New rig*Update*

[lilmojo]

Thanks go out to all that helped me work out the kinks.

This is what's going to be ordered in 2 weeks

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe 115.99
Athlon XP 2500+ Barton 90.00
Corsair XMS 512mbx2 DDR PC3200LLPT 250.00
Kingwin Aluminum 10 bay w/side window 100.00 s/h included
Maxtor 80GB 7200 SATA 89.00
monitor Free
Logitech X-220 2.1 44.00 s/h included
Lite-On 52x32x52 CD-RW (Black) 34.00
Lite-On 16x DVD-Rom (Black) 29.00
Alps 3.5 Floppy (Black) 11.00 s/h included
MS Multimedia Keboard and optical mouse 33.00
Vantec Aeroflow 28.99 s/h included
Sapphire Radeon 9600Pro 179.00
Fortron 400w w/12CM Blue LED 68.00
NewQ Blue Neon Light 15.00

$1086.98

I can't wait to build this.

 

[FiZ]

Very nice. Enjoy .

 

[misfitsfiend]

i don't know THAT much about it, but i hear that the abit nf7s ver. 2 is better than the asus board. isn't this because the abit has onboard sata compatibility, but doesn't the asus have onboard gigabit ethernet? either way, i'd go with the nf7. nice rig though.

 

[RS3RS]

Radeon 9600Pro for $179.00?
Can't you get a 9600XT for the same price, or less?

 

[Carnival Forces]

you can get a Powercooler 9600Pro for $138.00 here (at the egg): http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-131-221&depa=1

and a Sapphire 9600XT here: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-326&depa=1
for $158.00

 

[RC7]

First of, I don't think Carnival Forces noticed that the powercolor card he pointed out is the 9600 pro EZ version, which would be a bad choice because it is worse than the regular pro. Second, about your memory choice, someone correct me if I am wrong, but I believe the new 3200LL series come with winbond CH-5 chips just like the non-LL series so you should probably just save yourself about 40-50 dollars and go with the non-LL, unless you can find some other brand of ram that still has some BH-5. If you do decide to get the non-LL you could upgrade your graphics card to a 9700 pro or 9800 non-pro (if you can find one).

 

[lilmojo]

Originally posted by misfitsfiend
i don't know THAT much about it, but i hear that the abit nf7s ver. 2 is better than the asus board. isn't this because the abit has onboard sata compatibility, but doesn't the asus have onboard gigabit ethernet? either way, i'd go with the nf7. nice rig though.

The NF7-S V2 doesn't support dual ddr
RAM: 3x DIMM for Max 3GB DDR333/266/200,2x DIMM for Max 2GB DDR400

The A7N8X-E Deluxe does support dual ddr and has
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650 6-Channel Codec
Onboard LAN: Realtek 8201BL 10/100Mbps + Marvell 88E8001 GbE
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x

Ok, good point on the memory RC7. changed to reg 3200 for $207

Also changed the hard drive and PSU

Fortron 530w PSU 72.00 s/h included
Hitachi 80GB 7200 SATA 76.00

Which Vid card is the best out of these 3?
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-102-335&catalog=48&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-102-344&catalog=48&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-102-342&catalog=48&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=1

 

[Carnival Forces]

the first two are the same card, the second one is just RETAIL version.

the third one, seems to be a misnomer; for if you look closely at all the cards, the first two have 256MB of RAM; whereas the third and most expensive one only has 128MB of RAM.

therefore, either of the first two (since they're the same) are the better one, the only differnece inbetween them is that the first is OEM, and the second is RETAIL, so the first won't come with any extras (like a CD/cables/etc.)

 

[misfitsfiend]

what does dual ddr mean? is it like dual channel? because if that abit nf7 doesn't support dual channel, i wouldn't want it either...

 

[FiZ]

The NF7-S v2 does support Dual Channel.

 

[Drisler]

Originally posted by misfitsfiend
what does dual ddr mean? is it like dual channel? because if that abit nf7 doesn't support dual channel, i wouldn't want it either...

dual ddr means dual ddr.
See the sticky on memory.

GET the NF7-S over that Asus.

 

[misfitsfiend]

maybe i'm blind, but i still didn't see anything about dual ddr even in the memory sticky. could someone please point me in the right direction?

 

[Drisler]

Originally posted by misfitsfiend
maybe i'm blind, but i still didn't see anything about dual ddr even in the memory sticky. could someone please point me in the right direction?

