Help me build my new rig!

[Nasty_Savage]

My P4 2.4b is getting long in the tooth for gaming. My Shuttle acts as a secondary SWG/win2k3 server account flipping between on the old KVM, and quite frankley...it smokes my main game rig. I may use my current main game rig as a decent HTPC. Ok so here's what I'm looking at:

AMD 64 4000+.
Do you really think its worth the extra money because of the silicon process they use on it (with the 1meg L3) or should I just get me a 3500+ and save some bucks there (perhaps getting a dual core down the road after the initial sticker shock hits the floor)? Also what heat sink would you recommend for an A64. I'd go water, but I'd be too nervous leaving it on 24-7 like I do now.

Motherboard: DFI NF4 DLI-DR. Definitely want this board. I was debating on just going for the non SLI version, but I think I'll keep it open in case down the road the SLI gets more mainstream and I can pick up a second card cheaper....I'll run 1 card for starters.

Vid Card: Thinking a 6800 Ultra, maybe a GT...not sure...any brand recommendations? I know they are all pretty much based on the reference design. OC-ability and package being more of a sticking point here.

Power Supply: Now here's where I have no ideas at this point. Would want it to look cool as I have one of them clear cases, and I have at the moment an Enermax 550 but I would welcome suggestions regarding something a bit more stylin and reliable with I guess its the 24 pin layout for these new boards?

I'll use my Corsair XMS for the time being, maybe I'll get more aggressive Ram down the road when the single Gig chips come down a bit more.

I'll do Raid 5 down the road too, but for now I've got a 250 gig Western Digital I'll use for starters.

Did I miss anything? I've been stagnant over the last year and a half and haven't been following a lot of the A64 architecture I'm afraid...I may even get one of those SATA DVD Dual Layer burners


This isn't going to happen right away as I still have an insurance payment and my Jet tickets for next year coming up...just want to get an early start as I've got the "itch"

 

[bonkrowave]

I would get a 3200+ or 3400+. The only reason to get a 4000+, besides the small increase in performance, is to show off how big your e-penis is.

Vid Card : GO with the 6800 GT, you can easily mod your 6800GT up to ultra specs, so you don't need to waste money here. I got a BFG tech 6800 GT. If you look hard enough you can find it with farcry, or doom 3 or in rare instances .. both full games packaged inside. Plus if you buy World Of Warcraft you can get 20$ off your BFG tech 6800 GT, and BFG tech has 24/7 tech support if you run into problems.

Power Supply ... if you want something really cool and modular (IE you can remove cables you don't need) then go for the Ultra X-Connect. There are many different flavors, it is very reliable and has lots of power. http://www.ultraproducts.com/

The rest seems fine ... although Make sure to have at least a gig of ram. Its so cheap and you will notice much smoother game play with at least a gig.

 

[mulpsmebeauty]

If you can afford the best, buy the best now - there'll always be something better on the horizon. The FX-55 is the best CPU you can buy - a little quicker than the 4000+ and it sounds harder as well On the other hand, cost is an issue for most people, in which case the performance sweet spot for the AMD64 range goes from the 3000+ to the 3500+. Go any higher and the performance returns aren't as good for the rapidly increasing cost.

For the graphics card, the 6800GT is better value and will probably overclock to Ultra levels. On the other hand, for the really high overclocks you'd want an Ultra as it should hold a higher voltage more stably and it has better stock cooling. Both BFG and eVGA are the brands to look out for. BFG offer a proper lifetime warranty and eVGA offer 2 years if you buy from them direct. eVGA definitely include a higher-performance copper heat sink on their PCI-e Ultras (don't think so on the GTs) and I'm 95% certain that BFG do the same.

For the PSU - I can't suggest any that look good (bonkrowave has already done that), but if you want to go SLI, you need to be really careful. Everyone raves on about the PC Power and Cooling 510 SLI. It costs an arm and a leg, but I'd guess it'll power twin Ultras and a RAID 5 array ok. If you intend piling in lots of extra hardware, jump over to the PSU forum and have a look round there, and maybe ask for a few opinions. Get the PSU wrong now and you'll only have to buy another one later.

Don't skimp on the RAM either - remember that the RAM ideally needs to be able to manage any overclocking you do to the rest of your system. I keep hearing those in the know mentioning Samsung TCCD RAM (provided by a number of well-known names), which is meant to overclock like a dream and for a reasonable price.

As for the CPU cooler: look at the Thermalright XP-120. It's a beast and certainly looks the part if you have an open case. You can strap a 120mm fan on top and it'll look great and perform better.

