New Build... How Long to wait?

KayKay

Senior member
Nov 17, 2004
690
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I've been thinking about a new build, but I'm trying to time it right such that the market prices are just right.

Case - Have Already
CPU - AMD Athlon 64 Socket 939 3000+ Venice Core $180 CDN
Memory - OCZ Value VX $160 CDN
Motherboard - DFI Lanparty NF4 Ultra-D $167 CDN
Hard Drive - Have already
PSU - OCZ Modstream 520 W $122 CDN
Heatsink - Thermalright XP-90 with Zalman F1 92mm fan(Already Have) $45 CDN
Video Card - eVGA 6800 GT $425 CDN
Sound Card - Have Already
DVD Burner - NEC 3520a $50 CDN

Price $1149 before Taxes
$1321 Final Price

Problems:
1. I don't like how the video card is priced. Is it likely that it will drop 40-50 more dollars in 3 months? I would purchase the 6800 GT if it would drop to x800xl prices, otherwise I may be forced to buy the x800xl
2. I want to overclock the $hit out of this CPU, the price of the memory is acceptable, but would going with OCZ Premier be an easy way of saving 40-50 bucks? (Value VX is expensive in Canada)
3. I want to hand pick a good Venice Chip, is there a particular chip code that generally has better overclocking results? like LBBLE 0517 EPAW or whatever?

thank you for reading




 

mOeeOm

Platinum Member
Dec 27, 2004
2,588
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Woah woah...where did you get these prices? I'm thinking of buying from ncix.com and the prices are $20-$30 more than what you posted :(..a local store nearby you?
 

d2arcturus

Senior member
Oct 18, 2004
918
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Originally posted by: mOeeOm
Woah woah...where did you get these prices? I'm thinking of buying from ncix.com and the prices are $20-$30 more than what you posted :(..a local store nearby you?


I was going to order from ncix, check this out: http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They ship to Canada without charging an arm and a leg, plus the prices are quite a bit lower after currency exchange.
 

xTYBALTx

Senior member
May 10, 2005
394
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1) The only way I could see the 6800GT dropping in price is if the 7800 series or R520 series comes out with something to replace it. The release of a 7800NU or something, with performance at 6800GT levels but with new shaders etc would drop the price; an ATi based card could do the same. Could this happen in three months? Mmmmm. . . it could, but I wouldn't really count on it.

2) I would recommend 2GB of ram. Other than that, I don't really know 'cuz I don't overclock much.

Hope that helps!
 

Hacp

Lifer
Jun 8, 2005
13,923
2
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Get the DFI NF-D and do the SATII and SLI mod to get yourself a sli-d!!!
 

KayKay

Senior member
Nov 17, 2004
690
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Originally posted by: Hacp
Get the DFI NF-D and do the SATII and SLI mod to get yourself a sli-d!!!

how is the overclocking performance on that board? this is more important to me than perhaps sli
 

ignisfatuus17

Junior Member
Jul 3, 2005
9
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0
Originally posted by: mOeeOm
Woah woah...where did you get these prices? I'm thinking of buying from ncix.com and the prices are $20-$30 more than what you posted :(..a local store nearby you?

I wouldn't mind knowing where you found the price on the vid card either. Is that the AGP version?
 

d2arcturus

Senior member
Oct 18, 2004
918
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0
Originally posted by: KayKay
Originally posted by: Hacp
Get the DFI NF-D and do the SATII and SLI mod to get yourself a sli-d!!!

how is the overclocking performance on that board? this is more important to me than perhaps sli

It's a LanParty... OC = goood.
 

Mattd46612

Senior member
Jan 23, 2005
670
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0
That chip is like a sore dick.... hard to beat. got my Venice over 2.7ghz on stock hsf. Board reads no higher than 45c and hsf feels cool.
 

SrGuapo

Golden Member
Nov 27, 2004
1,035
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The DFI Ultra D is one of the best (if not the best) board for OCing on the market. The only thing I know of is that there are rumors of AMD dropping prices on the 4th of july, but we'll see.


