Need help deciding on A64 Motherboard and RAM

[User5]

Hello guys. This will be my first home built computer. When it comes to computers, I know almost nothing. I have installed RAM modules, video cards, and PCI slot things of the sort, but nothing further, so I am pretty much clueless on how to set up a computer. Hopefully it isn't too overwelming for someone like me to jump into doing. I have great experience working on offroad vehicle engines, fine tuning/fixing up old cars, and have a great mechanical sense of how things work, so I think I might be able to get by with building a PC.

Okay, so enough about me, lets talk about my PC. I have decided to spend around 1,700-1,800 dollars on my new computer priced out from places such as newegg where I will being doing almost, if not all of my shopping. I have decided on an AMD 64 system being that I am going to be doing a fair amount of gaming, but I am more concerned on a system focused on rock solid stability with long lasting reliability over performance, allthough I am looking for the best balance between performance and reliability. How reliable and stable are the AMD64s if anyone has had some long term experiences?

I have chosen a 3200+ Newcastle 2.2ghz core and am pretty much set on that. I have everything from case, drives, and acessories in my wishlist for newegg, but there are two main things I do not know what to buy. The Motherboard, and the RAM. I hear so many things about compatability problems between the two and other things. I hear some good things about certain motherboards (MSI neo plat in particular) and then hear some totally awful things which absolutely ruin my desire to build my first computer being unknowledgable about troubleshooting these things. I had my heart set on getting this motherboard, but I am just hearing too many bad things about it. How is the Asus K8V Deluxe? I was thinking about getting that instead or maybe the MSI FIS2R. Any other suggestions? I am just looking for a board that would be easy to set up for a PC "newbie" as some might refer. It just seems like for every couple of good things I hear about a board, I hear a bunch of bad things, and so on and so on..

Next is the RAM. After someone helps me determine the best motherboard for stability, reliability, performance, and ease of setup I need a suggestion for RAM. I have heard that these A64s are really picky when it comes to RAM, that some is compatible, some that the cheapest ram works great, and some that you need 222 rated cas latency. How much of that should I take into consideration? I was thinking about going with the Corsair XMS PC3200 ram, but then maybe the OCZ PC3200EL which has lower latency and is around the same price, but then I heard some bad things about OCZ. So I am completely confused.

Anyone who can make a suggestion about anything based on my criteria will be very appriciated. Thanks a lot in advance for your input!

EDIT: I would also like to add that I do NOT really plan to overclock, and if I do, not by much. Maybe the 2.2 ghz going to about 2.4 ghz but nothing extreme, since I do not know anything about overclocking and I heard it reduces reliability..?

Thanks!

 

[CaptnKirk]

Fisrt Post - Welcome.

Well, since this is going to be your first build as wee, stick to things that
have a good track record for reliability and service.

The best choice for you at this stage would be to get an Asus as a motherboard.
They are stable, reliable, and give excellent service.
Once you get a better feel for what you aere doing, both right and wrong -
you can experiment with other things.

A good starting motherboard with a nice array of features would be the
Asus K8V SE Deluxe

As for memory, I always use Crucial. Made in Boise, Idaho - Guaranteed forever.
Crucial 512MB @ DDR 400, PC3200
Get at least one, maybe two.

There are other expensive 'Exotics' but this will do as much and more than some 'Preformance'
memory that costs a lot more.

 

[User5]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Fisrt Post - Welcome.

Well, since this is going to be your first build as wee, stick to things that
have a good track record for reliability and service.

The best choice for you at this stage would be to get an Asus as a motherboard.
They are stable, reliable, and give excellent service.
Once you get a better feel for what you aere doing, both right and wrong -
you can experiment with other things.

A good starting motherboard with a nice array of features would be the
Asus K8V SE Deluxe

As for memory, I always use Crucial. Made in Boise, Idaho - Guaranteed forever.
Crucial 512MB @ DDR 400, PC3200
Get at least one, maybe two.

There are other expensive 'Exotics' but this will do as much and more than some 'Preformance'
memory that costs a lot more.

Hey 🙂

Thanks a bunch for the advice, as well as the welcome 😉

Yeah, thats the board I was considering. I heard that Asus boards are rock solid, so it deffinetly looks like a good choice for me.

Will it handle slight overclocking? I know there are some guys that go crazy with overclocking, but if I were to push my 2.2ghz to 2.3/4 I would be happy. Would that board be able to handle slight overclocks well?

