New System Check

[JustAnAverageGuy]

My AXP 2500+ / 9800 Pro system is starting to show its age, so time for an upgrade.

The basics...

Trying to keep it at or under $1500
This will probably have to last for 2-3 years.
Monitors, speakers, optical drives, peripherals, and all the software other than OS are already taken care of.
Trying to keep the system quiet.

[*]Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Replace: Opteron 165)
[*]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
[*]eVGA 7800GT
[*]2 x 512MB Corsair ValueSelect (x2) (Replace: Gigaram 1GB PC3200 (x2) )
[*]Samsung SpinPoint 200GB (Replace: Hitachi DeskStar 7K250 250GB (?) )
[*]Arctic Silver 5
[*]Antec Sonata II
[*]XP Pro

Depending upon whether or not the onboard sound is tolerable, I may yank an Audigy 2 from one of my other computers.

That comes out to around $1400 shipped.

All the links go to NewEgg only for convenience. Orders will likely be a mix of NE, ZZF, MWave, etc

 

[Finns14]

If your gunna spend so much on the comp why not put a little more money towards the RAM

 

[Phluxed]

Everything looks very good except the processor. I'd say the opteron might be a better option for you. Will bring the total to even less. Could let you upgrade to the GTX if you're restricted by the price right now.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: Finns14
If your gunna spend so much on the comp why not put a little more money towards the RAM

Because in my opinion, the 5% (if that) performance difference doesn't justify the extra $$$

Thread

 

[ribbon13]

Why not Opteron 165?

Newegg's shipping policy is borked. Better to get value RAM here
4x512MB is terrible. And its more like extra $20 not $$$ If your gonna keep the box for a couple years, definately don't settle for 2T. Why not get one decent 1GB stick now, and upgrade with another one later? The loss of dual channel also falls into your '5%' category. Solution Also consider that memory needs for dual-core rise when you use software that utilizes both cores. Two processors vying for the same memory bandwidth. Not major, but not neglible either.

What made you pick that motherboard?

 

[eXx08]

IF you get the Opteron it will be close to my system only I'm getting 1 gig RAM of G. SKILL Extreme Series and I have a MSI K8N-Neo4/SLI

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
What made you pick that motherboard?

I've had good experiences with Asus in the past. The board itself seems to keep up with the best, has firewire, and lacks the whiny northbridge fan of the A8N-E (My second choice).

 

[ChiBOY83]

# Samsung SpinPoint 200GB



i know you list samsung becuse they have a reputation for being quiet..BUT look at it like this, your HD will not be teh loudest component in there. I have a Hitachi t7k250 and its is nearly silent (without the built in silencing options turned on) and it is super fast, AND, if you read any benchs online you will see that that line of hitachi is one of the fastest, much better reuslts than the spinpoint....


FURTHERMORE, i have the hitachi t7k250, and i have a nearly silent system (120 mm fans and passive graphics card) and i can't hear my HD at all, let me also add that my HD is suspended (its attached to the removable HD cage and the HD cage is hanging from cord inside the case)..........

CLIFF NOTES------ i personally feel you are sacrificing too much performance for negligible noise results

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Morning bump

ChiBOY83

I was initially under the impression that the 7k250 was rather loud. Apparently I skimed SCPC and SR's reviews too quickly. I'll consider it.

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Anything other ideas?

 

[ribbon13]

Yes. I'm reposting this here in case you did read the way I summed up the Opteron choices in other GH threads.

Opterons are the cores that past the most stringent of testing, because they are meant for servers/workstations and 24/7/365 use without failing. The ones that fail, but still past stringent testing become the X2 4800s and FXs. The rest become regulars A64s/X2s.

The only reason it's cheaper is because it's only clocked at 1.8Ghz while the X2 3800+ is clocked at 2.0Ghz. The Opteron 170 which is clocked at 2.0GHz costs $80 more than the X2 3800+. And the Opteron 165 will reach 2.0GHz without even breaking a sweat. The X2 4400+ is the cheapest X2 with 1MB L2 cache per core, clocked at 2.2GHz and costs $200 more than the Opteron 165. Comparing the Opteron 175 to the X2 4400+ you can see that server-class quality does cost extra. A 400Mhz stable overclock should easily be obtainable on most if not all Opteron 165s. So there you go. $500 CPUs performance for $300

Dual-core Opteron 165 ($299)
1.8GHz / 1MB L2 per core

Dual-core Opteron 170 ($399)
2.0GHz / 1MB L2 per core

Althon 64 X2 3800+ ($322)
2.0GHz / 512k L2 per core

Athlon 64 X2 4400+ ($499)
2.2GHz / 1MB L2 per core

Dual-core Opteron 175 ($525)
2.2GHz / 1MB L2 per core

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

Originally posted by: ribbon13
Opterons are the cores that past the most stringent of testing, because they are meant for servers/workstations and 24/7/365 use without failing. The ones that fail, but still past stringent testing become the X2 4800s and FXs. The rest become regulars A64s/X2s.

Makes perfect sense to me, but it is becoming difficult to find at any of the major vendors that still have it in stock. (ZZF has it at $350, ExcaliburPC ($340), NE ($480), mwave, monarch, etc are all OOS)

 

[ChiBOY83]

Originally posted by: JustAnAverageGuy
Morning bump

ChiBOY83

I was initially under the impression that the 7k250 was rather loud. Apparently I skimed SCPC and SR's reviews too quickly. I'll consider it.

yea...let me tell you this, they get a little too crazy over there about low noise. But let me lay it out like this. I have a seasonic s12-430(whish is silent) and a passive graphics card and passive mobo... the only nosie is from 3 nesux 120 mm fans......when the nexus 120's are al full speed, there isa noticable (still low however) woosh noise from air flow movement....once they are undervolted thru my mobo, they are basically silent... at this low noise level, i can HARDLY hear the seeks on my hitachi T7K250 (granted, it is suspended....AND let me tell you, SUSPENSION MAKES A HUGE DIFFERENCE...also, cut off the back fan grill, thats makes a HGUE difference as well)


as far as nosie goes tho, that graphcsi card is guna be BY FAR THE LOUDEST, no doubt about it...if u rally want it quiet, you are not guna be too happy w/ it..BUT, its MUCH BETTER performance than my passive 6600GT



.. let me also add that the suspension basically killed the seek noises... i never heard any idle noises before the suspension, only seeks

 

[JustAnAverageGuy]

System ordered...

[*]Opteron 165
[*]ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
[*]eVGA 7800GT
[*]Gigaram 1GB PC3200 (x2)
[*]Hitachi DeskStar 7K250 250GB ($1 for an extra 50GB was a plus )
[*]Arctic Silver 5
[*]Antec Sonata II
[*]XP Pro

Thanks for the help guys. :thumbsup: :beer:

$1415 shipped. I'll throw some pics up when it's done

 

[ChiBOY83]

Im jealous. good luck, and have fun

 

[Finns14]

Nice rig why did you get an SLI MOBO do you plan on going SLI later on? I'm just not sold on the SLI idea I think that usually when a new card come out if you can sell your old card and put it towards a new card it usually out performs 2 sli oder cards. Case and point 7800GT>2 SLI 6800