DDR Dual Channel

Most of today’s mainstream chipsets are using some form of dual channel to supply processors with bandwidth. The nForce and nForce2 are, at this time, the only two chipsets to supply dual-channel goodness for the Athlon XP. The original nForce was not on the same performance and stability level as the competitor VIA's chipset was, but the new and improved dual-channel DDR400 nForce2 has been a smash success -- in fact, is today's de facto choice for performance-minded / overclocker AMD desktop buyers. VIA is now about to release a Dual Channel chipset for the Athlon XP/Duron family called the KT880.

Take note that the memory isn't dual channel, the platform is. In fact there is no such thing as dual channel memory. Rather, it is most often a memory interface composed of two (or more) normal memory modules coordinated by the chipset on the motherboard, or in the case of the AMD64 processors, coordinated by the integrated memory controller. But for the sake of simplicity, we refer to DDR dual channel architecture as dual channel memory.

The nforce2 platform has two 64 bit memory controllers (which are independent of each other) instead of just a single controller like other chipsets. These two controllers are able to access "two channels" of memory simultaneously. The two channels, together, handle memory operations more efficiently than one module by utilizing the bandwidth of two modules (or more) combined. By combining DDR400 (PC3200) with dual memory controllers, the nForce2 could offer up to 6.4 GB/sec of bandwidth in theory.

However, this extra bandwidth produced by dual channel cannot be fully utilitized by the Athlon XP and Duron family (K7) of processors. Data(bandwidth) will reach these processors no sooner than the system bus (FSB) allows them, and the processor therefore cannot derive an advantage from memory operating faster than DDR266 when operating on a 133/266Mhz FSB, DDR333 with a 166/333Mhz FSB or DDR400 at 200/400Mhz FSB even in single channel mode. Visualize a four lane highway, symbolizing your Dual Channel configuration. As you go along the highway you come up to a bridge that is only 2 lanes wide. That bridge is the restriction posed by the dual-pumped AMD FSB. Only two lanes of traffic may pass through the bridge at any one time. That's the way it is, with the K7 processors and Dual Channel chipsets.

In case you're wondering, the K in K7 stands for Kryptonite later changed to Krypton to avoid copyright infringement. Yes, that very same fictional element from comic books that could bring the otherwise all-powerful Superman (Intel ) to his knees. Intel's P4 architecture, in contrast, is designed to exploit the increased bandwidth afforded by dual channel memory architectures. The 64-bit Quad Pumped Bus of the modern Pentium 4 CPU working at 800MHz, in theory, requires 6.4GB/s of bandwidth. This is the exact match of the bandwidth produced by the Intel i875 (Canterwood) and i865 (Springdale) chipset families. The quad pumped P4 FSB seemed like drastic overkill in the days of single channel SDR memory, but is paying handsome dividends in today's climate of dual channel DDR memory subsystems. This is one lasting and productive legacy of Intel's RDRAM efforts. As implemented on the P4 RDRAM was also dual channel architecture, and mandated the quad-pumped FSB for its extra bandwidth to be exploited. This factor continues to serve the P4 well in the dual channel DDR era we are currently in, and allows P4's greater memory performance than all other PC platforms, save the new AMD Athlon64 FX with all its new bells and whistles.

The Athlon 64 FX processor has a fully integrated DDR Dual Channel memory controller providing a 128-bit wide path to memory and therefore eliminating the need for a Dual Channel interface on the motherboard which traditionally was always located in the Northbridge. The old term front-side bus has always represented the speed at which the processor moves memory traffic and other data traffic to and from the chipset. Since the AMD64 processors has the memory controller located on the processor die, that memory subsystem traffic no longer has to go through the chipset for CPU-to-memory transfer. Therefore, the old term "front-side bus" does no good as it is not applicable anymore. With AMD64 processors, the CPU and memory controller interface with each other at full CPU core frequency. The speed at which the processor and chipset communicate is now dependent on the chipset's HyperTransport spec, running at speeds of up to 1600 MHz. Although the P4 (800fsb variety) and the A64 FX 940 pins, both share the same theoretical peak memory bandwidth of 6.4GB/sec, the Athlon FX realizes significantly more throughput due mainly to it’s integrated memory controller which drastically reduces latency. Even so, it still suffers from the required use of registered modules which are slower than regular modules. The upcoming Athlon 64 / A64 FX processors designed for Socket 939 will be free from this major drawback and will also feature Dual Channel memory controllers. One negative, though, of having the memory controller integrated into the processor is that to support emerging memory technologies, like DDR-2 for example, the controller has to be redesigned and the processor needs to be replaced.

There is more...

 

[SkaarjMaster]

Looks like a nice rig.....
.......but you might want to change both the hard drive and power supply again to:

Western Digital

and

Antec True430W

That should make it better!