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Newb putting together a new rig...

X

xalar

Member
Well it's been too long since I've put together a new machine [3 years actually, ouch], so I figured it was about time. As it's been so long, I've allowed myself to pretty much drop out of the loop as far as the details of the newest cpus, etc. So I figured you guys would be able to give me some thoughts/tips/suggestions on my new rig. Planning on ordering from Monarch within the next week. So far I'm leaning towards the following config...

Case: Thermaltake Soprana w/ 430W PSU
Mobo: Abit AN8 Fatality NF4 Ultra
CPU: A64 3500+ 90nm Rev. E
RAM: 1024 [512x2] of Corsair XMS
HDD: WD Raptor 10,000RPM 74GB 8MB Cache
HDD2: WD 120GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache
Video: BFG Geforce 6800GT OC
Sound: Thinking of going w/ the Abit's Soundmax to save $100, heh.
CD/DVD/Etc: Liteon drives.

...now I don't really plan on doing any OCing of the cpu or ram, so I'm curious if my CPU choice would be decent out of the box? I was thinking about possibly going for a cheaper mobo and spending the extra cash on a 3800 or possibly 4000. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for helping out an old newb. 🙂
 
to tell you the truth, overclock a64s is very easy. you could turn a 3200+ into aa 3500+ extremely easily. i would buy a 3200+ and spned the money on your girl
edit, also, i personally would not buy the raptor. It is very overpriced and you wont see a difference in performance
 
Hi!
alexXx is right, I think you should get a 3200+ or a 3800+ if you don't want to do overclocking but in any case not a 3500+, poor overclocking and not fast enough for its price!
 
For a sound card, you might look at this:Link to card

Its only $25, and alot of people on the forums seem to like it.

I would agree to get either the 3200 or the 3800.
If you get the 3200, if you happen to catch the OC bug, you would be set.
 
Originally posted by: MADMAX23
Hi!
alexXx is right, I think you should get a 3200+ or a 3800+ if you don't want to do overclocking but in any case not a 3500+, poor overclocking and not fast enough for its price!
Click to expand...

Huh your recommending a 3800+ .. no no no .. either get a 3200+ venice and OC on the 10x multi if you intend to, or get the 3700+ SD (San Diego), if you have got the Cash i would recommend the 3700+ even at stock this cains, and tests have shown that it can alot of the time perfrom better thent he 3800+ even tho its got 200Mhz over it, Also the chip has 1Mb L2 cache which helps out alot... put it this way if you can OC the 3700+ SD to 2.8Ghz which is well within its region, you will be looking at FX57 spec chip (which is not even out yet :shocked: ) and the FX57 will cost like $1000 for you american guys (think of the money you can save)...

if you can afford it trust me 😉 good chip (3700+ that is)..
 
Originally posted by: xalar
Well it's been too long since I've put together a new machine [3 years actually, ouch], so I figured it was about time. As it's been so long, I've allowed myself to pretty much drop out of the loop as far as the details of the newest cpus, etc. So I figured you guys would be able to give me some thoughts/tips/suggestions on my new rig. Planning on ordering from Monarch within the next week. So far I'm leaning towards the following config...

Case: Thermaltake Soprana w/ 430W PSU
Mobo: Abit AN8 Fatality NF4 Ultra
CPU: A64 3500+ 90nm Rev. E
RAM: 1024 [512x2] of Corsair XMS
HDD: WD Raptor 10,000RPM 74GB 8MB Cache
HDD2: WD 120GB 7200RPM 8MB Cache
Video: BFG Geforce 6800GT OC
Sound: Thinking of going w/ the Abit's Soundmax to save $100, heh.
CD/DVD/Etc: Liteon drives.

...now I don't really plan on doing any OCing of the cpu or ram, so I'm curious if my CPU choice would be decent out of the box? I was thinking about possibly going for a cheaper mobo and spending the extra cash on a 3800 or possibly 4000. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for helping out an old newb. 🙂
Click to expand...

I would not mess around with ABIT right now. They are extremely overpriced for what you get and hav'nt been good to the OC community on A64 side at all. Not that you care about OCing but it's something that I don't care for so I won't reward them by recommending them. They have cheap on-board audio too.

-The board to get is the MSI "K8N Neo4/SLI" because it comes with Sound Blaster Live 7.1-channel on-board!!! And it's only $156

-CD or DVD best out is the NECs, Lite-on is like a jet aircraft taking off when spinning up.

