System questions

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dante2010

n00b
Joined
Sep 26, 2005
Messages
43
Hi,

(Forgive me if this is posted in the wrong forum. I didn't see one for just "systems".)

I'm looking to build a new system (I'm using an Athlon XP 1700+ based system at the moment) but I'm not really "in the loop" as to what all the new tech is.

I've spec'd out the following so far:

AMD Athlon64 3000+ S939 Processor
Asus A8N-SLI NF4 S939 PCI-E Mainboard w/Audio/SATAII/RAID
Corsair DC ValueSelect 1GB (2x512) PC3200 CL2.5 DDR Memory
Seagate 250GB 7200RPM 8MB SATA HDD,
Asus GFX 6800GT 256MB PCI-E DH Video Card w/TV-OUT
Antec SonataII Mid-Tower Case w/450W PS, Black

Questions are:

1) Is it worth moving to a 3200+? I've read that the only difference is in the L2 cache size?

2) What's the "sweet spot" in regards to the 64 procs? Talking about price vs performance here..

3) Is it smart for me to go with the SLI MB? My thought was that it would be an easy upgrade down the road to just pop in another card and take advantage of the SLI goodness then.

4) Related to 4: For SLI, do I have to use the exact same card? Like manufacturer and everything..?

5) What would the difference be between the video card I have listed, and this one: Gigabyte GFX 6800GT 256MB PCI-E DH Video Card w/TV-OUT ? I ask because the Gigabyte is about $100 cheaper then the Asus.

6) I will be adding an IDE hard drive, sound card, DVD-ROM and DVD-RW to the system as well. Looking into the future a possible second video card as well. Am I good with a 450W PS? Or should I move to a 500W?

7) Overall, will this system allow me to play modern games (HL2, WoW, AOE3.. etc) at high levels of detail? I just got a 2005FPW so ideally I'd like to be playing games at 1680x1050.

Thanks for any help you can offer.
 
1. 3000+ and 3200+ cache size is the same... only difference is speed

2. if u gonna OC, 3000+ is ur best bet... most can do around 2.6 - 2.7 with ease

3. Yes go with a SLI mobo

4. with the new forceware drivers coming in october, one will be able to run SLI with differenct manufactueres, bios, and speed

5. none difference

6. get a decent 500 watt from antec, fortron, enermax, OCZ

7. yes, but don't expect uber AA and AF (like 4aa and 16AF)
 
Thanks for the reply.

Question for you re: the processor. What speeds do both the 3000+ and 3200+ run at? From what I read I thought they were both 2Ghz procs...
 
dante2010 said:
Thanks for the reply.

Question for you re: the processor. What speeds do both the 3000+ and 3200+ run at? From what I read I thought they were both 2Ghz procs...
Click to expand...

3000+ is at 1.8Ghz (200 x 9)
3200+ is at 2.0Ghz (200 x 10)
 
Thanks.

I have some additional questions after doing some more reading this evening.

1) I've found that there are 3 versions of the mobo I listed. There's the one I listed, as well as the Deluxe and Premium versions. What exactly is the difference (besides price) in these 3?

2) I also read that in order to do SLI you need to have a 6600, 6800, 6800GT or 6800 Ultra. I take it then that if you go for the 7800 card you won't be able to do SLI?

3) What do folks on here think of the Asus A8N-SLI? Is there a better mobo I should be looking into?
 
dante2010 said:
Thanks.

I have some additional questions after doing some more reading this evening.

1) I've found that there are 3 versions of the mobo I listed. There's the one I listed, as well as the Deluxe and Premium versions. What exactly is the difference (besides price) in these 3?

2) I also read that in order to do SLI you need to have a 6600, 6800, 6800GT or 6800 Ultra. I take it then that if you go for the 7800 card you won't be able to do SLI?

3) What do folks on here think of the Asus A8N-SLI? Is there a better mobo I should be looking into?
Click to expand...


1. i don't know

2. the 7 series of cards can also do SLI

3. ASUS are known for being a reliable and stable motherboard
 
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