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Just ordered my dream machine parts. Looking for some input.

B

BluePhaze

Member
Hey all,
Just ordered everything and figured I would check to see if there are any gotchas I should be looking for when it all arrives and I build it. I am not really planning on a ton of Overclocking but you never know. I just don't want to do a water setup. Any OC will be with air cooling. Mainly a gaming machine. I am not worried about benchmarks as much as just being able to enjoy my games with no issues.

System:
Case: Asus Vento 3600 Blue (Not really in the mood to do any case mods with this build)
Mobo: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
PSU: Ultra 600w X-Finity Power Supply w/2 80mm / Black
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 FX60
CPU HSF: Zalman CNPS9500 LED
RAM: OCZ 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Gold GX XTC (2x = 4GB)
Sound: Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatality FPS
Video: 2x eVGA GeForce 7800 GTX KO PCIe 256MB PCIe w/ACS3 (For SLI setup)
HDD1: Seagate 120GB Serial ATA w/NCQ 7200/8MB/SATA-3G
HDD2: Seagate 300GB Serial ATA HD 7200/8MB/S-ATA-150
DVD+-RW: 2x HP DVD740RI Lightscribe Int Blk DL DVD+/-RW

Any input is highly appreciated.
 
Shouldn't of skimped on the PSU. Should have went with a better brand if your powering all of those high end parts.
 
PSU... Get something like a 600w Seasonic S-12, or a PC Power and Cooling. Forton if you are really on a budget. No reason to skimp on the PSU for a machine like that, and Ultra just isn't worth the chance.
 
yea, I would definately change the PSU (everything else is excellent though)

It looks like you're going for the best, so if you want the best PSU, then get a PC Power & Cooling. The PSU is easily the most commonly underrated part of a computer. Without stable voltages, you're asking for instability and trouble.

If PCP&C is too much for you (and it looks like it shouldn't be), then look at a brand like Enermax, OCZ, or Antec (in arguably descending order).

Good luck, and keep us posted.
 
WHats the price range on the PCP&C? Also is it standard ATX size? Trying to avoid any overly large PSU's since I am not sure about the PSU area in the case.

Was gonna hold out for the 512 Geforce 7800's but I figure the 256's OC'd are fine for anything coming out any time soon. I don't want to wait months, and I don't think I will need the 7900's when they come out. I have been using a Geforce 5900 ultra up till now.
 
Originally posted by: BluePhaze
WHats the price range on the PCP&C? Also is it standard ATX size? Trying to avoid any overly large PSU's since I am not sure about the PSU area in the case.
Click to expand...

There are some PC&C PSU standard ATX... check out their website
 
Here is a dumb question also, this being my first AMD build what type of connector do I need for the MOBO? 20 or 24 pin? Thanks!

I am guessing I am gonna see a huge difference from my last machine. Last machine was:

p4 2.4g
1GB pc800 RDRAM
ATA 133 250GB drive.
BFG Geforce 5900 ultra w/256.
Audigy 2.
 
You will see a huge difference.

It should be in the specs, but im guessing that new of a mobo takes a 24 pin, my regular SLI takes a 24 pin.

I cant believe how much money people spend on there parts. Im not saying its bad, im just jealous.
 
I also just came to another realization! My Monitor (Samsung SyncMaster 712n) has only the standard connector. I believe these cards have only DVI. Will I lose anything using the DVI - VGA adapter?
 
Well you could save some money on that sound card, and just get the base X-FI.

Maybe with the money you save you could get a better monitor?

Do you really need a lightscribe DVD burner?
 
For the PSU, how much power should I be looking at?

I figure 2 OC 7800's in SLI, 2 DVD burner, AMD FX-60, 4GB PC3200 DDR, and 2-4 HardDrives, X-Fi Fatality sound card. Will a 510 watt PSU cover it all or should I shoot for something like a 600-680 watt psu? The PC Power & Colling PSU's about 510w are over $400. A bit much for what I have left in the budget. What PSU's for 600w+ for around $200 would you recommend?

I am currently looking at the: ENERMAX Liberty ELT620AWT
 
Agreed on the PSU - Fortron, Seasonic, OCZ or any Antec True or NeoPower that's not an HE model.

2GB of RAM should be sufficient.

Lightscribe media is a bit more expensive, so unless you're planning on using this often go with a regular DVD burner.

X-Fi fatality isn't worth the $ IMHO. Go with the cheapest model or step up to the Elite Pro cause of the breakout box.

