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New PC

danorama

n00b
Joined
Dec 8, 2005
Messages
34
Hi I am just about to finalise my new PC's specs and if any one can point out incompatabilities or anything that would be helpful Also if there are any hard ware changes i should make that wont costs much go ahead and point them out. This computer will be a family PC but will be used to play games like half life 2 cs:S and dod:s

Motherboard: http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=638

Processor: AMD 3700+ San Diego
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103539

Graphics Card:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/vga/vga/pro_vga_detail.php?UID=621

RAM:
1gig (2x512) OCZ Premier ram (Could go performance, is it worth it?)

HDD:
200 GB HDD W.D 8M SATA

DVD Drive:
Unsure Of ATM(Any Suggestions)

Case:
Thermaltake Soprano Case (Xp550-Np)430W (Probably get better PSU)http://www.thermaltake.com/xaserCase/soprano/bws/bws.htm

Just a question about the Processor:
Whats the difference between a 3700 and 4000 san diego cores other than 200 mhz clock speed difference
Will start looking at a new monitor later down the track
Thanks Dan.
 
so is it worthwhile getting performance RAM over premier or just stick with the premier?
 
For the CPU - there really isn't any difference except clock speed. Both are known to overclock well so getting the 3700+ is good enough. :)

You're better off getting the most basic RAM at decent timings. Premier / Performance / Enhanced / Extreme RAM are usually for overclockers who take advantage of the headroom of the RAM itself. If you aren't touching overclocking, then don't bother with those.

-J.
 
ahh ok well premier is only 10 bucks more than value so ill get the premier just incase, so what are the opinions of the mobo and cpu
 
If it's just $10 more, go for it.

The motherboard is okay. Depends how much you're trying to spend - how much is it? I couldn't really find a price on it.

-J.
 
the motherboard is 235 australian. and also just for comparison reasons the asus a8n sli premium is 239 australian.
 
btw what sort of pin connector for the mobo do i need, because im not sure if the powersuppyl comes ith 20 or 24 the mdoel of the power supply is Xp550-Np is any one can help
 
The XP550-NP model is a Thermaltake-based 430W PSU. It has 20 pins. You will need a 20 to 24 pin adapter for those motherboard. I am siding with the Asus A8N SLI Premium though - I'm not sure if you're going to go SLI or not? I just hope the PSU is good enough to handle the PC.

-J.
 
yeah i was gonna get a different psu i prob wont go SLI but ill be getting a dx10 card when they come out in a year or so so how many watts do u reckon i need?
 
You're going to need at least 20A on 12V alone to support any video card at this very moment. For DX10-based video cards - I don't know their power usage just yet. Since manufacturers are assembling their technology on smaller microns fabrications, there's a good chance that power will be reduced. Either way, 12V plays a critical role - so it's not the wattage that's important, it's the amps. Enermax Liberty 620W fits the bill as an overall competitor in the PSU field. There are many others but they can be expensive. I'm not aware of your budget so I can't say much.

Edit: Seeing this is a family PC (getting carried away as usual...), you really don't need much power, even for the DX10 cards in the future. A "safe amount" of "watts" would be at least 500W with at least 18A on your 12V rail. It's a safe bet you won't buy the top notch DX10 card either (8600 GT?) so that's a safe estimate.

Blah blah blah.

-J.
 
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