First Build: Athlon64 3000+, DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D

[Tsuioku]

Hey Peepz,

I'm helping a friend put together a rig to be used purely for WoW.
Key factors will be performance and stability. She will not be doing any overclocking and will not be running SLI. Potential upgrades in the future would be video card, ram and maybe CPU. Budget is $700-750CDN (~600-625USD) b4 taxes.

I've been outta the PC world for a while and after a day's research, here's my prelim setup.

Antec SLK2650BQE w/ 350W PS
Athlon64 3000+
DFI Lanparty UT Ultra-D
2x512MB Samsung PC3200 DDR400
[+$25CDN/20USD to upgrade to Corsair Value Select?]
BFG 6600GT OC PCI-E 128MB
WD 80GB 8MB 7200RPM
Lite-On 16x DVD

Currently debating whether or not to upgrade the ram to Corsair Value Select (VS1GBKIT400) for an additional $25CDN/20USD.

Opinions on this rig? This setup is already pushing the limits of her budget (mail-in rebate on the BFG already factored in). If anyone has any suggestions to lower the cost of this rig, it would also be greatly appreciated.

 

[Hacp]

Get a cheaper board if no overclocking, and get a better graphics card with that. I'm guessing a MSI Neo-4 and x800GTO or 6800 will made the wow experience more enjoyable.

 

[hmorphone]

Looks pretty good. The DFI is a great motherboard but you may have picked too weak a power supply to keep it happy. DFI's also don't always like Corsair mem that well so I would go ahead and try the Samsung. For about the same money I went with the Seagate over Western Digital and I've been pretty happy with that choice. She would have a lot of overclocking potential up the road (if she had a power supply that could keep up that is!) I agree that X800GTO's and 6800's are good vid cards but I've heard you have to overclock the GTO's to get their potential out of them and I've also heard that the cheaper non-GT, non-Ultra 6800's are relatively low performers. Even though it's not one of the fastest cards I don't think I've ever heard anyone kick themselves for getting a 6600GT.

 

[Gadzookie]

Antec Solution SLK3800B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Rackmount Case 400Watt (SP400)
SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V 2.0 for AMD? & Intel systems Power Supply - Retail 99.99

AMD Athlon 64 3200 939 Processor 152.00
EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard 105.00
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 80.90
Western Digital Caviar SE 80GB 3.5" Serial ATA150 53.29
NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A - OEM 38.88
AOpen GF6600GT-DV128 Geforce 6600GT 128MB 139.00

Total 669.06

i would get this screw dfi i hate those boards !

 

[Tsuioku]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Just a reminder, the config I have already maxxed out her budget (currently ringing in at ~700CDN/600USD after MIR and she's already complaining). Only way I can upgrade anything is if I downgrade something.

I am located in Vancouver, BC, Canada and I haven't been able to track down an Epox 9NPA+Ultra yet. I prefer to purchase everything locally. The main sites I am currently looking at are www.anitec.ca and www.ncix.com.

To put things into cost perspective, BFG 6600GT (b4 MIR) = AOpen 6600GT and BFG 6600GT (after MIR) = eVGA 6600GT

Is the DFI so power hungry that a 350W does not suffice? Wow..
How does every one find the Asus A8N-E? Would it consume less power?
Please keep in mind that this system will not be overclocked. Just pure stock.

 

[hmorphone]

quoting Angry Games (a moderator at www.dfi-street.com)

"as for power supply...do not even think about buying a DFI NF4 board of any flavor if you do not have a 480w, 24-pin quality power supply.

PERIOD.

you won't get any official support and most members here will tell you to come back when you have a psu that meets minimum requirements (see psu link in my sig)

the DFI boards are not designed nor tested for 'cheap' compatibility. The Infinitys are ok with standard hardware, but are still very picky about power and memory...and the Lanparty series...is very unforgiving if you go 'cheap'


a serious thing to think about is maybe going with an MSI or Abit or Gigabyte or Asus board as they run just fine as far as I know with lower-end components and psu's that are lower than what DFI requires. They all make great NF4 boards and though it might be strange hearing the DFI Support Manager (me) telling you to go shopping for competitors boards...I would rather you be in a board that is good for you and will work right out of the box for the budget you are spending instead of you being caught in a loop of "well dude you bought the wrong, cheap parts and until you get something we recommend...you are going to have problems" because you only end up pissed off and would never consider DFI ever again.

if, however, you go with Abit, Asus, Msi, etc, and get a board that runs just fine with your budgeted hardware, one day when you have a little extra to spend, you will reconsider DFI now that you have the extra cash to 'get it right' (which is not the 'most expensive'...its just buying the RIGHT parts that we know work well), and you'll remember that I steered you away from DFI for a good reason and hopefully you would respect that "

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Get the EPoX 9nPA+ Ultra, or if you want to go even cheaper, the Chaintech nForce4 Ultra board. That Samsung RAM is just fine. Try to get a DVD burner. They're pretty useful.

 

[Agnostos Insania]

Originally posted by: Tsuioku
She will not be doing any overclocking and will not be running SLI...

We're all forgetting something here. Is she hot? Inquiring minds need to know.

 

[deptrai]

Pics of her and her rigs would be nice.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: deptrai
Pics of her and her rigs would be nice.

jeez guys, u 2 must be hella lonely....

no one's mentioned the ASRock Uli board...it's $71 shipped from newegg. i know you don't like buying online but newegg is a well respected site. everything looks good for the budget. don't get DFI. they are AWESOME overclockers but that's not what your friend wants. she wants the cheapest components that will keep her happy. the 6600gt is just fine. so is the 1gb or ram. nothing wrong with switching to corsair but i don't think it's worth $20 just to change brands when it comes to value ram