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First build

K

KoolDrew

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Oct 17, 2004
Messages
1,646
I am looking to build a new PC. This will aslo be the first PC I will build. I have a budget of about $700-$1,000 (closer to $700 though because the cheaper the better) I want it to be a great overclocker so choose parts that will overclock really well and really good cooling and a cse with good airflow. I also want the PC to be as silent as possible as it will be in my room and I don't want it to be too loud. Also to save a bit of money I will hold off on the monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, CD drive and floppy drive. I will just use my old ones for now so I can get this thing as soon as possible. I also may be willing to buy some parts off ebay if you guys suggest it so I get the best performance for my budget. Tell me which parts would be fien to buy off ebay to save as much moeny as possible.

Basically what I am looking for is a real good gaming PC with the above stuff I mentioned. I was thinking of a Athlon 64 3500 but now the 3000, 3200 and 3400 are out on s939 and soemone told me the 3400 would be better for gaming. ALso remember it has to be good for overclocking also. SO choose ram that will overclock well and a video card that will overclock well. I was thinking of 1GB of ram and a 6800GT.

IF any of you guys could suggest some parts it would be appreciated

EDIT: Also is it really worth it to go socket 939? I will save a bit of money if i got socket 754 and get a AMD Athlon 64 3200 Mobile with 1mb cache and overclock the hell out of it with a DFI LANParty UT nF3 250Gb
 
Here is a good setup for you

Athlon64 3200+ (939 pin) $230
Asus A8V Motherboard (socket 939) $130
OCZ EL Platinum PC3200 DDR400 $240
eVGA 6800GT $410
Seagate 200 Gigabyte SATA Hard drive $120

OK, so thats $1130.... well, that's a good system to go with. You might have to get a regular 6800 instead of a GT, and you might have to go a little cheaper with the RAM, or get 512 megabytes now, another 512 later. You could compromise on the [H]ard drive, but that is a good deal for 200 gigs.

The fellow that told you a 3400 (socket 939, right?) was spouting rubbish. The 939 pin 3400+ processor is a 3500, but with a lower HTT (similar to front side bus). Overclocking could make up for it, but the 3500 is the same speed, but with more bandwidth, therefore the 3500 would be best. If you want a good value, and good, near fx-53 performance, plus new technology, i'd go with the socket 939 3200+ or the 3000+. The 3200 would probably acheive higher speeds without as need of really fast memory, because it has a multiplier of 10, rather than the 3000's multi of 9. If you wanted to have more bandwidth, you could use the 3000's lower multi, but it will reduce the need of really expensive memory if you go with the higher multi. 2.5GHz is easy with the 3200, @ 250*10.

Nevertheless, the processors mentioned are all good choices. Even socket 754 processors are good, especially because of their lower pricing, and marginally lower performance. (Lack of dual channel memory)

Good luck mate, and God bless.
 
Would it really matter if I get socket 939 or not? As far as I know there is not huge performance diffeence and from what I have heard dual channel does not make much of a difference with a A64 system anyway. Also would you suggest buying some parts off ebay?aybe the CPU and video card. Since this is a gaming PC I want the best video card I can get so I want a 6800GT. And I may go with 512mb of ram at first and then get another stick later as you suggested.

In the end I may go with the socket 939 system that you suggested but buy soem parts off ebay to save some cash.

Also wouldn't soem good PC3500 ram be better for overclocking?
 
Socket 939 and Socket 754 are as you say, not much different in performance. The only reason for the Socket 939 is that there are new processors (IE the 3000 and 3200 i refered to), that are cheaper, and made at 90nm, a smaller manufacturing process. The aforementioned processors also offer performance gains over previous 130nm processors made for socket 939, such as the original 3500, but at slower speeds. the 3200 at 2.0ghz stock outperforms or meets the 2.2ghz stock 3500 in some areas. At exact same speeds when overclocked, the new 3200+ would have the upper hand too.