Thanks again 🙂

 

[CaptnKirk]

I've been teaching people where I work to build their own computers.
I have settled on only 2 that I feel confortable in recommending, the
Asus for those who don't like to deal with pushing the limits & the Abit
for those who like to play around and experiment in overclocking.
The Asus will overclock nicely, but the Abit give you a wider range of
control and selections for what you can do 'tweak-wise'

Other boards I have had people use and some have gone well, but
over all the Asus and Abits win, hands down. Epox is a close 3rd,
but sometimes get to be touchy, although they can really be pushed hard.

If you want to get a board to overclock with look into this Abit K8V Pro
It has all the bells and whistles EXCEPT Firewire.

 

[n7]

And i am going to disagree with the advice on the K8V SE Deluxe.

If you are doing absolutely zero overclocking, then maybe that board isn't so bad....but as you can see in my sig link, i have that board, & while it's a good mobo for features, i would strongly recommend an nForce 3 250 board (check the anandtech review of them).

I will not be buying any more VIA boards from now on, even if it was my fault for using generic RAM in mine (which gave me a few problems).

Also, keep in mind the K8V SE Deluxe has no AGP lock, so you won't be able to hit very high overclocks.

I would say go for the The MSI K8N Neo Platinum.

 

[webie]

Welcome to the forums,

I have the K8N neo with the 3200+ Newcastle 2.2ghz core. My first choice for RAM was 2 x 512 Mushkin PC 3500 Level I, that along with my WD Raptors was the first thing I got before the K8N even make retail market. I've used Mushkin in the past without running into any memory problem.

I've installed many computers in the past and my experience tells me that for Stability you should make a good combination of CPU + Memory + Motherboard & Power Supply. So setting up my computer was a breeze and Windows XP SP1 installed really fast.

I've you have installed RAM, modules, video cards, other PCI devices, and installed XP in the past I think you should have no problems building your first PC. The only thing that maybe will become a little complicated is setting up RAID. But if I?m not mistaken some benchmarks have shown no much of a difference between my RAID and a single 74GB Raptor. I just love RAID, but I think you can get it done without it, and latter when you feel more confident take the plunge.

On the overclocking side, once my PC was setup I just jumped from the default 200MHZ FSB to 220MHZ = 2.4GHZ without changing my RAMs Specs or altering any voltages. It?s has been rock stable and fast from day 1. Remember getting a good Power Supply, I got mine with the Sonata Case (Antec True 380) for less than $100 (Case and PSU).

 

[User5]

Hey thanks for the warm welcomes! 🙂

I sure have a lot to think about. I wanted to get an nForce3 board initially, but I heard so many problems with them. The MSI board in particular; I went and browsed around the MSI forums and it seems like everyone is having all sorts of various problems. I see that the most problems with the boards are the Temperature problems being off, the Punkbuster problem with online (which REALLY scares me because 98% of my gaming is done online) and all sorts of people have uncommon problems.. One person I know went from a FIS2R to the K8N Neo Plat, and noticed terrible instability problems. Webie, how was your experience with the board? Did you run into any problems, major or minor? I may still consider the board, but I am just really worried. Even a few guys at the MSI forums said for people not to buy the board because it is almost as if they released it too early and it is too "Beta"-ish.

And I do not plan to set up a RAID setup. I am just buying a 160GB hard drive from Seagate. I was actually thinking about getting a Raptor, but really deciding if it was worth all the price, for more than half the storage space. After seeing that, I decided against it, expecially after deciding on the 6800 GT which I feel will be a better investment for me. For the 2, 3, or 4 second loading times I will miss out on will be overshadowed by the eye candy the 6800 GT will deliver 😛

Oh, and I was thinking about the Antec 480W TRU480, but I saw the TRU550 550w for only a little bit more. I could save about 35 or 40 dollars going down from the 550 to the 380, but I am thinking it may not be enough? I heard the 6800 series are pretty power hungy. I plan to buy the Antec Window Case, which doesent come with a psu, and its one of the only high quality cases with a good design that has a window case.

Okay, thanks again guys!

 

[Holyhandgren]

Originally posted by: webie
Welcome to the forums,

I have the K8N neo with the 3200+ Newcastle 2.2ghz core. My first choice for RAM was 2 x 512 Mushkin PC 3500 Level I, that along with my WD Raptors was the first thing I got before the K8N even make retail market. I've used Mushkin in the past without running into any memory problem.

