Which CPU shall I get?

[WildViper]

Dammit...I already ordered.

Here are the details:

AMD X2 3800+
Epox Ultra board
MWave 1Gig Ram - x1
ATI X300SE with DVI / PCI Express
Antec case with true Antec 350W Smart Power
NEC Dual DVD Writer
Flash Memory Internal Reader
HD - Still to purchase..prolly 120Gig Seagate or Maxtor

What do you all think??

 

[Markfw]

YOu will be very happy ! We were just trying to save you some money, but that setup looks better.

 

[Gogar]

Looks good, i'm glad to see that you ended up getting the X2. You won't regret it
Let's see.. make sure you update the bios to support the X2, and i assume you're not going to overclock so install the X2 driver for cool&quiet (it also adds a little fix to the boot.ini file) I just wouldn't want you to run into any problems and think badly of the X2 hehe because it's really an awesome cpu.
As you mentioned that you don't do any gaming, the rest of the system doesn't really matter much i think, I've had great experiences with Epox boards personally incase you wondered.
Only thing i see is that the power supply might not be enough.. Well.. actually it will be, just don't expect to be able to overclock much.
As for the hard drive.. I'd get a drive that supports NCQ, as it really works wonders with a dual core processor.
Take a look at the Hitachi Deskstar T7K250, 160Gb, 7200rpm,8Mb,SATAII
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145088

 

[WildViper]

Oh man...I was thinking I can just go with a $40 HD from Best buy that is the standard. Non-Sata. Will the SATA with NCQ be that much improvement over the regular ATA drives ?

P.S. Also, I noticed that I have to update my Bios...shall I just be using the Epox 8/04/05 Update?? Thanx

 

[Gogar]

Sorry.. maybe i did get a bit too excited there It's not a MUST or anything...
I've read somewhere that ncq really shows improvements when used with dual-core, and with single core it doesn't matter as much. But i'm having a hard time trying to find benchmarks to prove it because they are mostly run on single core setups. But i didn't mean to push you towards spending another $40. I'm guessing you're already spending more than planned. My apologies.
I guess you should just get whatever brand/drive you trust as hard drives have always been sort of a holy war, everybody swears by their own brand.

 

[imported_SLIM]

SATA with NCQ doesn't do much unless you are running a server or do crazy heavy multitasking. I'd get one of seagates drives with 8mb of cache and 7200 rpm spindle speed. They have the longest warranty (5 yrs), are very quiet and cool running. And they are quite fast. This is definately one of those components you don't want to skimp on since it is the slowest thing in your computer and stores all your data.

NCQ doing nada: http://www.anandtech.com/storage/showdoc.aspx?i=2396&p=9

 

[Dribble]

For reliablity get a seagate drive, they aren't the fastest but if you want a reliable hd then there's no contest.

 

[WildViper]

Thanx to everyone here. I am picking up the parts today and gonna build it today hopefully. Will let you know the experience!!!!

Thanx again.

 

[akugami]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813153027
JetWay A210GDMS-Pro Socket 939 ATI RS480 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard for about $100

AMD X2 3800 for about $380

DVD burner $50

HD $50-100

1GB RAM $100

Case $100

So, for about $800 you can get a very good system so long as you don't plan to overclock it. Comes with decent onboard video so long as you don't plan to play games at insane resolutions and with all the candy on.

 

[akugami]

Ack, sorry for double post.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

Originally posted by: Braveheart77
Go for any Radeon 6200 Turbocache (those will be more than enough and are priced well under than a standard 6600). Also look for an Uli motherboard and with the savings maybe you can reach for that precious X2!!!!!!

Congratulations, you've made Stupid No0b rank.

- M4H

 

[WildViper]

Ok, this is just as an FYI and a GREAT THANX to everyone that contributed to this.

I have build the system with the specs mentioned above. The X2 seems sweet. Haven't really had the time to put it through its paces yet. I am sure I will one of these days.

I bought a cheap Seagate 8MB Buffer HD. That does the job for now.

Am happy with what I got...yeah, it was over budget by $180 or so..but what the heck...it will last at least 2 years now.

Not sure about crashes yet since haven't really put it through stress test.

Thanx again to everyone.