New Rig, Any Advice on OC programs etc.

[dispair]

Well guys, i asked about the comp i had pieced together earlier, and was told it was pointless to build. I then reconfigured to what the consensus was, and well, here it is:

CASE: Aspire Xplorer Mid-Tower Case 420W W/ WINDOW & LCD Temperature Display
CD: LG GWA-4161 16X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER
CPU: (939-pin) AMD ATHLON64 X2 3800 CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology
FLOPPY: 1.44 MB FLOPPY DRIVE
FAN: AMD ATHLON64 CERTIFIED CPU FAN & HEATSINK + 3 EXTRA CASE FANS
FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 6in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer
HDD: 160GB Hard Drive (SATA150 - Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache)
KEYBOARD: Logitech Office Pro
MOUSE: Logitech MX518
MOTHERBOARD: MSI MSI-K8N NEO4/SLI
MEMORY: 1024 MB PC3200 400MHz Corsair Value Select
NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
OS: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional SP2
POWERSUPPLY: Enermax EG565P 535 Watt Power Supply
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
USB: Build-in USB 2.0 Ports
VIDEO: NVIDIA Geforce 7800 GTX

Well yea. So I'm not overly impressed with the case, but I figure i can change it if need be. I went with an SLI board for "future" possiblities. Everyone said RAID was pretty pointless in the long run, and that i would just be better off getting a new hd. i intend on getting a raptor for system/games, and then use the 160 i have for media storage. My biggest concern with the system i just ordered is that the MB only got decent reviews compared to the asus deluxe. Also, I'm not sure how easy it is to OC, but I figure I'll want to hit the 7800GTX, the CVS Ram, and possibly a little bit on the processor. If anyone has a good site, or program, feel free to let me know. Thanx for all your help.

Dispair

 

[Some1ne]

If you must use a program to OC, get the NF4 version of ClockGen, it'll get the job done. That said though, The MSI Neo4 SLI is an enthusiast part, and as such it has built in to the BIOS all the overclocking options you should ever need. I recommend just overclocking through the BIOS.

 

[dispair]

B.U.M.P
R.P.Y.O
I..........S
N........T
G.........!

seriously tho. if not for getting info on oc'ing(as i'm sure if i google it, it will come), can i get advice if this is a good set up?

 

[Some1ne]

Looks good as a build, although I wouldn't have gotten the SLI board.

 

[dispair]

is there a reason ppl r so anti sli? I'm trying to understand y that is?

 

[Some1ne]

Cost/performance ratio, for one thing, the loss of an expansion slot on the mainboard to allow for a second x16 slot for another, and also some fairly flawed logic behind the way SLI is marketed.

THe idea behind using SLI as an upgrade path is flawed in that first off, adding a second card in SLI does not equate to a doubling of performance. When running software that supports SLI, having an SLI setup typically net 50% to 75% more performance in the best situations. While still fairly impressive, this has important implications in that when transitioning from one generation of graphics hardware to the next, performance also increases by about the same amount, if not more. For example, a single 7800GTX will perform as good as if not better than 6xxx series cards running in SLI. So, if you get a high-end card now, and then wait a generation and add in another one, all you've done is managed to stay roughly on par (and the price on your high-end card won't have come down too much over the span of a single generation). If you wait two generations (or more) to add in a second card, then your setup is hopelessly out of date, SLI or no.

Furthermore, SLI can end up locking you into an undesirable upgrade path...consider what could happen if, for example, MS decides to release DX10, and incorporates into it a new Sharder Model (or whatever else) that requires hardware support in order to be used. The next generation of cards would almost certainly support this, but the current generation would never be able to, and if you had a current generation card, you would then be faced with the choice of either adding another one in SLI and missing out on all the new features, or of just scrapping it and getting a whole new card. So basically, aside from only offering a single generation of upgrade possibilities, you run the risk of shooting yourself in the foot this way too.

Really the only place where SLI makes sense is if you want the best possible performance money can buy, today. In that case get an SLI board, and shove two 7800GTX's into it, and try not to be too disappointed when the 8800X-Turbo-Whatever comes out in a year and outperforms your $1000 SLI setup for $500. Other than that, it really makes the most sense to just get whatever graphics card you can budget for today, and then when that's inadequate, replace it with whatever you can budget for at that point in time.

 

[dispair]

Well you bring up very good points, and honestly making me rethink my logic(yet again damit). these r the single slot pci-x boards i have available. I sadly need to make my educated decision within 24 hours at the max(preferably sooner). Of these boards, which is recommended? I've read tons of reviews, and well i'm looking to do mild oc'ing(i trust stabilty over max gaming performance) and would like a good mb in general(support, bio's support, etc). mind you, this is my first time getting a performance pc, rather than some pos...so any educated responses with logical reasoning r greatly appreciated! Thanx


(Sckt939)ECS RS480-M ATI RS480 Chipset
(Sckt939)MSI K8N NEO4-F nForce4 Chipset
(Sckt939)Asus A8N5X nForce4
(Sckt939) Foxconn/WinFast NF4UK8AA-8EKRS nForce4 ULTRA
(Sckt939) Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 nForce4
(Sckt939)Asus A8N-E nForce4