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What's the best A64 CPU / Mobo / RAM combo for $400?

W

wpenhall

Senior member
Howdy,

I'm taking another go at putting a hot system together for the next generation games (inc D3). I've got a 2001fp, so I'd like to be able to run them at 1600x1200 with lots of eye candy. I've got the MSI 6800 GT on order, but as I only have an AMD XP 2200+ right now, I figure it's time to put together an A64 box.

SO - what's the best CPU / Mobo / RAM combo that I can get for under $400? I'm not really into overclocking, but I'm not afraid to try if it will keep me under my price limit. I've also decided to go with socket 754 as I don't really see myself upgrading the proc in the next couple years - at least not until 2nd gen PCI express. So far I'm thinking:

A64 3200+ (512 L2) - $218 (New Egg)
Chaintech VNF3-250 - $88 (New Egg)
1 GB ??? RAM - $94

Would it be better to drop down to the 3000+ to put more $ into RAM or mobo? If so, what would you suggest? Could I still achieve 1600x1200 in D3? Should I get off the buck and just go for the 1 MB L2? I did read that Anandtech didn't seem to think that it was all that important due to the memory controller.

Also, researching RAM has gotten me pretty confused so any suggestions are much appreciated.

I don't care too much about bells and whistles on the mobo. LAN is a must, but firewire, on-board audio/video, SATA, etc. are nice-to-haves but not critical. My primary concern is SPEED for games.

Also - I could just get one stick of 512 Mb RAM now and pick up another in a couple months (after the shock of this build dims in my wife's memory). So, if I can still get 1600x1200 on 512Mb, would that change proc/mobo recommendations?

Thanks a TON! 🙂
 
drop the CPU to either 3000 or 2800 and get a gig of ram. IF you are into OCing then you will have a 3200 easily anyways. any of the value ram's out there from Corsair, Mushkin, Kingston,OCZ, Crucial ect, ect should be fine as long as you get PC3200 You can ussually get these types for around 85 per stick of 512. So I would guess around 170 for a Gig.
 
Originally posted by: cw42
i suggest u read the Doom3 hardware guide at hardocp.com
Click to expand...

Thanks - I just did. They did suggest the KV8 Pro ($104) with a 3000+ ($175). Their RAM broke my bank, however.

That does seem like a good combo, so what would be the best 1 GB RAM for $121? Or, if I just went with 512 for now, could I still get 1600 x 1200 at high quality? They hinted that 1 Gb didn't really seem necessary for D3, but they didn't really elaborate.

Thanks!
 
1gb for 121$ is a good deal, what's the speed on it? You can never hurt to get more RAM, but over 1gb is a bit overkill if it's just for gaming.

edit:

<--- 999!
 
Originally posted by: wpenhall
A64 3200+ (512 L2) - $218 (New Egg)
Chaintech VNF3-250 - $88 (New Egg)
1 GB ??? RAM - $94

Would it be better to drop down to the 3000+ to put more $ into RAM or mobo? If so, what would you suggest? Could I still achieve 1600x1200 in D3? Should I get off the buck and just go for the 1 MB L2? I did read that Anandtech didn't seem to think that it was all that important due to the memory controller.

Also, researching RAM has gotten me pretty confused so any suggestions are much appreciated.

I don't care too much about bells and whistles on the mobo. LAN is a must, but firewire, on-board audio/video, SATA, etc. are nice-to-haves but not critical. My primary concern is SPEED for games.

Also - I could just get one stick of 512 Mb RAM now and pick up another in a couple months (after the shock of this build dims in my wife's memory). So, if I can still get 1600x1200 on 512Mb, would that change proc/mobo recommendations?

Thanks a TON! 🙂
Click to expand...

Resolution is a task for the Videocard. The 3D-engine's output (CPU) to the Videocard is pretty much the same in 3D graphics, regardless what resolution you're running at. You'll definitely want a 256MB videocard for that resolution. (Personally, I think games look better with AA and AF at lower res. than at 1600X1200 without)

Good enough RAM for your machine is PC3200.
I'm rather relaxed when it comes to MB and RAM. I don't buy the expensive stuff.
So I think your MB looks good enough. Don't know anything about it though.
There seem to be some slight timing issue with RAM for AMD. I don't know anything at all about it. I just buy RAM that the seller claims work with AMD.
(It's fairly common to get some RAM stick that doesn't work quite right. I just try another.)

