$850 AMD System - Finalized - $859.94 - $1150

[quantumsheep]

Thanks for the replies. I have a question though. Is it wise to SLI? Or should I just get a mobo that doesnt support SLI and hopefully save some money. Is getting a Ram with cas 4 over a cas 5 really worth it? Or will it show little difference for the things Im doing? So getting these 2 instead:

ASUS M2V Socket AM2 VIA K8T890 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
$82.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131024

G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail - $189.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231087

and in the future, just get a better single Vid Card

OR

Stick with this build, have the SLI feature to be in the safe side (and I believe the Gigabyte is overall a better board, right?) and just upgrade the Ram later to a 4 cas if I really need it. Sticking with this build is just under $860 (around 855) but will probably be more expensive later *however I think its safer if its good enough for what Im asking for. The other choice will be more expensive (nearing the $900 mark) but it *might be cheaper later on. What do you guys think? Spend a little more money and hope SLI wont be necessary and getting a 4 cas now, OR just stick with what I have setup and hope the 5 cas is good enough for what I want to use it for (and have SLI possibility).

SlI is not worth it unless you want to go ultra high end.

And yes, with an AMD system the CAS4 ram is definetly worth it.

 

[Patfett]

Your DX10 suggestion is important as emulation for DX9 cards will die under the new DX10 API design as its not simply a few addon but a complete reprogramming. The DX10 upgrade is more needed than the CPU's as tekzor is totally correct but if that upgrade is the summer of next year then stick to the 7900gt and toss the CPU upgrade.

True that will eventually happen but I'd think it'd be a good 2-3 years b4 they completly cut DX9 support. Not profitable cutting out a large section of consummers who haven't upgraded yet. I plan on waiting for at least the 2nd gen DX10 cards for the bugs to be worked out.

 

[quantumsheep]

Your DX10 suggestion is important as emulation for DX9 cards will die under the new DX10 API design as its not simply a few addon but a complete reprogramming. The DX10 upgrade is more needed than the CPU's as tekzor is totally correct but if that upgrade is the summer of next year then stick to the 7900gt and toss the CPU upgrade.

True that will eventually happen but I'd think it'd be a good 2-3 years b4 they completly cut DX9 support. Not profitable cutting out a large section of consummers who haven't upgraded yet. I plan on waiting for at least the 2nd gen DX10 cards for the bugs to be worked out.

That's what im doing too.

 

[elbert]

Your DX10 suggestion is important as emulation for DX9 cards will die under the new DX10 API design as its not simply a few addon but a complete reprogramming. The DX10 upgrade is more needed than the CPU's as tekzor is totally correct but if that upgrade is the summer of next year then stick to the 7900gt and toss the CPU upgrade.

True that will eventually happen but I'd think it'd be a good 2-3 years b4 they completly cut DX9 support. Not profitable cutting out a large section of consummers who haven't upgraded yet. I plan on waiting for at least the 2nd gen DX10 cards for the bugs to be worked out.
Of course thats to consider if the GPU makers were in full charge of the API but Microsoft has its claws and Vista on the new API. Nvidia has little say in the matter as they can give no suggestions to the DX team for getting caught changing the DX9 code.

The otherside is the fact the GPU makers will have a new unmatched product to their old GPU's which makes buying increase. The GPU makers will emulate to the best of their ability the DX10 functions into DX9 cards but with all new code changes its going to cripple DX9 GPU's. 2-3 years on a crippled DX9 GPU wouldn't be fun and you'll always have the choice of staying with XP as its may not support DX10.

 

[dragoon38900]

Ok, first off, I wanna make this clear. This is not necessarily a gaming PC. I will also do animations, video editing and some 3d renderings. Therefore, I believe dual core is a must.

might want to tack on a heatsink/fan there...

Huh? Its not included?

Anyways, I think Ill just go with a non-SLI board. Whats a good board thats better than the board I put there (the SLI Gigabyte board) and has the same price range?

