Opinions on my setup

[Thehubb]

Wanted to know what you guys think of this setup. It's my first build, 4th owned. My budget is 1700 including new mouse, kb, and speakers that i didn't list.

-AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+
-MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI
-OCZ 2GB(2x1GB) DDR400 pc3200 Platinum System Memory.
-eVGA GeForce 6800GT
-Seagate 7200 250GB
-Viewsonic G90FB 19" CRT
-CoolMaster CAC-TO5 MidTower
-Antec 500W SmartPower2.0 PSU

Three things. One, im not really sure about the power supply. I trust antec, just not sure if i need 500w or not. Second, i was deciding beetween going with the vidcard and ram i listed, or going with the 7800GT and only 1GB of RAM. 6800gt and 2GB just seems a lot smarter. And lastly, what do you guys think about the mobo? Is there one known to do better with the 3800+ or with dual cores in general? I'd really appreciate some opinions. Thanks a lot..

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

Welcome to AT.

If you can get a 7800gt and 2gigs in there, that would be even better.

Maybe cut back on the motherboard and skip SLI?

 

[Excelsior]

The guys here are gonna recommend a different PSU..probably Seasonic.

 

[Fresh Daemon]

^^^

What they said.

 

[Sunrise089]

Ok, here is what I would do:

Originally posted by: Thehubb

-AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+

I assume you feel dual core is right for you, and if so you picked the right chip

-MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI

Forget SLI, useless

-OCZ 2GB(2x1GB) DDR400 pc3200 Platinum System Memory.

Drop to 1 gig of memory, and make it value memory from a mainstream company unless you are going to OC (and it IS a good idea to OC the 3800+)

-eVGA GeForce 6800GT

In a $1700 build (call it a $1500 build w/o peripherals) you are shortchaging yourself to get a 6800gt.

Alternatives:

7800gt or 7800gtx (better for the $$$)
x800xl (as good as your card for less)
wait 10 days and then see if the x800xl OR x850 prices drop because of r520

-Seagate 7200 250GB

Keep the 250gigs if you really need the space, otherwise apply it towards the 7800

-Viewsonic G90FB 19" CRT
-CoolMaster CAC-TO5 MidTower
-Antec 500W SmartPower2.0 PSU

Case, PS, Display seem fine, 500 watts is overkill, but keep it if it gives you peace of mind.

Best of luck

 

[Thehubb]

Thanks a lot. First, i def am sticking with the 3800. As far as the mobo is concerned, when i think about it, i probably wont ever take advantage of the SLI. So what mobo should i get that works well with the 3800? To be honest, im a bit confused with what mobo are compatible with dual core chips. Newegg doesnt label some as dual core ready, yet people say they use my cpu with them. I was also trying to see where to cut down somewhere else besides the ram to upgrade to the 7800gt. Isn't OCZ a name brand?

 

[Sunrise089]

OCZ is a great name brand, but they have many lines (read: price points) that have different applications. For the market that does not overclock, OCZ's value RAM is every bit as good as their higher end products, and saves a lot of $$$.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

This Epox 9NPA+ is a popular board that's not too expensive.

OCZ is name brand.

 

[Thehubb]

But im still confused as to what boards are compatible with x2 chips. Cause if any 939 board can use them then ill just get an asus or something. I was under the impression that the x2 can only be used with certain boards. Guess i was wrong. If i was that opens a lot of doors...

 

[i1o0i]

get new evga 7800gt co

 

[GamerExpress]

Not too bad at all

If you can afford it, go with a 7800gt (gtx) if not go to an x800xl at that price.

I would go with a non SLI board, something like the Epox 9npa+ ultra or the DFI Ultra D.

 

[Gadzookie]

NEC Display Solutions AS900-BK Black 19" CRT Monitor 169.99

Antec Solution SLK3000-B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Case 49.00
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX450-PN ATX12V 450W Power Supply 49.99

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Socket 939 Dual Core Processor 353.01
EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra 939 nForce4 Ultra Motherboard 95.00
CORSAIR ValueSelect 2 x 1GB SDRAM DDR 400 PC 3200 Memory 216.00
Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B250S0 250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 95.00
NEC Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive 7.99
NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3540A 39.75
XFX PVT70GUDF7 Geforce 7800GT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-E Video Card 384.00

Logitech X-530 5.1 Speaker 46.75
Logitech Internet Pro Desktop Black Wired Keyboard/Mouse 16.00

Total 1522.48

personally i dont like dual core for gaming if you overclock i would go with a 3200 and overclock it if you dont overclock go with a 3500 or higher

i would go nuts and get a 4000 hehe

 

[overclock]

I have an MSI Neo2 Platinum that is compatible with the X2. I put an X2 in my machine last Friday and have enjoyed each dual core moment since. Just for grins I rendered two DVDs at the same time using Pinnacle Studio 9 Plus and Nero Vision Express. Worked like a charm. I've never been able to render and surf at the same time. Before with a single core chip I was lucky to get Task Manager to come up. It would take a couple of seconds. With the dually it comes up instantly.

And I have that OCZ Plat memory too. So far so good but haven't run any memory intensive programs to really test it out. I haven't gone below 1.4 gigs yet. I run FreeRAM XP Pro. Great freebie.