Please look over my upgrade choices...

[DOOManiac]

Thanks to the help I got on these forums, some other places, and on IRC, I think I've finally decided upon what to get for an upgrade. So, if you guys wouldn't mind, would you look over my choices, and if there's anything you think I made a bad choice on (such as "lol that ram doesn't work with that motherboard", or simply "you should go w/ a faster cpu") please let me know!

Here's what I got so far:

Mobo: (I'm told the DFI is better)
$184.99 DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI
- OR -
$166.99 ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard


CPU: (Again, I'm told the extra horsepower isn't worth the extra $)
$458 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core
- OR -
$630 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core


RAM:
$199 CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)


Video: (Maybe 2 of them, or I might wait for a price drop before getting the 2nd)
$369 eVGA 256-P2-N565-AX Geforce 7900GT CO Superclocked


Case:
$114.99 Antec P180


PSU:
$209.99 OCZ OCZ600ADJSLI ATX12V 2.01
- OR -
Antec TruePower 2.0 TRUECONTROL II-550 ATX12V 550W


HDD:
$200 Western Digital Caviar SE16 400 GB SATA 16MB Cache 7200 RPM

Stuff coming over from the old system:
- SB Live! 5.1
- D-Link 802.11g NIC
- Plextor DVD Burner
- 3.5 Floppy


In particular, I want to be sure about that PSU. I've never heard of the brand before. Is it a good one, or should I get a different one? And do I really need 600w?

Also, if I go w/ the DFI mobo, it doesn't have a parrallel port so I'm going to either have to buy a new printer or a parallel->usb dongle thingy. But I'm told the DFI is much higher quality than the Asus one, so it'd be worth it. Does this sound right?



Software wise, I've been told my best COA is to continue running 32-bit windows media center (my current OS) rather than the 64-bit version of windows, and then just use the 64-bit version of Vista when it comes out (I was planning on upgrading to it anyway). Does this sound correct to you guys too?


Thanks again for all the help. It's difficult to get caught up w/ all the hardware stuff after having not paid attention to it for years, so I really appreciate any pushes in the right direction you guys could give me. Thanks!

[edit 1]
I've fixed the DFI mobo being the wrong one, it's now the right SLI one, and I've added a 2nd PSU choice to consider.
[/edit]

 

[Gagan]

Wow, great psu, I'm proud of you I have the same one.

Go the a8n sli premium, I have had both the dfi and asus, I like the asus but couldn't keep it due to heatpipe issues
The 7900gt co is a great choice as well same with the WD HD.


The PSU you should NOT worry about, it is a mammoth handles my 7800 gtx 512's in SLI, my 4800+ dual core x2 and 4gb ram with 2 hds(raptor and that caviar) flawlessly

 

[Gagan]

P.S. The asus is AS high quality as the dfi, I have a lanparty SLI DR EXPERT and I just miss my premium.

 

[duragezic]

That PSU seems way overpriced. I would think a quality 500 W would be plenty.

You got a top-of-the-line system picked out but bringing over a crappy SB Live!? Why not save money on that ridiculously overpriced PSU and RAM and put it towards a killer set of 5.1 speakers (or headphoens) and a Audigy 2 or X-fi? Fvck that overpriced RAM unless you get hardons over timings (that amount to a couple % performance difference). Get a 2 sticks of 1GB value ram like COrsair Value, Mushkin, Crucial, etc etc.

And yes the extra mhz isn't worth the price increase on that CPU. Often you can easily overclock it a couple hundred mhz.

I can't comment on the mobo, but you're comparing a non-SLI vs. a SLI.. Everyone seems to love DFI boards but they are mostly enthusiast boards with lots of overclocking options. If you aren't overclocking or hardcore about it, I'd pick something else since I read a lot of reports about DFI boards picky with certain types of RAM.

But yeah you're right about the 32bit Windows. I have a lot of programs that still say they have issues with xp64.

 

[Gagan]

I've had both, and I will break it down to you:

If you do not have a case that inverts the motherboard, go A8N SLI PREMIUM

If you want to overclock, then just go DFI.

The way I see it is, that the Asus was much better for me because it didn't have minor issues like m DFI

 

[GOREGRINDER]

Originally posted by: DOOManiac
Thanks to the help I got on these forums, some other places, and on IRC, I think I've finally decided upon what to get for an upgrade. So, if you guys wouldn't mind, would you look over my choices, and if there's anything you think I made a bad choice on (such as "lol that ram doesn't work with that motherboard", or simply "you should go w/ a faster cpu") please let me know!

Here's what I got so far:

Mobo: (I'm told the DFI is better)
$122.99 DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
- OR -
$166.99 ASUS A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard


CPU: (Again, I'm told the extra horsepower isn't worth the extra $)
$458 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core
- OR -
$630 AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core


RAM:
$199 CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200)


Video: (Maybe 2 of them, or I might wait for a price drop before getting the 2nd)
$369 eVGA 256-P2-N565-AX Geforce 7900GT CO Superclocked


Case:
$114.99 Antec P180


PSU:
$209.99 OCZ OCZ600ADJSLI ATX12V 2.01


HDD:
$200 Western Digital Caviar SE16 400 GB SATA 16MB Cache 7200 RPM

Total cost comes to $1673.97 with only 1 video card, $2042.97 with a 2nd for SLI. Before shipping of course.

