New Build (w/ parts from dead comp)

P

Prose

Weaksauce
Joined
Oct 18, 2004
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110
Ok as some of you may know my old comp took a dump on me around a week ago, so I've just decided it's time for a general upgrade all around. Let me know what you guys think about this setup...

x1 Antec Performance I P180 or Lian Li Pc-V1200
x1 Asus A8N-SLI Premium Socket 939
x1 AMD Opteron 170 Denmark
x1 Zalman CNPS7000b-AlCu
x1 BFG 7800GTX 256mb (adding second in a month or so, when $ permits)
x1 PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC 510w
x1 Western Digital Raptor 74gb
x1 G.Skill Extreme Series 1gb 184Pin DDR 400 (PC 3200)

CD and DVD Drive, as well as other HDD's will be ripped from the old box.

I'm looking for something OC-able, within the limits of good air cooling.
 
Looks good, I'm not intimately familiar with the specs on the heatsink/fan though. I know Zalman makes a few models that aren't that good for overclocking, and a few that are great. And if you're serious about overclocking you may want to look into a DFI motherboard.
 
It's fantastic. But for money issues, the 7800 GT is really more than enough to fit the performance/enjoyment. If you want the best overclocking, there is none other than the XP-90 / XP-120. You have one nice system there. :)

-J.
 
Yea I'm very much on the fence about a DFI motherboard or this current one...

As far as the OC'ing goes, nothing too intense, just general performance boost. Still a little too noob to take it too far.
 
NKDietrich said:
Looks good, I'm not intimately familiar with the specs on the heatsink/fan though. I know Zalman makes a few models that aren't that good for overclocking, and a few that are great. And if you're serious about overclocking you may want to look into a DFI motherboard.
Click to expand...

Zalman's CNPS series are fantastic but the XP-90 is just 5% better. ;)

If you're really wanting to overclock the hell out of it - DFI is great for its flexibility. The Asus A8N SLI Premium though works fine for just at a sacrifice for a few features.

-J.
 
I was also thinking there about going straight off the bat with x2 eVGA 7800gt 256mb's, which would round out to only a bit more, and would probly do the job well enough for a few months to come...

swap the ASUS for a DFI LANparty nF4-DR Socket 939 SLI-ATX?
 
Whichever the price allows. The Premium SLI is $160+ ish while the DFI is just about $10 more. Since you want a stable simple motherboard that doesn't do too much trouble, the SLI Premium will fit you. DFI is very deeply customizable and is for the more technical than the average.

Just buy one video card and see if you like it. More than likely will you be satisfied with just one. Buy another same video card in the future if you see newer games slowing you down.

-J.
 
for the minor price increase, the DFI seems a more attractive option for longevity. providing its not overly complicated to work with I think I'll be going with that option.

as far as video cards go, I'm not so much a resolution junkie as I am an anti-aliasing and anistropic freak. I just cant stand jagged edges. but good advice on just starting off with one and grabbing another if necessary, no sense in spilling the cash if its needless.
 
I would like to correct myself. There are more other better HSF's out there. Namely the Scythe Ninja and Thermaltake's newest addition: Big Typhoon. Do the research and see what fits you.

-J.
 
GeForceX said:
I would like to correct myself. There are more other better HSF's out there. Namely the Scythe Ninja and Thermaltake's newest addition: Big Typhoon. Do the research and see what fits you.

-J.
Click to expand...

These are the two heatsinks to buy right now. Any reason for only 1GB of memory?
 
Which of the Big Typhoons specifically... There appear to be a number of them.

I stuck with 1gb of RAM because I still havnt really found a need for two, but if the need comes up, slapping another in would be cheap and easy enough.

Also, as far as the case goes, does anyone have any other suggestions? Is the Lian Li PC-65 any good?

Thanks again for all the help guys.
 
Prose said:
Which of the Big Typhoons specifically... There appear to be a number of them.

I stuck with 1gb of RAM because I still havnt really found a need for two, but if the need comes up, slapping another in would be cheap and easy enough.

Also, as far as the case goes, does anyone have any other suggestions? Is the Lian Li PC-65 any good?

Thanks again for all the help guys.
Click to expand...

There is only one model Big Typhoon on TT's website.

Excellent case choice.
 
Prose said:
Which of the Big Typhoons specifically... There appear to be a number of them.

I stuck with 1gb of RAM because I still havnt really found a need for two, but if the need comes up, slapping another in would be cheap and easy enough.

Also, as far as the case goes, does anyone have any other suggestions? Is the Lian Li PC-65 any good?

Thanks again for all the help guys.
Click to expand...

Lian-Li PC65 is nice...a little "dated" since it's been out for a couple years but it still holds up ;). Personally, I think the XP-90 is the price/performance sweetspot. For $25 you're not going to find a better HSF.
 
Ok awesome guys thanks for all the help. Final go on the specs before ordering:

x1 Lian Li PC-65
x1 DFI LANParty nF4-DR nFORCE SLI-ATX
x1 AMD Opteron 170 Denmark OEM
x1 Thermaltake Big Typhoon 4 in 1 Heatpipe Cooler
x1 eVGA 256mb 7800GT GDDR3 PCI-e (w/ one more on the way if/when needed)
x1 PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC 510w
x1 Western Digital Raptor 74gb
x2 G.Skill Extreme Series 1gb 184Pin DDR 400 (PC 3200)

Again, thanks for all the help and input!
 
sweet rig, u will love the switch from INTEL/RDRAM to AMD/DDR iunno i just dont see Raptors justifying the price, but thats just me, i would much rather have a larger HD than a fast 74Gb. Raptor is only understandable if you have another larger HD. just my .02 good luck tho cant wait to hear how the build goes.
 
thanks!

yea, the Raptor will be strictly for OS and Apps, I've got two much larger (but slower) HDD's for storage. Personally, I purge my HDD's of stuff I'm not using on a bi-weekly basis, so I've never actually gone over 150gb's of content on my drive(s).

yep, I'm getting near the stokage level, and can't wait to get on the AMD/DDR train... been a while since the last upgrade!
 
Yeah, I hear the Raptor isn't that much faster than the 16mb cache 7200rpm drives. Oh well. I have a Raptor I've had for a few years now, so I'll just keep it for a while longer ;).
 
Hate to get back to the HSF subject, but the Typhoon is pretty hefty... The weight isnt going to be an issue?
 
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