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new amd 64 4000+ setup: thoughts welcomed

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oajr

Member
Sep 7, 2005
42
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friends, i'm somewhat new to the board (have done extensive research/reading over the past few days, maybe 12 hours collectively) but not new to computers and gaming machines (in no way am i a tech expert, just a hobbyist).

backdrop: i am an avid gamer (enjoy mmorpg and first person shooters) and DO NOT perform any kind of photo/music editing or peform multi-tasking projects. gaming first and basic home applications (web) second. the reason for this upgrade was to upgrade to a more current and expandable motherboard (2yr old socket 940 fx-41 on asus sk8n, 6800gt, 1gb "registered memory" what a mistake that was!!) and to also allow for the "possibility" of using SLI at some later time.


new components:

asus a8n-sli premium socket 939 nf4
amd athlon 64 4000+ san diego socket 939
1gb ocz el platinum rev2 (2x512)
evga 7800 gtx pci express
pc power & cooling 510 sli-pfc (510w)

note: i understand that sli places great demands on the cpu, wasn't too sure about my 480w antec true so i went with the pc power psu. i understand that the processor i chose may be or may not be enough to drive a 7800gtx sli setup.

thanks for reading along. please feel free to comment on where i went wrong or where i went right. i will be placing my old components into my little boy's machine (which i also built), my tower/dvd/cd/twin 7200s/peripherals will stay in my current machine.

thanks!! love the boards!

 
mode101wpb

mode101wpb

Senior member
Aug 16, 2005
445
0
71
I have the same set-up almost identical, but I have 2GB of RAM (OCZ Platinum) and a single ATI X800XL GPU.

I'll upgrade to full SLI twin nVidia cards as soon as it's warranted, I wasn't going to spend the extra money on SLI capability but I did in the end because it wasn't that much more overall.

I never read that the 4000+ San Diego won't handle SLI too good?

Many people will tell you SLI is a waste of money, maybe it is. Some will say buying a 4000+ is a waste of money when you can overclock the 3700+.

I'm happy with my set-up, I ran Far Cry at the highest settings shortly after completing the assembly of the system (my first) without no issues. I'm not really big into games but I plan to go with the X2 when the prices come down to do 3D work.








 
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l Xes l

Banned
Feb 3, 2005
3,459
0
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Originally posted by: drsafety
dude no one is going to read all that s**t.
Click to expand...

go read some picture books for 5year olds... stay away from any kind of forums if possible..
 
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oajr

Member
Sep 7, 2005
42
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thanks, Mode! i believe i found it upon reading a review on sli 7800's on the same mobo (asus sli-prem) using a multitude of cpu's. it said that performance started to suffer at some point (not sure at what resolution, setting, etc) on cpu's less than a fx-55. something to that nature, but that was the gist of it.

looking forward to receiving the parts.
 
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wanderer27

Platinum Member
Aug 6, 2005
2,173
15
81
Looks like you've got a pretty good set-up, it's not too different from what I've just put together.

The only reason I went with the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium is to avoid the Fan issues (noise/failure) it seemed everyone was having. I'm happy with it (other than my PCI problem - RMA'ing) performance and temp wise. I got the 3700 because 200MHz wasn't worth ~$100 to me. I may do a slight OC to get it 4000 speeds if I see any need for it, but so far I don't.

I think you'll like it :thumbsup:

 
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imported_Tick

Diamond Member
Feb 17, 2005
4,682
1
0
I'd agree with the 4000+, because they are speed binned higher, hence they are higher internal quality, and hence allow a greater overall overclock, in general. Secondly, I would get 2 7800GT's, ans SLI em, as GTX's don't seem to have a real preformance premium once SLI'd. If I was getting that setup, I'd get 2x 1GB ram. PCPC makes great PSU's. Have you thought about the rest of your components?
 
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oajr

Member
Sep 7, 2005
42
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thanks for your thoughts, Tick. yes, my other components are as i mentioned, cd/dvd r/w, 7200 speed cheetah's in raid 0, antec tower 5 fans not including cpu/psu, sony 19lcd that i'd like to improve on sometime soon (dell 24" lcd's have truly come down in price) as i'd like to take advantage of the video card's abilities. i think that's just about it.
 
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chrisrod01

Banned
Apr 16, 2005
681
0
0
Originally posted by: drsafety
dude no one is going to read all that s**t.
Click to expand...

Lazy Lazy Lazy Boy

Go for it if you have the money but if your going with a dell 24 inch lcd yes you will need a 7800gt.Try selling the stuff that you have to use that money for a new system which is awesome.
 
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REDtoLINE

Member
Mar 28, 2005
95
0
0
Originally posted by: mode101wpb
I have the same set-up almost identical, but I have 2GB of RAM (OCZ Platinum) and a single ATI X800XL GPU.

I'll upgrade to full SLI twin nVidia cards as soon as it's warranted, I wasn't going to spend the extra money on SLI capability but I did in the end because it wasn't that much more overall.

I never read that the 4000+ San Diego won't handle SLI too good?

Many people will tell you SLI is a waste of money, maybe it is. Some will say buying a 4000+ is a waste of money when you can overclock the 3700+.

I'm happy with my set-up, I ran Far Cry at the highest settings shortly after completing the assembly of the system (my first) without no issues. I'm not really big into games but I plan to go with the X2 when the prices come down to do 3D work.
Click to expand...

same with me...i have that same exact setup, except a x800xl and 2 gb ocz platinum...i also overclocked to 2.6, but um, i would get 2GB ram if you plan on having a kickass longlasting product...especially since your going all out on mobo/processor/gfx...

TECHNICAL REASON: When you run out of computer memory, your computer goes to something called a paging file, which means it starts to use your hard drive for memory. When your playing high quality games, and trying to get a lot of frames per second, you will use up that 1GB of ram really fast, and then you will lose a lot of frames per second because it will start to use your hard drive.

...so, get 2GB ram, and dont worry about speed of ram, DDR400 is fine, on AMD systems, you want lower CAS timings, vs faster memory speed...
 
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Overkiller

Platinum Member
Feb 22, 2003
2,461
0
0
I am in the category that believes SLI is a waste of money in the long-term. There is no use, in my eyes, to spending say $1000 for super duper frame rates at 2048x1600++

Spend $500 (which I have no problems with) on the 7800GTX and get screaming speeds at 1600x1200 with everything on ultra settings w/ AA, AF. Within 2 years, upgrade to another $500 and be high end again. Keep in mind that within 2 years even that SLI system might not seem so fresh as that 1 newer system (just look at 2 x 6800GT's ~800+ at the time vs. 1 x 7800GTX $500 & compare benchmarks).

Chances are as an avid gamer, such as myself, you will not keep that system for more than 2 years. So why waste your money?

Getting 2 GB of ram will serve you much better.

 
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oajr

Member
Sep 7, 2005
42
0
0
Chris, Overkiller, thanks for the responses. Overkiller, I will probably take you up on the ram advice (2gb). Chris, I am going to take my current/old mobo/cpu and put it in my son's machine (which i also built). it's become the hand=me=down in the family, not a bad first machine for him!

regards
 
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oajr

Member
Sep 7, 2005
42
0
0
Hi Knothead and thanks, i'm excited to say the least. i have an antec tower AMG 1000 (no view) from 2003. i don't think they make that model any longer. take care.

oh, by the way, i went ahead and ordered the extra 1gb of ram that some on the boards suggested. probably overkill but i would say that it might help in loading maps and the like on both eq2/eq/wow.

regards
 
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