Christmas Compy

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Q12321 · #1 Post by **Q12321** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:33 pm

I'm FINALLY getting a new computer for Christmas. This 500MHZ junker will finally be gone. I was looking at this for now. Of course, the list will probably change before I get the stuff, but does it look good?

Vantec 3.5" Aluminum HD cooler (2)

eVGA Geforce 6800GT PCI Express (1)

Viking 512MB PC3200 RAM (2)

Gigabyte K8N Ultra SLI Nvidia Socket 939 ATX Mobo (1)

Seagate 160GB 7200RPM 8MB cache SATA-150 HD (2) Planning on Raid 0

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego (1)

Sony 16X8X16X DVD+RW burner (2)

Unltra X-Finity 500 Wat PSU

18" Translucent Blue SATA cable (2)

12" IDE translucent blue round cable (2)

18" Blue Neon Floppy Cable (1) Looking for a shorter one

1.44MB Floppy Drive (1)

Logitech MX518 Mouse (1)

Logitech G15 Keyboard (1) This motherfucker is awesome. My neighbor has one

NZXT Nemesis Elite Black Case (1)

Cooler Master Vortex TX Socket 939 Heatsink (1)

I'm thinking about better RAM. Can anyone show me the way into some low latency RAM that won't break the bank? I'm on a tight budget. No more than ~ $150 US for RAM.

So, how does it look?

neuralmop · #2 Post by **neuralmop** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 1:45 pm

That's a rather nice step up. I hope that I can be as lucky within the next few months.

#3 Post by **palmboy5** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 5:41 pm

im guessing ur comp is all for looks, cuz the mobo comes with all the cables you need..

the PSU is a bit of an overkill and isnt that cheap... when i asked about getting the modular version (Ultra X-Connect) everyone recommended the epower puma II 450, look that one up, the fan on the epower is not on the 'bottom' of the PSU, its on the side or.. 'back'? this theoretically doesnt follow good airflow through the case but from my experence with a bottom fan PSU is that usually they have grills allowing air to go out the side or 'back' leaving a bunch of heat sitting around at the PSU level, having the fan actually being on the side would allow it to collect all heated air in the case. but who knows, just my experience ^^

your case on newegg comes with a PSU, dunno about where you're getting yours as u prolly arent looking on newegg since they dont carry Ultra brand PSUs.. maybe the place ur getting it has a no-PSU version. typically the PSU is about 60% or more of the cost of the case, finding a case that simply doesnt come with a PSU, or not getting a replacement would save a lot of money (to possibly buy more RAM??)

$150 limit for RAM? wow.. thats easy o.O

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227211
OCZ Gold Series 2x 512MB PC3200 2-2-2-5 for $139.97

the CPU cooler is unneeded, but you prolly want it for its looks...? 3-4 degrees C lower than AMD stock? thats it?

do NOT get a Sony brand DVD-burner, all i heard about them were bad news at cdfreaks.com which had this poll for best dvd burner brands... top two were:

NEC (and its rebadges/variants, including Mad Dog and others)
BenQ (and its rebadges/variants, including Philips, Nu, MSI, and others)

sony drives arent even cheap. more like double the price

"Floppy drive"? What's that? I don't know what you're talking about.

P.S.
Damn you 3700+ San Diego peeps

2005 · #4 Post by **2005** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 6:43 pm

I dont know what you plan to do with this computer, or if you plan to overclock or not but it changes alot. Also how much do you plan on spending. You can cut around 300$ atleast off of that bill (maybe 500$).

First off, only get one 160GB HDD.. raid 0 is worthless unless you plan on doing alot of video editing.

Dont get 2 of any DVD burner, unless you plan on mass dupliacation for some odd reason. For DVD burner you can pick up a LiteON SOHW 1693 for under 40$ ( a good drive ).

Get the OCZ GOLD series 2x512 MB 2-2-2-5 PC3200.

Dont invest in aftermarket cooling unless you plan a pretty hefty OC.

The stock PSU should be more then good enough again unless you plan to OC.

With good case fans, you should have no need for an HD cooler... unless its under 20$. Same for ram coolers or anything of the nature (that OCZ set has a copper heatspreader)

An AMD San Deigo is alittle bit overkill, i wouldnt get it unless you plan on overclocking or you plan on doing alot of CPU extensive jobs. The only real advantage is the 1MB L2 cache. A Athlon 3200 is just as good (for non OC'ers but nearly 100$ cheaper)

Apart from that, its looking pretty good. Unless you plan to add another 6800GT to the rig within 6 months its pretty safe to go non SLI on the mobo and save alittle more money there.

Plan in an OS unless you download a torrent like the one I just got

Q12321 · #5 Post by **Q12321** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:48 pm

Shit, thanks for the replies guys. Helps a lot...

As far as getting the cables and PSU, along with the better heatsink and HD coolers, they are mostly for looks and some OCing. I'm not going to go OC crazy, but I'm definetly going to boost it. No questioning that.

The only reason I'm getting a floppy disk drive is for those damn Windows XP boot disks. The version I have doesn't boot from the CD. But hey, if I can find a better version, like one with SP2 that does boot from the CD, I won't bother with that.

Thanks for the RAM and the SONY bullshit as well. I'll go with that RAM, hands down. I'll look around for a better burner as well. Not sure why two were listed, but I did make this list about a month or so in the past.

And I'm getting both HD's, 2005. I will be doing some video editing, and I need the space. I have over 60GB of mp3s right now, plus close to 100 more CD's I have to rip. Add junk, games, OSes and video shit, who knows how full that will get, nor how fast.

