New Build..Is this a good setup; Suggestions!

[richn]

Alright, very new to anandtech but here it goes.

Im in for a new computer, thought id post what im getting. Would really appreciate lots of feedback and help as to what to get. The order goes through monday, so i dont have much time. Here it goes.

--AMD64 4600+ or 4800+. Had the 4600 priced out, but heard of major price drop on monday.
Otherwise should i go with something totally different?
--OCZ EL PC3200 Gold GX XTC 2GB Kit
--ASUS A8N-SLI Premium MB - Includes the big heatpipe, so i guess its the A8N32
--XFX 7800 GT 256
--Zalmon CNPS9500 LED cpu heatsink
--Coolermaster stacker 830 case
--Creative X-FI Fatality PCI 7.1 64mb breakout box
--Windows XP Pro 64bit or 32bit?????
--Acer Ferrari LCD F20"Monitor
--OCZ Powerstream 600W SLI power supply

Hard drives, havent decided yet. thinking with ripping my 74 gig out of my old shuttle and then my 8x plextor

I have this priced though
2x Western Digital 150GB 10,000 Raptors in Raid-0 (waiting for Raptor X)
2x Seagate 250GB 7,200RPM 16MB Cache hard drives for storage
18x Plextor DVD Duel Layer Burners (not yet released)

Thanks alot, every suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

 

[imported_rod]

CPU: I wouldn't get the 4600+. The 4400+ performs almost identically, but it's cheaper. Plus, it'll be a better overclocker.

SOUND: I wouldn't bother with a sound card until you've tried onboard sound. If you still want a dedicated card, it's easy to add later.

O/S: Don't buy windowsXP if you can avoid it. Maybe use an old copy of win2KPro if you have it. Windows Vista/Longhorn will be out before the end of the year.

RoD

 

[diablonda]

As brought out by Rod, the onboard soundcard is good enough.No need to buy a new one

 

[richn]

ok, so does everything else look ok? what about buying the 4800?

 

[imported_rod]

The 4800+ is pretty pricey. The 4400+ performs almost the same, for about half the price.

What do you plan to do with this computer? Gaming, video editing?...
Also, would you be overclocking?...

RoD

 

[Bobthelost]

Another vote for a 4400, i've got one and it OCs to 2.5 at stock voltage.

I think the older A8N had the heatpipe too, so it's probably worth reading the details a bit more. The 32 is a good board, the older one is not so great.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: richn
Alright, very new to anandtech but here it goes.

Im in for a new computer, thought id post what im getting. Would really appreciate lots of feedback and help as to what to get. The order goes through monday, so i dont have much time. Here it goes.

--AMD64 4600+ or 4800+. Had the 4600 priced out, but heard of major price drop on monday.
Otherwise should i go with something totally different?
--OCZ EL PC3200 Gold GX XTC 2GB Kit
--ASUS A8N-SLI Premium MB - Includes the big heatpipe, so i guess its the A8N32
--XFX 7800 GT 256
--Zalmon CNPS9500 LED cpu heatsink
--Coolermaster stacker 830 case
--Creative X-FI Fatality PCI 7.1 64mb breakout box
--Windows XP Pro 64bit or 32bit?????
--Acer Ferrari LCD F20"Monitor
--OCZ Powerstream 600W SLI power supply

Hard drives, havent decided yet. thinking with ripping my 74 gig out of my old shuttle and then my 8x plextor

I have this priced though
2x Western Digital 150GB 10,000 Raptors in Raid-0 (waiting for Raptor X)
2x Seagate 250GB 7,200RPM 16MB Cache hard drives for storage
18x Plextor DVD Duel Layer Burners (not yet released)

Thanks alot, every suggestion would be greatly appreciated.

get the AMD Opteron 170 or 175 instead of the x2 4400, 4600 or 4800. they overclock really well.

MOBO: the one you chose is fine but you should check out dfi (especially if you plan to OC) or epox

PSU: are you sure you need 600w? i'm sure 500w will be sufficient.

HDD: do you really need a raptor, and 2 for that matter?

Audio: listen to rod and try out the onboard first

i'm not sure what your budget is so this is why i gave these recommendations. this'll let you save a lot and you will essentially get the same performance in the end. could you please give a maximum budget?

 

[Skott]

The A8N SLI Premium and the A8N32 Deluxe are the only two mobos that use the heatpipes. Choose one or the other. At this point I prefer the A8N32. They fixed some of the problems the older mobo had and added some new features. I disagree the onboard sound is as good as a seperate Audigy2 or X-FI sound card. The onboard sound also eats up extra cpu cycles. If you arent a gamer or music aficiendo it wont matter though I suppose. Performance wise a seperate sound card is the ideal.

If the pricing rumors hold true the Optys are no longer going to be cheaper than the X2 counterpart after today and the Optys dont really OC much more than the X2 in aircooling. The Opty can take more abuse but go with what is cheapest in price and you'll be happy. As far as the X2s go, I would either go with a 3800 or a 4400 and OC it to a 4800 or if you dont want to bother with OCing then belly up to the 4800 so you have its performance. Considering you have a 9500 hsf planned I'd go with a 3800 X2 and OC it. Its the cheapest way to do it under the new pricing. You can probably hit the speed of the new FX-60 at stock speed with it. Thats just how I would do it though.

 

[Operandi]

Change the PSU to a 430 or 500 watt Seasonic S12. Personal preference but consider a better looking and more practical case.

 

[GamerExpress]

I would go for the Opty 165 and overclock or I would go with the X2 4400+
I like OCZ, maybe look at the Platinum EL Rev. 2
Why go SLI, it's a waste!!!
I wouldn't use XFX for video card, go with eVGA instead
The soundcard you picked out is a waste of money!!!!!
OCZ PSU suxorz, go with a nice Seasonic or Fortron