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Wait for T-Force?

T

Tesher

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 13, 2005
Messages
118
I am planning on building a SFF. I have a DIY FragBox for the case. I have pretty much decided on everything except the mobo. The specs I'm planning on are as follows:
520W Silverstone Shortcabled PSU
FX-55 w/ Zalman 7000
X850XT-PE (possibly HIS - cools better)
WD Raptor 74GB -SATA
Seagate 300 GB -SATA
Plextor PX-716AL
I have a few questions:
1) Should I wait for a new mobos since I obviously wnat this system to last? Or should i get something like the A210GDMS?
2) I have heard 2 gigs of ram actually helps Battlefield 2 run better, but overall slows down system performance is this true?

I understand the latter question doesn't partain to SFFs I was just curious if anyone knew much about it... Thanx, ahead of time...
 
1) ya, just wait a few more weeks for them to come out (hopefully they'll b out in that time frame)

2) the 2 gig thing is most likely reported by people who use 4x512 to get 2 gigs, cuz the a64 memory controller can't handle them at ddr400, so it runs them slower. with 2x1024 you should be fine, though.
 
Unless you're getting your 850 cheap, I'd go with a 7800GT. It can be had for about the same price, maybe 50 dollars more.
 
thanx for the quick responses and the help...
and I would go with the nvidia but I'm an ATI fan... Crossfire has disappointed me a little though...
i might reconsider... you have any idea how hot that 7800 runs?
 
Ati fan or not
spend your money wisely
Also consider:
-That you are building and SFF and the 7800 series are single slot cooling
-That sometimes there are compatibilty issues with ATi mobo/Nvidia vid card and Nvidia mobo/Ati vid card, is not very common but there have been cases.
 
yeah... i have already taken that into consideration... you are right though... I'm probably gonna go with the 7800... does it run hotter than the x800s?
 
Get the 7800GTX. I have a 9800 Pro and for the most part like it. But I will go with whoever has the best bang for the buck at the time. Sometimes it’s ATI others its Nvidia. And right now it's Nvidia.

As far as the heat goes, I wouldn’t worry about it. I doubt either one is a good deal warmer than the other. Your case temps should be greatly affected by those two card choices. Psst... The 7800GTX is cooler than the 6800.
 
Aight... thanx... anyone got any ideas for any cool floppy bay devices... i've looked and found some lcds, fan controllers, etc... but I haven't found anything that would look that good with the fragbox style...
 
best bang for buck is the 7800gt actually
get the GTX if you can and are willing to pay for it
I dont really look for stuff that looks good, get stuff that you would use and would be a good buy lol
eg. the fan controller
 
yeah... i will probably go with the gtx i have saved up enough cha-ching already i was planning on the X850XT-PE but this will probably be even cheaper... Yay! now just too look at my empty fragbox and wait for a worthy mobo...
 
yeah... if you want a good 939 matx your best bet is to wait... i'm just worried about the issues that may have to be worked out with a new chipset...
 
not all the issues have even been worked with the older chipsets so that is not really a big diff. the older mobos should be more stable but that is not always the case :)
 
yeah... that is pretty much like anything else, tho... very rarely does something perfect come out... that would be nice...
 
My 7800GT runs 49C with the fan speed set @ 25%. Under full load it's around 52-55C and the fan speeds up to 43%.

Very cool compared to previous generation cards.
 
CRaZYMoFo said:
-That sometimes there are compatibilty issues with ATi mobo/Nvidia vid card and Nvidia mobo/Ati vid card, is not very common but there have been cases.
Click to expand...

Since when?
 
i have heard of compatibility issues with ATI's Radeon Xpress 200 and 7800s... haven't tested it myself , tho...
 
I've never seen compat issues... it shoudnt be an issue since AGP/PCIE are standard slots... and nothing is special on nVidia, or ATI that should make it work other wise... same goes for drivers... thier may be some kinks on some mobos... but those are more direct mobo issues, not compatability with x brand video card issues.
 
yeah... i was just saying i've heard of some issues... anyone got any idea who will have the next T-force out... we all know Biostar has got one... What about DFI or MSI?
 
Tesher said:
i have heard of compatibility issues with ATI's Radeon Xpress 200 and 7800s... haven't tested it myself , tho...
Click to expand...
Never tried mixing them, but you DO, of course, get the 'triple-head' stuff only with the same vendor.

