My Gaming Rig

[Ressurection]

Hi!

I was thinking about getting this rig around Christmas time or mid-January. I've been researching since the beginning of the summer and revised this list a lot. What do you think? :s11: Any comments or suggestions are welcome.


CPU: AMD64 3500+ (Winchester)

Motherboard: Abit AV8 Pro

RAM: 2x 512MB Corsair XMS PC-3200 XL 2-2-2-5 (Samsung TCCD)

HD: Seagate 120GB (SATA)

Video Card: Gainward GeForce 6800GT

Sound Card: Creative Audigy2 ZS

PSU: OCZ PowerStream 520W


CD/DVD Writer: TDK 1616DLN

Speakers: Klipsch ProMedia GMX D-5.1

Casing: Silverstone TJ-05


I want to overclock the 3500+ to 2.7GHz or more. You think I can make it with DIY water cooling? If not, what should I change so it can OC that far?


Thanks a lot,
Ress

 

[Adn4n]

Get OCZ Platinum Rev 2 Ram. Water cooling should get you to 2.7

 

[Ressurection]

Originally posted by: Adn4n
Get OCZ Platinum Rev 2 Ram. Water cooling should get you to 2.7

Wouldn't the Corsair be a better choice though since it has lower timings than the OCZ? Also, about how much would these OCZ rams cost for 512MB x 2?

Here in Singapore, two pieces of 512MB of the Corsair XMS costs $310 which is about $190 USD.

 

[Acanthus]

Timings do not make a large difference on newer PCs (P4C/E/EE, AXP, Sempron, Celeron, A64/FX).

You certainly wont be able to see any differences, just increased benchmark scores and less in your wallet.

 

[Ressurection]

So is the OCZ RAM cheaper than the Corsair RAM? Will the system I listed in my original post be able to reach 2.7GHz? About how much more will I be able to push it if I add an OCZ DDR Booster?


Keep your suggestions coming!

Cheers,
Ress

 

[Adn4n]

OCZ Pc3200 Platinum Rev. 2 (2x512) is $270. More money, but they're guaranteed to reach speeds above PC-4000

 

[Ressurection]

Wow... over PC-4000, that's insane. :Q I wonder if they're even available here. Hope they are.

 

[Ressurection]

How's the rest of the system? Any suggestions?

 

[Stern]

make sure to get a nice-sized monitor aswell

 

[James3shin]

as the UT2k4 announcer would say, "WICKED"

 

[KoolDrew]

I would save my money and get a 3000+ or a 3200+. You might want to consider that. As for motherboard avoid the Abit. Get the MSI K8N neo2 platinum. Some OCZ Platinum Rev 2 Ram. Save your money and don't buy a soudn card. I have always used onboard sound and i don't notice the difference.

 

[fireontheway]

SOLTEK "SL-K8TPro-939" ,and unless you are on a very tight budget id get the still get the Audigy ZS.

 

[Ressurection]

Originally posted by: Stern
make sure to get a nice-sized monitor aswell

I'm gonna be keeping my Dell 19" monitor until I get enough money for a better one.

 

[Ressurection]

Originally posted by: KoolDrew
I would save my money and get a 3000+ or a 3200+. You might want to consider that. As for motherboard avoid the Abit. Get the MSI K8N neo2 platinum. Some OCZ Platinum Rev 2 Ram. Save your money and don't buy a soudn card. I have always used onboard sound and i don't notice the difference.

Well the current grand total for this system is around $4000 (Singapore dollars) which is pretty much my exact budget for a new PC. So the price of the components right now aren't a problem. Although I've always though that since the 3500+ has a higher default clock speed than the 3000+/3200+, it's able to overclock further. In that case, I'm ready to spend the extra money needed for the 3500+.

I've heard that the MSI has a lot of bugs though. Many also say that if you just want a stable board that overclocks well, go for the Abit while the MSI is more for those that want extra features.

Yeah, I'm probably going to go for that OCZ RAM. Only problem is finding it here in Singapore.


Thanks,
Ress

 

[ZobarStyl]

My 3200+ Winchester easily hits 2.6 on watercooling, but it needs a lot of volts to be stable; 1.63-5 at 2.6 to just load windows and is not Prime95 stable, so even with a 3500+ Winchester, you may not be able to hit 2.7 without a lot of volts. As for heat, the chips hardly puts out 2 celsius more load at 2.6 than it did at stock 2.0, so a Winchester + water is a nice combination.

 

[Mrvile]

Didn't read through any of the posts so I don't know if this was already posted, but I suggest using an nForce motherboard if you're going to be using a 6800GT.

 

[ssvegeta1010]

Seems like a great system.

The OCZ RAM would probably help an OC though.

Good Luck!

 

[Ressurection]

Thanks for all the comments and info guys. Mrvile, why should I get a nForce board if I'm getting a GeForce 6800 GT? The only S939 nForce mobo that I'd consider buying is the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum which I've heard is very buggy. So I thought that the Abit AV8 would be a better choice since I've read a lot of good things about it such as overclocking well and being pretty stable.

ZobarStyl, thanks for the info. You may already know this but 2.7GHz and above has been achieved using a Wichester 3200+ on AIR. Maybe you just got a bad chip or something, I dunno. How many volts max would you put through a Winchester?

 

[Ressurection]

Originally posted by: ssvegeta1010
Seems like a great system.