The fact that there were no budget processors and not any really good motherboards for socket 939 were key excuses for going with a socket 754 processor and the LanParty board. Now, half of the excuses are gone. S939 boards really arent that bad, but some of them should be avoided. I imagine that an nVidia nForce3 250Gb chipset is better than the VIA KT800Pro chipset, but the s939 board I would go with is the ASUS A8V, which runs on that VIA chipset. As for socket 754 boards... the DFI LanParty is the undisputed champion. The Asus K8N-E is also good, IMO. My buddy just build a rig with it, and that thing is nice. I wish DFI had a socket 939 board, but they are taking their sweet time to make sure it doesnt turn out faulty. Also, the A8V is the only board that will boot with 90nm Winchester A64's. It think for the others, you need to put in a Newcastle (130nm) processor and flash the bios (the Winchester processors, the 3200 and 3000, will not boot on any board other than the A8V.) And, you have to flash the bios on the board, no matter if its the A8V or not. The new chips will be a bit tricky until the boards start to come with new bios versions. So give socket 754 1 point for ease of use.

I hope I havent gotten too technical. Ive been drinking some really good coffee, lol.

About the memory, the memory I chose is 3200, but it overclocks, and has good latencies at stock. I think that if you wanted to just buy 1 stick of ram, you might go with the Crucial Ballistix, but IMO its overpriced. I just like the OCZ brand memory. In my beliefs, the best memory that i would buy is OCZ Platinum Rev. 2 (not EL platinum) Its about $280-$285 for a gigabyte kit of it. linky

Buying from ebay... i dunno about that. I think most of the forum users avoid that like the plague. Its not that bad, but some people have gotten ripped off. First, look on the FS/FT forums, as there are people giving good deals on used and nonused items. Its the first forum here at [H]ard|Forum under the Real Life Stuff or something like that. Fourth forum from the bottom. (make sure to check people's refs if you buy off the forum, or ebay) I wouldn't reccomend using Newegg.com exclusively. They are starting to gauge prices. I would combine gameve.com, zipzoomfly.com, and newegg. Use pricewatch.com to search for the absolute best prices. I know its alot of homework, but you will be rewarded according to how you do your research. ;)

If you are willing to wait till around Christmas, there will be good hardware coming out. nForce 4 will be out, and there will be a 6800gt for PCI-Express, possibly. PCI-e isnt that big of a deal right now, but in the future it will offer bandwidth gains, as it is supposedly twice as fast a s AGP8x (PCI-e is 16x). For right now, either socket will do fine. Each has its advantages. Also be careful about that Mobile chip. a64 mobiles arent like xp-mobiles. Regular a64's are good and easy overclockers. That mobile chip may not work with the DFI LanParty. I actually am leaning a bit toward the 754 side, as i have a similar budget as yours. (1200, but i need a monitor.) Also, don't forget to get a good power supply. this is a good reference

And I'm spent! Sorry for saying so much, but i really want to share the best of my knowledge (not much), cuz no one else seems to want to help you. Dont let this stuff get you down. Anything you end up with will be good.

God bless you and your computer buying/building adventures.
 
personally i think you should wait til nforce 4, but if u are too impatient.

go to newegg.com and search for the item #


Wacky Weekend Specials!
ANTEC Life Style Series Black Case With 380W Power Supply, Model "SONATA"
Item# N82E16811129127

SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model MPF920, OEM
Item# N82E16821103116

Seagate 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST380013AS, OEM
Item# N82E16822148019

2x Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
Item# N82E16820141424

ASUS "A8V Deluxe" VIA K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL
Item# N82E16813131510

AMD Athlon 64 3500+, 512K, L2 Cache, Windows Compatible 64-bit Processor 939 Pin - Retail
Item# N82E16819103463

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "RADEON 9800PRO-U 128" -RETAIL
Item# N82E16814102299

Rosewill 52x32x52x16 CD-RW Black Combo Drive, Model C523216B, Retail
Item# N82E16827190003

1004 is the price.
 
I might add that im reading that the new 3000+ is quite an overclocker. (The 939 pin one.)


There are a few problems with the above post. He said twice that he wants a 6800GT. At least make it a 6800, not a wimpy 9800. Also, the 3500 is a waste of money as far as socket 939 goes. THe 90nm chips perform better and are cheaper. And, a 380 watt PSU aint gonna cut it for overclocking. At least the 430W Antec True Power. Im just bought a Fortron 530W. Those things are stable and powerful as all get-out.

For cooling, I think an XP-90 with 92mm Panaflow should be quiet enough for ya.
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=35-109-119&depa=0
 
yup! i just ordered mine from zipzoomfly and it's retail.. i saw it for $180 and just clicked add to card and check out. Now i'll wait for a good SFF system.
 
Thanks for the suggestions. I may just get a nforce 4 mobo since I will be buying my parts a little after Christmas since I am getting probably the rest of the money I need for Christmas
 
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