I would go with LCD, seems to be the big thing nowadays.

I really dont mind a CRT, hopefully I can find a cheap 19 inch soon... dont really wanna spend almost $200 on the monitor anyways.

About the DX10/Vista. I dont think Ill be switching to it for a long time if its not really a must. If I have to, then I will, but I will stick with the 7900. Forget the SLI idea, amd ill just go with a better nonSLI board. No harm in that, I think... Also, the Ram is overclockable to cas 4, right?

And lastly, I read some reviews about the PSU in the case, and there were a handful of bad ones :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148027
So, if this is true... I found a good case alternative:
http://www.xoxide.com/x-static-2-silver.html - $29.99
Is this a good case? I like the design, and look at the price
As for the PSU, whats a good one? Are these any good?:
XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W ATX 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail - $48.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189005

OR

COOLMAX CP-500T EPS12V 500W Active PFC Power Supply 100 - 240V - Retail - $49.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159040

OR

HIPRO HP-P500W/TOP-500P5 ATX V2.01 500W Power Supply 115/230 V - OEM - $36.50

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817174023

Later when you more likly change to a K8L CPU you'll have $45 extra for that purchase and I hope this helps in your final system build.

Sorry to ask, but what is the K8L? Are there mobos that would support it and is in my price range?

 

[ikaz]

As far a monitor yeah there is nothing wrong with a CRT (other than its size/weight) a "cheap" CRT will pretty much always beat out a "cheap" LCD for gaming and watching movies as of right now. If you don't mind the size/weight then a CRT will for the most part have a great picture image. With that being said the best bet would probably be to walk into your local retailer around your city and check out the sales.

Since evey one is going LCD now you can probably find your self a good deal as retailers are trying to get rid of them. I mean just from a space stand point a 17inch CRT probably takes up twice the space so that means a store can only carry half as many of those items. Also a CRT seems to weigh about 2x-3x as much as the same viewing size of a monitor so I'm sure shipping cost would be more for a truck will with CRT vs with flat screens. Which is another reason why store would be trying to get rid of there stock.

 

[quantumsheep]

Don't even bother thinking about K8L, it's still at least a 1 year and 4 months away. By that time AM3 will be out so there's no point thinking about K8L at the moment, no matter what the AMD fanboys tell you.

It does look quite promising though.

 

[dragoon38900]

Ok, can someone help me choose a motherboard?
MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049

ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 96.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131022

ABIT KN9S Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - 99.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127007

ABIT KN9 ULTRA Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - 114.95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127008

If there are better choices, please tell me. Which board should I go with and is it better than the prior board:
Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 96.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128321

and which one is the safest to get (I read the reviews, and a handful of them are bad....).

 

[elbert]

Ok, first off, I wanna make this clear. This is not necessarily a gaming PC. I will also do animations, video editing and some 3d renderings. Therefore, I believe dual core is a must.

might want to tack on a heatsink/fan there...

Huh? Its not included?

Anyways, I think Ill just go with a non-SLI board. Whats a good board thats better than the board I put there (the SLI Gigabyte board) and has the same price range?

I would go with LCD, seems to be the big thing nowadays.

I really dont mind a CRT, hopefully I can find a cheap 19 inch soon... dont really wanna spend almost $200 on the monitor anyways.

About the DX10/Vista. I dont think Ill be switching to it for a long time if its not really a must. If I have to, then I will, but I will stick with the 7900. Forget the SLI idea, amd ill just go with a better nonSLI board. No harm in that, I think... Also, the Ram is overclockable to cas 4, right?

