My new X2 4400+ build - advice?

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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
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Well, today my cpu+motherboard+hsfan finally shipped from monarchcomputers.com. :)

Thoughts? Should I change any of the components before I put it all together? I do plan on trying to overclock the 4400+ to at least 2.4ghz - I'm not expecting much on the VIA board, but even a little would be nice.

Also, suggested uses/partitions for the hard drives? One of the 160gb will have Windows on it, possibly as a system+apps partition.

Brains:
Athlon X2 4400+ Processor - new
Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu Silent CPU Cooling Kit - new
Asus A8V K8T800 Motherboard - new
2x512mb Mushkin PC3500 Level One DDR RAM
Antec TruePower 430 psu - new (from RMA)

A/V:
BFG OC 6800GT AGP Video Card
Soundblaster Live! 5.1 Gamer
Hauppage 250BTV TV Tuner Card

Storage:
2x160gb Seagate SATA hd
300gb Seagate PATA hd - new
NEC ND-3520A DVD±R/±RW
Yamaha CRW-F1 CDR/RW
Black Floppy Drive

External:
Antec P180 case, stock fans - new
Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD display
Creative Soundworks DTT3500 Dolby Digital 5.1 Speakers (rear two left in box... how the hell do you set up speakers behind you in a small bedroom?)
 
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t3h l337 n3wb

Platinum Member
Apr 22, 2005
2,698
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Well, if you're a gamer, you don't need a dualcore. There will be like no benefit from a 3200+ Venice to 4400+ X2. However, if you do multitask a lot and maybe do some video encoding, then it should be fine. Why are you going with a VIA board though? An nForce4 Ultra board would be a lot better, and will overclock your parts better. Your parts seem to be somewhat of the overclockable type (PC3500 RAM, Zalman HSF, X2), so a good overclocking mobo should be better.
 
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Lifer
Jun 27, 2004
10,233
2
71
I'd suggest getting a PCIE mobo for future upgrade purposes. The 7800s are dropping fast in price and should drop even more whenever ati releases their next gen cards. I know that puts you in limbo as for what to do now since you have an AGP card, but I think it would be the best route to take.

If not, it's still a very nice system.
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
2,094
0
76
t3h l337 n3wb:
Mostly gamer, but do DVR stuff in background, too, and some programming.

supafly
I went with the A8V because it had an AGP port, and I didn't want to sell my BFG 6800GT AGP so soon (got it less than a year ago) for a PCI Express model. Also, I play World of Warcraft almost exclusively, which isn't that demanding of a game (and a few FPS won't help the gameplay anyhow).

If I feel limited down the line and really need PCI Express, I can always grab a new motherboard and video card.
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
2,094
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Yes, I've had the AGP 6800gt since late last summer. As for the NF3, I wanted stability more than OC'ability, so I went with the AMD approved AGP X2 board.
 
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Suspicious-Teach8788

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
Uh you can STILL get a DFI LP NF4 and get stability. Don't go with AMD Approved or whatever just to get "stability"

Whats with the 300gb PATA drive? SATA II 7200.8 is better. Sure you can say performance benefits aren't great just like PCI-e and AGP, but look now. Your upgrade path is not that great because of the AGP card you bought.

For sound, I recommend the Logitech Z-2300 2.1 THX speakers. What's the point of 5.1 speakers when you don't have the setup for it. I'm not saying just have room, speakers need to be positioned well and you need to time all the delay and what not. I sat in my sofa for 3 days to configure my home audio system. I say a good 2.1 will do better...
 
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crimson117

Platinum Member
Aug 25, 2001
2,094
0
76
Originally posted by: DLeRium
Uh you can STILL get a DFI LP NF4 and get stability. Don't go with AMD Approved or whatever just to get "stability"
Click to expand...

NF3 boards so far have had iffy dual-core support. NF4 is superb, but NF3 is so-so. If there was a good NF4 board with AGP, I would have gotten it. Lacking that, the K8T800 was my only other option.

Whats with the 300gb PATA drive? SATA II 7200.8 is better. Sure you can say performance benefits aren't great just like PCI-e and AGP, but look now. Your upgrade path is not that great because of the AGP card you bought.
Click to expand...
The 300gb PATA drive was bought as a hot deal for about $120, and it'll only be for media storage, like ripped DVD's and recorded TV shows, so the very minor performance difference between SATA II and PATA won't matter. I'll be running the OS and Apps off one of the SATA drives.

You're right about the upgrade path being a bit more complicated since I'm sticking with AGP, but I don't think I'll need better than the 6800GT soon (watch me eat my words in 6 months :) )

For sound, I recommend the Logitech Z-2300 2.1 THX speakers. What's the point of 5.1 speakers when you don't have the setup for it. I'm not saying just have room, speakers need to be positioned well and you need to time all the delay and what not. I sat in my sofa for 3 days to configure my home audio system. I say a good 2.1 will do better...
Click to expand...

Good idea...I've been thinking about replacing my 5.1's with some high quality 2.1's.

Actually, those 2.1's will blow my DTT 3500's away! :)

Cambridge SoundWorks DTT 3500 Digital 5.1 Surround Speaker System
Satellites: 7W RMS
Center: 21W RMS
Subwoofer: 30W RMS

Logitech Z-2300 200 watts RMS 2.1 Speaker
Subwoofer: 120 watts RMS
Satellite: 40 watts RMS each (80 total)

heh... a single one of those Logitech satellites has more wattage than my L, R, and C put together :)

Thanks, I might just get these...
 
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Suspicious-Teach8788

Lifer
Feb 19, 2001
20,155
23
81
Oh and also the Zalman cooler is tried and true. It's very good. You might want to consider an XP-120 though. The benefit with that is you get to choose a fan, so if you want a noisy system, go ahead, or if you want a quiet system, pick your fan. Or you can do what I plan to do (buy a high speed Panaflo and attach it to a fan controller). I believe the XP-120 should cool 1 - 2 degrees better than the Zalman as well.

In either case, both are good choices.
 
Makaveli

Makaveli

Diamond Member
Feb 8, 2002
4,983
1,575
136
I have an MSI K8N Neo2 PLat AGP. And I think it will support Dual core with a bios update.
 
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