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Haven't built a new computer for 5 years, please comment this new rig

M

myrcgarage

Senior member
I haven't built a new computer for over 5 years. So, I want to ask all the experts opinions on this new computer before making final purchases. I will be using this computer for lighting/medium gaming, office applications, video editing, photo editing and some programming. Here are all the components(I have keyboard, mouse, monitor and XP professional already):

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice

Mobo: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra

Memory: either CORSAIR XMS 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Or
OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory

Case/PSU: Antec SONATA II

Video Card: Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP1213C 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

DVD Burner: NEC 3520A

DVD Drive: LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9S

Floppy Drive: NEC Black Internal Floppy Drive Model FD1231H-302

I have been struggling between MSI and DFI. However, I decided to go with DFI since I think I will overclock in the future, but not right away. Also, almost everybody on this board would recommend this board. Is it difficult to build it and get it up and running stable without overclocking at the beginning? The reason I asked is because some people are saying this board takes a lot of tweaking. Please advise.

Which memory would you select between Cosair and OCZ?

Do you think Antec Sonata II has enough juice for all the components and future add-ons, such as TV card. Also, does this case have enough air flow to cool the mobo and the video card? Would you recommend any other case and psu? I would really want to stay under $130 for both case and psu combined.

Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
 
I've been struggling with the same types of decisions. Your setup looks good to me, and I doubt you'd notice much of a diff on the RAM, unless you are going to seriously overclock or something.

Where you planning on getting all the stuff from? I might go mwave for mine because I can pick it up will call tomorrow... I wish newegg would freaking do a will call service!
 
MazerRackham, I don't know where to get it yet. I think I will buy them among newegg, monarchcomputer, zzf and mwave.

nick1985, I thought DFI NF4 is picky about ram and VS ram may not be compatible, is it true? Yes, I will get a Gig...if I get the Corsair XMS, I will get 2 sticks.

Any other comments.
 
If your not going to do much overclocking, there are other MoBo's which would probably be a better choice.

The corsair XMS is sold in dual channel packs (called twinx). It's great RAM, but if your not doing serios OCing/gaming, then it's probably overkill.

RoD
 
Originally posted by: rod
If your not going to do much overclocking, there are other MoBo's which would probably be a better choice.

The corsair XMS is sold in dual channel packs (called twinx). It's great RAM, but if your not doing serios OCing/gaming, then it's probably overkill.

RoD
Click to expand...

rod, thanks. Since I don't build/upgrade my system every year, I can spend a bit more to get something that would last a bit longer. Are you talking about this ram
 
The video card and processor you listed might make playing Battlefield2 and future games like that required to play on Low settings... but sense you wont be a hardcore gamer or anything it probably wont matter because theirs always games that have much lower requirements like Call of Duty, CS:S, WoW, etc.

Also corsair makes really good memory... or in theory they do.... but I would probably go for the 1gig of memory at the least, because thats going to start being the new recommendation and requirement for future games.. (Just telling you cus you said you havent built a comp. in 5 years so..)
 
Originally posted by: myrcgarage
Originally posted by: rod
If your not going to do much overclocking, there are other MoBo's which would probably be a better choice.

The corsair XMS is sold in dual channel packs (called twinx). It's great RAM, but if your not doing serios OCing/gaming, then it's probably overkill.

RoD
Click to expand...

rod, thanks. Since I don't build/upgrade my system every year, I can spend a bit more to get something that would last a bit longer. Are you talking about this ram
Click to expand...

You would see much better performance in games with slower RAM and a faster GPU.

Value RAM is really not bad. Even if you are OCing, you can runb a divider wghich won't impact performance much (the actual OC will more than make up for it). If you really want some good cheap RAM, go for the OCZ Value VX (I think it is just OCZ value RAM now, since it uses different DIMMS). That stuff can do 230-250 MHz with 2-2-2 timings. It really isn't for a novice though, as it requires a bit of tweaking and some high voltages (3.0-3.4).
 
that video card is too expensive. you can get a 6600GT for around $140 or $150 after rebate, and there are usually a few available with rebates. i would highly recommend getting a 6800 though. you can usually find one for around $170 AR.
a quick search for the 6800 on newegg produced a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814150068">XFX 6800 for $190 AR</a>. i could have sworn i saw a PNY for like 160 recently though..

concerning the RAM, i wouldn't buy expensive high performance sticks unless i was very serious about overclocking. besides, there is lots of 'value' RAM out there that overclocks pretty well.
i would recommend doing some research over in the http://www.hardforum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=92">memory forum</a> over at HardForum.
here are a few examples of cheap RAM that turned out to overclock very nicely..
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=918377
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=917512
these two in particular look good from reading opinions at those forums...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820218405
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146532
also, you may want to consider getting 2x1GB sticks instead of 2x512MB, as more games and more games will start benefitting from more RAM. BF2 is one example.


edit: opps, about the video cards, i accidently linked to an AGP. PCI-E are usually more expensive i think, but i would still look around for a better deal than the 6600GT you posted.
 