And lastly, I read some reviews about the PSU in the case, and there were a handful of bad ones :
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148027
So, if this is true... I found a good case alternative:
http://www.xoxide.com/x-static-2-silver.html - $29.99
Is this a good case? I like the design, and look at the price
As for the PSU, whats a good one? Are these any good?:
XCLIO GOODPOWER 500W ATX 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CUL, TUV, CB, VDE, FIMKO, DEMKO, NEMKO, SEMKO - Retail - $48.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817189005

OR

COOLMAX CP-500T EPS12V 500W Active PFC Power Supply 100 - 240V - Retail - $49.99

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159040

OR

HIPRO HP-P500W/TOP-500P5 ATX V2.01 500W Power Supply 115/230 V - OEM - $36.50

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817174023

Later when you more likly change to a K8L CPU you'll have $45 extra for that purchase and I hope this helps in your final system build.

Sorry to ask, but what is the K8L? Are there mobos that would support it and is in my price range?
O, I see your going to use gelato for video editing and 3d renderings. I have to tell you the HD is very important in video editing. You may want a dedication HD to write your video to as it will slow the CPU if your boot HD is being used for other operations.

 

[elbert]

Ok, can someone help me choose a motherboard?
MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049

ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 96.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131022

ABIT KN9S Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 550 MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - 99.50
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127007

ABIT KN9 ULTRA Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail - 114.95
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127008

If there are better choices, please tell me. Which board should I go with and is it better than the prior board:
Gigabyte GA-M55SLI-S4 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 96.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128321

and which one is the safest to get (I read the reviews, and a handful of them are bad....).

Anyone of the nforce 570 should do fine but my pick would be the MSI or ASUS.

 

[dragoon38900]

O, I see your going to use gelato for video editing and 3d renderings. I have to tell you the HD is very important in video editing. You may want a dedication HD to write your video to as it will slow the CPU if your boot HD is being used for other operations.

That would be a great upgrade to do in the future, but for now I just need the standards (this is a $850 setup....what do you expect?)

I decided to go with the MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049

This board is better than the original one, right? What benefits would I get from it compared to the other board? Ill post a finalized version of the setup, then off to ordering

BTW, I still dont know what PSU to go for...

 

[Frankzoola]

good, but make sure that ram is not "intel based platforms only" and id change the video card for either an x1800xt 256mb or x1800gto2 512mb, both are cheaper, and supposably u can overclock the x1800gto2 to x1800xt speeds, the x1800xt costs $235 on newegg.com and the x1800gto2 costs $225 after rebate, with that money saved u may get an x2 4200 instead, and maybe look into getting an ANTEC PSU, or if u wanna get a cheaper one thats also good theres Sparkle and FPS (both are essentialy the same brands) theres also an Xclio one that is very well rated

 

[elbert]

O, I see your going to use gelato for video editing and 3d renderings. I have to tell you the HD is very important in video editing. You may want a dedication HD to write your video to as it will slow the CPU if your boot HD is being used for other operations.

That would be a great upgrade to do in the future, but for now I just need the standards (this is a $850 setup....what do you expect?)

I decided to go with the MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049

This board is better than the original one, right? What benefits would I get from it compared to the other board? Ill post a finalized version of the setup, then off to ordering

BTW, I still dont know what PSU to go for...
The 570 ultra handles large data volumes such as digital media better with advanced HD out of order fetching and the 570 ultra's NVIDIA FirstPacket technology reduced ping times for better online gamming. The 570 has 2 additional SATA and RAID 5 over the 550 and older nforce chipsets. The future of fast storage is on SSD and 1 SATA isnt enough so you will be seeing SSD RAID. Thats 2 SATA connectors down. Optical drives are moving to SATA so your going to need 2 there. Thats 4 without the HD's added and the 550 only has 4 SATA connectors.

This mobo wasn't in your choices but may hold the best options.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123005
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128014

 

[dragoon38900]

The 570 ultra handles large data volumes such as digital media better with advanced HD out of order fetching and the 570 ultra's NVIDIA FirstPacket technology reduced ping times for better online gamming. The 570 has 2 additional SATA and RAID 5 over the 550 and older nforce chipsets. The future of fast storage is on SSD and 1 SATA isnt enough so you will be seeing SSD RAID. Thats 2 SATA connectors down. Optical drives are moving to SATA so your going to need 2 there. Thats 4 without the HD's added and the 550 only has 4 SATA connectors.

