New AM2 build- comments appreciated

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knobbicus

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 30, 2004
Messages
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Hello all,

Long-time lurker but I don't post much...

I'm putting together a new system for my lab, mostly to be used for data processing. I'd appreciate any comments you guys might have on the parts I'm using. I'll be buying from newegg.

cpu: AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ AM2 dual core
mobo: Asus M2N-SLI deluxe (can go wireless or non-wireless)
RAM: Corsair XMS2 2GB kit, DDR2-800 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590) probably get 2 of these for 4GB total
display: viewsonic VX922
hdd: 4x Seagate barracuda 7200.10 320 GB, SATA 3G
case: Antec Performance TX TX1050B with 500W PSU
optical drives: 2x NEC-3550A
video: MSI NX7600GS-T2D256E geforce 7600GS (PCI-E x16) (not for gaming)

Well, that's it. If anyone has any suggestions or comments, I'd certainly appreciate it. I spent some time looking around here and elsewhere for parts that should perform well and not kill our budget. The whole thing should run around $1400 - $1450 or so.

Thanks for any feedback!
 
Are you getting Win XP 64? IIRC Windows XP Pro 32-bit only supports 3gigs of ram.
 
If it's' not for gaming, then you don't need a 7x00 series nVidia card, and you don't need a gaming-speed LCD. I would prefer an LCD with good viewing angles and colors over a fast one any day, especially for lab or office work.
 
Antimatter-

Do you have any suggestions for the lcd? I've read many favorable reviews of the VX922, but ease of use is going to be more important- it doesn't need to be gaming fast.

My reasoning for going with the 7600 is just that there may be times when one of us wants to fire up a game after hours, but we're certainly not going to spend any real money for a gaming vid card.

Thanks for the comments.
 
knobbicus said:
Antimatter-

Do you have any suggestions for the lcd? I've read many favorable reviews of the VX922, but ease of use is going to be more important- it doesn't need to be gaming fast.

My reasoning for going with the 7600 is just that there may be times when one of us wants to fire up a game after hours, but we're certainly not going to spend any real money for a gaming vid card.

Thanks for the comments.
Click to expand...

I'd look at Dell, other Viewsonic models and the Acers, they seem to be very good bang for the buck. Maybe Samsung as well.

Acer:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824009083

Samsung:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001063
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824001069

Some other possibilities:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824179018
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16824116365
 
JeradR said:
Are you getting Win XP 64? IIRC Windows XP Pro 32-bit only supports 3gigs of ram.
Click to expand...
XP supports 4GB. However, you won't get to use the full 4GB due to addressing issues for reserved items (BIOS shadowing, I/O addys, video shadowing, etc). Therefore, while your system has a full 4GB, only 2.75-3.5GB of RAM is actually usable.
 
Thanks for the feedback. I'll look into the other lcd options. We've got a few boxes running XP pro with 4GB ram already, but I didn't put those together, so I don't know how that ram is being addressed. Have to check it out.

Thanks for the help.
 
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