New System - rawr!

Attean

Gawd
Joined
Oct 24, 2004
Messages
697
Alright well I'm all set to order in a couple weeks. Here's the preliminary list - feel free to yell at me if anything sucks. This is for home game/enthusiast use.

What type of OC you guys think I can get out of this beast? I was thinking 2.5ish?

I'm still debating getting two 7800 gts, dropping the xp120 and raptor...gd budgets...

Antec Performance I P180 Silver Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: P180
$135.00 $135.00

DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR
$189.00 $189.00

eVGA 256-P2-N529-AX Geforce 7800GTX 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: 256-P2-N529-AX
$579.00 $579.00

SEASONIC S12-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: S12-500
$129.00 $129.00

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA3800BVBOX - Retail
$352.96 $352.96

Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 500 (PC 4000) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model BL2KIT12864Z503 - OEM
Model #: BL2KIT12864Z503
$306.00 $306.00

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: WD740GD
$179.99 -$5.00 Instant $174.99

Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3400832AS 400GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive with NCQ - OEM
Model #: ST3400832AS
$236.25 $236.25

LITE-ON SK-1788/BS 2-Tone PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - Retail
Model #: SK-1788/BS
$5.25 $5.25

AG Neovo F-419 (R12) Black 19" 12ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #: F419R12
$298.99 -$10.00 Instant $288.99

LITE-ON Black IDE DVD Burner Model SOHW-1693S Black OEM - OEM
Model #: SOHW-1693S Black OEM
$37.99 $37.99

THERMALRIGHT XP-120 Heatsink - Retail
Model #: XP-120
$68.99 $68.99

Subtotal: $2,503.42

edit: only reason I am going with a KO over two gts is budget and my second monitor. Such a waste getting sli if it won't work with my setup.
 
hehe nice kinda like mine :D your going to love that X2 its a BEAST of an OCer
now if i can get my mobo to play along
 
nice rig but why does everyone like the p180 so much? It looks like a fridge. There are better cases to be had from lian li, silverstone, or thermaltake.
 
Attean said:
SEASONIC S12-500 ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: S12-500
$129.00 $129.00


if your going to spend $2500 on a new system and you want the option of sli later then i would get the S12-600

its SLI Certified and its got alittle more A on each rail then the 500 (i think 1A more on rail 1 and 2A more on rail 2)

while the 500 would most likely cut it for sli, if your going to spend $2500 you might as well spend $30 more and get the 600. i know i would.

that is if you for sure want seasonic
 
pandora's box said:
in a couple of weeks huh? yeah right.

Ill post pics oh pessimistic one.

As far as the 600 Ill consider it, but trying to cut corners because of price. I only have $2400 to work with so whatever I go over is coming out of food money. ;)
 
This belongs in General Hardware not the Video Card section. Use the internet responsibly please. :rolleyes:
 
Mister E said:
This belongs in General Hardware not the Video Card section. Use the internet responsibly please. :rolleyes:

I should've pointed my question better. Really the question about the system is video card related. 2 7800 gts or just get the KO for dual monitors? Is it worth the extra $200...
 
Are you heavily overclocking? If heavy, go for that board. Light-medium, ASUS A8N-SLI Premium for the win.
 
TechHead said:
Change that DVD burner and case. Get a Benq 1640 and CM Stacker.
CM Stacker FTW!

It's got a great option for cooling if you want to get the 3.5" fan adapters, and a TON of room. I'm one of the 4 people who doesn't like the P180 :)
 
I have to agree with the poster that suggested the ASUS board. I like my DFI board all right, it has great overclocking features. Frankly however, my chip sucks and craps out at 2.4ghz and the fan on the DFI board is horrible. I have been eyeing that ASUS board suggested because it has a silent heatpipe solution cooling the NB...very cool.

Also the DFI boards are NOT user friendly in the least, and are very picky about every little thing...the board needs like 4 different power connections and requires at least a 480W power supply or DFI will not give you support.
 
newegg has my ultimate rig on hand but they wont ship it to me...

...something about paying for it :D

nice rig!
 
yeah I guess Ill just go with an asus board. Only going to go for about 2.4.
 
I just got the pretty much exact same system. Different power supply, case, etc. It's in my sig, You do have to flash the bios once you get it running or Windows won't recognize it as a dual core. Also the DFI board doesn't automatically clock your RAM to 250 MHz, you have to set it manually. Lower your multi down to 8 to keep your X2 3800 at 2.0 GHz. Or keep it at 10 and run 2.5 GHz. I forgot and left it at 10 for a little while, but put it back once I realized. I want to make sure my system is good and stable before I overclock it that much.

Right now I keep my CPU temps at around 31-36 (after playing games) with the XP 120. It's great, but it does block the first PCIE slot on the mobo. The first slot being the PCIE x4 which I don't even know what it would be used for. You might want to go with a XP 90 if you're not sure you want to block it.

3DMark 05 = 7704 no overclock on vid card or proc
3DMark 03 = 16035 also no overclocking
No MemTest errors after one pass that took about an hour.

Hope this helps you out.
 
Attean said:
I should've pointed my question better. Really the question about the system is video card related. 2 7800 gts or just get the KO for dual monitors? Is it worth the extra $200...

What are the dual monitors for? Gaming? Because with 80 seires drivers (OFFICIALLY released tuesday [ATI killer. lol]) you can dynamically switch between SLI and No SLI (that is without a restart.) However if it is for gaming you will not be able to use that second monitor. I wonder if this is a sovable 'bug'. I don't have a dual monitor setup and am not look to gt one in the near future, but its kinda odd that this is still around. Maybe its a hardware level defect. Meh.

