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Suggestions for the Cycloptic Computer

C

Cycloptis

Member
This is my first post here, but I've already noticed that this board should have an up-to-date sticky with low, medium, and high-end PC recommendations. Or perhaps I'm just too much or a moron to see it.

Anyways, this is the machine I'm planning to get:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+
ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939
2GB (2x1GB) Corsair PC-3200 DDR RAM
Antec PV1000AMG Case with 465W PSU
Seagate 300GB SATA 7200RPM HDD
Logitech Z-5500 5.1 Speakers
Sound Blaster X-Fi FPS Gamer Fatal1ty Edition

Now, a few problems:

1. I was contemplating between a dual-core and single-core CPU. I've noticed that the FX-55 and FX-57 still have a minor advantage in single-threaded games, but in the end I opted for the 4800+ because multi-threaded games are on the way. Good choice?

2. Motherboard. I don't think I plan on going SLI anytime soon, but I put it there because that's what I have at the moment.

3. Video Card. I wanted a Geforce 7800GTX, but apparently there have been some benchmarks of the Radeon X1800XT with the new drivers that show that the card is now better than the 7800GTX in OpenGL based games. Or at least neck and neck. Thus I'm now leaning towards the X1800XT, but I'm not quite sure if the benchies were legit.

http://firingsquad.com/hardware/quake_4_high-end_performance/

That'd be the link, for the people who think I'm a liar.

4. Monitor. I didn't opt for a widescreen monitor for a few reasons. One because a lot of games still don't support it, and unlike multi-threaded programming, it doesn't seem to be getting any more common. In addition to that, a lot of my old games will be stretched unless I go through lengthy solutions which I just don't have the patience to implement all the time. Besides, I can just play widescreen games on a fullscreen monitor with black bars if I'm not mistaken.

So, instead I'm trying to get a 1600x1200 20" LCD monitor with less than 12ms refresh rates, but I cannot find one. I need help with this too. 🙁

I'll greatly appreciate the responses (unless they're hostile) and any suggestions on where to cut costs certainly would be welcome too. I know the SLI motherboard is completely unnecessary, since I probably won't be using it. Though keep in mind I'm trying to go for as good of a computer as possible, so for the main components like the CPU, GPU, and such, don't hold yourself back.

Thanks a lot in advance,

Cycloptis
 
Bleh, the 4800+ is a huge waste of money. Just get a 3800+ and overclock it. Or if you really need the extra 1MB of cache, get the 4400+ and overclock it.

Definite NO on the mobo. First of all, the SLI-Deluxe has been known to be a bit buggy. It's not that good either. SLI is completely useless. Get the EPoX 9nPA+ Ultra if you want to save some money and still overclock very well, the MSI Neo4 Platinum if you want a lot of awesome features, or the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D if you want to do some mad overclocking.

Premium RAM is a waste of money, so I recommend getting value RAM. The lower latencies don't really affesct performance much.

The X-Fi Fatality is a waste of money too. The Platinum is more than enough for a home gaming system.
 
Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
Bleh, the 4800+ is a huge waste of money. Just get a 3800+ and overclock it. Or if you really need the extra 1MB of cache, get the 4400+ and overclock it.

Definite NO on the mobo. First of all, the SLI-Deluxe has been known to be a bit buggy. It's not that good either. SLI is completely useless. Get the EPoX 9nPA+ Ultra if you want to save some money and still overclock very well, the MSI Neo4 Platinum if you want a lot of awesome features, or the DFI Lanparty Ultra-D if you want to do some mad overclocking.

Premium RAM is a waste of money, so I recommend getting value RAM. The lower latencies don't really affesct performance much.

The X-Fi Fatality is a waste of money too. The Platinum is more than enough for a home gaming system.
Click to expand...

I'm going to be honest, I'm not willing to take a risk on overclocking. 🙁

Thanks for the suggestions, though obviously I need to see more from others before I make my final decision. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: FishTankX
From what I hear the X2 series is no good for gaming because it causes trouble for certain games.
Click to expand...

Are you sure? All the benchmarks I've seen put the 4800+ pretty much just behind the FX-55 and 57, they never mentioned incompatibilities. Unless you're talking about old games.
 
I sort of agree with the first reply, since so many people are getting good clocks and perf. results with the 3800+. I went for the 4400+ because I wanted the large cache per core. The 4800+ will be a great chip if you have the money to spend, but probably not quite the bang for the buck you'd get from a 4400+ or even 3800+.