Instead of the retail NEC ND3520A, get the OEM NEC ND3540A for less money.

120GB isn't a good value point for hard drives; 160GB SATA drives are only a few bucks more for 33% more space.

 
Here is the revised version after looking at your suggestions. Please comment:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice

Mobo: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra

Memory: OCZ Value Series 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail

Case/PSU: Antec SONATA II

Video Card: MSI NX6800-TD128E Geforce 6800 128MB 256-bit DDR PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP1213C 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

DVD Burner: NEC 3520A

DVD Drive: LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9S

Floppy Drive: NEC Black Internal Floppy Drive Model FD1231H-302

For the video card, can I add another 128MB in the future? There is only 1 review on NewEgg right now. Is it a relatively new card? Anybody is using it?

Back to the case, is it too small for air flow? Do I need another 120MM fan in the front?

Again, I would really appreciate your help one more time.

Thanks

 
Hey I just built the following system yesterday, everything purchased from mwave.com and picked up at will call:

A64 Venice 3000+
Chaintech VNF4 Ultra
1GB Corsair Value Select DDR400 (2x512)
XFX Nvidia 6600GT 128MB PCI-e Dual DVI
2x Viewsonic VX715 17" LCDs (2560 x 1024 baby!... just awesome!)
Seagate 7200.7 SATA 120GB
NEC 3540A DVDR
Sony floppy
Linksys WMP-54G WiFi PCI
Adaptec Firewire 400 3-port PCI card
Antec SLK3700BQE case (pretty nice, but don't really like the door on it)
Win XP SP2

Booted up first time no problems (lucky I think). Been running all night without any problems too! 🙂

On your video card you can't add any more memory in the future.
 
Is XFX a well known company? How do you like your card so far?

Do you guys the MSI I selected is good for video rendering? Or everything is happening at the CPU level and not GPU?

Thanks
 
Originally posted by: myrcgarage
I haven't built a new computer for over 5 years. So, I want to ask all the experts opinions on this new computer before making final purchases. I will be using this computer for lighting/medium gaming, office applications, video editing, photo editing and some programming. Here are all the components(I have keyboard, mouse, monitor and XP professional already):

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice

Mobo: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra

Memory: either CORSAIR XMS 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)
Or
OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory

Case/PSU: Antec SONATA II

Video Card: Leadtek PX6600GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

Hard Drive: SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP1213C 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

DVD Burner: NEC 3520A

DVD Drive: LITE-ON Black IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model SOHD-16P9S

Floppy Drive: NEC Black Internal Floppy Drive Model FD1231H-302

I have been struggling between MSI and DFI. However, I decided to go with DFI since I think I will overclock in the future, but not right away. Also, almost everybody on this board would recommend this board. Is it difficult to build it and get it up and running stable without overclocking at the beginning? The reason I asked is because some people are saying this board takes a lot of tweaking. Please advise.

Which memory would you select between Cosair and OCZ?

Do you think Antec Sonata II has enough juice for all the components and future add-ons, such as TV card. Also, does this case have enough air flow to cool the mobo and the video card? Would you recommend any other case and psu? I would really want to stay under $130 for both case and psu combined.

Any other comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Click to expand...

x800xl
 
dfi recommends at least 480watts and native 24 pin power cord to the motherboard. i also would not get corsair or any "value" memory dfi nforce boards seem to have problems with both. i would try some ocz gold series ram with that board. psu i recommend fortron blue storm 500watts native 24 pin and the cables are braided. any questions concerning that board go to www.dfi-street.com
 
So, the Antec 450 watt is not good enough? I know the PSU that comes with Sonata II is a native 24 pin PSU.

Regarding the memory, how come so many people recommend the value series? If I don't do serious OC, am I going to be OK with OCZ Values rams?

Please comment since I need to make my final decision. I don't want to go over $1000. I am close right now if I get the X800XL.

Thanks
 
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