new desktop

[Oscar1613]

my desktop is about 4 years old, so its about time to do a rebuild. i've been looking at different options for a little and this is what i narrowed it down to: ( newegg list link )

Case: Thermaltake Tsunami, scratch that... make it Lian Li PC-61
Mobo: MSI K9A Platinum
CPU: AMD Athlon X2 6000+
HS: Zalman 9700 w/ 110mm fan
RAM: 2x1GB Patriot DDR2 800
GPU: Sapphire Radeon x1950xt
PSU: Thermaltake W0116RU 750W
Main HD: WD Raptor X 150GB
Other HDs: whatever I cannibalize from the current computer
DVD: LITE-ON SATA 20x DVD+/-RW and EIDE 16x DVD-ROM

i was thinking about going for 2 x1950xt's in crossfire to make sure it lasts a little bit longer, but i'm not sure if it's worth the extra $200 or so. i was also thinking of going for 4GB RAM, but i'm not sure if the performance is worth that either. additionally, i'm not sure which OS i'll be going with but i'll probably end up dual booting at least xp sp2 and either xp-64 or vista. any comments/suggestions?

 

[Sinn707]

Man a 3.0Ghz X2 6000 is hard to resist at $169.99!
You are clearly overpaying for the PSU, that's way too overkill
You'll be fine with a quality PSU like this $90 Hiper
or a Corsair 520HX for $10 more.
Put the saved money into video card and get a single EVGA 8800 GTS instead.

Good luck.

 

[Oscar1613]

for starters, nvidia is out of the question

as for the psu, yeah its expensive, but i wanted one that will have enough juice to support an upgrade in the future. plus it's crossfire certified for the x1950xt unlike the corsair and has much higher efficiency than the Hiper which means less heat

 

[Juno]

you could just get two dvd burners rather than one dvd burner and one dvd drive.

 

[LOUISSSSS]

1. get a single dvd burner
2. get the Corsair HX520 PSU, it'll power your PC perfectly. and a HD2900 if u choose to upgrade. ior if you're really apranoid, get the PCPC silencer 750
3. if you've been out of the loop, thermaltake case's are crappy for your new PC. they are poorly designed and made with sharp edges inside that cut your hands when installing parts. get a higher quality LL case or a p182
4. the DS3R + C2D is a better than the mb+cpu combo u listed. get the E65x0

 

[Sinn707]

Just out of curiosity, what do you have against nvidia?

 

[Oscar1613]

Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
1. get a single dvd burner
2. get the Corsair HX520 PSU, it'll power your PC perfectly. and a HD2900 if u choose to upgrade. ior if you're really apranoid, get the PCPC silencer 750
3. if you've been out of the loop, thermaltake case's are crappy for your new PC. they are poorly designed and made with sharp edges inside that cut your hands when installing parts. get a higher quality LL case or a p182
4. the DS3R + C2D is a better than the mb+cpu combo u listed. get the E65x0

1. ok
2. whats wrong with the thermaltake? if i wanted to do crossfire, the ati page says i'd have to have the HX620, which is actually $10 more than the thermaltake, and the PCPC silencer is a lot more
3. i guess i have been out of the loop. i looked at the p182, but its a giant steel monster. i'll look at some LL's though
4. according to tom's, i'd have to get an E6700 to match the performance of a 6000+, which which is nearly twice the cost. no way

Originally posted by: Sinn707
Just out of curiosity, what do you have against nvidia?

same thing i have against intel (besides intel's outrageous prices): they're run by shady management who'd rather gain market share through deception and lies than performance and innovation

 

[Sinn707]

Originally posted by: Oscar1613

4. according to tom's, i'd have to get an E6700 to match the performance of a 6000+, which which is nearly twice the cost. no way

I won't comment on the ATI/Nvidia issue to avoid a long argument but if you were reasonable, you'd get a E6750 instead for only about $15-$20 more. Anandtech specifically compared it to X2 6000 and even at stock speeds E6750 is a clear winner, click here. These test don't lie.

 

[Oscar1613]

Originally posted by: Sinn707

Originally posted by: Oscar1613

4. according to tom's, i'd have to get an E6700 to match the performance of a 6000+, which which is nearly twice the cost. no way

I won't comment on the ATI/Nvidia issue to avoid a long argument but if you were reasonable, you'd get a E6750 instead for only about $15-$20 more. Anandtech specifically compared it to X2 6000 and even at stock speeds E6750 is a clear winner, click here. These test don't lie.

the e6750 isn't on newegg and i haven't seen it on any reputable site for $20 more. but even if i did find it for that much, that doesn't change the fact that intel is a shady company and i do not want to support them if there is a reasonable alternative, which AMD is. same would go for microsoft, but there really isnt much of a reasonable alternative plus i get it for free anyways thru campus licensing

edit: frys.com has it for $40 more + $6 shipping... not worth it imo

 

[Sinn707]

Mwave.com has it for $25 more and it's only a start, in a week or so when most retailers get it I bet you'll be able to get it at around $180 which is a great price and an easy choice over X2 6000. Companies like Nvidia, Intel, Microsoft, currently they all dominate in their field which allows them pretty much to dictate the rules and therefore make as much money as possible by doing so, trust me, if ATI/AMD had the crown right now, they'd be doing the exact same thing, using their advantage over competitors to get the most profit. You have to accept it and go with what provides the most performance for your hard earned cash, which is Intel/Nvidia today. That's my view on things.

 

[Oscar1613]

i appreciate the advice, but i'm gonna stick with amd/ati. i switched the case to Lian Li PC-61 tho. havent decided whether the 30-40% performance is worth the cost of crossfire, or if i should just stick with one card now and upgrade to a better card in a year or two

 

[Sinn707]

I personally have hope that AMD will be able to dominate the CPU/GPU market once again, the only question is when? Q1 2008 with AMD Phenom + R700? That would be great. Nice case choice, Lian Li know their stuff too well

 

[Oscar1613]

yeah, i wanted to wait for phenom, but my current desktop is getting to be a pain and i cant take it much longer