Finally buying a new computer

[Altair]

OK here I go again. This time I need help with a new rigg.

I was earlier thinking about upgrading my 4 year old computer but have now decided to buy a new one. I use my computer for school work, listening to music and watching movies and recently playing World Of warcraft.
I'm asking for help because I would like to know what specifik components I should buy for the best performance and compatibility. I have read many tests and reviews but I haven't got any expereince in building a whole rigg from scratch.

My budget for the computer only (excluding the monitor, speakers and keyboard) is about 14 000 kr (1800 USD)

Many Thanks in advance!

 

[Starfishy]

Do you have a case and/or PSU?

<b><font color=red>Go date P4man or something, bye!</font color=red><b>

 

[pickxx]

For 1800 bucks you could buy one HELL of a computer.

Will you want to OC it?
Will you just leave it stock?
how important are games to you? do you want something that makes WoW look fantastic or something that runs it solidly for a couple years?
Are you way into music where you would want speakers and sound card in there as well?
Do all the parts have to come from NewEgg?

__________________________________________
Chaintech VNF3-250/A64 2800+/1GB(512x2) OCZ VX GOLD 2-2-2-5/BFG 6800GT/Thermaltake 420W/WD 200GB/Maxtor 300GB

 

[Altair]

Well, I have got a case and PSU from my old computer but I'd rather not run my new rigg with those =), the PSU is 320 and the case is doubtly good for Over clocking

a)I haven't got much experience in Over clocking but I could do it if it is worth it (increases the performance noticeable), but if not (the risks are too great and I would just get theoretical increase in the performance) then I'd like to stick to the stock.

Games aren't THAT important, school comes first (and I need to get my A's all the way) and then I have a more social life and my martial arts and so on.. And there comes the big question, GREAT performance now or keeping it quite good for a time. Of course I would like a fantastic detail and max AA and AF and those pixelshader etc. but I think it is most important for me to not buy a new comp in 2-3 years.

I can do without great music since I'm probably about to buy a new stereo and/or a new portable. So great music quality on my comp isn't a requirement... But if you could I would like to have an alternative aswell, so include a musical variant aswell =).

NewEgg? I'm not familiar with that site... I live in Sweden and would like to buy stuff from here. www.datorbutiken.se and www.komplett.se are two good sites. But You don't need to go and look for all the stuff, just the specific parts will be excellent.

Thanks again!!!

 

[Altair]

So I was thinking... And then I thought some more... And then I changed my mind. Maybe I'll go for a cheaper alternative and upgrade it when I need to. The configuration I am thinking about now is:

Box: Antec SONATA II Piano Black SmartPower 2.0 450W
MoB: MSI K8N NEO4-F nForce4
CPU: AMD Athlon64 "Venice" 90nm 3000+ 1800MHz/1.8GHz 512kb bulk/tray Socket939
Fan: Zalman CNPS7700-Cu cpu-cooler 120mm fan
GPU: Leadtek WinFast PX6600 GT TDH Extreme GeForce 6600GT
RAM: Kingston ValueRAM KVR400X64C3A/1G 2x1024Mb PC3200
HDD: Seagate Barracuda ST3250823AS 7200.8 250Gb
DVD: NEC ND-3540 Dual-Layer DVD

What do you think? Will it work? And I think I'll wait for the new Soundcard that I've heard so much about (can't really remember the name ).

 

[endyen]

Why the zalman? Are you planning on some major OCing?
The stock fans are really good, and can handle a reasonable (10 to 20%) OC.
The money would be better spent getting a 3200, which gives you a higher mulyiplier, for better OC, or just better perf, if no OC.

 

[Altair]

On one of the forums I hang (www.sweclockers.se) everyone recomends the Zalman cooler and I was thinkin on OCing it alot. I thought that was what people did with a 3000+. I've read that it OC's alot and that it can be clocked to a 3800+. Is this wrong??

