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How does this gameing computer look?

I

infin|ty

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Jun 20, 2003
Messages
1,139
Well, I just wanted to step it up a notch and get an AMD 64. Now I have a question about the motherboard first off. I will need an Nforce3 correct? Which is the best company to get this from? I looked at Abit but it dosent look like they carry them so I checked out Asus and they carry one; it seemed decent and good replays at newegg.

Now...view:

Cooler Master Wave Master - Black

Lite-On 16x dvd-rom

I would like a DVD burner from lite on as well...not sure which to get though (want the best they have) newegg by the way if someone could help me out with this.

I need a good HSF that will fit my processor/motherboard combo.

Arctic Silver 5

Mitsumi Black 1.44 3.5inch Floppy

Western Digital 160Gig Hard Drive SATA (model WD1600JD)

I was going to get 1gig PC-3500 black level 2 Mushkin but newegg no longer sells it?!?! So I was thinking of some corsairs XMS. I looked at newegg and there were alot of choices..if someone could help me out..moneys not really an issue on it. I would prolly like nothing over pc-3500 right? And I want LL etc. I also looked at Crucial, I had good responce with their ability to overclock on just pc-2700. Like this: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-545&depa=1

Help much appreciated on that topic.

Continue:

The motherboard...Asus? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-465&depa=1

Antec 430W Powersupply "TRUE430"

Now for the Processor, I was looking at either the AMD 64 3200+ or 3400+..how much of an increase of performance will I see, ex. HL2/Doom3. And would the 3500+ be a big enough gain to take that over the other two? http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...frcode=0&propertycode=&propertycodevalue=4954

And last, but certainly not least my video card:) Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 PRO

So what do you think, you can suggest and give opinions.

With some of the stuff I wasent exactly sure on what to purchase so I made the side notes above...so. If I forgot anything please remind me. I have keyboard/mouse/monitor/speakers/headphones already.

I hope you can help me out, thanks.

This computer will be used for gaming and every day things like web browsing/email etc...gg

Thanks
 
Sojuuk said:
don't forget youll need registered ddr.
Click to expand...

What's registered DDR?

Edit: just noticed there is registered and unbuffed..whats the difference and why do I need registered rather than unbuffed?

Also...is raid important, should I go with it over a single 160gig?
 
The best DVD Burner IMO is the Plextor 712SA. Plextor makes very high quality CD and DVD burners and this is their premium burner. It writes at 12x and uses a serial ATA connection! I have a 708A and I love it.

You can't go wrong with that coolermaster case either. Having a slide out mobo tray is a nice thing. Since these don't come with power supplies, get a good one. I would suggest either an Antec Tru power 480 or a thermaltake slient power 480. You'll want this kind of wattage as the newer gen. of video cards demand atleast 430W!

Hope this helps! :)
 
For a DVD burner i would get a LiteOn or NEC. They are alot cheaper then the Plextor and will do more then a good enough job. The LiteOn burns a little more quickly while the NEC burns a little higher quality DVD's. Both are good.

I would get a Sony or Samsung floppy drive. Mitsumi are junk IMO.

Are you looking to overclock this machine? I would get Mushkin PC3200/PC3500 lvl 1. No need in spending all that money on lvl 2 stuff when BH-6 chips aren't going to perform that incredible anyways. Crucial isn't much for overclocking. Its the best for stability. If you want overclockers RAM then stick with Mushkin, Kingston, Corsair, OCZ.

I would wait and get an nVidia 6800 GT but thats just my own personal preference and what i'm most likely buying instead of the 6800 ultra.

Everything else looks ok i think.
 
infin|ty said:
What's registered DDR?

Edit: just noticed there is registered and unbuffed..whats the difference and why do I need registered rather than unbuffed?
Click to expand...
I too wonder this. Someone please enlighten us.
 
GJSNeptune said:
I too wonder this. Someone please enlighten us.
Click to expand...

