new computer soon

[510kut]

Hey I'm going to be upgrading from my amd xp 2100+ soon, since my sister wants something more then my old dell. So how does this setup look. I plan on gaming mostly just CS and some source. I haven't gotten hooked to a computer game in a while but who knows when that will change. Oh also normal school use.

CPU- AMD 64 3000+ Venice

I was really debating on buying the 3200+ that went down to 144 on monarch today, but I think I rather save a little cash and just get the 3000+ from ewiz. Theres not a big performance difference between the two right? I plan on ocing but I'm a nub at it so it wont be extreme.

Heatsink- Thermalright XP90

I was kinda debating between this or the zalman 7000 but everyone raves about the xp90. And I'd get a 92mm Panaflo(?) to match. Any opinions on the zalman?

Actually I think I'm gonna get the all copper zalman cause I applied for the Amazon Visa or whatever and I was gonna get it there but the XP-90 they are selling doesn't qualify but the zalmans do. Is there a big difference between the copper and aluminum? or the 7000 and 7700? wee time to ge reread those reviews

Motherboard- DFI Lanparty nforce4 Ultra

I've been debating between this or the MSI Plat but it seems the DFI is able to oc better and offers pretty much the same stuff as the MSI. Although I do prefer how the MSI looks, but I don't plan on having a window on my case anyhow so whatevers. And you can still make the Ultra an SLI board if you remove the epoxy coating right?

Case- Lian Li PC60B Plus

Hmm the cooling system seems really neat to me. Although I'm concerned if the cpu vent will work with the xp90, anybody have any experiance with it? I really like the simplistic look of the Lian Li. And I don't want a big hulking steel tower again, although lugging around that and my old 19in triniton dont compare to my tv :/ (stupid stairs... dorms... apartments...)

RAM- OCZ 2x512 PC3200 Value VX

I've been really confused on what ram to get, but these seem a good value at 105 and the OC possibility. I was thinking of getting mushkin blue but it seems the new serial numbers dont match up to the UTT serials (so not as good I guess as it was before). Then there is always like the Crucial Value select or a few of those other ones that are floating around the hot deals forum. But I think overall best performance to price would be the ocz right?

ooh just found this OCZ PC-3200 2x512MB Performance Revision 3
http://labs.anandtech.com/alllinks.php?pfilter=1933

little late to go digging around for reviews but anyone have experiance with it?

Hard Drive- 2x Hitachi 80GB SATA II

I was gonna just stick with the drives I have now, but since my mom also wants a computer I'd have to split up some drives. I was reading over at DFI-street how good the SATA II drives are in raid so I guess thats I'm gonna shoot for.

PSU- Seasonic S12 600W

Well I'm leaning towards this PSU because its going for 124 on ewiz. And its supposed to be silent, how much silenter is it then like a powerstream? I wouldn't mind a powerstream either but probably in the 520w catagory. Or should I just go with one of the less expense but pretty good PSU? Like a Tagan or enermax (any suggestions on these?)

Video Card-

Hmm this is where I have no clue at the moment. I would like a 6800GT but the prices are still a bit high for PCIe. But hopefully the drop soon. The comparable ATI would be the 800 xl? t? Hopefully if I can hold off longer the price will drop some.

Sound Card-

How good/bad is the onboard sound on the DFI and MSI? I have 4.1 speakers would they be ok? Or should I just pick up like a cheap sound card?

Also should I start buying things like the cpu and hard drives and psu now? Since there are deals for them. I could probably be able to get everything but the vid card (maybe I can find a friends pcie card to use and test everything out or maybe even just a pci card) Like the price of the cpu at ewiz I dont wanna miss out on it, but would it be around the same thing in a few weeks (I know impossible to tell)

Like I want to jump on the deals but I dont want to just have the parts laying around.

I still need to get a new keyboard and mouse too lol...

Anyhow I'll add more to this tomorrow as I'm getting tired. All opinions appreciated, anyone see any conflicts, hardware that is picky about things etc?