 

[fishmahn]

Its not wrong. If you're planning on OCing a lot, its a good chip and cooler. Some think the 3200 is better for ocing because of the 10x multiplier - you don't have to get the fsb as high to hit the same CPU clock.

Because you're planning on OCing, that value ram may run out of headroom quick - are you planning on using a memory divider?

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>

 

[Guest]

Its not wrong but its juts not 100% certain, OCing is more an art tahn a science

Nice system, I'd get a Epox motherboard, instead

The Epox 9NPA+ Ultra is the fastest board in the roundup at stock speeds. It was also the highest overclocker at stock speeds, and the second highest overclocker when the bus was overclocked. The Epox is an incredible value whether you are looking for a board that will run fast with stability at stock speeds or a board that will satisfy almost any Athlon 64 enthusiast. The range of overclocking options and the overclocked performance are among the best that we have seen, falling short only in the memory voltage area, which tops out at 3.1V. The feature set is more or less average for Ultra boards, but the overall performance is clearly standout. Based on the standout performance and solid overclocking that we achieved with the Athlon 64, we are pleased to award the AnandTech Gold Editors Choice to the Epox 9NPA+ Ultra motherboard.

I like the case, Cpu is a good buy, will probably Oc to at least 2.4 with that fan, not quite sure but people recommanded the AL-Cu instead of the CU its within 1% performance wise and its much lighter wich is good if you carry it a bit(wont break the socket or whatever).

Gpu is all right, you might be able to grab a 6800 "vanilla" for a little more money, and then OC and get much better perf.

Ram will do, HD got the same reall good... DVd who carez should do it lol




Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[Guest]

good point <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2497" target="_new">read this</A> No big deal if you sue divider!you can save some money on ram but if you have leftovers, get somethign bettter!

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[Altair]

Great poosts!! Now I'm really exited.
Ok one thing you should know is that I have about 0% practical experience when it comes to OC'ing and two things the guys at sweclockers didn't mention was the motherboard and RAM's. So I'm very glad you guys did! I'm not quite sure about what a memory devider does so I didn't think about that and the Ram could easily be replaced... Though I don't really want to go up in price. Is it better for me to buy 1 GB RAM instead? I just feels as if 2 gb is better than 1, but hey... who am I to talk?

I could buy AL-Cu since it's cheaper =), I just went for the other one because it cost slightly more and I wanted to be able to clock very good.

I don't think a 6800 "Vanilla" is in stock in either www.datorbutiken.se or www.komplett.se (where I would like to buy my parts). And now I have a problem; the components I choose were all from datorbutiken.se and Epox 9NPA+ Ultra can't be found there, but on the other hand, komplett.se has got it, but they haven't got the case I want.

Damn, this is very hard.

 

[Guest]

Ok the "vanilla" is just like plain6800 so theres no confusion heheh, you might want to take a shot at the graphic forum, they might have betetr recomamndation.

As for ram, games like WOW/EQ2 will ebnefit form more than one gig. Photshop with many large file also and video encoding/3d redering that type of stuff.

I'd get 1 gig (2X512) of Crucial Ballistix or OCZ Gold EL VX, these are good OC companion. Also do they have Patriot ram? good stuff...

finnally ther's a OC forum too =) here a quote from one of my post on Ocing a 3000+ I dont own any A64 but it seams simple enough ! =)

Slight OC will be very safe. Im pretrty sure you're venice can reach 2.4ghz rather easily!
TO get it to 2.4, you should do it progressevly as you might want to OC a little less, 2.4 being 33% you could settle around 20/25% but I'll guide you thru anywayz.
Here's the settings I would recommand and that should work fine.
Cpu voltage: 1.45-1.55volt (eperiment, use the lowest stable votlage!)
150mhz memory divider(3/4)
HTT mutiplier: 4X
Cpu multiplier: 9X
Front side bus: 266

If you do the math, your CPu is currently at 200mhz X 9 = 1.8ghz.
Now if we put your FSB at 266mhz instead of 200 we get: 266 X 9 = 2.4ghz.
Since your memory probly cant handle those speeds, we use a memory divider, as you can see 150 is 3/4 of 200, so using the this divider, your ram will run at 3/4 of the FSB resulting in almost exactly 200mhz wich is what youre ram is rated at.
Finally put the HTT multiplier at 4X it will give you a HT linke of 1066 wich is close to 1ghz, even 3X would give you close to 800mhz wich is enough.