I've installed many computers in the past and my experience tells me that for Stability you should make a good combination of CPU + Memory + Motherboard & Power Supply. So setting up my computer was a breeze and Windows XP SP1 installed really fast.

I've you have installed RAM, modules, video cards, other PCI devices, and installed XP in the past I think you should have no problems building your first PC. The only thing that maybe will become a little complicated is setting up RAID. But if I?m not mistaken some benchmarks have shown no much of a difference between my RAID and a single 74GB Raptor. I just love RAID, but I think you can get it done without it, and latter when you feel more confident take the plunge.

On the overclocking side, once my PC was setup I just jumped from the default 200MHZ FSB to 220MHZ = 2.4GHZ without changing my RAMs Specs or altering any voltages. It?s has been rock stable and fast from day 1. Remember getting a good Power Supply, I got mine with the Sonata Case (Antec True 380) for less than $100 (Case and PSU).

Hey, what kind of temps do you get with that case/mobo combo? My corecenter reads 56 C under load On my CPU with 2 fans plugged into the regular 4 pins. That's with no overclock :[

 

[User5]

Originally posted by: Holyhandgren
Hey, what kind of temps do you get with that case/mobo combo? My corecenter reads 56 C under load On my CPU with 2 fans plugged into the regular 4 pins. That's with no overclock :

Those are probably the incorrect temperatures. A common problem with the MSI K8N Neo.

Anyone have any opinion on the powersupply I have chosen? The Antec TRU550 550w?

 

[webie]

The K8N Neo is a great all around board. Since July 5 when I setup my new PC I haven?t run into any Blue Screen, Freeze, or hang. The only hangs in my system came only a few days ago but was related to me just trying to up the FSB to 230 without changing my timings. I?m just beginning to feel the need for more overclock.

In my opinion the majority of complaints on the MSI forum are from users trying to squeeze the Mainboard overcloking capacity or running some low specs components. But it should be easy to get at least a 5-10% overclock with the right components.

On the other side the only major problem I think is the temperature reading one. But with the 1.2 BIOS at least in my system the problem seems to be corrected (42 C Idle vs 54 Load CPU / 41 C Idle vs. 50 Load CASE) with a 11 x 220 overclock on the 3200+ Newcastle 2.2ghz core. My room temperature is always between 27 C and 32 C. I run 2 x 120 case fans on my Sonata One for intake and one for exhaust. Also I'm using "Cool & Quite", that way when I?m browsing on my overclocked system my multiplier just underclock to 5x = 1.1GHZ. That way my system runs cooler when I'm not gaming and also save some energy.

As for online gaming, well I can't tell. At the moment I'm just addicted to Far Cry trying to finish the game, and I?m near the end.

Regarding the power supply I have read that the 6800GT draw a lot of current. So, maybe the 550 is not a bad bet. Well at least you will not be short by power supply.

By the way, and off the thread, What is the Punkbuster problem?

 

[Bar81]

The MSI is a piece of garbage, check around the net.

I used to have a Newcastle 3200+ overclocked to 2.4Ghz and it's quite fast. The perfect board for you would be the ASRock K8S8X. Rock stable and the fastest A64 board out there. I had the combination running with some Mushkin RAM and it was as smooth as butter. I would recommend you pick up some Mushkin PC3200 for the setup. You'll have a blazingly fast system that just works and you'll save a little cash in the process.

 

[Bar81]

Originally posted by: User5

Originally posted by: Holyhandgren
Hey, what kind of temps do you get with that case/mobo combo? My corecenter reads 56 C under load On my CPU with 2 fans plugged into the regular 4 pins. That's with no overclock :

Those are probably the incorrect temperatures. A common problem with the MSI K8N Neo.

Anyone have any opinion on the powersupply I have chosen? The Antec TRU550 550w?

You don't need 550, that's just excessive. The 480 is more than enough and you could probably get by on the 380 but I wouldn't feel comfortable recommending that as you will be doing some overclocking. Stick with the 480 and put a couple of bucks in your pocket.

 

[User5]

Well, I am not on a really tight budget, but the 550w is only like 15 dollars more than the 480w.

Thanks again.

Anyone else got any opinions on a64 mobos?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Well, although, I haven't read reviews for it yet, I might offer the new ASUS nF3 250 Gb board. It has great features, is an ASUS, and isn't terribly expensive.

You might look at Antec's new Neopower 480 watt power supply.

I would suggest 1Gb of RAM.

Get a nice 160+Gb 7200RPM 8MB cache hard drive

Oh, and welcome to AT.