I'm also going to be gaming on this computer non stop. I would go for even better shit, but as I said, I'm on ~ $1600-$1800 US budget.

So yea, this computer will be the jack of all trades I guess. Mainly gaming and sound editing, 2nd would be video editing and all around multi-tasking.

#6 Post by **palmboy5** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:32 pm

1600-1800 budget? sound, video editing and all around multi-tasking? you chose a single-core??

may i recommend an ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe or ASUS A8N-SLI Premium with an X2 3800+ or Opteron 165?

^^ the 165 is cheaper and better IF you can find it, selling like hotcakes...(not sure what those are

) advanced features of the Opteron line + dual core + low price + much higher OCing capabilities = one good buy.

the A8N32's main advancement over the A8N is the 32X bandwidth for the PCI-Express slots. because for boards like the A8N, they are 16X, when you have two cards the bandwidth for each is cut in half to 8X. apparently its not enough. the A8N32 solves that, 32 / 2 cards = 16

it DOES cost considerably more, your choice, this will only help in gaming.

and just about how many people are going to be seeing your PC? "mostly for looks"... yeah thats what i was thinking with my current one but now my next PC's case, quoting dragon "looks like a fridge". Antec P180, check it out! not much to look at

there is no need.

Q12321 · #7 Post by **Q12321** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:41 pm

Woah, that A8N32 kicks ASS! Thanks for the recommendation!

#8 Post by **palmboy5** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 10:49 pm

Last edited by palmboy5 on Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:46 pm; edited 5 times in total

LOL crap dude... maybe u missed something ^^ reread, then ill edit this one again about my opinion about the 6800GT costing too much compared to ATI equivalents

EDIT 1:
i believe the 6800 GT is discontinued, replaced by the 6800 GS

heres a thread i found, just keep in mind the x800gto is faster than an x800pro

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=978893

id prolly go with the 6800GS.. dunno.. imma stop now before losing more braincells, i found a thread with a guy asking x800gto vs 6600GT

EDIT 2:
eh but u may want to get SLI... ATI's Crossfire is junk.. so yeah u should prolly go with 6800GS

Q12321 · #9 Post by **Q12321** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:01 pm

The P180 DOES look like a mini fridge!

Anyway, I'm still looking around for things. Trying to do this and that... I'll look at the Opteron line, I'm guessing still socket 939?

I have at least one person come over my house everyday, I'd say closer to 2 or three of my friends. So a couple people will end up seeing it's neon lighten glory. Plus LAN parties, duh.

And hotcakes are pancakes. That's what we southeners call them.

Sadly enough, MD is a southern state. =\

Q12321 · #10 Post by **Q12321** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 11:02 pm

EDIT, kinda...

I'll get an SLI set up, but not right off the bat. My b-day is in March, plus I'll be saving money, so I'll get another vid card then. Plus some RAM and whatnot.

Yea, video cards and accessories are still in question right now.

#11 Post by **palmboy5** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 12:44 am

yeah so definently dont wanna get the 6800GT, being discontinued, u think ull find another one in march? ^^

Q12321 · #12 Post by **Q12321** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 10:13 am

No, I'll just get the 6800GS, and if I think it'd be worth it, I'll get another for SLI.

2005 · #13 Post by **2005** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:15 am

I had no idea you have so much to work with, let me make a suggestion build list and see what you think. You can do ALOT more with 1600$ then you have listed.

Dont go dual core on the CPU's, look at THG and you'll see theres no point.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20051107/index.html

I suggest the same CPU I have for two reasons, the 1MB L2 cache and its a much better buy for the bucks

Get that OCZ GOLD I suggested, you wont be sorry.

Get the BFG Nvidia 7800GT and you'll get a free copy of COD2

If you do decide to upgrade cooling, then go ahead and get a good heatsink and fan undre 70$.

MOBO... I suggest that DFI board in my list

I suggest aginst SLI, the performance gains by no means justify the extra cost.

You can do the HDD's however you like

I wouldnt get a 500w PSU, a good 400w PSU should be more then plenty even for the OC.

The floppy drive is nice to have, i needed it to reflash the firmware in my dvd burner. And for 10$ its not like your wasteing money.

It may pay you to get a 2x1GB OCZ setup.

Just plan it out though, if you want to OC your CPU FSB by 50mhz then get PC4000 RAM so they are 1:1.

Q12321 · #14 Post by **Q12321** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 11:27 am

Get that OCZ GOLD I suggested, you wont be sorry.

Will do.

Get the BFG Nvidia 7800GT and you'll get a free copy of COD2

Sweet, but I've never heard of BFG. eVGA is my favorite brand anyway.

If you do decide to upgrade cooling, then go ahead and get a good heatsink and fan undre 70$.

Already done.

I suggest aginst SLI, the performance gains by no means justify the extra cost.

Yea, I know what you mean.

I'm still looking around for a lot of stuff. Not sure on anything still. Except me to post a new list soon, though.

#15 Post by **palmboy5** » Sun Nov 20, 2005 1:20 pm

BFG = Big Fucking Gun XD

about dual-core, yeah the high end ones are nutty priced but what about the X2 3800+?

X2 3800+ = $322
2x 64 3800+ = impossible setup but would be 2x 282 = 564

the X2 3800+ is the 'value' choice and was not mentioned by the THG article because they know it goes against their entire point

it is only 40 bucks more than the single core for performance slightly lower than two single cores. its not NUTTY like THG's example of a dual core for $1100 and two of the single core equivalents for $700. dont look at the high end ones, why would any enthusiasts do that? you get the lowest of that core and then you OC it.