1. I would just go for the x800xl and upgrade again ina year or two. It is just a little slowe rthan the 6800gt (fatser in some games - HL2) and is quite a bit cheaper.
2. Depending on how much you save, it is your call. That VX is great memory, but whatever. If you are really streched for money, that is probably the first thing I would change.
3. I think I have heard great things about the week 17 chips, so that may be worth looking into. Maybe soe people with venices could shed a little light on it...
 

KayKay

Senior member
Nov 17, 2004
690
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Originally posted by: d2arcturus
Originally posted by: KayKay
Originally posted by: Hacp
Get the DFI NF-D and do the SATII and SLI mod to get yourself a sli-d!!!

how is the overclocking performance on that board? this is more important to me than perhaps sli

It's a LanParty... OC = goood.

I'm just thinking because it's NF4 non-ultra, there may be some overclocking issues, as NF4 non ultra has like locked HT amongst other things.

anyway if that board can do HTT of 350 or something laround that i'll definitely go for it
otherwise i guess i will stick to nf4 ultra-d
 

KayKay

Senior member
Nov 17, 2004
690
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0
Originally posted by: ignisfatuus17
Originally posted by: mOeeOm
Woah woah...where did you get these prices? I'm thinking of buying from ncix.com and the prices are $20-$30 more than what you posted :(..a local store nearby you?

I wouldn't mind knowing where you found the price on the vid card either. Is that the AGP version?

Well, I am getting that from my work place, which I get a discount for.
I've seen A-power.com sell the asus 6800GT w/ 256 MB PCI-E for $437 CDN if you are looking for something in that range
 

KayKay

Senior member
Nov 17, 2004
690
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think I am going to go for the setup that I listed. I will also attempt the SLI mod, any idea if my power supply will handle it, if i do pick up another video card?
 

vailr

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
5,365
54
91
Originally posted by: d2arcturus
Originally posted by: mOeeOm
Woah woah...where did you get these prices? I'm thinking of buying from ncix.com and the prices are $20-$30 more than what you posted :(..a local store nearby you?


I was going to order from ncix, check this out: http://www.monarchcomputer.com/

They ship to Canada without charging an arm and a leg, plus the prices are quite a bit lower after currency exchange.

Canadian import duties will increase the prices, if I'm not mistaken.
Unless: you have stuff shipped to a friend in the U.S., and who then re-ships to Canada as a "gift" (which may or may not work).
 

w00t

Diamond Member
Nov 5, 2004
5,545
0
0
if ur gonna go agp than get 6800gt.
if ur gonna go pci-e than get x800xl.
i am betting ur gonna get pci-e so just get x800xl its a great card
 

gobucks

Golden Member
Oct 22, 2004
1,166
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0
my guess is that all video cards will be dropping in price soon. You can, however, find 6800GTs for X800XL prices from time to time. Also, when nvidia fleshes out its 7800 lineup a bit, releasing 7800 and 7800GT cards, I expect that 6800 series cards will be considerably lowered in price. nvidia will continue to produce its 6800 cards for a while (probably until G72, or the 7600 is released), and I imagine those cards will take over the upper middle range market, kind of like how the 9800 Pro became ATI's upper mainstream chip during last generation. Still, with X800XLs sitting in the $260-270 USD range, I kinda doubt you'll find a much better card in that price range for a while, unless the 7600GT is a 16-pipe, 256-bit card (or uses really fast memory, like 1.5-1.6GHz GDDR3).

Everything else looks pretty decent. As long as your mobo has a wide range of memory dividers, then any value memory will be fine. Try Corsair Value RAM or Mushkin Green, both are like $80 USD. Unfortunately, my mobo only had a 5/6 and then a 2/3, so it was really hard to get a good overclock using value RAM without majorly underclocking the RAM. Also, I've heard some bad things about the OCZ Modstream. The construction is great, but the actual electronics inside aren't very accurate. I've heard much better things about the Enermax Whisper 535W, which is only like $85 USD.
 

KayKay

Senior member
Nov 17, 2004
690
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a 7600 GT or something like that sounds really really good, but don't know if i can wait that long.
the DFI board is hit or miss with corsair valueselect. It likes crucial and OCZ value. And the people at DFI-street.com Recommend against Corsair value. Thankyou for the input