I'd like to side with your poor wife though. Try your FX6800GT with your XP2200 for a while. I think you'll be surprised. I think you might be able to postpone your upgrade awhile.
 
Thanks for the advice. I suppose I'll start with the new GPU and see how it goes. But I already have some stuttering with MS Flight Sim 2004 and Splinter Cell with my GF3 Ti 200, even at lower resolutions. So I don't know if the the new vid card will be enough. Plus, numerous articles have suggested how important the CPU is for gaming.

But, I think you're probably right. I'll see how the card performs first before the CPU upgrade. Thanks again!
 
Originally posted by: wpenhall
Howdy,

I'm taking another go at putting a hot system together for the next generation games (inc D3). I've got a 2001fp, so I'd like to be able to run them at 1600x1200 with lots of eye candy. I've got the MSI 6800 GT on order, but as I only have an AMD XP 2200+ right now, I figure it's time to put together an A64 box.

SO - what's the best CPU / Mobo / RAM combo that I can get for under $400? I'm not really into overclocking, but I'm not afraid to try if it will keep me under my price limit. I've also decided to go with socket 754 as I don't really see myself upgrading the proc in the next couple years - at least not until 2nd gen PCI express. So far I'm thinking:

A64 3200+ (512 L2) - $218 (New Egg)
Chaintech VNF3-250 - $88 (New Egg)
1 GB ??? RAM - $94

Thanks a TON! 🙂
Click to expand...

YOU CAN'T get 1gb of ram for $94.
 
I like your setup. Looks great. And yes, get the other 512 as soon as you can afford it. 512 should go for now. The 2.2 newcastle 3200+ (I think that is what you are getting) should be great !
 
Try to stick it out with you current CPU, and wait for a major upgrade to BTX, PCI-E. Just my 2 cents.
 
Psst, my XP 3200+ with 1 GB of PC3200 and Radeon 9800 Pro runs Doom 3 at 1600x1200, medium textures, just dandy. 😀
 
Originally posted by: X-Man
Psst, my XP 3200+ with 1 GB of PC3200 and Radeon 9800 Pro runs Doom 3 at 1600x1200, medium textures, just dandy. 😀
Click to expand...

That's encouraging... Right now I have 512 MB of Samsung PC2700 RAM. Can I put PC3200 in there in preparation for my eventual upgrade? Or should I really just get another 512 stick of PC2700?

Thanks!
 
Originally posted by: wpenhall
Originally posted by: X-Man
Psst, my XP 3200+ with 1 GB of PC3200 and Radeon 9800 Pro runs Doom 3 at 1600x1200, medium textures, just dandy. 😀
Click to expand...

That's encouraging... Right now I have 512 MB of Samsung PC2700 RAM. Can I put PC3200 in there in preparation for my eventual upgrade? Or should I really just get another 512 stick of PC2700?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

Hmm, depends. What's your rig? I've got the same monitor as you, which is why I wanted to run 16x12. No ghosting, so that should make you happy.

I have:

Mobile XP 2600 + @ 2.2 GHz (3200+) - currently 99 bucks at the 'egg
NF7-S - is 91 bucks
1GB PC3200 - a decent brand should run about 160

So that's going to run 350 . . . hmm, I don't know that you can get Athy 64 for $400 . . . maybe more like 500 . . . I'd say shoot the moon, though, and go for the 64 3200+. If the 150 bones is too much though, just know that you can run the game on the XP overclocked. You will probably actually do better than me with the XP with the 6800 GT . . . lucky dog. 😉
 
You can always mix faster ram with slower ram, obviously running at the speed of the slower ram. It doesn't depend on anything...

Unless there was some great price difference (there's not) there wouldn't be much reason to buy PC2700 when you could get PC3200 which could go into a newer PC eventually.
 
Originally posted by: obeseotron
You can always mix faster ram with slower ram, obviously running at the speed of the slower ram. It doesn't depend on anything...

Unless there was some great price difference (there's not) there wouldn't be much reason to buy PC2700 when you could get PC3200 which could go into a newer PC eventually.
Click to expand...

That's what I was looking for. Thanks!
 
Originally posted by: wpenhall
Howdy,

I'm taking another go at putting a hot system together for the next generation games (inc D3). I've got a 2001fp, so I'd like to be able to run them at 1600x1200 with lots of eye candy. I've got the MSI 6800 GT on order, but as I only have an AMD XP 2200+ right now, I figure it's time to put together an A64 box.