RAM- I'd get Ballistix PC3200 2-2-2, it's from the #1 company, most compatable ram maker, you know will be around forever to redeem warranty, crucial.

The rest looks fine🙂 Maybe now you have enough money for 3700 san deigo core? You want that core because it has SSE3, runs cooler, and has a faster L2 cache.
 
Also you might want to rethink the Case and PSU(or at least the PSU) thermaltake is not a BAD brand, but if you were thinking about spending that much on the MoBo I would get the MSI and put some of it towards a GOOD PSU, like an OCZ or Antec. If you go with the MSI board I can say from experience that the Corsair XMS works beautifully in iy.
 
Thanks for all of the input & suggestions, much appreciated. I've made a few changes to my configuration, and it now stands like this...

Case: Antec PlusView 1000AMG w/ Window
PSU: OCZ Modstream 520
Mobo: MSI K8N Neo4 Plat SLI
CPU: A64 3700+ 90nm Rev. E San Diego 1MB Cache
RAM: 1024 [512x2] of Corsair XMS
HDD: WD Caviar 7200RPM 120GB 8MB Cache
Video: BFG Geforce 6800GT OC
Sound: Onboard SB Live 7.1
CD/DVD/Etc: Liteon drives [I rarely use my drives anyway, so noise isnt a factor]

...downgraded to a Caviar drive as I'm unsure how much of a performance gain [gaming] I'd gain through using the Raptor. Any links to some benchmarks relating to this out there? Also, I like the idea of the SLI mobo for throwing in another Videocard for future upgrade. Curious, would the 6800Ultra outperform the 6800GT to a serious extent? The videocard was the only component I was planning on attempting an OC on, as I heard the GT could easily be OC'd to Ultra specs.
 
...another minor thing is you could get into a more reliable drive in seagate.. they have 5 year warranty instead of WD 3..are quieter too.

Other than that it's perfect...you're in for a real treat if it's been three years🙂
 
i would get different ram, maybe crucial ballistix or some patriot tccd or maybe the twinmos sp. Corsiar is overpriced for what you get. Imo.
 
Originally posted by: xalar
Thanks for all of the input & suggestions, much appreciated. I've made a few changes to my configuration, and it now stands like this...

Case: Antec PlusView 1000AMG w/ Window
PSU: OCZ Modstream 520
Mobo: MSI K8N Neo4 Plat SLI
CPU: A64 3700+ 90nm Rev. E San Diego 1MB Cache
RAM: 1024 [512x2] of Corsair XMS
HDD: WD Caviar 7200RPM 120GB 8MB Cache
Video: BFG Geforce 6800GT OC
Sound: Onboard SB Live 7.1
CD/DVD/Etc: Liteon drives [I rarely use my drives anyway, so noise isnt a factor]

...downgraded to a Caviar drive as I'm unsure how much of a performance gain [gaming] I'd gain through using the Raptor. Any links to some benchmarks relating to this out there? Also, I like the idea of the SLI mobo for throwing in another Videocard for future upgrade. Curious, would the 6800Ultra outperform the 6800GT to a serious extent? The videocard was the only component I was planning on attempting an OC on, as I heard the GT could easily be OC'd to Ultra specs.
Click to expand...

Looks great, the only suggestion I have is ditch the high priced Corsair ram, and get some value ram at $100-130 for a gig, with the A64 platform high speed ram is practically useless (provides no additional performance).

And unless you have a huge monitor(over 20"), SLI and/or highend graphics cards are a big waste of money IMHO. My lowly single 6600GT $180 gets around 100FPS in HL2 and Doom3 at the maximum resolutions that my 19" monitor can handle, and anything over 60FPS is virtually unnoticable to the human eye. A pair of 6800U's in SLI would score more than 3x higher than my single 6600GT in 3dmark05, but in real world gameplay @ 1280 x 1024 or 1024 x 768, you couldn't tell the difference. Now if you get one of those ubber expensive 30" LCD's, then you will see a difference with high end graphics.

 
If you want high end ram why settle for some marketing companies ram when the best is staring you in the face when you can get it straight from source? Crucial and Crucial Ballistix. Proven to be most compatable A64 ram of all by tomshardware it was the only ram 100% cross the board compatable. Been like this forever crucial has. Personally for a newb I would'nt even touch this marketing ram becuase you introduce a huge non-working variable into your system. I would'nt touch anything but Micron modules at least.

