New Rig (Part 2)

A

Abstractionist

n00b
Joined
May 28, 2005
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Hey everyone, so I've finally come to the point where I'll be able to buy the PC this month. I just need to make sure that I've got it all figured out, and I need you fine folks to point out anything that I might have missed. I'll be using the rig for gaming/digital media production. I also need it to last me quite a while, so I want to have room for upgrading/overclocking in the future.
I'm just wondering if I need the floppy drive for the SATA-II HD, as I've heard WinXP doesn't recognize SATA's. Also, is it possible to go SLI with the same card, but one of them beeing OC'ed? For example, a BFG and an eVGA 6800GT.. Anyway, here we go!

Case:
Thermaltake Soprano
PSU:
OCZ Powerstream 520w
Floppy:
Sony Black Floppy
Motherboard:
Asus A8N SLI Deluxe
CPU:
AMD 3500+ Venice
RAM:
Corsair XMS 1GB(512*2)
Hard Drive:
Hitachi 80GB SATA-II
Video Card:
BFG 6800GT OC
DVD Burner:
NEC ND3520

Total: $2075.85 (Including Tax/Shipping)

Next payday I will also be picking up a Logitech Elite Keyboard, an MX518 mouse, and a Labtec Verse Mic. Any thoughts and/or crits are greatly appreciated! Cheers, and thanks in advanced.
 
How is the 6800gt 566$?


[Edit:] About the SLI question. I haven't tried, but everyone seems to concur that the cards have to be the exact same model etc. So an evga obviously wouldn't work with a bfg.


Oh, and my budget gigabyte board had no trouble detecting the SATA drive and then installing windows xp pro. So I don't think you'll run into troubles there.

If you're not overclocking then get corsair value ram. If you are, check the memory forums. Twinmos sp is the first thing that pops to mind as being excellent memory, and it's about 90$ for 1gb.

Overall I'm just amazed at the prices you're paying. Is there a reason for this? I mean, it looks like you're getting royally screwed.
 
Gah, I knew there was something different. I didn't know what CAD meant. Canadian dollars I guess. I was thinking something to do with graphics & art.
 
Abstractionist said:
Hey everyone, so I've finally come to the point where I'll be able to buy the PC this month. I just need to make sure that I've got it all figured out, and I need you fine folks to point out anything that I might have missed. I'll be using the rig for gaming/digital media production. I also need it to last me quite a while, so I want to have room for upgrading/overclocking in the future.
I'm just wondering if I need the floppy drive for the SATA-II HD, as I've heard WinXP doesn't recognize SATA's. Also, is it possible to go SLI with the same card, but one of them beeing OC'ed? For example, a BFG and an eVGA 6800GT.. Anyway, here we go!

Case:
Thermaltake Soprano
PSU:
OCZ Powerstream 520w
Floppy:
Sony Black Floppy
Motherboard:
Asus A8N SLI Deluxe
CPU:
AMD 3500+ Venice
RAM:
Corsair XMS 1GB(512*2)
Hard Drive:
Hitachi 80GB SATA-II
Video Card:
BFG 6800GT OC
DVD Burner:
NEC ND3520

Total: $2075.85 (Including Tax/Shipping)

Next payday I will also be picking up a Logitech Elite Keyboard, an MX518 mouse, and a Labtec Verse Mic. Any thoughts and/or crits are greatly appreciated! Cheers, and thanks in advanced.
Click to expand...

For your hardware chosen:

1) If you're not going to be overclocking, the XMS Corsair RAM is simply a waste of money. Get a plain ol' RAM, such as OCZ's regular RAM's or the Value Select series from Corsair. They're of good quality and will run as reliably.

2) Get more hard drive space. 80 GB for today's games and software is simply not enough. You can not do any digital work with just 80 GB unless it was entirely dedicated. A 20 minute gaming video will take up over 120 GB of only the files itself. Think about it.

And to answer your questions:

1) The Asus motherboard you have chosen is fair on overclocking but it will not be the best overclocker. This motherboard is the one I would expect you to use for stability, reliability and performance right out of the box (you are going to use it for digital editing, right?).

2) I'm not sure about SATA-II needing a floppy drive for installation but nonetheless, Windows XP can detect SATA drives-- just as long as the drivers are installed. That's the basic safe answer. Now if SATA-II doesn't require any floppy disk, then you're in luck.

3) And no, it's not possible (or at least not safe) to use two different brands together when it comes to SLI.

Final words: Quite honestly, I feel that the $2,000+ price tag you received is a little bit too pricey. I'm too lazy to see which product you got is costing you more but the bottom line is that I could build a very similar system for about $1,500 (including a 21" monitor, Saitek keyboard and Razer Diamonback Plasma).

-J.
 
I forgot to let you guys know that all the prices are in CND, and it would come out fairly close to those of Newegg if you convert them. I want to be able to overclock down the road, but I guess I can go with another brand of RAM. Do you think I need the floppy, then? As for the space, it's going to be mostly 3D and Photoshop.. if I run out of space, I'll pickup another HD.
Thanks for the input so far, can you suggest some better RAM for me from TigerDirect?
Thanks again.
 
You can just get value select and run a divider later. Although the Asus' new board isn't an amazing overclocker.
 
If you really want SLI you are going to want to run a different PSU.
 
I used the sticky in the Power Supply forum when making the decision. Are you sure it won't handle an SLI setup?
 
Abstractionist said:
I used the sticky in the Power Supply forum when making the decision. Are you sure it won't handle an SLI setup?
Click to expand...

Sure that it won't no.....it might but it is missing a few key things. Since it is not an ATX12v2.0 you will be running off of a single 12v rail for both cards and the rest of the system. This is not the best plan when you are going to be having such a large draw from those videocards.
 
I think that I will hold of buying the second 6800GT for atleast a year or two, so this current PSU will be great for the time beeing. As for the ram I like the http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=587478&sku=O261-6002, but I am still open for suggestions. I'd like to be Dual Channel and have decent timings. Maybe I should get the Corsair Value Select? Or do you think I should stick to the OCZ. I will most likely go to the bank tomorrow to make a money transfer and purchase this beast.
Any more comments are greatly appreciated. Thanks for the suggestions so far guys.
 
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