I would go the the Dual GTs if I were you, however. One GT is no joke. So when ever you need to game on 2 monitors, just switch it to no SLI. When you need the performance, then turn on the SLI and let the games begin. Then again, its your food money. Straving so you can play games has never been on my 'todo' list.
 
just get one gt. barely slower than gtx when oced. example my 3d05 score gtx was 8000 and with the gt 7901 so... get one now and another later when u actually NEED two in like months from now.
 
cambrian said:
nice rig but why does everyone like the p180 so much? It looks like a fridge. There are better cases to be had from lian li, silverstone, or thermaltake.

The Antec P-180 is seksi because it doesn't look like some crappy case mod with a window and a fan out of the side and lights and that crap. Talk about tacky as shit. It's a clean look. It's cheaper than the Lian Li and does have some features it doesn't have if I recall and vice versa. The money for the case compared to the Lian Li which everyone loves as well you get a nice bang for the buck plus it's a nice quiet clean looking case. I like the Lian Li's as well but this is one case from Antec that I think deserves it's popularity. It's fairly well designed. (I hope that doesn't come across wrong)

Oh and I would probaly make sure that the Seasonic will reach with this case or you have an extension of some sorts it's a tight stretch with the power cables.
 
spaceman said:
just get one gt. barely slower than gtx when oced. example my 3d05 score gtx was 8000 and with the gt 7901 so... get one now and another later when u actually NEED two in like months from now.

In a couple months after the ATI's come out and they are 100 bucks cheaper! <crosses fingers>. :p
 
I like the Sata 2 drives with NCQ and see the raptor as too much money for what you get but that's my opinion. The DFI board is nice and alot of people dig it but I prefer the Asus A8N SLI Premium or Deluxe boards out of personal preference since Asus boards usually have been well laid out and very stable. My opinion again and they do keep up to date drivers which is a plus in my book in my experience anyways. I didn't see the Crucial mem kit might have to check that out I was thinking about an OCz or Mushkin kit.

The 7800GT is at a nice price and can only get better I think it's up to you GT and GTX will be around for awhile if you need to add another card. Look at it this way you can buy whatever brand you want soon as the newer revision drivers come out so your options are looking sweet.
 
i just built a very similar system a few weeks ago, very pleased with everything. I'll 2nd the poster recommending the Seasonic S12 600w. It's not much more...only complaint I have with it is that the cables are too short to do a very good job of hiding them. Also, unless you're dead set on that lcd i'd recommend a large crt instead. You can get 2 for very cheap if you buy refurbs.
 
That should be a good start.

Once you get that together you'll be able to start upgrading and get a second GTX. Then purchase at least another two gigabytes of RAM. That 72000 RPM drive is also a weak spot - get a few ten thousand RPM serial ATA drives and run them in RAID-5 with a Areca PCIe card and you'll have a nice setup.

Oh yeah, get at least a 24" widescreen LCD so you can see what you're playing.
 
Hvatum said:
That should be a good start.

Once you get that together you'll be able to start upgrading and get a second GTX. Then purchase at least another two gigabytes of RAM. That 72000 RPM drive is also a weak spot - get a few ten thousand RPM serial ATA drives and run them in RAID-5 with a Areca PCIe card and you'll have a nice setup.

Oh yeah, get at least a 24" widescreen LCD so you can see what you're playing.

I can't afford a 2405 fpw!! I have my old 19" samsung 910T so I figure Im spoiled enough with 2 19"s. The Raid 5 is interesting, but $$. I was actually thinking about downgrading to GT and getting a wacom tablet...then punching out another GT in a few months.
 
If you are looking for SLI in the future, I third the other two posters in saying getting the s12 600. Even if you aren't, I'd say get the 600 or possibly look at other power supplies. The antec TP 2.0 550 is good and inexpensive, as is the OCZ 520. Both of those are much better for a SLI system in my opinion.
 
Attean said:
I can't afford a 2405 fpw!! I have my old 19" samsung 910T so I figure Im spoiled enough with 2 19"s. The Raid 5 is interesting, but $$. I was actually thinking about downgrading to GT and getting a wacom tablet...then punching out another GT in a few months.

No way stick with the GTX. Even if you can't afford a second GTX right now it's much better to have the possibility of upgrading later and still having a good setup.

Also the 2405 fpw is cheap compared to the Apple 30" Cinema display! Think about all the money you save by going for the smaller Dell LCD. Maybe you could just get the 2405 FPW and drop/sell the dual display setup? Trust me once you play on a widescreen monitor at 1900x1200 you won't want to go back - and your computer will be able to do those resolutions!

If you're going to have such a small monitor (only 19" :confused: ) you don't need such a beefy system. A Geforce 6800 would run your games just as well at 1280x1024.

I'd still highly recommend doing a RAID setup also. Loading times will speed up alot and they can be long now with the high quality and large textures many games are using.

EDIT: I second Gmkmay's recommendation for a higher wattage PSU.
 
Thx guys. I've got the cost of the computer itself down to $1800 so it may be possible to pick up a 2405 fpw now. ($600 for it) Ill look into the OCZs gmk thx. Quiet doesnt really matter I guess, my roomates computers sound like locomotives.
 
Attean said:
Ill post pics oh pessimistic one.

As far as the 600 Ill consider it, but trying to cut corners because of price. I only have $2400 to work with so whatever I go over is coming out of food money. ;)
Like you need food, get crossfire with x1800xt when it comes out :)
 
air2k5 said:
Like you need food, get crossfire with x1800xt when it comes out :)
Like you need crossfire with x1800xt, get two 7800gt(x)'s, because they're already out.

<--- nVidia fan. Sing the praises :eek:

(EDIT: Wow, when was a "Male Fan" added to the filter?)
 
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