IE., the tForce motherboards with an nVidia graphics card can use the onboard output and both video card outputs to run 3 monitors off of. Ditto with ATI's Xpress200 motherboards and any ATI dual-output video card - three monitors can be run off them.

You don't get that mixing mobo+video card brands, though.

My only comment would be directed at the CPU of choice. Dual-core is REALLY where it's at *today*, and it's only going to get more and more important in the future. You SERIOUSLY want to get an X2 CPU over that FX-moneysink-55. An X2 '4800+' will literally run circles around an FX-55, for basically the same price!

EDIT: Another comment - drop the Raptor. It's noisy, and it's hot. Both bad things for an SFF build. And, hey, it's actually slower (in some cases) than an NCQ-equipped hard drive, anyway (remember, the Raptors are plain-Jane SATA150, not SATA150+NCQ, nor even SATA2)!

You will LIKE the Seagate, though. I'd say just use that, and you are good to go.
 
nice move on the case, psu, cpu, and gpu selections.

i'm up and running no problems. slick setup and it tears through it all. only thing is that the stock fans on that PSU are LOUD!!! i bought some silenx fans and never looked back. big big big difference.....worth the 30 bucks.

my 7800gtx runs @ 40 idle and 42 load, maze 4 does it job well.

my fragbox

enjoy and keep up the post
 
yeah... i will... that is a sweet fragbox... is that mobo good? i've read some reviews that say it drags overall performance down...
 
i've read those reviews as well. But i didn't want to wait wait wait......I hate waiting, and if you wait in the technology world, something comes out the next week anyway....its obsolete and replaced the instant you buy it. need to accept that, bite the bullet and finish your build ya know.

Anyway, the sata performance is amazing with my seagate 400gb ncq. boot to desktop in about 16 seconds, load times are severely LESS than that with my old 3ghz 9800pro system. In other words the mobo doesn't seem to slow me down at all. I had to use a clockgen to OC the system, but its 24/7 stable all around. no issues.
 
yeah... i wouldn't wait but T-Force is right here and all I'm waiting on is a mobo... i just can find any that makes me happy... :D
 
Yeah I think it is only prudent to wait the short time for the T Force boards to come out. It is a very short wait, and it should provide one of the best if not the best Micro ATX solutions available for quite some time.

Wait for the boards by MSI, Asus, Epox, and Gigabyte to hit the shelves. This is a good opportunity to get the best for one of the best looking SFF I have seen.
 
I looked and haven't found anything about a new MSI mobo, either...
boasist is right, I think i will just go ahead and get the MSI RS480...
i was gonna either get that or the Jetway...
I think I'm gonna order my system with a few changes within a week or two... i'll post changes later (possibly today)...
 
i decided to go ahead and post... these are the changes i have made to my previous config:
MSI-RS480
Athlon 4800+
Corsair XMS3200 1GB (2X)
BFG 7800GTX OC
2X 300GB Barracudas in Raid 0

suprisingly it will on cost me $79 more... switching out the the raptor for a barracuda cut some off... it will still be a week or two before i can afford it... how does it look?
 
Tesher said:
i decided to go ahead and post... these are the changes i have made to my previous config:
MSI-RS480
Athlon 4800+
Corsair XMS3200 1GB (2X)
BFG 7800GTX OC
2X 300GB Barracudas in Raid 0

suprisingly it will on cost me $79 more... switching out the the raptor for a barracuda cut some off... it will still be a week or two before i can afford it... how does it look?
Click to expand...

Well, I'd just use one drive.

RAID-0 will only improve performance for server applications - large files accessed in a streaming fashion.

The way most people use PCs - for example, using swapfiles and gaming - RAID-0 will actually eat a pretty big chunk out of the performance. Not to mention, you double the failure rate.

Oh, and RS480 motherboards can't boot to RAID0 arrays, either.

Just use one 300gb drive - you'll be fine with that with 2gb ram (which, if I'm reading your list correctly, is the plan).

As to the mobo....meh. MSI had literally NO overclocking options - not a single one - and that was rather a big turnoff for me. Of course, having an Audigy 2zs, I'm rather stuck not being able to do any overclocking ANYWAY, as the thing gets the stupid "squeal of death" after extended use at even a modest 10% FSB overclock. Quite a PITA!
 
i will still probably want more storage and 2 300GB drives was my best bet money-wise...
 
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