Computer Hardware Questions/Advice

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PrometheuSBoxeR

Limp Gawd
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Sep 21, 2005
Messages
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Heres a few questions I have, someone who keeps up to date on thier hardware should know. With the rapid changes in technology I can never keep up with whats good and whats not.

1. When comparing a Opteron to a X2 what are the advantages and disadvantages? Specifictly a denmark 165 opteron vs. a manchester X2 3800+. I have gaming in mind with my rig, and I don't know if Opterons support games as well. I know they overclock well and run on lower voltage.

2. Crucial Ballistix used to be king of the crop for overclocking memory. If I choose a Opteron and definitly have OC'ing in mind. Are they still king? I know that they had some problems due to the memory dieng quick, or getting too hot etc. What are other possible solutions, Mushkin DDR500 eXtreme Preformance etc?

3. Looking at new cases SilverStone has always caught my eye. I don't like to mod my cases, its just a hassle for me. Lian Li are good quality but the last case I had was the V1000 Black, and it just seemed crammed and a wiring nightmare from the invertest mobo design. The TJ-06 looks nice, any words of wisdom?

4. Is the DFI Ultra-D still the best mobo pick in most scenarios for a single PCI-E card, with no SLI Plans. With the thought of overclocking CPU etc.
 
PrometheuSBoxeR said:
Heres a few questions I have, someone who keeps up to date on thier hardware should know. With the rapid changes in technology I can never keep up with whats good and whats not.

1. When comparing a Opteron to a X2 what are the advantages and disadvantages? Specifictly a denmark 165 opteron vs. a manchester X2 3800+. I have gaming in mind with my rig, and I don't know if Opterons support games as well. I know they overclock well and run on lower voltage.

2. Crucial Ballistix used to be king of the crop for overclocking memory. If I choose a Opteron and definitly have OC'ing in mind. Are they still king? I know that they had some problems due to the memory dieng quick, or getting too hot etc. What are other possible solutions, Mushkin DDR500 eXtreme Preformance etc?

3. Looking at new cases SilverStone has always caught my eye. I don't like to mod my cases, its just a hassle for me. Lian Li are good quality but the last case I had was the V1000 Black, and it just seemed crammed and a wiring nightmare from the invertest mobo design. The TJ-06 looks nice, any words of wisdom?

4. Is the DFI Ultra-D still the best mobo pick in most scenarios for a single PCI-E card, with no SLI Plans. With the thought of overclocking CPU etc.
Click to expand...

1) The main advantage of the opty chips are that they are cheaper and OC better than the X2 chips.

2) I think the Mushkin and Ballistix are awesome ram. Theres probably been more experience with the Ballistix so go with that one.

3) The Silverstone case is one sexy beast. Its kind of expensive, but you'll be getting quality. Ive personally always liked Coolermaster, its cheaper and great design as well.

4) If you plan on OCing your chip then do DFI
 
1 . Comparing http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103546 (AMD X2 4400+) to a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103586 (Opteron 170) - Can someone tell me what the differences are? What makes one better then the other, as far as a wise investment? Both have 2MB L2 Cache, but the 4400 Has 128x2 L1 Cache, and it also has 200Mhz advantage. Little extra in price, but I am not sure how the X2 and Opteron compare.

2. If I were to purchase 2 BenQ DW1655 Burners, with a goal of burning 2 DVD's/CD's at one time. Can a computer handle that, would it be too hard on the CPU/HDD etc? Normally I run WoW or some program and just leave the DVD Decoding in the background. If I bought 2 Burners, it would speed up the process of burning a lot quicker. Plus who knows when having 2 Drives can come in handy. Also, what is LightScribe?

3. Whats a good investment when looking into a Heatsink? I used Ninja Scythe before, and the thing was just too massive. With a 120x38mm fan on that thing, it took up a whole lot of space, and left little room. SI-120, or XP-120 still pretty much as good as it gets?

4. For a CPU fan attached to the Heatsink, are 120x38mm Delta 3 Fan blades still as good as it comes? Or would a 120x38mm Panaflo do just the job? Note: I don't plan on having them run on full speed, I need some peace and quiet.

