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Please critique the comp. my friend asked me to build

IMO i'd get the x1800xt for x1900xt instead of the 7800gtx. i'd also go for a 16mg hard drive with more capacity, and probably corsair value ram to save money or OCZ platinum if u want low latency
 
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
IMO i'd get the x1800xt for x1900xt instead of the 7800gtx. i'd also go for a 16mg hard drive with more capacity, and probably corsair value ram to save money or OCZ platinum if u want low latency
Click to expand...

ok, changed the vid card to x1900xt...you're right, same price, faster card 🙂

also changed the memory to ocz, not sure about this brand, but reviews are almost all good.

I kinda like the 10K rpm on the wd, most 16mb cache drives are 7200rpm. the only 3 that are 10K rpm are over the price and he does not need the space anyways. so, I'm sticking with the 10K rpm wd.

thx for the input.
 
Originally posted by: Howard
Why the A8N-SLI? Especially with an ATI card?
Click to expand...

yup, I'm changing that to a crossfire mobo

edit: ok, change the mobo to crossfire, that bumped up the price, so I had to step down the hard drive wo 7200rpm WD drive with 16MB cache
 
no comments on the case yet...is it ok?

I'm curious if the powersupply that comes with the case is compatible with the mobo? I see that the mobo comes with 24pin PSU connector, not sure if the case PSU is compatible.

also, does that PSU that comes with this case have enough juice to run this setup now and crossfire later down the line?

thx

edit: ok, looks like the case has 24pin PSU so we may be good to go...just need to know if it has enough juice to run crossfire later...
 
Why Crossfire?

I'm not too hot on the case (would go for an SLK3000B) but that's one of the more subjective choices.
 
i would not use the psu that came with the case, i'd go for a nice case with good cooling and a nice psu, view enermax liberty 520, PCPC 510, seasonic 600, or fsp 600watt all availible on newegg. case anything with 2 x 120mm fans should be fine?
oh and bt i'd get the ASUS a8r32-mvp deluxe for better reliability
 
umm, what about Heatsink for the cpu? the retail heatsink will do, if you're going to be running at stock speeds. but considering the amount of heat that the x1900xt produces, i'd suggest you get a good heatsink. what about PSU? speakers? sound card? (going to use onboard?)
 
good suggestions, I will look into them.

the only reason I picked MSI is that it comes with an adapter for the power header on the card. all other cards I've looked at do not come with one. I'm wondering if the PSU that comes with the antec has this power connector?

I picked this mobo because it has better ratings on newegg than the asus, but they're about the same price, so I see no reason why a change could not happen. I will research it some more.

why crossfire? because he asked me to build a system that lasts. I guess I can look at SLI as well, are the equipment cheaper?

the only thing I'm worried about the case is that the PSU will not be enough. will look into standalone PSU and possibly enermax.

also, keep in mind that I will not overclock this thing at all..not the cpu nor the gpu. reason is that it's not my comp. and I don't feel like getting a call every night 😉

thx!
 
Originally posted by: ForumMaster
umm, what about Heatsink for the cpu? the retail heatsink will do, if you're going to be running at stock speeds. but considering the amount of heat that the x1900xt produces, i'd suggest you get a good heatsink. what about PSU? speakers? sound card? (going to use onboard?)
Click to expand...

the system will not be overclocked at all. the stock HSF on the vid card...is it that horrible?

he's not into sound so onboard and crappy speakers is fine for him.
 
Stock HSF is fine even for all but extreme OC'ing. It's biggest negative is noise.

The PSU that comes with the Sonata II is fine unless you decide to use dual 1900XT's.
 
the asus a8r32 only has bad reviews is because newegg users dont know up to flash bios therefore they are still stuck having many problems with the 0201? bios
with asus's new bios for the board the are no problems with it and how can u chose a second tier motherboard company over asus...
 
ok, I changed the mobo to the asus and the vid card to sapphire x1900xtx

x1900xt is OOS at newegg 🙁 but xtx is only another $50 more 🙂

edit: will that mobo fit in any old atx case? if so, I might get rid of the antec case, and just get him a good PSU, I think that's more important than the way the comp looks...what do you guys think?

edit2: lol...just looked on newegg...I was thinking the $90 from the case would be good enough to get a very good PSU...nope! when did they start charging over $100 for PSU's? LMAO...anyways, the ones that have dual +12V...those are the ones I should get right? the dual +12V for the dual graphics cards?
 