The OCZ RAM would probably help an OC though.

Good Luck!

Hey man,

Thanks for your comments. How far do you think I'll be able to push the Winny with OCZ RAM? What if I add an OCZ DDR Booster? How much would that help?


Many thanks,
Ress

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: Mrvile
Didn't read through any of the posts so I don't know if this was already posted, but I suggest using an nForce motherboard if you're going to be using a 6800GT.

and why is that?

 

[RussianSensation]

Originally posted by: Ressurection
Wow... over PC-4000, that's insane. :Q I wonder if they're even available here. Hope they are.

That's useless for you.

Think about it => 64 3500+ @ 2.2ghz = > 11 multiplier x 200. All you need is PC4000 at most.

So to say if the ram ran at 250mhz (1:1 ratio) = > 11 x 250 = 2750mhz (your goal reached). Of course chances are the timings will be very loose. Even if you were to use lower multipliers and higher FSB, you could run into motherboard FSB limitation and even looser timings would deteriate performance.

It'll probably be better to run with 5:4 ratio and at tighter timings I bet (for P4 this is true for sure). You should check out the memory reviews at Anandtech (esp. FAST-2-2-2 memory Review) and see if you find something cheaper that fits you rneeds. If I was in your position, i'd stick with the corsair ram since it will give you what you need, esp considering the cheap price you have there. See if Crucial Ballistix is cheap too as that is one good memory. OCZ is better but I doubt it costs $190 where you live.

Either way, i'd save as much money as I could on the memory and step up to 74gig RAPTOR (if you dont need a lot of space), or maybe even X800XT videocard from that 6800GT. Also those GMX speakers aren't good. If you want decent but not too expensive, I'd get Logitech Z5300 for $150. Or Logitech Z6800 for $220 or Klipsch 5.1 Ultra for $340. So this depends on your budget.

 

[Ressurection]

Originally posted by: RussianSensation

Originally posted by: Ressurection
Wow... over PC-4000, that's insane. :Q I wonder if they're even available here. Hope they are.

That's useless for you.

Think about it => 64 3500+ @ 2.2ghz = > 11 multiplier x 200. All you need is PC4000 at most.

So to say if the ram ran at 250mhz (1:1 ratio) = > 11 x 250 = 2750mhz (your goal reached). Of course chances are the timings will be very loose. Even if you were to use lower multipliers and higher FSB, you could run into motherboard FSB limitation and even looser timings would deteriate performance.

It'll probably be better to run with 5:4 ratio and at tighter timings I bet (for P4 this is true for sure). You should check out the memory reviews at Anandtech (esp. FAST-2-2-2 memory Review) and see if you find something cheaper that fits you rneeds. If I was in your position, i'd stick with the corsair ram since it will give you what you need, esp considering the cheap price you have there. See if Crucial Ballistix is cheap too as that is one good memory. OCZ is better but I doubt it costs $190 where you live.

Either way, i'd save as much money as I could on the memory and step up to 74gig RAPTOR (if you dont need a lot of space), or maybe even X800XT videocard from that 6800GT. Also those GMX speakers aren't good. If you want decent but not too expensive, I'd get Logitech Z5300 for $150. Or Logitech Z6800 for $220 or Klipsch 5.1 Ultra for $340. So this depends on your budget.

Oh okay. Well, the only things I know about RAM are the timings and the PC/MHz ratings. I don't know what things like RAM ratios are. I understood the first paragraph though.

About the hard disk, well, I'd really need more space than just 74GB and even one 74GB Raptor would exceed my budget by quite a lot.

Weird that you say so about the GMX's, I've actually heard a lot of good things about them. Most of the Logitech speakers are banned here in Singapore for some reason, but I'll do a check and see if the models you listed are available here. The Klipsch 5.1 Ultra's aren't widely available here in shops anymore. You'd have to go around looking for private people that sell them.


Thanks,
Ress

 

[CaMSpoon]

Man OCZ rev 2 rams is 450 canadian! thats crazy! im buying the normal versions of the platnium OCZ ram for 335. Thats the most i wanna spend on ram. Ram is so stupid now a days to by with all the differences. Just go by budget and F it all.
i was thinking of getting corsair budget but my computer is such a beast that i didnt wanna throw in budget parts so i went with the ocz platnium. Ocz platnium REV 2 is slitly faster but crazy price.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

Originally posted by: CaMSpoon
Man OCZ rev 2 rams is 450 canadian! thats crazy! im buying the normal versions of the platnium OCZ ram for 335. Thats the most i wanna spend on ram. Ram is so stupid now a days to by with all the differences. Just go by budget and F it all.
i was thinking of getting corsair budget but my computer is such a beast that i didnt wanna throw in budget parts so i went with the ocz platnium. Ocz platnium REV 2 is slitly faster but crazy price.

The REV uses TCCD ram which is supposed to be the next BH-5. It overclocks very wll. I'm not sure how well revision 1 will OC though. Just checked newegg and the REV 1 is only $30 less than REV2. If you have a pretty big budget I would get it.

 

[Acanthus]

Again i must reiterate, although memory speed does make a difference, timings do not.

At no point without benchmarks can you take 2 identical PCs side by side, one at 2-2-2-10, the other at 3-4-4-15, and say HOLY CRAP LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE! As a matter of fact, i bet you couldnt even tell which was which, i know i couldnt. (from experience in this exact situation)