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Looking for advice on a SFF PC

S

Stupid_Newbie

Gawd
Joined
Dec 4, 2005
Messages
671
Hey guys,

Im looking for a little advice in building my first SFF PC. I wanna go SFF for portability. Here is what I was looking at, feel free to add your input.

Aspire Qpack
ASUS A8N-VM/CSM mATX
OCZ Platinum Enhanced DDR400 2-3-2-5 1GBx2
7800GTX 256MB (id like to go with BFG or XFX)
250GB WD Cavier HD, 7200RPM, Sata300, 16mb Cache
Audigy 2 ZS (I already have this)
Enermax Whisper II 535W PSU
Benq DL DVD Burner (I also already have this, aslong as it fits)
Athlon X2 4200+

So what do you think. Im looking to upgrade from my current machine, to a new gaming machine that will last me a little while, and allow me to run ES4 Oblivion with all the eye candy, when its released sometime this spring. This is where the PC stands now, though I dont actually plan on building it till Mid January - Mid Febuary or so.

Is there a better motherboard? Im not as concerned with overclocking, as I am with stock performance, and stability. Are there any components you guys would change? If so why?

Thanks in advance.

Stupid_Newbie
 
hey and welcome to my favorite spot...

I would go with the opteron 170 instead of the x2. It is dual core, has twice the cache, and overclocks better.

pm me if you have any other questions :)
 
thats what i got was the opteron 170, i find out on tuesday how well it works! :p
 
sorry to kind of hijack, but is there any reason to get the opteron 170 and not the 165? i thought the only difference was like the difference between a venice 3000+ and 3200+: same core, just one gets a x10 multi and the other only up to x9?
 
Soymilk said:
i thought the only difference was like the difference between a venice 3000+ and 3200+: same core, just one gets a x10 multi and the other only up to x9?
Click to expand...

That is the only diff. IMO its still worth paying Xtra for a 170, some motherboards have trouble going too much over 300FSB so the 10 multi helps there.
 
soymilk is correct, and has the price/performance break in his favor too. but tech bought now last longer, and if you can afford (something which is easier now than 5 or more years ago) it, you should try and get it. as far as the original choice of an x2, if that is what he really wants, he could bump up to a 4400 to get the 1mb L2 cache. although for the price of the 4200 he could get a 170, and be much better off

http://labs.anandtech.com/search.php?q=opteron+170
 
So an Opteron would be a better bet here. I never thought to look that route. I just check the supplier I want to go with, and it is $60 CDN cheaper for a 170 OEM, then the 4200+. So I could buy a nice aftermarket cooler for it. Would it be worth it to step up to a 175, or does it not cover its bang for buck?

*edit*
Also I saw in another thread that DFI is making a mATX board in the early new year. Is this true? Might wanna wait for that, since thier SLI-DR motherboard is so good.
 
Stupid_Newbie said:
Would it be worth it to step up to a 175, or does it not cover its bang for buck?
Click to expand...

IMO its not worth stepping up to the 175. OC the 170 , youll be happier with the Xtra money you saved.

*edit*
Also I saw in another thread that DFI is making a mATX board in the early new year. Is this true? Might wanna wait for that, since thier SLI-DR motherboard is so good.
Click to expand...

I wouldnt wait for a DFI mATX board. Search a little...guys have been waiting for months for something that I feel is never going to come. There is just no need on DFI's part to build a OC friendly mATX board right now. Especially with M2 coming.
 
I do indeed concur wholeheartedly with PaHick, also the price/performance break on the 175 is quite bad, and on the 180 and 185 get to be incredibly awfull, just get a really good fan for the 170, I went with the retail version, and am still going to get an aftermarket fan, but i wanted the warrenty that comes with the retail, so I paid for it. be carefull on which fan you get though, because there is limited space in the qpack. fwiw, I hear that most of the zalmans fit though
 
Ok, I think I will go 170, but is the Asus A8N-VM CSM the best mobo? Im a huge fan of buying the best mobo available at the time of build. When I build my P4 system a few years back, I went with the Asus P4C800 DLX, which at the time was arguably the best mobo for the 875P chipset. Without the best mobo, you pretty much limit what you can do with the machine at time of build, and with future upgrades.
 
Opterons are known for its overclockability. With Asus VM-CSM you can't overclock your opteron by much because it doesn't have anything except FSB setting, and that only at 240 max.

Biostar 6100, Asrock 6150, and Foxconn 6150 have good OC settings. There's also Gigabyte's 6150 but it sounds buggy.
 
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