How does this new build look?

Jordan1

[H]ard|Gawd
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Nov 1, 2005
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I'm looking for comments on this purchase before I place my order at Newegg. I need a PC ASAP...AM2 doesn't seem like it is worth it now (DDR2 is more expensive, not many motherboards to choose from). I know Conroe is suppose to be great and all, but how long will I actually have to wait before I could find a motherboard at a good price? Correct me if I'm wrong in thinking this way...

Specs:
NEC 16X DVD±R DVD Burner 3550A - $35.99
SAMSUNG SpinPoint P Series SP2504C 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s - $79.99
(I thought about the WD250KS but was wanting a quiet hard drive...they should be comparable in speed, right?...even though the WD has 16MB cache.)
ASUS A8N-SLI Premium -$159.99
eVGA Geforce 7900GT KO - $274.99 (-$15 rebate, $259.99)
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D (800rpm) 120mm S-FDB fans - $14.99 x 2
Air Flow 33.5CFM
Noise Level 8.7dBA
:eek:
G.SKILL Extreme Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 500 (PC 4000) - $179.99
Would it be better to go with the OCZ Gold GX? I think it has better memory timings (does that even matter?) but they cost a little more before the rebate.
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ - $235.00
I plan to OC this at least some, which is why I went with the higher speed memory. Would it be worth it to get an aftermarket cooler? If so, which is the best cooler for the price?

After shipping, before rebate: $1,016.09
I also ordered a 2007WFP...hopefully that banding stuff won't be an issue.
I already have a case and power supply that should run this fine.
Thanks for your comments. :cool:
 
If you have the money, I would try to get an X2 processor or a DC optie cause multi-core chips are going to start to be much more necessary
 
best cooler = scythe ninja with a gd fan on top...

i would personally wait for conroe, then buy, and i think the prices will be extrememly competitive due to the pricing of their cpu's so id wait for that

and a new computer without dc is not worth it! like the above poster said an opty 165/170 or a x2 3800 and upwards pair them with a nice dfi board for oc'ing and youre computer will be amazing for 2-3 years...

and yes g skill ram is amazing for oc'ing but then you could always run a divider and the performance loss wont be big...a few percent maybe
 
Would the price of the Opterons/X2s fall in price after Conroe comes out? What is a Opteron 165, at stock speeds, equal to in the X2 line? It seems like everyone OCs them to the max.
 
Jordan1 said:
Would the price of the Opterons/X2s fall in price after Conroe comes out? What is a Opteron 165, at stock speeds, equal to in the X2 line? It seems like everyone OCs them to the max.

well i suspect that they will drop in price slightly...and a stock opty 165 is 1.8 ghz but it should oc to 2.6ghz easily...lowest ive ever heard of is around 2.5ghz....
 
the 165 starts out at 1.8 ghz, the 170 is 2.0, 175 is 2.2, and so on. I'm not sure if the X2's will drop in price
 
Thanks for the comments. A Opty or X2 is probably worth it but I wouldn't like to spend any more than the price listed...but I am still thinking about it.

So, if I would just OC the 165 to 2GHz, would have the same performance as the X2 3800? (plus the extra 1MB of L2 cache.) I know it would be the same clock speed but what about actual performance? Does anyone have any links to X2 3800 and 165 benchmarks? (stock and oc.)
 
Mentali$T said:
An opty 165 will go higher than 2Ghz more like 2.6 or so with a new heatsink

I know, I was just wondering how it performed at near stock speeds. Meh, doesn't matter anyway as I would OC it. :D
 
Ok thats cool. the opty is probably best way to go as its cheap and will get good clock speeds.
 
Will the ASUS A8N-SLI Premium run a Opty fine? I also thought about the DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 instead of the Asus as it seems to be a great OC board and it's only $122.99 compared to the $159.99 Asus. Is the chipset fan very loud on the DFI? I want this PC to be as quiet as possible.
 
The chipset fan on the Ultra-D is loud, however it can be replaced by an Evercool GPU HSF. There is a video tutorial on the DFI Street forums.

..or you could pick up the Asus A8N32 or A8R32, which are both passively cooled and are still great overclockers due to the 8-phase VRM.
 
I have the asus A8R32 MVP deluxe its just the same as the a8n32 but crossfire. They are excellent for overclocking. just depends whether u will want SLi or Crossfire in the future
 
Stellar said:
The chipset fan on the Ultra-D is loud, however it can be replaced by an Evercool GPU HSF. There is a video tutorial on the DFI Street forums.

..or you could pick up the Asus A8N32 or A8R32, which are both passively cooled and are still great overclockers due to the 8-phase VRM.

Which Evercool model would you recommend?...if I were to go with the DFI.

I have also read that the DFI motherboards can be picky about certain PSUs--anyone have any links to this?

The A8N has no chipset fan either...decisions decisions.

Still open to opinions and comments...I want to get the most for my $.
 
Mentali$T said:
I have the asus A8R32 MVP deluxe its just the same as the a8n32 but crossfire. They are excellent for overclocking. just depends whether u will want SLi or Crossfire in the future

If anything I would want SLI but I doubt I would ever use it.
 
Well atleast its future proof. It's a great board and one of the best overclockers so i'd go with the A8N32
 
Mentali$T said:
Well atleast its future proof. It's a great board and one of the best overclockers so i'd go with the A8N32

I think I will.

I was also looking at the Opty 146. It looks like it is comparible with the 3700 like the 165 is with the X2 3800. Not dual core though. With the A8N32 and 165 my total cost is around $1600 and was wanting to stay under 1500, but maybe this is worth it.

Also, are the stock Opty fans quiet like the A64 fans are?
 
Instead of those Scythe fans, you might want to go with Yate Loons because they're very cheap and offer good quiet cooling.
link
Jab-tech has them for 6 bucks a piece. They are just rebadged Nexus fans IIRC
 
LongShotHero said:
Instead of those Scythe fans, you might want to go with Yate Loons because they're very cheap and offer good quiet cooling.
link
Jab-tech has them for 6 bucks a piece. They are just rebadged Nexus fans IIRC

Thanks. Maybe I will get those.
 
I have ordered my stuff. I was able to get a 3800 X2 (new, oem) off of eBay for $250 shipped and a Scythe SCNJ-1000P (Ninja) off of Newegg. I also went with the A8N32, but right before I ordered it the price went up to $204.99...I didn't even notice. :mad:
 
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