Registered memory has an extra chip on the DIMM for error checking. This is only needed in servers and is pretty pointless for home users. Unbuffered memory is just your normal memory that everyone uses in their systems. Registered memory is slower then unbuffered. You only need registered DIMMs for the socket 940 FX/Opteron series chips.
 
Ok I think I would get the 3500+ with the 939 socket...what mobo do I want? I found one at newegg but im not sure if it's good...it looked like the only 939socket nforce3 they carried and it was outof order. Could I get some info? I can get unbuffed ram with the 939 socket though right?

I upgraded to a 480W antec truepower.

I think im going to go with a Plextor 712S because newegg dosent carry the 712SA:D Thanks for the info..more help is appreciated!
 
I would wait and get an nVidia 6800 GT but thats just my own personal preference and what i'm most likely buying instead of the 6800 ultra.
Click to expand...

I would say that is a pretty bad idea. From what I've seen the 6800 is shaping up to be horribly overpriced and the pro at least is only on a roughly equivalent level with the x800.
 
The Bryophyte said:
I would say that is a pretty bad idea. From what I've seen the 6800 is shaping up to be horribly overpriced and the pro at least is only on a roughly equivalent level with the x800.
Click to expand...

The 6800's are starting to whip up on the ATI X800's with nVidia's new drivers.

Here is a new review just released today using them and while running Far Cry at 1600x1200 w/ 4 AA and 8 AF the 6800 ultra was ahead of the X800Pro by 39%!

http://www.tbreak.com/reviews/article.php?id=315

Talk about an ass whooping.

Microsoft just release support for DirectX 9.0c which will bring Pixel Shader 3.0 into the works for game devlopers now. The ATI cards dont support it.

The 6800 GT will most likely overclock quite a bit more then X800Pro also.

The competition is pretty tight at lower resolutions like 1024x768 but if you run your games at a high resolution like 1600x1200 its no question which card to get.
 
As far as getting two hdd's instead of the one big one..a big reason for doing this is that you could have two hdd's running at the same time in Raid 0 which means you would always have a complete backup if you ever lost a hdd. Alot of people that are doing heavy graphics design and video editing like this because their data is so important. I'm not too concerned about mine crapping out though ;)
 
stumpy said:
As far as getting two hdd's instead of the one big one..a big reason for doing this is that you could have two hdd's running at the same time in Raid 0 which means you would always have a complete backup if you ever lost a hdd. Alot of people that are doing heavy graphics design and video editing like this because their data is so important. I'm not too concerned about mine crapping out though ;)
Click to expand...

You would have to run RAID1 called "mirroring" in order to have a backup. RAID0 is just for performance increase and is called a "striped" array. Its better to just run both HDD's completely seperate and use one of them to back up your important files on.
 
ya I know what the raids do j/w how much of a performance increase I would get from it. I guess i'll stick with my 160gig WD.
 
infin|ty said:
anyone?

I think I would be getting the 3500+: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-463&depa=1

How does that sound?

Then the http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-499&depa=1 but it's not nforce3 and Im not even sure if it's a good motherboard, could you help me out?
Click to expand...
The selection for Socket 939 boards is extremely limited. If you're going to buy within the next week, you should just buy a Socket 754 board like the MSI K8N Neo Platinum. If you can wait like a month or so, there will undoubtedly be some very desirable Socket 939 boards out there, and at least you'll have more choices.
infin|ty said:
I could REALLY use some help on Ram desitions...what PC # to get, what latencys, and brand. I WONT be overclocking this system.
Click to expand...
PC3200 will suffice. Anything faster will still be set to PC3200 speeds, that is, 400 MHz effectively. CAS2 is nice, but any latency will do. You won't likely notice a real-world difference by latency alone. Since you're not overclocking, you have lots of brand choices. I'd suggest Kingston/Kingmax, Mushkin, Corsair, GeIL, Micron, Elpida, Hynix, or Samsung--whatever is cheapest between these, really. You may also want to compare warranties.
 