Rember not to jump directly there, you have to go slowly and monitor your temps and voltage while you do it.

Hope this helps!

*Added:
For 2.1ghz :
FSB: 233
166mhz memory divider(5/6)
HTT link divider: 4X (933.3mhz)
CPU divider 9
CPU voltage, between 1.4 and 1.5...


Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

Edited by labbbby on 08/09/05 11:14 AM.

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[Altair]

Ok this got even tougher
that komplett.se site (which had the Epox mobo) sells Crucial Ballistix for 1890 kr (in comparison to the Korsair Value Ram that went for about 2300 kr) about 45 USD less than the Value Ram I chose . And if games like Wow benefit from more than One gig I will spend alot of money on RAM :S.
Thanks alot for that reply mate, I really appreciate the help!

 

[Guest]

No problem, somewhat bored and leaving for the wekend soon =).
Well they do benefit but with a decent system, WOW will run great anyhow!

Speed vs quantity is not always easy, but I personanly beleive that 1 gig is enough for eveyrthing and will remain the sweet spot for at least 1 year.

If WOW is really your #1 game maybe you should go 2 gig, else, for 90% of the scenario I would pick 1 gigi of ballistix, but thats just an opinion, its your choice in the end!

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, MSI 6800Ultra stock, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[fishmahn]

In addition, read the OC guides stickied at the top of the overclocking CPU forum. Read the guide to OCing the XP and the A64 one - the concepts are covered really well in the XP guide, and most of it applies to the A64 as well.

Mike.

<font color=blue>Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside the dog its too dark to read.
-- Groucho Marx</font color=blue>

 

[Altair]

Well, WoW is really the only game I play, and I'm not a hardcore gamer so it seems reasonable that 2 gig will be able to handle several apps running simultaneously better than 1 gig. Or am I totally lost?

But if I choose those 2 gig of value RAM, will I not be able to overclock that much? Actually if you look on my entire system it is made for being upgraded in the future, that was the whole idea, to upgrade in maybe 1 ½ - 2 years, so the processor can be upgraded. But I don't want to be stuck with a 3000+, that's a little to slow, isn't it?



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Altair on 08/12/05 06:33 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[liquidpaper007]

You dont really need a fast computer. The things you have suggested will work on a cheap processor.

 

[Altair]

Great =), but do you think I should upgrade the motherboard for say a DFI Lanparty? Will that improve my chanses for ocing the processor? And is it more future friendly?

 

[endyen]

The DFI boards are great OCers, but they are also a lot more "trouble" to set up. You might be better off looking at one of the Abit NF4 boards. They are easier to set up, and are more novice friendly.

 

[Altair]

So how much do you reckon I will be able to clock with all this? I am especially troubled with the RAM.

 

[endyen]

Dont worry about the ram too much. You can use a divider, to keep the memory bus slow.
As to how far you can OC a chip? Who can say. If you are lucky, over 2.4. You will probably get to 2.2, but even that isn't guaranteed.
A nice thing about the Abit boards is a program called u-guru. It allows you to try your OCs in windows, and change settings, on the fly. You still need to test for stability, but at least you dont have to worry about boot failure.
I am also a big believer of burn-in. A chip straight out of the box wont OC as well as one that has been run for a while.

 

[Altair]

Great! Thanks a bunch for all the help, now I have much more information on everything! Wusy, what is burn-out? You mean a total chip failure? How is that good? :S

 

[Altair]

Hmm, I don't think I'll be going for a burn-out then^^

 

[shawnlizzle =]]

fried my cpu via PCI slot

<font color=red>gforce mx100/200 @ 230/440 =]</font color=red>