Which hardware bundle is better?

[Illidan]

Okay. I'm looking at getting an athlon 64 system.

Two different vendors, Monarch and ZipZoomFly. Pros of Monarch is that they stock an EVGA 6600GT for $130 after rebate, and a DFI NF4-0DAGF motherboard for only $89.

The Leadtek is a better video card then the EVGA as far as I know, but the DFI DAGF is a much better motherboard then the NEO.

Pro of ZipZoomFly is the free 2nd day air shipping to Alaska. Because they charge $30 to to ship just one component, it's not financially possible to buy parts from different dealers. Has to be all one or the other.

The prices come out the same, it looks like effectively it'd be a choice between two $530 setups:

DFI DAGF Motherboard $89--------------- MSI K8N NEO4-F $82
Heatsink/Fan $8
Thermaltake 430 Watt $45 ---------------Thermaltake 430 Watt $45
EVGA 6600 GT $130----------------------Leadtek 6600 GT $170
3000+ Venice: $135-----------------------3000+ Venice w/HSF $146
OCZ Value Ram 2x512 $94----------------Corsair 2x512 $91
Shipping $30------------------------------No shipping

Monarch will install CPU/FAN/Memory, along with latest bios and pretest, which is kinda nice. Basically, the choice is between getting that and the DFI or getting the Leadtek instead of the EVGA. This all look resonably priced, and what do you guys think?

 

[suszterpatt]

MSI with Leadtek. Leadtek's 6600GT OC's very well and is pretty quiet and cool. MSI has software for autoupgrading the BIOS.

 

[Illidan]

In another related question, I have an Alpha 8045 heatsink and Panaflo fan on my current Socket A system. However, they require four mounting holes around the CPU. Can I use these with one of these or another Athlon 64 motherboard? As far as I know they're better then anything else I can afford for cooling (i.e. $8 stock HSF)

 

[coomar]

the stock cooler is fine for a venice, i do 2.6, the msi combination is better

 

[KoolDrew]

Get a different PSU.

 

[Illidan]

Rrgh. You don't like Thermaltake? I can get a Coolermaster 430watt 19A on 12v rail, 70% efficiency for $40.

 

[KoolDrew]

Thermaltake PSU's are "average." There are much better options available. First of all are you overclocking?

 

[Illidan]

Er.. Maybe. From what I was reading, the DFI board is KING OVERCLOCKING! within that price point, while the MSI.. isn't. Isn't at all. So if I go with the MSI board, I can't see myself doing much of anything. And if I can't use my current Alpha 8045 heatsink, I'm stuck with the stock ones, so.. yeah. Even so, with only a 6600 GT and one hard drive, my system isn't going to be drawing much power.

That said, I'm probably going with the Coolermaster anyway, since it's got another amp on the 12v rail and is five bucks cheaper. I'm really stuck with powersupplys from the company I buy everything else from, being that otherwise I'll be paying thirty bucks for shipping, which is ludicrous.

 

[coomar]

dfi nf4 ultra-d is the king, but your going to need to get a 480w 24pin native psu for it

i have no idea about the dagf, I'm not sure if you can even overclock it