 

[bonkrowave]

If you can afford the best, buy the best now - there'll always be something better on the horizon. The FX-55 is the best CPU you can buy - a little quicker than the 4000+ and it sounds harder as well On the other hand, cost is an issue for most people, in which case the performance sweet spot for the AMD64 range goes from the 3000+ to the 3500+. Go any higher and the performance returns aren't as good for the rapidly increasing cost.

For the graphics card, the 6800GT is better value and will probably overclock to Ultra levels. On the other hand, for the really high overclocks you'd want an Ultra as it should hold a higher voltage more stably and it has better stock cooling. Both BFG and eVGA are the brands to look out for. BFG offer a proper lifetime warranty and eVGA offer 2 years if you buy from them direct. eVGA definitely include a higher-performance copper heat sink on their PCI-e Ultras (don't think so on the GTs) and I'm 95% certain that BFG do the same.

For the PSU - I can't suggest any that look good (bonkrowave has already done that), but if you want to go SLI, you need to be really careful. Everyone raves on about the PC Power and Cooling 510 SLI. It costs an arm and a leg, but I'd guess it'll power twin Ultras and a RAID 5 array ok. If you intend piling in lots of extra hardware, jump over to the PSU forum and have a look round there, and maybe ask for a few opinions. Get the PSU wrong now and you'll only have to buy another one later.

Don't skimp on the RAM either - remember that the RAM ideally needs to be able to manage any overclocking you do to the rest of your system. I keep hearing those in the know mentioning Samsung TCCD RAM (provided by a number of well-known names), which is meant to overclock like a dream and for a reasonable price.

As for the CPU cooler: look at the Thermalright XP-120. It's a beast and certainly looks the part if you have an open case. You can strap a 120mm fan on top and it'll look great and perform better.

Damn mulpsmebeauty, thank you for reminding me ... I almost forgot. If you are going PCI-E you will have to buy a special cord, the PCI-E powering one for the Ultra X-Connect as it does not come standard. Its only like 5 bucks tho.

 

[Nasty_Savage]

ok, that PSU looks damned cool, I'll have to check it out further as to what extra cables I'll need.

the heatsink appears to be quite large, but judging from my initial scan of the mobo layout, it looks like there's a bit of room around the socket, hopefully it won't be a problem. I'm assuming the fan is mounted with wire Brackets instead of screws? (Newegg pics)?

So the consensus thus far is BFG 6800 GT or Ultra? Never dealt with BFG before, but I've heard a lot about them. I'll have to weigh in some of the pros and cons and whether or not it will be worth the extra cash....keeping in mind, by the time I add a second one, the Ultra will most likely be way down in price. I wonder if one clocks higher then the other if it would be a problem with SLI? I wouldn't think so as it appears that the SLI is just load balancing the image, similar to the GForce Apple card to power the 30" LCD.

I've got a Gig of Corsair XMS (2X512) at the moment, and I'll upgrade it down the line (should be ok for the short term...but if I'm going to jack up the Ram, I think I'd rather double it to two Gigs with 1 gig chips in each...a little pricey at the moment, but not too far off)

So the sticking point is the processor...I'm all about saving money...but the 1 Meg Cache and the Silcon on whatever process you don't think makes that much a difference? (talking price to power ratio...i know you're gonna pay out the wazoo for the cutting edge stuff). Perhaps a 3500+ would be a better buy and I can slap in a dual core down the road when they drop to manageable levels...

Thanks folks....

 

[mulpsmebeauty]

- Yes, I believe the fan does just clip on to the XP-120 heatsink. I've heard a couple of people mention it (the heatsink) was a tight fit and one person had to fractionally bend a couple of capacitors on the motherboard, but it wasn't to the extent that it would damage the board.

- With SLI you are limited by the clocks of the slowest card. Certainly you might get one GT that overclocks like a bastard, but if the other one doesn't, you go with the speed of the worst one.

- Don't think that the FX-55 is only a tiny bit quicker than the 3500+. It's not the fastest PC CPU for nothing. Check out a few benchmarks and decide if it's worth paying the extra. I think the FX-55 has to be something you KNOW you want, cost no object. If money comes into it, just get the 3500+ as it's loads better value.

 

[Nasty_Savage]

Okay, that more or less settles it. I think it may be overkill to slam the cash down on a 4000+ or an FX-55. I should see a dramatic difference with a 3500+. And when that starts to get a little chunky, I'm hoping a dual core will make a difference down the road.

Now just need to wait to pay off my car insurance and my Jet tickets. When that's done with, I'll make the buys. Hopefully the DFI boards will start to trickle into peeps hands and I won't have to deal with early adopter syndrome that some poor folks experienced with the ASUS board...