Stuff coming over from the old system:
- SB Live! 5.1
- D-Link 802.11g NIC
- Plextor DVD Burner
- 3.5 Floppy


In particular, I want to be sure about that PSU. I've never heard of the brand before. Is it a good one, or should I get a different one? And do I really need 600w?

Also, if I go w/ the DFI mobo, it doesn't have a parrallel port so I'm going to either have to buy a new printer or a parallel->usb dongle thingy. But I'm told the DFI is much higher quality than the Asus one, so it'd be worth it. Does this sound right?



Software wise, I've been told my best COA is to continue running 32-bit windows media center (my current OS) rather than the 64-bit version of windows, and then just use the 64-bit version of Vista when it comes out (I was planning on upgrading to it anyway). Does this sound correct to you guys too?


Thanks again for all the help. It's difficult to get caught up w/ all the hardware stuff after having not paid attention to it for years, so I really appreciate any pushes in the right direction you guys could give me. Thanks!

only get the dfi lanparty if you are planning on overclocking beyond a certain point with endless voltage adjustments and memory timings,..if your just gonna plug the parts in and go,.. forget the dfi and get the sli premium.,,period,youll be happier that way

for cpu its the same type thing,.. but your basically asking if you should get a fast dual core or a faster dual core..lol if yoru gonna overclock and tweak it up get the 4400+,.. if your just gonna plug in and go,.. get the 4800+

everything else looks fine for the money,.. the OCZ powerstream is a good choice,you can never go wrong with OCZ,.. and if theres one thing in your case that you can never have too much off,... is power

 

[DOOManiac]

I linked to the wrong DFI board, the one I'm looking at is this one:
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI

As for sound card, I've heard nothing but bad things about the audigy line, and I heard the XFI line was really overrated to boot. I already have a set of good 5.1 speakers.

Regarding the Asus board, what kind of heatpipe issues do you mean? I'm not going to be overclocking any of this if that makes a difference. The only reason I am considering the DFI over the Asus is i'm told the Asus board has issues w/ the fans on it dying...


And for the PSU, how about this one instead:
Antec TruePower 2.0 TRUECONTROL II-550 ATX12V 550W


I keep hearing 50/50 on whether or not I should get the OCZ one... :/

 

[pkrush]

I'd go with the OCZ Powerstream 520 over the Powerstream 600, mostly because the 12 volt rail isn't split up on the 520 watt model (and it's about $70 cheaper). If you don't want to worry about a dead chipset fan, get the A8N-SLI Premium. The orientation of the heatpipes on it matters, but since the P180 isn't like the Lian Li V-series cases that put the motherboard upside down, you should be fine.

 

[alimoalem]

since you're not overclocking, here's what i would say:

cpu: get the 4400. paying $170 for 200MHz you probably won't notice isn't worth it
mobo: go with the asus since you're not overclocking
ram: get either the g.skill value ram (CAS 2.5) for $145 or the corsair value ram for $140. XMS is for overclockers
gpu: good choice. you could also consider the cheaper, $300 version by eVGA
case: good choice
psu: WAY too overpowered. a 450w fortron would be fine but if you wanna stay future proof, get the 520w OCZ powerstream, the antec you linked, or a 500w fortron. no need to spend more than $100 on a power supply for your system
hdd: awesome choice

have fun building

 

[GOREGRINDER]

Originally posted by: DOOManiac
I linked to the wrong DFI board, the one I'm looking at is this one:
DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Expert Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI

As for sound card, I've heard nothing but bad things about the audigy line, and I heard the XFI line was really overrated to boot. I already have a set of good 5.1 speakers.

Regarding the Asus board, what kind of heatpipe issues do you mean? I'm not going to be overclocking any of this if that makes a difference. The only reason I am considering the DFI over the Asus is i'm told the Asus board has issues w/ the fans on it dying...


And for the PSU, how about this one instead:
Antec TruePower 2.0 TRUECONTROL II-550 ATX12V 550W


I keep hearing 50/50 on whether or not I should get the OCZ one... :/

an x-fi kicks teh crap out of an audigy,. which kicks the crap out of a LIVE!,... and an asus sli premium doesnt have any fans its a heatpipe,..so why would you be worried about a fan dying that doesnt exsist?

and for the power supply,you can cut corners on alot of things in a tower,.. but. the power supply is NOT one of them..especially if you are considering SLi on a dual core system,.. look at the specs for yourself,... the higher the wattage from the +3.3 +5 and+12v rails,.. the total ampage on each individual rail,. and total output wattage,... the higher the better on all these specs. i honestly think by what your saying that maybe your relying a little too much on what people are telling you and not researching what people are saying to back it up,.. cuz in the end people giving you advice arent going to be using this system,... you are,...and by the way your coming across i dont think a dfi lanparty is the board for you,... lanparty's are like elegant sports cars,.. you have to treat them a special way and give them extra amounts of attention to get them to perform as they should because they can be very finiky and you must be prepared to deal with that if it arises