 

[Vegitto]

Originally posted by: 510kut
Hey I'm going to be upgrading from my amd xp 2100+ soon, since my sister wants something more then my old dell. So how does this setup look. I plan on gaming mostly just CS and some source. I haven't gotten hooked to a computer game in a while but who knows when that will change. Oh also normal school use.

CPU- AMD 64 3000+ Venice

I was really debating on buying the 3200+ that went down to 144 on monarch today, but I think I rather save a little cash and just get the 3000+ from ewiz. Theres not a big performance difference between the two right? I plan on ocing but I'm a nub at it so it wont be extreme.

The 3200+ might be worth it, it has a x10 multiplier, which makes overclocking hella easier.

Heatsink- Thermalright XP90

I was kinda debating between this or the zalman 7000 but everyone raves about the xp90. And I'd get a 92mm Panaflo(?) to match. Any opinions on the zalman?

I'm gonna be taking the Zalman, neither the XP-120 nor the XP-90 fits on my chosen mobo. Might wanna go for a XP-120 if it fits your mobo, though.

Motherboard- DFI Lanparty nforce4 Ultra

I've been debating between this or the MSI Plat but it seems the DFI is able to oc better and offers pretty much the same stuff as the MSI. Although I do prefer how the MSI looks, but I don't plan on having a window on my case anyhow so whatevers. And you can still make the Ultra an SLI board if you remove the epoxy coating right?

I have no idea whether the DFI mobo is better than the MSi one. I do know, however, that they overclock better (the DFI ones). I'm more interested in AGP solutions, since I spent over ?150 on an AGP card just a little over 9 months ago.

Case- Lian Li PC60B Plus

Hmm the cooling system seems really neat to me. Although I'm concerned if the cpu vent will work with the xp90, anybody have any experiance with it? I really like the simplistic look of the Lian Li. And I don't want a big hulking steel tower again, although lugging around that and my old 19in triniton dont compare to my tv :/ (stupid stairs... dorms... apartments...)

I'm sure it'll fit...

RAM- OCZ 2x512 PC3200 Value VX

I've been really confused on what ram to get, but these seem a good value at 105 and the OC possibility. I was thinking of getting mushkin blue but it seems the new serial numbers dont match up to the UTT serials (so not as good I guess as it was before). Then there is always like the Crucial Value select or a few of those other ones that are floating around the hot deals forum. But I think overall best performance to price would be the ocz right?

ooh just found this OCZ PC-3200 2x512MB Performance Revision 3
http://labs.anandtech.com/alllinks.php?pfilter=1933

little late to go digging around for reviews but anyone have experiance with it?

They seem to be excellent. But, if you go with the DFI board, be sure to get some old TwinMOS BH-5 memory sticks. They could go like 240, 2-2-2-5 at something like 3.2V.

Hard Drive- 2x Hitachi 80GB SATA II

I was gonna just stick with the drives I have now, but since my mom also wants a computer I'd have to split up some drives. I was reading over at DFI-street how good the SATA II drives are in raid so I guess thats I'm gonna shoot for.

SATAII is really fast, but it looks as if you've got the money to burn. How about you get two 74 GB 10K RPM Raptors in Raid 0 in there? It's faster, and only a little more expensive.

PSU- Seasonic S12 600W

Well I'm leaning towards this PSU because its going for 124 on ewiz. And its supposed to be silent, how much silenter is it then like a powerstream? I wouldn't mind a powerstream either but probably in the 520w catagory. Or should I just go with one of the less expense but pretty good PSU? Like a Tagan or enermax (any suggestions on these?)

Rosewill has some good PSU's, m'boy.

Video Card-

Hmm this is where I have no clue at the moment. I would like a 6800GT but the prices are still a bit high for PCIe. But hopefully the drop soon. The comparable ATI would be the 800 xl? t? Hopefully if I can hold off longer the price will drop some.

I like ATi. I just like em. So, for the sake of you buying stuff you want, and not listening to a fanboy (I'm admitting to be an ATi fanboy here, folks), I'm not gonna give you a suggestion in here.