Something people tend to loose site of is how clockable it is too even the value ram. Crucial/micron way underates thier ram compared to korean/german foundrys. Every stick I've had (over 60 recently) could clcok 2-3-2 1T@200 , this is $45 budget ram i'm talking about rated at 3-3-3 2t. Every stick worked, first time. Every stick could also handle above 230Mhz at rated timings.

Anyway buy the rebadged high margin hype if you want, where you never know what you're getting, I'm sticking with the biggest, the best.
 
Originally posted by: GuitarDaddy
Originally posted by: xalar
Thanks for all of the input & suggestions, much appreciated. I've made a few changes to my configuration, and it now stands like this...

Case: Antec PlusView 1000AMG w/ Window
PSU: OCZ Modstream 520
Mobo: MSI K8N Neo4 Plat SLI
CPU: A64 3700+ 90nm Rev. E San Diego 1MB Cache
RAM: 1024 [512x2] of Corsair XMS
HDD: WD Caviar 7200RPM 120GB 8MB Cache
Video: BFG Geforce 6800GT OC
Sound: Onboard SB Live 7.1
CD/DVD/Etc: Liteon drives [I rarely use my drives anyway, so noise isnt a factor]

...downgraded to a Caviar drive as I'm unsure how much of a performance gain [gaming] I'd gain through using the Raptor. Any links to some benchmarks relating to this out there? Also, I like the idea of the SLI mobo for throwing in another Videocard for future upgrade. Curious, would the 6800Ultra outperform the 6800GT to a serious extent? The videocard was the only component I was planning on attempting an OC on, as I heard the GT could easily be OC'd to Ultra specs.
Click to expand...

Looks great, the only suggestion I have is ditch the high priced Corsair ram, and get some value ram at $100-130 for a gig, with the A64 platform high speed ram is practically useless (provides no additional performance).

And unless you have a huge monitor(over 20"), SLI and/or highend graphics cards are a big waste of money IMHO. My lowly single 6600GT $180 gets around 100FPS in HL2 and Doom3 at the maximum resolutions that my 19" monitor can handle, and anything over 60FPS is virtually unnoticable to the human eye. A pair of 6800U's in SLI would score more than 3x higher than my single 6600GT in 3dmark05, but in real world gameplay @ 1280 x 1024 or 1024 x 768, you couldn't tell the difference. Now if you get one of those ubber expensive 30" LCD's, then you will see a difference with high end graphics.
Click to expand...
Luddite. You're on the edge IMO with that slow card😉

Lemme know how you play an old game like farcry 1600x1200, high everything, and 4x4x with that "midstream" comsumer graphics card. It won't move!!!!

IMO you're doing a huge diservice recommend such lameness for this setup.

Mainly because 6800GT scale fine with price/performance, just like a 6600GT is an excellent value for middleware, 6800's and x800xl's scale fine at the high end....It's the ultras, sli, and XT's you gotta worry about.😉 way overpriced for what you get. But not a 6800GT or x800xl.. excellent price/performance characteristics.


Fair warning: You better never go in video forum and say what you just did, they'd be calling for a rope.😀
 
If you are going to be gaming, get an audigy of some flavor. Way better EAX support, and I personally throw my support with DFI, although I don't have any experience in the NF4 realm. If you switch to ballistix, get an audigy2 and a DFI board, this rig would get big thumbs up from me 🙂

Nat
 
Ok, I'm in the same boat as xalar but haven't built a machine for myself in about 6 years. I've looked at the MSI K8N Neo4 as Zebo recommends but I don't see that it's available with an AGP slot. I've got a MSI Geforce FX 5600 AGP card that I wasn't planning on replacing.
 
If you want to keep that video card, then you need a different mobo. Here is a suggestion:

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum $132

It has an AGP slot for that ancient vid card you have. It uses Nforce3 Ultra chipset. I guess it depends on what you plan to do with your computer, but you may want to consider upgrading the vid card if you play any modern games. If not, then go with the board I recommended. There may be an Nforce4 mobo with AGP slot, but I can't think of any at the moment.
 
Thanks! I actually found that on my own and just placed the order for it, a 3200 Venice, 1G(2x512) OCZ PC 3200, a Thermaltake Venus 12 and a ThermalTake 480W PS. All for under $550.
 
Sweet deal, but one comment though about the PSU. I have heard some bad stories about thermaltake's PSUs. I do not have first hand knowledge of this though, but I would recommend that you check around these forums a little bit more to make sure your not making a bad choice. Or list the specs and I'll tell you what I think.
 
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