What do you think of this system?

[Gaudi]

Well, My current system is nearing the end of it's life and after upgrades after upgrades I was thinking it would be better to just build a new system.
I have already started and have gotten myself the Coolermaster Cavalier 3 case with Window and an Enermax EG465AX-VE and some Sharkoon rounded cables.

I have been looking at the following components and was wondering if they would cretae a good stable machine?

CPU: Athlon64 3200 Winchester
Mobo: Asrock 939Dual
RAM: Geil 1Gb PC3200 Dual Chan DDR Kit (Cas 2.5 6-3-3 with Aluminium heat spreader)

I need some advice on a cooler for the CPU as it will be OEM. There seems to be so much to choose from but I found this one which seems to do a fantastic job (from reviews) and is at a very reasonable price - £16 ($28). It's the ThermalTake K8 Silent Boost Cooler (A1838). Will this fit in the mobo or will there be issues?
EDIT: Just saw another Thermal Take - Venus 12 for only a few quid more(£18.50/$32.50), is this any better?


I am currently using a Geforce 3 Ti500 and will eventually upgrade to mid-high end AGP or PCI-E. I would also continue to use my current HDs which are IDE units. I think SATA will have to wait too.

I will also need to upgrade OS as I'm currently using Win98 and I'm sure none of the components mentioned above will be recognised!

So what do you reckon? Am I missing something..

many thanks

 

[ShadowBlade]

I take it youre planning on overclocking?
If so, the DFI Lanparty (not SLI) is the best bet for that.

Don't get a Winchester core, Venice or San Diego is the only way to go.

For cooling, get the Thermalright XP-90 with a good fan (dont ask me which) or just use stock cooling until your computer starts crashing from temps.

When you upgrade your video card, get a 7800GTX or GT. Do not get AGP if you can find one. 0 upgradeability.

As for the OS, get XP Pro if you do any networking, otherwise home is fine.

 

[Skeeedunt]

The 7800GT is hard to beat right now in terms of performance/price ratio. If you're looking for something more economical, I'm very happy with my ATI refurb X800 Pro shop ATI link (refurb is always a bit of a risk, but these come with a 3 year ATI warranty.) There's a 5% off coupon code for this somewhere.

Definitely get a Venice (or San Diego) core. Fast RAM, however, isn't supposed to be a very big deal for the Athlon 64 processors. The rest sounds fine.

 

[Gaudi]

Thanks for the advice guys.


I was planning on upgrading my current system and to be honest I'm on a very tight budget but trying to get the most from it.
My current specs are: AMD Athlon 900mhz (upgraded a few months ago from 700Mhz!), 758mb SD RAM, Gigabyte 71XE mobo, 250w generic case PSU which came with my factory built PC nearly 6 years ago. Inno3D Geforce 3 Ti500, Audigy Soundcard, TV card, network card, Firewire & USB 2 card. As you can tell it really is ancient. It is still working, but occasionally crashed and I can tell it is slow to respond sometimes (I use 2.8Ghz Pcs at work)

I budgeted £200 ($350) for the CPU, mobo, RAM and CPU cooler and I have seen the Winchester (OEM) for about $135. Everywhere else is selling either the Athlon64 2800 retail or a 3000 OEM at this price, hence this is the reason I have planned around the Winchester as it's the cheapest deal by far. Besides I belive there is not very much difference between the 2 to justify a $70-$80 spend from a Winchester to Venice, unless I've missed out on something?
Originally I was going to get a Barton from ebay but they are selling around $105-$115 for the XP2600. So I figured it would make better sense to buy a newer chip.
So I also figured why not get a socket 939 for furture proof.. Thus I am trying to build as cheap a system as I can from skt 939.
I'm not an overclocker, but in the future I may dabble a little. So in the first year or so I'm not bothered about overclocking. I just need a rock solid stable machine.

 

[Skeeedunt]

I'm not sure where you're shopping, but Newegg has an Athlon 64 3000+ retail for $146 link. I think the only real difference between the Winchester and the Venice is overclockability, but the 3000+ Venices overclock so well it would be a shame to not at least have it as an option for later.

 

[Gaudi]

Originally posted by: Skeeedunt
I'm not sure where you're shopping, but Newegg has an Athlon 64 3000+ retail for $146 link. I think the only real difference between the Winchester and the Venice is overclockability, but the 3000+ Venices overclock so well it would be a shame to not at least have it as an option for later.

I live in the UK so prices here are probably not as good as in the US. For example the cheapest retail pack Venice 3000 CPU would cost £100 (~$176). OEM would be around £85 (~$150). Thus I thought it made more sense to get the Winchester as the slight extra speed would not be so much beneficial for me at this point in time. Anything faster than my current Athlon 900Mhz would be a bonus!


Here's a link to the Athlon 3000 prices - See Here

This is for the Athlon 3200 which I can get much cheaper than listed from one of the Uk's larger computer e-tailer. See here