Needing your opinion about this system

[varzock]

Hi everyone!

I'm about to buy a new system and I've decided to go with the following:

Motherboard:
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
or
ASUS A8V DELUXE K8T800PRO S939 ATX GLAN

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (Socket 939)

PSU:
SEASONIC 430W 12CM FAN, APFV, FULL RANGE, SEASONIC S12-430

CPU Fan:
Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu

Graphics card:
Some GF 6600GT with passive cooling
---------------

I play games, watch movies, web design and graphic design with it. I have 1 gig memory saved from my previous system and also 2 x 160Gb HDD

What would you change if anything and what kind of a case would you recommend for this system in case I put it in the living room?

 

[Budmantom]

It's a bit anemic.


Tom

 

[varzock]

Eh?

 

[GamerExpress]

Looks nice, I am personally not a huge fan of the Asus Mobo's. I would look in the direction of the Epox 9npa+ Ultra board, better board and cheaper too!!! I think the rest of your parts look pretty good, the only other thing I would think about changing would be the video card, but again that's personal preference. If I had to change the video card I would go with a x800xl or the x800GTO2, I think both those cards are well worth it over the 6800GT (and no I am not an ATI fanboy).

 

[varzock]

Alright, thanks for the reply GamerExpress.

What's the difference between ZALMAN CNPS7700-ALCU, ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU and Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu ? Which one should I buy?

And is the Epox more stable and better performer than the Asus one?

 

[GamerExpress]

Originally posted by: varzock
Alright, thanks for the reply GamerExpress.

What's the difference between ZALMAN CNPS7700-ALCU, ZALMAN CNPS7700-CU and Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu ? Which one should I buy?

And is the Epox more stable and better performer than the Asus one?

Well if you want to research Motherboards here is a great article in which the Epox is found to be an Editor's choice here at AnandTech.

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As far as the Zalman coolers, one is copper and one isn't as far as I know. I am not a big Zalman fan, while there procucts are great I prefer ThermalRight like the XP-90, the XP-90 is about the nicest out there at a decent price, pair it with a Panaflo fan it's very quiet too!!!!

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: varzock
What would you change if anything and what kind of a case would you recommend for this system in case I put it in the living room?

care to clarify? what difference does it make if it's in the living room?

don't get the 6600gt. for ~$200, you can get the 6800GS. it is MAYBE .5% (one-half, not 5) slower than the 6800GT and outperforms the x800gto in almost everything and the more expensive x800xl in more than half the tests. get another gig

 

[varzock]

Originally posted by: GamerExpress

Well if you want to research Motherboards here is a great article in which the Epox is found to be an Editor's choice here at AnandTech.

Text

As far as the Zalman coolers, one is copper and one isn't as far as I know. I am not a big Zalman fan, while there procucts are great I prefer ThermalRight like the XP-90, the XP-90 is about the nicest out there at a decent price, pair it with a Panaflo fan it's very quiet too!!!!

Does it matter too much if there's a fan on the North Bridge chip? Of course it's a bit louder but will the fans work for long? Can't think of anything more irritating sound in a computer than a broken fan :disgust:

Wouldn't like to buy the Premium only because it is fanless. And I read in the link you pasted that I'd do fine without the SLI anyway cause Nf4 ultra and nf4 SLI perform the same

 

[varzock]

alimoalem: a tower case won't look too good in a living room :roll: yeah unless you hide it well lol. That's what I meant, purely an issue of appearance

also, I don't have too much money to spend now so I will go with the GF 6600GT. I can't even find those GS cards you mentioned in Finland so I will upgrade the gfx card later on