anything else

 

[theMan]

well, you will have to check on the newegg website about their policy with refrubed stuff. you could email them too. every retailer has a different policy.

 

[pibb]

Thanks for the feedback so far everyone, I'd like to hear some more! Like is my PSU enough to handle this, what about dual vs single rail ps? I'd also like to hear from anyone whois got experience with the new E6 venice steppin chips!

Also about the ps/cpu keep in mind im very much hoping to be able to push chip to 2.4/5ghz, any thoughts?

 

[pibb]

bump, cmon guys

 

[imported_Kensai]

Yes to the pole.

 

[feelthaflo]

My Venice 3000 is running rock-solid at 2.4 at 1.55V, so it's really not much of a burden on the power supply. The biggest thing is making sure you have solid rails. I don't think there is really any functional difference between single and dual +12 PSU's, but I really haven't researched them much to find out what the deal is. Mine is dual, but you shouldn't have any problems with single, and if you can save some money without sacrificing functionality, more power to you. I just have mine because I got it for 100 off retail lol. Make sure the PSU you picked out has SATA connectors, PCI-e (6 pin) connectors (2 for SLI), and 24-pin for motherboard. Beyond that, you shouldn't have to worry unless you're going to be running 2 graphics cards, in which case I would recommend going 500+ watts. Have you decided what your graphics solution will be? That will be a deciding factor in choosing a power supply, not overclocking the CPU.

 

[pibb]

bump

 

[pibb]

bump

 

[coomar]

i've never heard of the psu company, but in that price range you could get this

ENERMAX EG465P-VE(FC) ATX 460W Power Supply 52.99

i thought 6800 vanilla's were in the 180 range already, at least with a rebate?

you could try the epox board, it got great reviews (look at the anandtech review) and its only 12 bucks more new than the msi, though not as good sound

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail108.00

 

[coomar]

and sli is a little overrated, 2x6600 aren't as good as a 6800 vanilla and 2x6800 will probably give you performance similar to the ultra, 1 6800 vanilla should be fine

2x6600gts aren't as good as a 6800gt (though they will win in lower resolutions in some benchmarks)

 

[pibb]

I noted SLI board over ultra cause refurbed its cheaper, 6800 are 230$ with mail in rebates still for pci-e, agp is cheaper now