Help me throw away my Dell! My 1st Self Build

[DDay629]

Ahhh, nvm then. I just thought it was a little excessive.

DDay

 

[linux_0]

i changed that in the update list.

The Opty 165 will perform quite well compared to the D 940 and should OC very well should you choose to OC it.

If you decide not to OC at all then the X2 3800+ or higher would be slightly better.

 

[fungusfeet]

I don't think I'm likely to overclock as I worry about overstressing things (I don't like forking out money, probably the reason why I'm still using a p4 1.4 with 384mb ram and a 32meg geforce2)

what about the graphics card? anything cheaper I can get that will perform as well as the xtx?

 

[fungusfeet]

gotta say thanks for the input...I didn't think anyone would bother replying!

 

[DDay629]

Of course we would, I mean, what do you think the forum is here for.



DDay

 

[linux_0]

I don't think I'm likely to overclock as I worry about overstressing things (I don't like forking out money, probably the reason why I'm still using a p4 1.4 with 384mb ram and a 32meg geforce2)

what about the graphics card? anything cheaper I can get that will perform as well as the xtx?

The XFX looks pretty good, I can't find a better nVidia card at that price.

 

[MrsD]

Hey stinkyfeet. One suggestion I can offer is a different hardrive.
The RE series has a 5 year warranty, not a 3.
It also has 16mb of cache, not 8mb.
Its only $11 more than the one you listed.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822136010

 

[fungusfeet]

as I won't be buying anything from the US this is the actual drive I'm getting...

WD 250GB

 

[fungusfeet]

I have 2 more questions....

Would I be better off buying a single stick of 1GB ram instead of a matched pair of 512 seeing as I'll probably eventually upgrade to 2gb anyway...can I do that as I know with my rdram you have to have pairs???

what's the benefit of a matched pair anyway?

and finally....I have a pci firewire card so would i be able to rig something up internally to connect this to the front firewire port that this case has? at least I think it has anyway!

 

[fungusfeet]

fantastic....just found out the motherboard I chose doesn't infact support the processor as it doesn't support 65nm...back to square one!

 

[carpcmelee]

http://www.doomedpc.com/?q=node/38

 

[linux_0]

I have 2 more questions....

Would I be better off buying a single stick of 1GB ram instead of a matched pair of 512 seeing as I'll probably eventually upgrade to 2gb anyway...can I do that as I know with my rdram you have to have pairs???

what's the benefit of a matched pair anyway?

and finally....I have a pci firewire card so would i be able to rig something up internally to connect this to the front firewire port that this case has? at least I think it has anyway!

Using 2 matched sticks in a Dual Channel kit will theoretically double your memory bandwidth.

1 stick in single channel transfers 64bits per cycle

2 sticks in dual channel transfer 128bit per cycle

Dual channel will not actually double your performance but you will see a significant increase.

To run Dual channel you normally need to have 2 identical sticks.

If the sticks are not identical you can expect to have problems.

Dual-channel architecture DDR SDRAM describes a motherboard technology that effectively doubles data throughput in the frontside bus from RAM to the memory controller. Dual Channel-enabled memory controllers utilize two 64-bit data channels, resulting in a total bandwidth of 128 bits, to move data from RAM to the CPU.

In order to achieve this, the DDR SDRAM memory modules must be installed into matching memory slots, which are usually color coded on the motherboard. Each memory module in each slot should be identical to the one in its matching slot. It's also possible to use similar memory sticks from different manufacturers or different production series as long they are of the same size, specification, the same number of memory chips and internal organization.

Several high-end motherboards have integrated firewire and some provide a connector on the motherboard for a front panel connector.


If your motherboard doesn't have a connector on the motherboard for front panel firewire you could get a bay mounted firewire / USB front panel bay like these:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?DEPA=0&type=&Description=front+panel+firewire&Submit=ENE&Ntk=all&N=0&minPrice=&maxPrice=&Go.x=0&Go.y=0


Running the firewire connector from a PCI card to the front panel connector on your case can be tricky because typically you need to use a special cable ( firewire breakout cable Firewire -> IDC pins ).

 

[fungusfeet]

List with Abit AL8 Motherboard

That's the final list there, will start buying through the week.

Costs me about £570 delivered which is $1040

 

[fungusfeet]

Just finished putting it all together and it worked 1st time without anything blowing up!! is there anything you would recommend to me to test stuff out so i know it's all a-ok.

 

[DDay629]

Hey! Good job. Could you first of all post your finished specs. Also, download some benching programs like 3DMark 06 and definetly download Prime95 to do some burn in.

DDay

 

[fungusfeet]

ok...

Antec Sonata II 450w
Pentium D 940
1GB (2x512) 667mhz Ram
Abit AL8 Motherboard
250GB WD Sata2
256mb XFX 6800XT

having to run my old 120gb maxtor as a slave on an IDE channel with the dvd writer as the board only comes with 1 IDE channel (will replace the drive eventually)

I have 3DMark05 already but havn't used it yet.

CPU 11C
System 33C
PWM 33C

are they ok?

 

[linux_0]

You might want to run memtest86 and prime95 to test for stability and to burn it in.


http://forumz.tomshardware.com/software/memtest86-ISO-burning-HOWTO-ftopict230767.html


Or if you need to burn it under windows follow these instructions:

Download

http://memtest86.com/memtest86-3.2.iso.zip

+

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/download/ISORecorderV2RC1.msi

Unzip memtest86 and record the ISO to a CDR with ISORecorder ( you must have XP SP2 ).

http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/HowTo.htm

http://www.mersenne.org/freesoft.htm


:-D

 

[fungusfeet]

3dmak05 score was 3462 3dmarks whatever that means!

 

[linux_0]

Try the SPEC benchmarks they are better and less biased :-D

http://www.spec.org/gpc/downloadindex.html

 

[Newf]

...CPU 11C
System 33C
PWM 33C
are they ok?

Ummm...11C is not possible unless your CPU is in the freezer...

 

[fungusfeet]

i was just looking at typical temperatures and was getting a bit worried...it's never gone above 11...usually around 9

temps taken from abit uguru thingy and also reports the same in the bios....do i have a problem?!!

 

[DDay629]

Yeah, I think the thermometer on your mobo is screwed up for the cpu. Because 20 C is room temp and 11 C is 58 F. So, yeah, your thermometer is screwed.

DDay

 

[fungusfeet]

Yeah, I think the thermometer on your mobo is screwed up for the cpu. Because 20 C is room temp and 11 C is 58 F. So, yeah, your thermometer is screwed.

DDay

any way to fix this?

 

[DDay629]

Ummm, no, not that I know of, you could send the mobo back though. Who did you buy from?

DDay

 

[fungusfeet]

ebuyer in uk. 16 degrees now.....could it be something I did when putting it together though? could there be something I've forgotten to plug in???