Are you planning to Overclock that FX? If not you could get 95% of the performance with the 4800+ for cheaper. You're talking 1-5 fps better in most games, a few seconds in media encoding, .2 Ghz in clock speed and unlocked multipliers for a chip thats going to cost you $200-300 more and it won't overclock all that much
 
The enermax liberty 500W would be enough and a very good choice. Don't belive the marketing bullshit about how much power you need.

Look at the review of the FX-60 on the main site, you're sticking in another graphics card a couple of HDs and expecting to more than double the power draw? 😉
 
I also agree with the psu, if your spending that much money, might as well get a reliable psu (500w or above) to go with that system.

I think sound cards are a huge waste of money. I had a fatality and I downgraded to a audigy LS- didn't hear a difference at all... maybe if you have really expensive speakers it will justify it, but you can save a good amount of your hard earned cash downgrading that sound card just a little bit and you probably would never tell a difference between the two cards.

I also agree with the cpu, that cpu is so expensive, you could get a duel core opteron that will oc to fx60 speeds or even past them with ease, and save a whole lot of cash.

I like everything else your going for, but if your spending that much you should look into some zalman coolers for you cpu/vga, they make things work cooler, faster, longer, and are really not expensive.
 
FX-60 = incredibly waste of money.

Get a 4400+ or 4800+ instead, or an Opteron 1x5 and do a little overclocking, but even with no o/c it will still be extremly fast.

SLI for a 17" LCD = waste of money, get a single X1900XT instead.

Unless you have some serious professional use of 4GB ram stick with 2GB.

I would recommend the Seasonic S-12 600W for PSU.

With this you would get just a good gaming experience but for far less $$$.
 
Ok so here are my thoughts. I am gonna drop the x-fi. I just realized one of my old boxes has an audigy 2 in it that I can pull. Gonna drop 2GB or DDR out. Those together
should allow for the purchase of a larger LCD that would actually warrant the 2 7800's.
Still toggling back and forth on the CPU since I may want to do some OC with it in the future. Any thoughts on a good gaming LCD for around 500? Gotta change my order today to get it done before it ships tomorrow.
 
If you wait a few weeks until R580 comes out you could crossfire instead of SLI with the X1900's for the fastest performance... Also the FX-60 is not worth it really. Just get an Opteron if you want to overclock. The X2 4800+ is actually a really good deal at the moment.It's only like $700 max I think compared to $1000 for .2ghz... cmon. Also Pc Power and Cooling is $210 for the 510W. They are the best but I don't think you really need it but with what you are saving if you don't get the fx-60...
 
Dude, all that money on a system and you're going with a $500 LCD? That's like blowing $70000 on a ferrari engine, and sticking it in a rusty pinto. The monitor is what you LOOK at.

Get a better power supply
Downgrade the cpu by 5% (performance) and 30% (price)
Half the ram
1 DVD burner
Do something about that sound card

And I'd change your hard drives too. If you got the money to blow, get one of the 150 gig raptors and a 300 gig data drive, or perhaps better yet, a 74 gig raptor and a 400 gig data drive. Something like that.

Then go out and get a 2405fpw or better 1920x1200 LCD screen.
 
Originally posted by: BluePhaze
Ok so here are my thoughts. I am gonna drop the x-fi. I just realized one of my old boxes has an audigy 2 in it that I can pull. Gonna drop 2GB or DDR out. Those together
should allow for the purchase of a larger LCD that would actually warrant the 2 7800's.
Still toggling back and forth on the CPU since I may want to do some OC with it in the future. Any thoughts on a good gaming LCD for around 500? Gotta change my order today to get it done before it ships tomorrow.
Click to expand...

uhm you don't need an FX-60 to o/c as you can see in my sig I've got an X2 3800+ running @ FX-60 speed. Granted it has half the cache but if you get an 4400+ or an Opteron you should be able to hit 2.6Ghz too, for less $$$.
 
Originally posted by: BluePhaze
What are the downsides of the chosen PSU?
Any recommendations on the PSU? I am definately not the PSU guru.
Click to expand...

I agree with the rest of the folks on here...You definitely don't want to skimp out on the PSU...Look into either an Enermax Liberty 500 or one of the higher end Seasonics...

You can find outstanding reviews on both on NewEgg.com...Don't get anything less than 500W...I love my Enermax Liberty 500 SLI PSU...

 
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