A new PC for ME!!! Input...

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Hey guys, within the next month I will be purchasing some new components to basically rebuil my computer. I will only be re-using my case, HD's, CD burner, and DVD Burner.

SO my to buy list:

-Mobo

-Cpu

-PSU

-"aftermarket" heat sink/fan for CPU

-Graphics Card

-Ram

Mobo:

I'm pretty much set on DFi, GREAT over-clockability. Good reviews, solid/stable mobo's.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=1307&PropertyCodeValue=709%3A7495&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=22&Submit=Property

Specifically:

DFI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

or

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

Any REAL advantages buying the more expensive one...????

CPU:

AMD Athlon 64 Venice Core http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

I'm set on this as well, the Venice core can be OC'd like a mofo!

Graphics Card: PCI-E Ati Radeon X800XL, 256mb, 256bit

for....$179 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif YAY!!!!

Ram:

I've been looking at OCZ and Corsair XMS as far as ram goes. Adavantages with one or the other? Looking for 1GB total....for around $140 or less...

PSU and Heatsink/Fan: Open to suggestions, $50 or so on the PSU and $30 or so on the heatsink!

So, what do you guys think so far? Suggestions? Any other great deals...or better prices?!?!?!?!?!?

I'm looking to spend ABSOLUTELY less than $700 hopefully, the less the better. I want a good mix of cost/performance!

Thanks for the help...

NG

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[req 5,000+ posts]

i like OCZ myself. but corsair is up there too.

good choice on the mobo and the cpu. the card will kick ***, but the new GeForce 78000 owns it hardcore, but will cost an arm and a leg.

you are going to want to spend way more on a PSU for this machcien - if you want to OC you will need STABLE power, and a quality power supply is a nessicity.

but 700 is a low figure for a PC like this. GOOD ram with fast timings is a nessicity to overclocking, high heat dissapation, good steady power rails, tweakable mobo\cpu, all come in to play. look into watercooling lately?

 

[ndnbolla 10+ year member]

Graphics Card: PCI-E Ati Radeon X800XL, 256mb, 256bit

for....$179 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif YAY!!!!

NG

Thats a great price on an X800XL, I would've recommended an nVidia SLI capable card for future upgrading purposes, but with a deall like that you will be better off.

 

[MrNiceGuy 10+ year member]

get an asus mobo or abit...dont get what your getting..

 

[MrNiceGuy 10+ year member]

xms ram is really good..the vid card price ur getin is great man, the 3200 is a good choice for oc...just need a big power supply..everythng looks good

 

[Moe Lester 10+ year member]

$50 on the PSU is not going to get you what you need. If you are looking to overclock it, you are NOT going to want to skimp out, not to mention you need a native 24 pin power supply. OCZ's Powerstream 520W is an excellent choice and will give you the power you need.

OCZ memory as well... find the highest speed with the lowest latencies you can find for your price range. Mushkin's new Redline memory seems that it may fit you better than what OCZ has to offer in that price range. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146389 A few reviews on that stuff show it being able to reach 250fsb (DDR500) with 2-2-2-6 timings. Youll have to pump ~3.3v into it and have active cooling on it however. They are rated to run at this voltage though so no worries //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

The venice is a great chip, im running my 3500+ @ 2.75 ghz, 250x11 You may want to look into the San Diego cores as well, that extra cache does seem to help a good bit. They also OC just as high as the venice cores. They do cost a little more though due to the extra cache.

The DFI is also a very solid choice, im running the SLI-DR, which allows you to run dual video cards in SLI mode if you ever feel the need in the future. the Ultra-D doesnt.

 

[bumpin_blazer 5,000+ posts]

Hey noah not bad choices my friend, i think i spent right around 700-900 on mine and even though it's intel it's still a good pc. What kind of case do you currently have? The cpu and vid card you are getting aren't the greatest at dissepation especially if you only want to spend 30 on heatsink. I'd spend a little more $$ on the heatsink and snag up a xp-90 or xp-90c, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835109122 . that's 67 bucks but trust me it's WELL worth it IMO. I'm using a 3.2E with an XP-120 and it stay's cool. As for ram, why not look into mushkin level I or level II good stuff and can be had for relatively cheap.