Sound Card-

How good/bad is the onboard sound on the DFI and MSI? I have 4.1 speakers would they be ok? Or should I just pick up like a cheap sound card?

Onboard sound is excellent. Don't even think about a soundcard unless all you do with the system is watching movies. If that's the case, you might want to get a better speakersystem, too. Cheap soundcards often sound worse than the onboard sound.

Also should I start buying things like the cpu and hard drives and psu now? Since there are deals for them. I could probably be able to get everything but the vid card (maybe I can find a friends pcie card to use and test everything out or maybe even just a pci card) Like the price of the cpu at ewiz I dont wanna miss out on it, but would it be around the same thing in a few weeks (I know impossible to tell)

Like I want to jump on the deals but I dont want to just have the parts laying around.

Don't buy now, you'll regret it later. For the price of a 3000+ now, you could have a 3500+ (maybe, not sure) when you have all your money gathered.

I still need to get a new keyboard and mouse too lol...

Be sure to get a set, not a seperate one. My wireless keyboard and my wireless mouse are from a different manufacturer (Logitech and Trust, respectively), and they interfere with each other's signals. So don't do it.

Anyhow I'll add more to this tomorrow as I'm getting tired. All opinions appreciated, anyone see any conflicts, hardware that is picky about things etc?

Hope to have answered your questions .

 

[Jeff7181]

If you can wait a while, I'd wait and see what other versions of the 7800 come out. The 7800GTX is a 24 pipe GPU, but they might take some rejects, disable some pipes, and sell a plain 7800 with 16 pipes, which would still be better than a 6800 Ultra since 7800's are capable of higher clock speeds and the design has been tweaked to be more efficient, which translates to better performance at the same clock speed as a 6800 series GPU.

 

[superfly27]

X2 3800+ and 7800 GT coming out next month.

 

[Soccerman06]

X2 3800+ and 7800 GT coming out next month.

Dont forget about ATI, the R520 could possibly come out next month so you should just wait a few more weeks and see whats ganna happen. I meen might as well wait for Longhorn and the DX 10 and capable cards. And if your ganna wait that long, you might as well get Conroe, the next gen Pentium CPU. And might as well wait for the R580 at that point. (this is all sarcasm). My point is, you cant wait forever, wait for the R520 so that prices go down a little bit more but thats it.

Also go to http://anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2471 , it has a nice little read on a AGP/PCI-E mobo, it OCs nicely but it wont do what the DFI boards can do. Its not out yet but it lookts like a nice board if your ganna go the AGP route, since it lets you upgrade to PCI-E whenever you want without getting a new mobo.

anyways thats my 2 cents

 

[510kut]

Vegitto-

Just curious which mobo do you have? Haha well I'm not too attached to my AGP card considering its breaking down and a ti4200. Are you talking about the ocz value vx or the ocz rev3? Oh the hitachi drives are going for 60ish each. I wouldnt mind a raptor but they are a bit pricey 170ish right? I'll take a gander at some Rosewill psus. Haha I'll take as many suggestions as I can get. i'd prefer nvidia but I have an ATI on my laptop and I like the video out on it more then the video out on my PC with nvidia. I just dont really know how the different ATIs stack up against like the 6800gt. Well how does onboard sound compare to like soundblaster live? Woo hoo looks like I'll be saving a bit more without having to buy another sound card hehe. Alright I'll hold off on buying. Its just I could get it now but I dont wanna pay the price for a really good vid card I don't plan on getting a wireless mouse I just dont like how they feel, probably end up getting a Razer mouse I was looking at one in the store today and I like how it feels and how light it is.

Jeff-

Hmm I can wait a little while longer any idea when lower end 7800s should be coming out?

superfly

lol....

Soccerman-

Yea I know haha cant wait forever. I guess I'll give it a few more weeks and see how things progress hopefully prices dont jump up. Oh yea I was reading a little about that board too, maybe I'll take a more indepth look.