Not sure what you are referring to abotu the PSU, but the Antec Smart Power that comes with the Sonata II does have dual +12V rails. It's not a great PSU, but good enough for your proposed system if you are trying to save some money.

I wouldn't go with the ASUS board soley on Louiss's recommendation. He whores ASUS MB's in nearly every thread he posts in. I pesonally no nothing about that board, but I would definitely solicit some unbiased opinions before I made my final decision.
 
not really i've purchase mb's from other companies in the past. the motherboard is one of the most important parts of the system so why would buy from a brand isn't as reputable as asus. read AT's review...
 
I thought Abit was always a top tier mobo company on par with Asus...

edit: for PSU's...what is PFC (active, passive)? what is the efficiency?

thx
 
Efficency is a measure of how little power is lost as heat in the PSU as it turns mains voltage into 12V etc. for the computer to work from. As such higher efficency is better. Good PSUs have around 80%, nearly any of the ones that gets recomended is over 75%.

PFC or power factor correction is a fancy little feature that you need in europe and in some cases can reduce your electricity bills (but those are rare), most of the better PSUs have it, but it's an optional extra rather than a requirement.
 
Originally posted by: LOUISSSSS
not really i've purchase mb's from other companies in the past. the motherboard is one of the most important parts of the system so why would buy from a brand isn't as reputable as asus. read AT's review...
Click to expand...

It's only your opinion that ASUS is better than all other brands, that doesn't make it a fact.
Saying Abit is a second tier MB company is ignorant at best. Personally I'd much rather have an Epox, MSI or Abit.
 
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Efficency is a measure of how little power is lost as heat in the PSU as it turns mains voltage into 12V etc. for the computer to work from. As such higher efficency is better. Good PSUs have around 80%, nearly any of the ones that gets recomended is over 75%.

PFC or power factor correction is a fancy little feature that you need in europe and in some cases can reduce your electricity bills (but those are rare), most of the better PSUs have it, but it's an optional extra rather than a requirement.
Click to expand...

cool, so buy a PSU that has 80% or better efficiency and PFC is optional.

thx 🙂
 
Originally posted by: FreshPrince
Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Efficency is a measure of how little power is lost as heat in the PSU as it turns mains voltage into 12V etc. for the computer to work from. As such higher efficency is better. Good PSUs have around 80%, nearly any of the ones that gets recomended is over 75%.

PFC or power factor correction is a fancy little feature that you need in europe and in some cases can reduce your electricity bills (but those are rare), most of the better PSUs have it, but it's an optional extra rather than a requirement.
Click to expand...

cool, so buy a PSU that has 80% or better efficiency and PFC is optional.

thx 🙂
Click to expand...

Yes and no. 😀

I'm a low noise freak at times so since higher efficency means less waste heat generated and hence less airflow needed through the PSU, hence lower CFM fan, hence lower noise generated i'm a fan of high efficency PSUs 😉

However since the computer won't be drawing more than 250W or so at the max load you're looking at a 12.5W difference going from a 75% efficent PSU to an 80% one. The higher efficency one is nice, but if you're not a low noise freak then it's negligable as the PSU fan just spins a touch faster and the added running cost is tiny.

As long as it's over 75% efficent i wouldnt' really worry, higher is better but features and pricing may be more so.
 
Instead of the 3800+ get an Opteron 165.
For about the same price you get 3 HyperTransport lane instead of one, twice more L2 Cache and you can overclock it to 2.4Ghz without a sweat.
 
Originally posted by: Valrandir
Instead of the 3800+ get an Opteron 165.
For about the same price you get 3 HyperTransport lane instead of one, twice more L2 Cache and you can overclock it to 2.4Ghz without a sweat.
Click to expand...

same mobo?
 
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