XP-M Guidance.

[rmnoon]

I'm finally moving along from an oldass computer that hates me, boldly stepping outward into modern computing--but I need some guidance.

These are my plans.

XP-M (I'm not sure which speed, but 2400+ seems fine) overclocked, as cheap as possible, using PNY PC2700 memory.

-RAID is a plus, but not overly important. Plus, I don't know enough about it.

-Integrated sound doesn't matter, I've got an Audigy lying around.

-If LAN wasn't standard on 99 percent of boards, it wouldn't matter.

-Dual channel memory is not important, although I currently posses two identical 512mb ddr333 modules, the XP can't use both channels effectively anyway.

I've decided on the behemoth Antec 1080AMG case (and accompanying Antec 430w), so power for the oc'ed system isn't an issue.

I need help formulating plans on a HSF and a motherboard.

I've looked primarily at the A7N8X-X and the NF7-S 2.0. (btw, is there any way I can be sure that the vendor is selling the 2.0 and not the 1.0 or 1.2? because pricewatch is being ambiguous).

As for HSF, I've been considering the Vantec Aeroflow 2.

I'm open to suggestions across the board, and I'd be tremendously grateful for any input.

 

[LoRDZiMBO]

first PNY blows goats

second, why do you say AMD XP can't use dualchannel effectively?

 

[jwill]

since you saying you want to overclock id suggest a dfi nforce2 board. either the lanparty with comes with a larger bundle or the infinity which is the same board just without the large bundle and a different color. these nforce2 boards from dfi are among the best if not the best amd boards for overclocking.

newegg for infinity

newegg for lanparty

about the abit board in question... newegg will have the 2.0 version if not everyone else. people were asking the same question when the new revision came out but now its been so long thatd id be very very surprised if you did get anything else besides a version 2.0. by the way this board is also good for overclocking but id steer clear of the asus you listed if you want to go much higher then 200 fsb.

as for heatsink and fan it depends. if you want maximum cooling, go with a custom water kit. if thats too much work and/or money you have several excellent choices for air cooling. for performace and noise go with a thermalright cooler (sp94 bolt mounted, or slk900a clip mounted) with a high cfm rated fan (tornado, smartfan). for perfomance and quiet go with a zalman 7000 hsf (copper verison very heavy, not too much better performance then the copper/aluminum version, also much lighter). also the mxc462v from swiftech is a good heatsink to use with lower cfm fan if you want a quieter performing cooling solution. i think i covered most of what you wanted to know.

by the way, good luck with your mobile clock and welcome to the [H]ard|Forum.

 

[rmnoon]

I've been thinking about what you said.

The dfi infinity looks awfully nice, but I've read some problems with bolt mounted coolers mashing some resistors, can you confirm/deny this for me?

Did you actively cool your northbridge?

Optimally, I'd like the cooler to cost less than 35 USD (including HS and fan), and what I mentioned above about the crowded mounting holes kinda rules out the sp94.

With regards to the Zalman 7000, I can't find a version of that HSF that works with 462, I think theyre all p4/a64 coolers.

As for water cooling, I'm kinda on a budget (wanna keep the remain parts I've gotta buy [cpu, mobo, vidcard, case, hdd] under 550 USD. If there's a good watercooling solution for under 50 bucks, I'm all ears .

I also can't find a mention of the mxc462v on pricewatch.

In any case, if my information about the Zalman and the bolt mounted coolers is incorrect, which cools better?

Thanks for the indepth reply, and also for the extremely warm welcome.

 

[rmnoon]

I've heard that the only usefullness of the XP dual channel is if there are integrated graphics on the chipset. If dual channel is on the board that I buy, is there any reason not to use it? This information may be a product of marketting, but I've heard that ti takes a special "dual channel" flavor of ddr to operate on it. I've got two identical sticks that were not noticably marketted as "dual channel". Will this work?

I'm working to cure this n00b disease, with your help we can do it.

 

[jwill]

Originally posted by rmnoon
...
The dfi infinity looks awfully nice, but I've read some problems with bolt mounted coolers mashing some resistors, can you confirm/deny this for me?

yes there is compatibility issues with some thermalright coolers and the nforce2 boards from dfi. i forgot about that. i have read about simple solutions around it like dremeling the back mounting plate to fit. you could also buy a special mounting plate seen here.

Did you actively cool your northbridge?

personally i do but the northbridge on nforce2 board dont really get that hot under normal conditions. only when your really pushing voltage and speed through it do you really need active cooling, or if your case has poor airflow. either way, although you cant go wrong with better cooling.

Optimally, I'd like the cooler to cost less than 35 USD (including HS and fan), and what I mentioned above about the crowded mounting holes kinda rules out the sp94.

in this case you might be limited. i just spotted one of the coolers i suggested for a good price at svc.com. its the zalman 7000 series copper/aluminum cooler (very quiet, very good cooler).

With regards to the Zalman 7000, I can't find a version of that HSF that works with 462, I think theyre all p4/a64 coolers.

this is true. the 7000 series from zalman doesnt support clip mounting. youll have to have the bolt mounts around the socket to secure this heatsink.

As for water cooling, I'm kinda on a budget (wanna keep the remain parts I've gotta buy [cpu, mobo, vidcard, case, hdd] under 550 USD. If there's a good watercooling solution for under 50 bucks, I'm all ears .

definetely not. if there were a water cooling solution for that much is wouldnt be a good as an air cooling solution for the same.

I also can't find a mention of the mxc462v on pricewatch.

at svc.com, and newegg.com just to name a few good places.

In any case, if my information about the Zalman and the bolt mounted coolers is incorrect, which cools better?

the thermalright heatsinks cool better with a high cfm rated fan but at the price of alot of noise. the zalman is an excellent cooler though producing much less noise. i think a reason for the thermalrights need for high cfm fans to cool so well is the dense fin design needing more air pressure to push the air down between them.