SO - what's the best CPU / Mobo / RAM combo that I can get for under $400? I'm not really into overclocking, but I'm not afraid to try if it will keep me under my price limit. I've also decided to go with socket 754 as I don't really see myself upgrading the proc in the next couple years - at least not until 2nd gen PCI express. So far I'm thinking:

A64 3200+ (512 L2) - $218 (New Egg)
Chaintech VNF3-250 - $88 (New Egg)
1 GB ??? RAM - $94

Would it be better to drop down to the 3000+ to put more $ into RAM or mobo? If so, what would you suggest? Could I still achieve 1600x1200 in D3? Should I get off the buck and just go for the 1 MB L2? I did read that Anandtech didn't seem to think that it was all that important due to the memory controller.

Also, researching RAM has gotten me pretty confused so any suggestions are much appreciated.

I don't care too much about bells and whistles on the mobo. LAN is a must, but firewire, on-board audio/video, SATA, etc. are nice-to-haves but not critical. My primary concern is SPEED for games.

Also - I could just get one stick of 512 Mb RAM now and pick up another in a couple months (after the shock of this build dims in my wife's memory). So, if I can still get 1600x1200 on 512Mb, would that change proc/mobo recommendations?

Thanks a TON! 🙂
Click to expand...

ZIPZOOMFLY

I just built the same setup. It was about 450 I believe, but here's giving you an idea what I bought.

A64 3200+ CG stepping 212
Chaintech VNF3-250 80
1GB Corsair PC3200 CL2.5 160
 
Originally posted by: PinchyCM

ZIPZOOMFLY

I just built the same setup. It was about 450 I believe, but here's giving you an idea what I bought.

A64 3200+ CG stepping 212
Chaintech VNF3-250 80
1GB Corsair PC3200 CL2.5 160
Click to expand...

Yeah - that sounds pretty sweet. What video card are you using? Have you built it yet? If so, what's your Doom3 performance?
 
i'm using a 9800 pro.

doom3 runs fairly well, i haven't put too much use into yet - though it did run okay on a p4 2.26, 1gb pc800, and a9800pro before
 
Still waiting for my 6800 GT, but I'm also still considering building a new rig.

As I mentioned before, I think I'm going to go with:
A64 3200+ $212
Chaintech VNF3-250 $78

As always, RAM is the confusing part. I would be interested in trying some overclocking, but I'm not willing to pay >$80 extra for a great overclocking experience.

In the D3 buyer's guide, Anandtech recommended Crucial Ballistix 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 ($140 for 512) for their mainstream system. Is this really enthusiest RAM - only really needed for overclocking?

Their value system recommended Kingmax 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 ($85 for 512). I'm confused as to why they would recommend PC-3200 for the mainstream and PC-3500 for the value. Is it because the latency difference (2 vs 2.5)? How does the Kingmax memory (CL=2.5) compare to a stick of Corsair VS512MB400 512MB DDR400 PC3200 CAS2.5 for $81?

So - I'd like to build a system somewhere between their mainstream/value systems. I'd hate to put crappy RAM in with a 6800 GT and 3200+, but I don't want to spend any more than I have to on RAM and am not counting on overclocking. So in the system I'm probably going to assemble, is it really only worth getting the Crucial Ballistix over the Kingmax if I plan to OC?

Thanks!
 
I'd second the idea of trying it with your current processor/motherboard and seeing how that works. If it's not good enough, you could also try getting a mobile Barton and plopping that in your motherboard. 2.4GHz should be pretty good...

I understand that the VNF3-250 is a pretty good overclocking board that's cheaper because it doesn't have any of those features that you don't need. If you want to overclock a little on your A64, you could probably go with some PC3500. The reason the Ballistix is so much more expensive is because it runs tight timings and can maintain them until like, DDR500 or something? That PC3500 wouldn't be able to, but it would probably suffice.
 
Originally posted by: Macro2
If you don't need firewire get a Soltek over the Chaintech. Otherwise get the Asus.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. May I ask why? Are Chaintechs unreliable?

Zip Zoom has a deal where you get FarCry for free if you buy an A64 and either the Chaintech or the MSI neo platnum. That sounds pretty good to me...
 
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