 

[Moe Lester 10+ year member]

Hey noah not bad choices my friend, i think i spent right around 700-900 on mine and even though it's intel it's still a good pc. What kind of case do you currently have? The cpu and vid card you are getting aren't the greatest at dissepation especially if you only want to spend 30 on heatsink. I'd spend a little more $$ on the heatsink and snag up a xp-90 or xp-90c, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835109122 . that's 67 bucks but trust me it's WELL worth it IMO. I'm using a 3.2E with an XP-120 and it stay's cool. As for ram, why not look into mushkin level I or level II good stuff and can be had for relatively cheap.

I got my XP-90C for like $55 shipped @ http://www.svc.com they generally have excellent prices on heatsinks and fans //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

XP-90 with fan http://www.svc.com/xp90-ret-21.html (in your price range)

XP-90C, no fan http://www.svc.com/xp-90c-21.html costs a bit more and has no fan, and weighs a ton, but it performs better than the aluminum version.

The new .9nm cores like the venice and san diego should NEVER exceed 50C at full load nor should you pump more than 1.6-1.625 volts through them on air cooling. even with phase change cooling or something of that sort, they are known to fry unlike your T-breds which will run on 2.1v all day lol.

 

[bumpin_blazer 5,000+ posts]

I got my XP-90C for like $55 shipped @ http://www.svc.com they generally have excellent prices on heatsinks and fans //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif
XP-90 with fan http://www.svc.com/xp90-ret-21.html (in your price range)

XP-90C, no fan http://www.svc.com/xp-90c-21.html costs a bit more and has no fan, and weighs a ton, but it performs better than the aluminum version.

The new .9nm cores like the venice and san diego should NEVER exceed 50C at full load nor should you pump more than 1.6-1.625 volts through them on air cooling. even with phase change cooling or something of that sort, they are known to fry unlike your T-breds which will run on 2.1v all day lol.

very true, i meant more of the video card than his cpu, my cpu is the heat ***** lol. biggest reason i got the xp-120 was b/c i couldn't wait for a 90c to get in on my cpu and the xp-120 is well bigger and you know everything's bigger here in Tx right moe.

 

[Nightskye 10+ year member]

OCZ is wayyy overpriced for the minimal performance gain you get out of it.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

get an asus mobo or abit...dont get what your getting..

I'll take the DFi, better over-clockablity and more stable //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif Also, little lower price //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Is around $80 good enough for a PSU? Any specific suggestions?

Heatsink, I'll spend up to $50 on...

Mobo: $117-$135

CPU: $170-190

Ram: $150

PSU: $80

Heatsink: $50

Graphics Card: $180

So, I'm gonna try to keep it under $800 then...hopefully it's do-able. Also, the San Diego better than the Venice?

Thanks...

NG

 

[Moe Lester 10+ year member]

ehh for a quality PSU capable of delivering the power for overclocking Id expect to spend more like $130

Like i said earlier, look @ that OCZ 520w PowerStream. It has individually adjustable voltage rails on the back so that you can adjust it. Its regulated to within 1% and has a peak output of 600 watts for 1 minute. Its also extremely quiet. http://store.yahoo.com/directron/ocz520adj.html

Heres some PSUs that cost a bit less

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103931

http://www.gameve.com/gve/Store/ProductDetails.aspx?sku=PS-ENERMAX-535

The san diego has 1mb of L2 cache compared to the 512kb L2 cache on the venice. It does make a difference, the 3500+ venice and 3700+ SD are both 2.2 ghz, but the AMD PR on the SD is a bit higher due to the extra performance the cache gives.

 

[ngsm13 5,000+ posts]

Also...ram...

Basically, I'm looking at this list:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Manufactory=&PropertyCodeValue=521%3A7965&PropertyCodeValue=523%3A8476&PropertyCodeValue=524%3A7862&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&PropertyCodeValue=0&description=&MinPrice=100&MaxPrice=150&SubCategory=147&Submit=Property

DDR400, 184pin, 2 x 512 mb, $100-$150

Keep in mind, I don't need the BEST...If i'm going to see minimal performance increase...I don't want to spend the extra few dollars.

I'm looking for a good mix of value/performance/price!

Thanks

NG

 

[bumpin_blazer 5,000+ posts]

keep what you thought on mobo and cpu, that puts you at 306+ shipping. Get some Mushkin DDR400*pc3200* http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146354 . That puts you at 407+ shipping. The xp90 retail that moe pointed out at 45ish with shipping so you're at like 470 shipped. Vid card keep what you got that puts you at 649. So you have the $$ to get a kick *** power supply right. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153020 power supply at 77 shipped put's you right at 726.

 

[Moe Lester 10+ year member]

out of all those, id go with this one

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227204