Socket 754 mATX CCFF Build

[IEC]

Okay, I'll be building a CCFF at the end of this month/early next month... here are the parts I'm thinking about:

(Edited)

A64 2800+ 754 OEM
AOpen s760GXm-S mATX
Chenming 118 mATC Case
Corsair XMS 1GB Kit (DDR400)
Swiftech MCX64-V HSF
VGA Silencer (for my Radeon 9700 Pro)

(Edited)

LMK what you guys think, the build with misc items and using my 15" LCD will cost about $500ish.

 

[IEC]

Hmm... looks like the night crew isn't out yet

 

[PrinceofWands]

Stay the FVCK away from Soltek motherboards. The last 3 I've had have blown in a year or less, in fact the last one (in a qbic eq3801) lasted only 4 months of normal use. The first one was just bad cap's, which a lot of boards have. But the last two are just plain crap...which sucks because other than their lifespan they rule.

Anyway, they also don't warranty anything and have no US offices. It's basically impossible to get anything out of them once something dies...and newegg really isn't much better.

 

[imported_OrSin]

I would go with the Nforce4 or ATI x200 boards with 939 chips.
I know the 754 are little cheaper but not enough to get in dead end line.
When daul core come a out and you need a new mother board yu would wish you had them 939 type. Also why so much ram? its does seems like you would need more then 1 gb at most. Other wish ok.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: PrinceofWands
Stay the FVCK away from Soltek motherboards. The last 3 I've had have blown in a year or less, in fact the last one (in a qbic eq3801) lasted only 4 months of normal use. The first one was just bad cap's, which a lot of boards have. But the last two are just plain crap...which sucks because other than their lifespan they rule.

Anyway, they also don't warranty anything and have no US offices. It's basically impossible to get anything out of them once something dies...and newegg really isn't much better.

That is very, very, VERY good to know PrinceofWands... I'll make sure to reevaluate my choices.

OrSin, I think that it will probably be a good idea for me to check out a mATX s939 board, I may just get 1GB of RAM and buy a new video card (X700Pro) to use the PCI-E...

 

[IEC]

Post edited with new parts selection! Discuss!

 

[Treyshadow]

Man I like the choice of the MSI board. Very stable board, but I would switch to an X800XL to match chipset and video card.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Treyshadow
Man I like the choice of the MSI board. Very stable board, but I would switch to an X800XL to match chipset and video card.

I would love to get a X800XL, but my budget is max ~650.

Of course, I *am* planning to sell off some of my old stuff (like my Radeon 9700 Pro) so I might be able to squeeze an X800XL in

 

[imported_OrSin]

I here you can do a 3 monitor setup if you use a ATI card.
I'm going to do almost the same setup soon but with a 800xl card.
Need to finish paying off the 20in wide screen and the new laptop first.
In 2 months or so, I hope the video cards prices might drop alittle more.

 

[imported_Kensai]

Your build works now.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Kensai
Your build works now.

Yeah, the only thing I'm concerned with is lack of timing adjustments and voltages/frequencies in the MSI board - hopefully by the time I get around to building this CCFF, there will be a greater selection of socket 939 motherboards...

 

[TSDible]

Originally posted by: ariafrost

Originally posted by: Kensai
Your build works now.

Yeah, the only thing I'm concerned with is lack of timing adjustments and voltages/frequencies in the MSI board - hopefully by the time I get around to building this CCFF, there will be a greater selection of socket 939 motherboards...

Have you considered the ECS board which does have some voltage and timing adjustments?

You do have to sacrifice a couple of memory slots though.

There is a decent post discussing it HERE.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: TSDible

Originally posted by: ariafrost

Originally posted by: Kensai
Your build works now.

Yeah, the only thing I'm concerned with is lack of timing adjustments and voltages/frequencies in the MSI board - hopefully by the time I get around to building this CCFF, there will be a greater selection of socket 939 motherboards...