Hmm for displays what are the really good gaming ones? Anyone have the Hyundai L90? I think. What are some good 19in lcds for like 300ish? Although I might just get the dell 2005, but I heard the 2001 was probably better for gaming?

 

[Hacp]

btw, newegg does not sell bh-5 sticks with the twinmos anymore. Go valuevx all the way.

 

[Soccerman06]

Hmm I can wait a little while longer any idea when lower end 7800s should be coming out?

The 7800 low end comes out sometime in early-mid August. I'm excited to see the 7800GT and to see if I can OC it to GTX level (considering it has 24 pipes).

 

[crimson117]

Originally posted by: 510kut

Motherboard- DFI Lanparty nforce4 Ultra

...

Sound Card-

How good/bad is the onboard sound on the DFI and MSI? I have 4.1 speakers would they be ok? Or should I just pick up like a cheap sound card?

Check out Anandtech's nForce4 audio page

MSI K8N Neo4 SLI Platinum has slightly lower CPU utilization than the DFI LANParty UT nF4 Ultra-D. Still, for best performance I'd get a separate sound card.

Or get it used from fellow AT'ers

 

[Bona Fide]

The Karajan module is actually pretty good, from what I hear. Relatively equal to the Soundblaster Live! 7.1 chipset.

- Video card - Hold off until the 7800GT comes, then get it.
- CPU - Move up to the 3200+ or 3500+. They have higher multipliers; always good for overclocking.

 

[Vegitto]

Originally posted by: 510kut
Vegitto-

Just curious which mobo do you have?

MSI MS-6380. Just a Socket A mobo, a petty one, but I'll be building myself a new comp pretty soon.

Haha well I'm not too attached to my AGP card considering its breaking down and a ti4200.

I didn't know. If that's the case, you might wanna get an SLI mobo, and a mid-end graphics card, a low-end 7800, for example. Go DFI all the way if you want SLI.

Are you talking about the ocz value vx or the ocz rev3?

Neither, try to get 1 GB of this, if it can be had in the USA.

Oh the hitachi drives are going for 60ish each. I wouldnt mind a raptor but they are a bit pricey 170ish right?

Yeah, I had expected the SATAII drives to be more expensive. Sorry, then, go with the SATAII drives.

I'll take a gander at some Rosewill psus.

Do so, they're really good.

Haha I'll take as many suggestions as I can get. i'd prefer nvidia but I have an ATI on my laptop and I like the video out on it more then the video out on my PC with nvidia. I just dont really know how the different ATIs stack up against like the 6800gt.

The R520 is out in a month, I'm not sure when you'll upgrade, but expect prices to come down around Christmas. I won't say more, I'll leave the graphics departement over to someone else, as I'm biased towards ATi. Sorry.

Well how does onboard sound compare to like soundblaster live?

Well, as an audiophile (I really am one), I always thought that a seperate sound card really improved the audio, but it turns out it doesn't. If you do want to have a sound card, don't go Creative! . I have a Creative sound card, and the sound on that thing sound worse than my onboard sound. And, yes, this has been tried with various speakersets and headphones.

Woo hoo looks like I'll be saving a bit more without having to buy another sound card hehe. Alright I'll hold off on buying. Its just I could get it now but I dont wanna pay the price for a really good vid card I don't plan on getting a wireless mouse I just dont like how they feel, probably end up getting a Razer mouse I was looking at one in the store today and I like how it feels and how light it is.

The Razor mouse... Hmm, you must be an avid gamer, then. Well, I like those mice, but their a little too expensive for my taste.

 

[510kut]

Hmm Ok I guess I'll just keep the onboard for now see how it sounds when it gets here, then go from there.

I'll see if I cant find the twinmos ram I know we have twinmos Bh5 here but not sure exactly which ones they are or if they are still available. Ug I dont think I can wait till christmas.

Any opinions on a display?

 

[imported_Frallan]

Acctually the Hitachi SATA2s are whooping some serious @ss in RAID combos. They have tested out better then the raptors at DFI-street. Add to that lower costs and lower sound...

 

[510kut]

yea haha which has convinced me to get them