5. Looking at RAM, I know Mushkin Redline were hot, and Crucial Ballistix were as well. I was looking and it looks like the 1GB x 2 Ballistix set was removed, because of its defectiveness. I don't see Mushkin Redlines being sold either. If I get a Opteron or whatever the case may be, I don't want the RAM to be holding me back. Advice here?

6. I still can't find that "perfect" case.
- I don't want a inverted motherboard, it makes wire managment a nightmare
- I want 120mm fans instead of 80mm fans
- I don't want a full tower because my PC moves very often
- I don't want anything fancy plastic or flimsy material, yet still have relativly low weight
Advice here?

7. A while back there were 2 OCZ PowerStreams. Newegg only carries one now - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711002. Is that the one I should get? I notice it has SLI in the model name. I have no plans to go SLI, wasn't sure if this was made for SLI, or if it will keep stable rails for heavy non-sli components etc?
 
PrometheuSBoxeR said:
1 . Comparing http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103546 (AMD X2 4400+) to a http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103586 (Opteron 170) - Can someone tell me what the differences are? What makes one better then the other, as far as a wise investment? Both have 2MB L2 Cache, but the 4400 Has 128x2 L1 Cache, and it also has 200Mhz advantage. Little extra in price, but I am not sure how the X2 and Opteron compare.

2. If I were to purchase 2 BenQ DW1655 Burners, with a goal of burning 2 DVD's/CD's at one time. Can a computer handle that, would it be too hard on the CPU/HDD etc? Normally I run WoW or some program and just leave the DVD Decoding in the background. If I bought 2 Burners, it would speed up the process of burning a lot quicker. Plus who knows when having 2 Drives can come in handy. Also, what is LightScribe?

3. Whats a good investment when looking into a Heatsink? I used Ninja Scythe before, and the thing was just too massive. With a 120x38mm fan on that thing, it took up a whole lot of space, and left little room. SI-120, or XP-120 still pretty much as good as it gets?

4. For a CPU fan attached to the Heatsink, are 120x38mm Delta 3 Fan blades still as good as it comes? Or would a 120x38mm Panaflo do just the job? Note: I don't plan on having them run on full speed, I need some peace and quiet.

5. Looking at RAM, I know Mushkin Redline were hot, and Crucial Ballistix were as well. I was looking and it looks like the 1GB x 2 Ballistix set was removed, because of its defectiveness. I don't see Mushkin Redlines being sold either. If I get a Opteron or whatever the case may be, I don't want the RAM to be holding me back. Advice here?

6. I still can't find that "perfect" case.
- I don't want a inverted motherboard, it makes wire managment a nightmare
- I want 120mm fans instead of 80mm fans
- I don't want a full tower because my PC moves very often
- I don't want anything fancy plastic or flimsy material, yet still have relativly low weight
Advice here?

7. A while back there were 2 OCZ PowerStreams. Newegg only carries one now - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817711002. Is that the one I should get? I notice it has SLI in the model name. I have no plans to go SLI, wasn't sure if this was made for SLI, or if it will keep stable rails for heavy non-sli components etc?
Click to expand...

1) The main adv of the opty 170 is that it will OC way better than the 4400
2) With those dual core chips you will be able to burn 2 things at once
3) I think those Thermatake HS with Panaflo fans are supposed to give the best performace, but I personally like the Zalman HSF
4) No idea
5) Get the G.Skill sticks. I saw a 2 gb stick a while back that was suppose to be really good
6) Antec P180
7) The OCZ powerstream you picked out is an awesome PSU. It will run fine on your computer whether or not you do SLI
 
Probably the single best air cooler you can find (and it will set you back accordingly) is a Thermalright SI120 paired with a good fan. I like good and quiet, so Yate Loon 120s.

The ASUS SLI32 (reviewed on the top of [H]) is a good alternative to the DFI Expert, if you're looking for another option.

If you're planning on overclocking for sure, and money is an object, the Opteron 165 is more or less likely to hit the same ceiling as the 170 and costs much, much less.

And Crucial and Mushkin are great. For reference: http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2676
 
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