my gfx card has a Giant3 on it with 2x 80mm around it, and its overclocked like a bitch :D
 
Sojuuk said:
don't forget youll need registered ddr.
Click to expand...
why would he need registered ddr if he is just running an amd64? it's not like he's running opteron or anything :confused:
 
There are alot of good heatsinks out there. Just pick one. Swiftech and Thermalright have about the very best. Zalman coolers are good. I like AeroCool and some of the others also. Just look for some reviews on the front page her at HardOCP and other hardware sites.
 
A nice and quiet solution for your cooling needs is the Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu. Also, the retail heatsink/fan unit might be good enough. Both AMD and Intel feature pretty good retail cooling solutions. Go with the Zalman to be sure, unless you need to shave $30 off your total to meet the budget.
 
I believe socket 940 coolers are compatable with socket 939 ... and as far as dvd burners go check out the NU ddw-082 I think ... they have it at newegg... anandtech has done reviews and its pretty much the only burner that can keep up with the plextor and it can do dual layer, only $72 also :)
 
infin|ty said:
The Zalman CNPS7000A-AlCu wont fit on my socket I dont think.
Click to expand...
Yes it, will. The 'A' model fits Socket 754/940, so it automatically fits 939 as well.
 
ok, yeah socket 754, 939 and 940 are all the same size... so accept the same coolers, well depending on individual boards not having components that will interfere with a cooler that is, but you shouldn't have a problem with anything that works with s754, 939 or 940.
 
Alright, thanks, very helpful information, let me go add that to wishlist, Hopefully I can get THIS thing sold to roxx0r boxx0r this new one:)
 
Now about my motherboard, this looked like the highest end 939 socket mobo that newegg carried: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-499&depa=1

Now would it be better to down grade to a 754 socket AMD64 and a better motherboard or will the 3500+ AMD64 and this motherboards till crush it?

How bad is this motherboard? Or is it good quality? The thing I noticed is that it's not Nforce3. Is there possiably a place to get the best Nforce3, socket 939 board from a reliable/reputable company? The Nforce3 Ultra 250 is that it?

Please help thanks.
 
Go with an Asus DVD player. There not much more expensive and work alot better.
 
infin|ty said:
Now about my motherboard, this looked like the highest end 939 socket mobo that newegg carried: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-499&depa=1

Now would it be better to down grade to a 754 socket AMD64 and a better motherboard or will the 3500+ AMD64 and this motherboards till crush it?
Click to expand...
Theoretically, the Socket 754 boards will be better tweaked and more stable. The thing is, nobody knows how true this really is, because very few Socket 939 boards have been available to evaluate.

As you probably know, the newest chipsets--the NVIDIA nForce 3 250Gb and VIA K8T800 Pro--work with either socket, and you'll find Socket 754 boards that support these chipsets, right now.

I guess it's a matter of urgency. Socket 939 right now does not give you an overall performance increase, but it gives you access to future Socket 939 processors, including 90 nm versions, and two-core versions. Whether this upgradeability is worth it to you should be your deciding factor.
How bad is this motherboard? Or is it good quality? The thing I noticed is that it's not Nforce3. Is there possiably a place to get the best Nforce3, socket 939 board from a reliable/reputable company? The Nforce3 Ultra 250 is that it?
Click to expand...
Asus makes very solid, good motherboards. It's got a good chance of being another good product. Then again, nobody knows. The nForce 3 250 chipset has more onboard features than the K8T800 Pro, but it's no better in terms of performance or stability. Asus is a "reliable/reputable" company, I wouldn't put it past them to see an nForce 3 250, Socket 939 board from them in the future. Otherwise, look to MSI--they should have one coming soon.
 
thanks xonic, that helped quite a bit. Now I gotta think if I have anymore questions.
 
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