Yes, another "how's this system?" thread...

K

KidzMD

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 5, 2003
Messages
400
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

Due to a miscalculation last year, I'm getting a return from the IRS. Decided to upgrade my system as I haven't since '03 (XP 2500 barton, ATI 9700pro, 1gb 2700 ram, etc...). Thought I'd get some advice so I get the most bang for my buck. I'm using my old case (Lian-li PC-61), HDD's, DVDrom and RW so won't need those components. So, this is what I'm thinking at the moment:

AMD Athlon 64 San Diego 4000+
ASUS A8N5X Nforce 4 MB
Radeon X1900XT 512MB
2 GB PC3200 Ram
520W Power Supply (OCZ modstream)
Creative X-Fi

With a CPU and VGA cooler, plus quieter case fans, total with shipping is $1475 (trying to stay under $1500). I'm thinking this is the best bang for my buck as I'm primarily a gamer, but will appreciate any advice on other components that would work better. Thanks.
 
When I was building my rig, I went with a 4000+ San Diego. Its a great proccessor and I love it, but people told me I should get a 3800+ X2. At this point I kinda wish I had gone with the dual core processor. I'm a hardcore gamer as well, but even I find myself multitasking, like listening to music while I play games, etc. Anyway, just food for thought.
 
I've been looking at the numbers for the x2 vs the straight athlon 64 and from what I've read, it seems that in able to hit the gaming performance of the 4000+ San Diego I'd need to get the x2 4400+ Toledo. Price is $130 difference for a performance boost I'm not sure I'd see. May have to think about it more...
 
Yea I'd get the 3800+ and overclock as much or as little as you desire. IMHO, in gaming, the difference between a X2 3800+ and the 4000+ San Diego would be minimal, especially if you overclock a bit. Also, games are starting to go the way of dual core (See the Quake 4 dual core patch benchmarks).
 
If you are going to consider overclocking, get an Opteron, don't even think about an x2. Think about stepping up to water cooling also, if you really want to get some performance numbers.
 
WCES Ryan said:
If you are going to consider overclocking, get an Opteron, don't even think about an x2. Think about stepping up to water cooling also, if you really want to get some performance numbers.
Click to expand...

dont scare him with water cooling...its known that you can hit a good oc with optys on air...around 2.9ghz on air with good cooling/stepping you only need water to hit 3ghz+

but yeh id get the opty if i were you but i dont know if it fits in your budget...the opty165 is the cheapest dual core opty
 
Sounds like you can build a very nice system! But man, that must be one big miscalculation by the IRS! Haha!
 
the IRS will find this post and take you for everything you've got.

lol, seriously, looks like a nice system. It seems to me from the charts i've read that the single core 3700+ and 4000+ are the best values in gaming. Until Dual core really starts effecting games they will play them the best.

However, 3Dmark06 is really heavily based on dual core isnt it?(mabye dual core is going to matter pretty soon)... but Heck, you can always upgrade to an X2.
 
Seriously i think we need a clarification with the future of multi-cpu gaming. Yes it will happend, but when and why...

I have read several articles on the the dual core in gaming and things like that, but seriously i dont believe that multi-cpu gaming will be mainstream before 2-3years. With the new m2 socket amd will release, there will be quad-core cpu, and it will continue to upgrade. So i think even if you go for a dual core, when some games will really take advantage on multi-core, your old 3800 X2 will be useless besides quad-core cpu or such things.

Thats what i think. Best bang for the buck, in gaming, is single core.
 
Buy small and overclock big :p

A8N-SLI regular (can be had dirt cheap now)
A64 X2 3800+
2GB PC3200 Value RAM
7800GT
Antec TPII 550W
Onboard Audio
Big heatsinks
 
Mayhs said:
dont scare him with water cooling...its known that you can hit a good oc with optys on air...
Click to expand...
Actually, water cooling is something I've considered. I'm an old school case modder (heh...old school...circa 1999...had a biohazard case posted on here around that time) so water cooling isn't too daunting. However, I just don't have the time I used to, to invest in completely tweaking my system with water cooling, cooking oil submersion, custom windows, neon, etc...

I'm looking for a simple, out of the box solution, though OC'ing on air is probably going to happen. Might have to look into the opterons, though.

As for the IRS, miscalculation was mine. Donated more this year than I originally planned, so my deductions are bigger, and I'm getting a return.
 
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