First time build, comments?

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dogooder

Member
Jun 22, 2005
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(Updated)

The setup:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Integrated into Chip FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail $148

CHAINTECH VNF4/Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $92

XFX PVT45GUDF3 Geforce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $299

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail $80

Antec Solution SLK2650-BQE Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail $66

Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $55

LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - Retail $47

Zonet ZFM5620-CF 56Kbps PCI Bus (Plug and Play) Modem - Retail $8

Microsoft K4800019 Black 102 Normal Keys 17 Function Keys PS/2 RF Wireless Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail $83

Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM $84


Total excluding shipping ~$962.

I am keeping my monitor and speakers from my old system.

Thanks for all your help.
 
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suicidalpigeon

Banned
Feb 17, 2005
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whats your budget? why do you need a modem, are you dial up? you say you switching to pci-e but that mobo and vid are still agp. you should get a chaintech mobo and a 3000+ socket 939 venice. the 3000 will be outdated eventually if you're not going to overclock.
 
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dogooder

Member
Jun 22, 2005
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I'm on dial-up right now. No strict budget, just something reasonable.

I said that I'm going for agp instead of pci-e (not the other way around) because this way is a lot cheaper and I'm not concerned about "future proofing."

Other comments?
 
E

eXx08

Banned
May 28, 2005
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Originally posted by: Kensai
Go cheap S939 with PCI-E, it'll still end up to be cheaper since you save on the cost of the PCI-E to AGP bridge.
Click to expand...

He's right.
 
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eXx08

Banned
May 28, 2005
2,363
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Originally posted by: Kensai
Go cheap S939 with PCI-E, it'll still end up to be cheaper since you save on the cost of the PCI-E to AGP bridge.
Click to expand...

He's right.
 
nick1985

nick1985

Lifer
Dec 29, 2002
27,153
6
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if you were to get a PCI-E X800XL, you could then afford to go socket 939. that would be a much better route for you
 
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kleinwl

Senior member
May 3, 2005
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If you are going along and doing 939... you might as well change your hard drive to SATA. Smaller cables... nicer airflow.... slightly faster response (with the 8MB cache).
 
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dogooder

Member
Jun 22, 2005
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Originally posted by: nick1985
if you were to get a PCI-E X800XL, you could then afford to go socket 939. that would be a much better route for you
Click to expand...

AOE3 uses SM3.0 and the X800XL doesn't support this (or am I wrong?). I think the NVIDIA cards will generally work better...

Originally posted by: kleinwl
If you are going along and doing 939... you might as well change your hard drive to SATA. Smaller cables... nicer airflow.... slightly faster response (with the 8MB cache).
Click to expand...

I thought the hard drive was SATA?...

I am getting confused.
 
Mrvile

Mrvile

Lifer
Oct 16, 2004
14,066
1
0
Originally posted by: dogooder
Originally posted by: nick1985
if you were to get a PCI-E X800XL, you could then afford to go socket 939. that would be a much better route for you
Click to expand...

AOE3 uses SM3.0 and the X800XL doesn't support this (or am I wrong?). I think the NVIDIA cards will generally work better...

Originally posted by: kleinwl
If you are going along and doing 939... you might as well change your hard drive to SATA. Smaller cables... nicer airflow.... slightly faster response (with the 8MB cache).
Click to expand...

I thought the hard drive was SATA?...

I am getting confused.
Click to expand...

In that case you can get the 6800GT for about the same price (~300), great card.

I can't stress how much getting a 939 setup would benefit you. Get the CPU and motherboard Nick mentioned, it's definately a better choice over your 754 build.

Also, don't worry about the HDD, it's SATA. I think he read it wrong.
 
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dogooder

Member
Jun 22, 2005
61
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Originally posted by: Mrvile
In that case you can get the 6800GT for about the same price (~300), great card.

I can't stress how much getting a 939 setup would benefit you. Get the CPU and motherboard Nick mentioned, it's definately a better choice over your 754 build.

Also, don't worry about the HDD, it's SATA. I think he read it wrong.
Click to expand...

Okay. I was going for the 754 build mostly because the video card (6800GT AGP) was $284, compared to $345 for the cheapest PCI-e version. (I was also thinking that the nForce 3/4 motherboard would be prefered.) That $61 difference seemed like a lot. Maybe I should wait a while to see if the prices will drop, seeing as how the 7800GTX was launched today. AOE3 doesn't come out for a few more months.

Thanks for all your help.
 
Muscles

Muscles

Senior member
Jul 16, 2003
424
13
81
Originally posted by: dogooder
The setup:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Newcastle Integrated into Chip FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor - Retail $146

SOLTEK SL-K8AN2E-GR Socket 754 NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $77

XFX PVT40AUDF3 Geforce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail $284

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail $80

Antec Solution SLK2650-BQE Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 350W Power Supply - Retail $66

Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JD 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM $55

LITE-ON Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - Retail $47

Zonet ZFM5620-CF 56Kbps PCI Bus (Plug and Play) Modem - Retail $8

Microsoft K4800019 Black 102 Normal Keys 17 Function Keys PS/2 RF Wireless Ergonomics Keyboard Mouse Included - Retail $83

Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2 - OEM $84


Total excluding shipping ~$930.

I am keeping my monitor and speakers from my old system. I'm going for AGP over PCI-e because it is a lot cheaper (the video card looks like a steal) and I don't plan on upgrading for a long time (current system is six years old). The main goal of this setup is to play AOE3 great on my 19" monitor. I don't plan on overclocking.

Any comments/reassurance? (Is everything compatible? Did I forget anything? Do I need cables for the hard drive or do they come with the motherboard? Is the CPU enough? Is the PSU enough? I would like it to be quiet too.) I will probably buy in a few days. Thanks for your advice!
Click to expand...

Regardless of what people here say, your original proposed setup looks perfectly fine. I've used that Soltek motherboard in conjunction with that cpu and ram in several office builds for clients and it's rock solid. Since you don't upgrade for several years at a time going 754 instead of 939 is logical. There was just a thread about Socket 754 versus 939 and in your case you're better off with 754. Also you had the right idea going for the 6800GT.
 
Mrvile

Mrvile

Lifer
Oct 16, 2004
14,066
1
0
AoE is due this November.

Anywho they do make socket 939 boards with AGP, in fact they're probably the most common motherboards. Mine is one, and there are dozens more out there that are great motherboards. Just gotta look around :p
 
I

i1o0i

Senior member
May 20, 2005
262
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0
Geee.. why people still using dial up! why they didnt bother to switch service to high speed service providers?
 
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dogooder

Member
Jun 22, 2005
61
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Originally posted by: i1o0i
Geee.. why people still using dial up! why they didnt bother to switch service to high speed service providers?
Click to expand...


I have free, unlimited dial-up access through school. But I will probably get DSL later for multiplayer AOE3.

I'm glad I waited a day. I'm doing this Socket 939/PCI-e setup instead. The price difference ($32) is small.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice Integrated into Chip FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail $148

CHAINTECH VNF4/Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $92

XFX PVT45GUDF3 Geforce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $299

I think it looks better. Final comments?
 
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