This mobo wasn't in your choices but may hold the best options.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123005
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128014

Umm, isnt the MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049
come with 6 SATAs? Thats 2 more for drives... it is a 570... im confused.

 

[elbert]

The 570 ultra handles large data volumes such as digital media better with advanced HD out of order fetching and the 570 ultra's NVIDIA FirstPacket technology reduced ping times for better online gamming. The 570 has 2 additional SATA and RAID 5 over the 550 and older nforce chipsets. The future of fast storage is on SSD and 1 SATA isnt enough so you will be seeing SSD RAID. Thats 2 SATA connectors down. Optical drives are moving to SATA so your going to need 2 there. Thats 4 without the HD's added and the 550 only has 4 SATA connectors.

This mobo wasn't in your choices but may hold the best options.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123005
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128014

Umm, isnt the MSI K9N Platinum Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail 108.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130049
come with 6 SATAs? Thats 2 more for drives... it is a 570... im confused.

This board is better than the original one, right? What benefits would I get from it compared to the other board? Ill post a finalized version of the setup, then off to ordering Wink

You asked this which I was replying to as for the 2 I linked they have the 570 with 16MB of RAM expandability. The ones you linked only had 8MB or RAM expandabiliy. The big question between the 2 I link is do you want 3rd PCI or 3rd PCIE-1X slots.

 

[dragoon38900]

You asked this which I was replying to as for the 2 I linked they have the 570 with 16MB of RAM expandability. The ones you linked only had 8MB or RAM expandabiliy. The big question between the 2 I link is do you want 3rd PCI or 3rd PCIE-1X slots.

oh, sorry didnt realize that.
16Gb of ram... err i dont even think Id reach 8 Gb... does it really matter? (unless its not the kind of ram Im thinking of...)

besides, its really going into the limit of the money. I origally wanted it to be around 850, but now if I get either of those boards u linked, its +$30, thats 880.... I still need to worry about the other costs. Id like to keep the "entire" thing to a price of 1150 or below.

 

[elbert]

You asked this which I was replying to as for the 2 I linked they have the 570 with 16MB of RAM expandability. The ones you linked only had 8MB or RAM expandabiliy. The big question between the 2 I link is do you want 3rd PCI or 3rd PCIE-1X slots.

oh, sorry didnt realize that.
16Gb of ram... err i dont even think Id reach 8 Gb... does it really matter? (unless its not the kind of ram Im thinking of...)

besides, its really going into the limit of the money. I origally wanted it to be around 850, but now if I get either of those boards u linked, its +$30, thats 880.... I still need to worry about the other costs. Id like to keep the "entire" thing to a price of 1150 or below.
Limited money, I know the felling, and it sucks. The MSI mobo will make a nice system but if prices change before you order, keep the 2 I linked in mind.

 

[Patfett]

Another difference between the MSI board and ASUS is IEE support. That's why I'm going with the MSI. I don't get why ASUS went without IEE for the non SLI board.

 

[lordslashstab]

I am a MSI fanboy. umm well I wouldn't say MSI is the best mind you(i don't know what is?), but I have built several msi nforce computers and their price, performance, and stability is quite good IMO.

 

[elbert]

I am a MSI fanboy. umm well I wouldn't say MSI is the best mind you(i don't know what is?), but I have built several msi nforce computers and their price, performance, and stability is quite good IMO.

Your total correct MSI is a great mobo maker but I try to pick the best, MSI being one, and then compare their differances. I like 16Gb of RAM expandibility not only for the fact it can hold 16Gb's but having a choice of 1, 2, 4, or even 8Gb packages 2 or 3 years down the road is value. If MSI had a 16Gb mobo with the 570 nvidia chipset I would have suggested it also.

If theres a massive upturn on RAM which I hope come due to the FTC stepping in on RAMBUS an 8Gb mobo may have a short life span. But in the case of dragoon38900 the price was to high and I understand that as most do. I just hope it give dragoon38900 the life span he or she needs.