As for gaming, the dual core processors have caused some compatibility issues with certain games. 99.9% of these are fixed by having the updated drivers, installing the Windows XP dual core hotfix from MS, or in the last resort category setting the processor affinity for the game to one core. I expect all of these problems will evaporate over the next six months. There are probably a hundred or more X2 owners that post here, and maybe one who doesn't think it was a great decision. I'll never buy a single-core chip again.

When you get everything running stop back by and we'll point you to all the driver updates and stuff you need.
 
Originally posted by: Markbnj
I sort of agree with the first reply, since so many people are getting good clocks and perf. results with the 3800+. I went for the 4400+ because I wanted the large cache per core. The 4800+ will be a great chip if you have the money to spend, but probably not quite the bang for the buck you'd get from a 4400+ or even 3800+.

As for gaming, the dual core processors have caused some compatibility issues with certain games. 99.9% of these are fixed by having the updated drivers, installing the Windows XP dual core hotfix from MS, or in the last resort category setting the processor affinity for the game to one core. I expect all of these problems will evaporate over the next six months. There are probably a hundred or more X2 owners that post here, and maybe one who doesn't think it was a great decision. I'll never buy a single-core chip again.

When you get everything running stop back by and we'll point you to all the driver updates and stuff you need.
Click to expand...

Okay, so it seems like I'll be going with it then.

I've only been here for today and already I'm loving this community and this site!
 
Yea great site I remeber my first post and I actually thought the Powmax Demon PSU was good. 🙂 well I threw that out the garbage and got a Xclio 450BL. 🙂

Anyways get dual core no matter what anyone says
get SLI if you REALLY NEED it but don't if you just don't care about it.
Go with OCZ ram there a bit better than Corsair
Fatal1ty is a waste of money like the post above said


Everything els looks great, Enjoy the new rig...!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
 
Overclocking isn't taking a risk at all. If you screw something up, your computer will just shut down or not boot. Clear the CMOS and start over again. You just need to know what you're doing. If you know what to do and have followed instructions, overclocking is as easy as owning n00bs in Starcraft 🙂
 
Originally posted by: thekillerjks
Yea great site I remeber my first post and I actually thought the Powmax Demon PSU was good. 🙂 well I threw that out the garbage and got a Xclio 450BL. 🙂

Anyways get dual core no matter what anyone says
get SLI if you REALLY NEED it but don't if you just don't care about it.
Go with OCZ ram there a bit better than Corsair
Fatal1ty is a waste of money like the post above said


Everything els looks great, Enjoy the new rig...!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input, and uh...I probably wouldn't know what the different between a Powmax Demon PSU and a good one would be anyways so I hope I become more knowledgable as my time here increase. 🙂
 
Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
Overclocking isn't taking a risk at all. If you screw something up, your computer will just shut down or not boot. Clear the CMOS and start over again. You just need to know what you're doing. If you know what to do and have followed instructions, overclocking is as easy as owning n00bs in Starcraft 🙂
Click to expand...

Hmph...I might see if I can OC the 4800+ to FX-55 speeds in that case. Is 200mhz a large increase in terms of OCing? I'm not too familiar. 🙁

And does anyone know about the video card? Because that's been the most frustrating piece that I've been dealing with and I really just want to get this computer over with since I've been trying to pick parts for well over a month now.
 
200mhz is nothing. You should at least be able to do a good ~400mhz without even raising the VCore (voltage). If you want to wait for the X1800XT, then wait. However, it'll take a while for it to come down in price, and in the meantime, the 7800GTX would probably be your best bet.
 
Originally posted by: Cycloptis
Originally posted by: thekillerjks
Yea great site I remeber my first post and I actually thought the Powmax Demon PSU was good. 🙂 well I threw that out the garbage and got a Xclio 450BL. 🙂

Anyways get dual core no matter what anyone says
get SLI if you REALLY NEED it but don't if you just don't care about it.
Go with OCZ ram there a bit better than Corsair
Fatal1ty is a waste of money like the post above said


Everything els looks great, Enjoy the new rig...!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input, and uh...I probably wouldn't know what the different between a Powmax Demon PSU and a good one would be anyways so I hope I become more knowledgable as my time here increase. 🙂
Click to expand...

If you ever get to the point where you need a new PSU or have to buy one for this new system get a Seasonic S12 600 or 500 watt.

 
Originally posted by: t3h l337 n3wb
200mhz is nothing. You should at least be able to do a good ~mhz without even raising the VCore (voltage). If you want to wait for the X1800XT, then wait. However, it'll take a while for it to come down in price, and in the meantime, the 7800GTX would probably be your best bet.
Click to expand...

I think my best bet would be to wait, considering the new driver benchmarks.
 
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