Thanks for the indepth reply, and also for the extremely warm welcome.

anytime, thats what these forums are for.

Originally posted by rmnoon
I've heard that the only usefullness of the XP dual channel is if there are integrated graphics on the chipset. If dual channel is on the board that I buy, is there any reason not to use it? This information may be a product of marketting, but I've heard that ti takes a special "dual channel" flavor of ddr to operate on it. I've got two identical sticks that were not noticably marketted as "dual channel". Will this work?

you are right. its mostly marketing. dual channel ive read with amd boards with no igp produces around a 3% performance gain. i dont know for sure but intel boards might benifit more from dual channel then an amd board. as for the "matched pair" sets of ram i think thats mostly marketing too if not minimal differences in performance to non "matched pairs". i also read you would most likely be able to obtain a higer fsb clock with only one memory dimm.

I'm working to cure this n00b disease, with your help we can do it.

no problem man, im a n00b with many other topics discussed around this forum. its amazing how much one doesnt know when some of the real [h]ard people around here post.

 

[rmnoon]

So do you think using the Zalman cooler on the dfi infinity board will have no mounting issues in a roomy case (Antec 1080AMG)? Is there anyone who has this fan/mobo combo that can verify? That cpu socket looks awful crowded. Thanks for the sites, btw.

 

[jwill]

Originally posted by rmnoon
So do you think using the Zalman cooler on the dfi infinity board will have no mounting issues in a roomy case (Antec 1080AMG)? Is there anyone who has this fan/mobo combo that can verify? That cpu socket looks awful crowded. Thanks for the sites, btw.

at the company site... "Socket 462 Motherboards' Compatibility with CNPS7000A" list it just says "Power Supply must not interfere with the heatsink". it doesnt say yes or no. so basically if its roomy like your saying it should fit.

i want this same combo for the next computer i build (mb and cooler).

 

[rmnoon]

What about the issue of the mobo mounting screw in conflict with the HSF, was there a workaround for that? Also, the zalman 7000 doesn't use the 462 clip, but rather a bolted mounting base, right? Is there any problems with these mounting plates crunching those resistors?

 

[jwill]

Originally posted by rmnoon
What about the issue of the mobo mounting screw in conflict with the HSF, was there a workaround for that? Also, the zalman 7000 doesn't use the 462 clip, but rather a bolted mounting base, right? Is there any problems with these mounting plates crunching those resistors?

you wont have to worry about that. heres a video review of the product, maybe that will help some...
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/sharkacorp/zalman_7000a_alcu/video.html

he never installed it on an amd board so i dont know if will answer any of your questions. ill try and find some close-up pictures of the installation.

 

[rmnoon]

I checked svc.com and their shipping charges are pretty wacky. Pricewatch is showing the AlCu for 31 and the Cu for 33. Is the weight a big enough factor to stick with the AlCu?

Ooo, video review, thanks a lot.

 

[jwill]

Originally posted by rmnoon
I checked svc.com and their shipping charges are pretty wacky. Pricewatch is showing the AlCu for 31 and the Cu for 33. Is the weight a big enough factor to stick with the AlCu?

Ooo, video review, thanks a lot.

well the weight of the copper unit is way over recommended by amd. although its not going to damage your hardware just sitting on your desk. only thing i can think of how it could damage your cpu is if you take your computer in transit frequently then maybe if it were sitting up right instead of layed down the jarring might damage it some how. i dont know something like that maybe.

heres another video review, its an older review but its the same product. i think at the time the cooler did not support amd yet...
http://www.3dgameman.com/vr/silicon_acoustics/cnps7000cu_alcu/video.html

heres a close-up of the mounting hardware. you can see the amd mounts on the right (silver and blue). notice the only parts that touch are just were the screws go...
http://www.modthebox.com/reviews/zalman/cnps7000a/zalman3.jpg

these are the best pictures i could find of the thru-holes on the board found here...
http://www.mbreview.com/nf2inf-3.php

so you can see there should be no conflict with the mounting hardware to any components on the board.

 

[rmnoon]

Hrm, I should be able to get this to work some how...thanks for all your time. If I have any more problems/qualms, I'll PM you.

You deserve a medal er somepin.

 

[dobbz]

listen, what you have to do to get the Zalman 7000 to fit on a DFI nFII Lanparty/Infinity board is sand a few edges of the each mount to keep from crushing three resistors around a couple of the screw holes. also, youll have to snip off the very edge of one side of the clip since the parallel port is a bit in the way. those three big capacitors will have to be nudged off to the side, but that should be ok. i just figured this out after getting my 7000A yesterday. but i just did the work and it took 20 minutes while watching TV. should take 10-15 mins.

oh, and if afterward the clip fits still has contact with the parallel port, put a peice of electrical tape on the port's leads/wires. look at a pic of the socket are on the board, you should see what i mean.

 

[jwill]

Originally posted by rmnoon
Hrm, I should be able to get this to work some how...thanks for all your time. If I have any more problems/qualms, I'll PM you.

You deserve a medal er somepin.

not a problem.

Originally posted by dobbz
listen, what you have to do to get the Zalman 7000 to fit on a DFI nFII Lanparty/Infinity board is sand a few edges of the each mount to keep from crushing three resistors around a couple of the screw holes. also, youll have to snip off the very edge of one side of the clip since the parallel port is a bit in the way. i just figured this out after getting my 7000A yesterday. but i just did the work and it took 20 minutes while watching TV. should take 10-15 mins.

thanks for that dobbz, i hadnt heard of that yet.

 

[dobbz]

edit: oops, nevermind this post here.