 

[lordslashstab]

dude, seriously.... I don't think I can name one person (oh yeah, I call EVERYONE) who has used 2 gigs of ram. To use 1 gig of ram is a big accomplishment for me, still don't think I've done that yet...


do tell what you've done to get 2 gigs, just for s & g

 

[elbert]

dude, seriously.... I don't think I can name one person (oh yeah, I call EVERYONE) who has used 2 gigs of ram. To use 1 gig of ram is a big accomplishment for me, still don't think I've done that yet...


do tell what you've done to get 2 gigs, just for s & g

I see well by next year you should or will have too as game will pretty much require 2Gb or RAM. Currently even cheap $500 systems have 1Gb and by next year it'll go to 2Gb's. 8Gb's of RAM want be needed for about 3 years but its good to have the expandability potential.

 

[lordslashstab]

Your crystal ball is hazy from all that pot smoke(mine too). I am sensing some kind of plateau in game engine wise.

Instead of system memory I believe the first to go up will be gpu memory with the bigger and bigger maps. Take for instance some of the huge custom maps of hl2dm, run every texture on high, get 32-64 goons in there and see the difference in gpu memory. I bet the 7900 card w/ 256 mb will start choking. I am going to buy this system w/ a few options of my own, just wondering if spending 200 dollars more on a gpu w/ 512 mb will be worth it for the BIG maps.

 

[elbert]

Your crystal ball is hazy from all that pot smoke(mine too). I am sensing some kind of plateau in game engine wise.

Instead of system memory I believe the first to go up will be gpu memory with the bigger and bigger maps. Take for instance some of the huge custom maps of hl2dm, run every texture on high, get 32-64 goons in there and see the difference in gpu memory. I bet the 7900 card w/ 256 mb will start choking. I am going to buy this system w/ a few options of my own, just wondering if spending 200 dollars more on a gpu w/ 512 mb will be worth it for the BIG maps.

GPU memory is important but its much cheaper to buy a new GPU that change a mobo. A new mobo most of the time means new RAM with almost no increased performance for the older programs. New mobo's cost other things such as slots may be replaced, as the case of the ISA slot, as we may see the PCI slots go to all PCIE-1X. This can be very expensive as PCI sound cards, Phyx cards, PCI SSD cards, and many others will have to be replaced with new PCIE-1X cards.

The 512Mb GPU's are the costly ones and with DX10 right around the bend I would suggest waiting. The G80 release time line is september to october and should have mid range GPU's as fast as the FX7900. AMD is promising new CPU under their new design by December and if your like Intel they should have the X7900 3.33Ghz out in about 3 months. The tech industry is in a price and performance war and those who wait till the end get a much longer life span out of their new PC.

The gamming engine isnt about to plateau as crysis will need every high tech device you can throw at it but it'll need more. I've read review on crysis and it sound like they done what 3drealm was trying to get the prey engine to do over 10 years ago. The prey engine was over 5 years in production and ended due to impossible performance problems with then current technology. Crysis isnt as much a GPU limited game as old first person shooters as it is CPU limited.

I wish I had a crystal ball mine got broke back in my teen age years. Now I just look at the average time to market in the GPU line as comming late to market will cost them lower stock prices. Its also important to note when GPU makers start up a new processing cycle then add about 2 or 3 months. Estimating time to market isnt really that hard as tech analysts do it all the time.

 

[lordslashstab]

holy crap, just looked at those pictures of crysis. I can't begin to imagine any technology unit capable of such rendering and I have a big imagination, has a long loading time... fps count for this game over 11 in this market right now methinks not. Back to the subject, for me, I found my favorite game of all time, HL2DM, and I am going to buy an ATI card w/ 512 mb instead of the nvidia, cheaper than buying a 7900 w/ 512(someone find me a 7900 w/ 512 cheaper than x1800 w/ 512)

My ATI pick would be
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121554
any comments?