Have you considered the ECS board which does have some voltage and timing adjustments?

You do have to sacrifice a couple of memory slots though.

There is a decent post discussing it HERE.

I'm back to considering a s754 board because I don't have the money to go 939 with PCI-E gfx card...

 

[TSDible]

Originally posted by: ariafrost

Originally posted by: TSDible

Originally posted by: ariafrost

Originally posted by: Kensai
Your build works now.

Yeah, the only thing I'm concerned with is lack of timing adjustments and voltages/frequencies in the MSI board - hopefully by the time I get around to building this CCFF, there will be a greater selection of socket 939 motherboards...

Have you considered the ECS board which does have some voltage and timing adjustments?

You do have to sacrifice a couple of memory slots though.

There is a decent post discussing it HERE.

I'm back to considering a s754 board because I don't have the money to go 939 with PCI-E gfx card...

I would definately have to advise against going with s754. Especially with dual core CPUs on the horizon for AMD. I think you will find the s754 interface dying off rather quickly.

There isn't that big of a price difference between 939 and 754.

What board/cpu were you going to get for s754?

 

[IEC]

I was going to get the DFI mATX K8M board based on the VIA K8 chipset - it has everything I want including firewire, as well as VDIMM, VCORE, AGP, etc. Even supports FSB and multi adjustments - basically the flexibility I'm used to with my NF7-S r2 I'm getting a Zalman 7000B-AlCu HSF, so I plan to OC a 2800+ to ~ 2.4GHz if I can. If I go with socket 754 I can keep my Radeon 9700 Pro, which is still better than any <100 PCI-E vid card. If a compelling mATX 939 board comes out, I may consider selling my 9700 Pro and going PCI-E and 939.

 

[imported_OrSin]

I love it the way video cards are now dictating what system you get. They are just too pricey these days. Can we start boycotting them. Right after i get my 800xl

 

[IEC]

Edited OP to reflect new s754 choices. Anyone have any comment about AOpen boards in particular? How's the build in general?

 

[imported_vdorta]

Originally posted by: ariafrost
Anyone have any comment about AOpen boards in particular? How's the build in general?

I like them, in fact I was going to get that same 754 board but I finally decided on the MSI because of a few advantages (939, dual channel memory) and also because of future upgradability. You can overclock/undervolt the s760GXm-S and Aopen's SilentTek utility is very helpful for controlling temperatures and fan speeds.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: vdorta

Originally posted by: ariafrost
Anyone have any comment about AOpen boards in particular? How's the build in general?

I like them, in fact I was going to get that same 754 board but I finally decided on the MSI because of a few advantages (939, dual channel memory) and also because of future upgradability. You can overclock/undervolt the s760GXm-S and Aopen's SilentTek utility is very helpful for controlling temperatures and fan speeds.

Good to know - good BIOS adjustments and extras like SilentTek are like icing on the top of a very good cake.

Anyone else have any comment on AOpen? I heard they use only Rubycon capacitors, which I tend to have a strong preference for (much better and reliable).

 

[IEC]

ANYBODY have any comments AT ALL? Comments about case, HSF, mem, etc...

 

[Megamixman]

Everything seems fine. I would also suggest you go 939. There is a possibility that even Nforce3 boards will work with Dual cores, since San Diego's and Venice's have been working with them. Why not go the ATI route? The ECS RS480-M seems solid. The fact is you?re at a dead end with 754; 939 has a lot more upgradeability.

 

[IEC]

Originally posted by: Megamixman
Everything seems fine. I would also suggest you go 939. There is a possibility that even Nforce3 boards will work with Dual cores, since San Diego's and Venice's have been working with them. Why not go the ATI route? The ECS RS480-M seems solid. The fact is you?re at a dead end with 754; 939 has a lot more upgradeability.

That is true... I've had decent experiences with ECS in the past, but it concerns me that every mATX board basically doesn't have but a tiny fraction of the BIOS adjustments of full ATX boards.