Building System - A64 based

[okietex]

Ok, have all parts nailed down - well, almost - and I know I want to go with an AMD 64 proc. 3200+ around there.

Now, here's my dilema -- if I want to pursue PCI-E ... I see that limited on the AMD side on MOBOs. There seems to be quite a number on the INTEL side but not very many out yet on the AMD side.

Also, seems to be a fairly hard choice between chipsets ... the 754 or the 939.

Looks like I need to just go AGP on video -- forget PCI-E on this system build ... AGP will probably be just fine for this system.

On the mobo - do I go for possible future growth with a 939 or just stick with a 754?

939 has dual channel ram - so that is a plus + possible future development for 939. Cons is it is newer...
754 is out longer, more out there right now and seems to be good.

what's ya'lls thoughts?

 

[pat]

A system to do what??

PCIe will be really useful when new videocard with multimedia feature such as integrated sound, hardware TIVO, ... will be available. Until then, AGP will suffice. As for socket 754 or 939, well, the fastest 754 CPU you can have is a 3700+ which is about the same performance as the 939 4000+, which got a higher rating because it has dual channel, but that doesnt really matter for AMD system. So if you need more power than the 3700+, then you'll have to go with 939. If you go 754, then when you'll need to go faster than 3700+,like in 2 years, well...new motherboard with better feature and performance will be available at this time, so dont mind about getting something futureproff...as that dont exist. As for waiting for something better ...you'll wait forever as there is always something better coming... So buy what you want...you wont go wrong.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[okietex]

"A system to do what??"

home system, photos, e-mail/web/internet, kids games, home office type of use - want it fast etc. (not for me, bro-in-law)

And, you confirm on what I was thinking and I was wanting affirmation! Thanks.

I think the 754 will be fine for what I'm doing with this box and that's what I've got outlined right now. But, when I start ordering -- I want to try and make sure I've covered my bases on that PCI-e stuff as well as the 939.

THX Pat

 

[pat]

If I can advice you on a good, fast, stable motherboard for socket 754, then have a look at the Soltek k8an2e-gr. I have it and I really like it. The only thing it miss is the onboard firewire so if you absolutly need it, then you'll have to check for another board or buy an adapter.
Get a 3000+ or a 3200+ with it...this will be really enough.


-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[okietex]

I will consider that one as well -- right now I have a GA-K8NS PRO in my wish list over @ NewEgg but I'll go compare those and see which one I like. I have no experience with either mfg so not sure. I think I've seen you mention that one previously so I might have looked at it already. I'll check it out.

 

[pat]

Sometimes peoples advice other with product thay dont own...not me. I have no opinion about the GA-K8NS PRO as I have never used it. I wont advice people to buy an Asus only because it is an Asus...I dont know these board.

But I know that the Soltek perform very well..cause I have it.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[endyen]

I do have the Asus board, and recommend it. I have built for others using the gigabyte board, and it is also good, though having to hit cont F8 to get to advanced bios takes some getting used to. I have not had a chance to build on the abit nforce board, but would recommend it, based on experience with abit.

 

[sobelizard]

I have an MSI K8N Neo Platinum board and a 754 3200. My opinion is it's a very stable and feature rich board.

<font color=green><b><i>Lizards</font color=green></b> do <b>not</b> taste like <b><font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b>,<b> <font color=yellow>chicken</font color=yellow></b> tastes like <font color=green><b>lizard.</b></font color=green></i>

 

[georgebeee]

the msi has the hardware firewall also as does the epox 8kda3+. if that's not a major concern the chaintech vnf-250 might be worth your consideration. anandtech.com did a review

<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2063&p=16" target="_new">clicky</A>

 

[okietex]

Ok, I'm on the A64 build -- getting parts going and ready to order

questions for you guys...
----------------------
Video ... leaning to this card:
-- Leadtek nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB GDDR3, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, AGP 8X, "A6600 GT TDH" for $220

vs.

POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9600PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, "R96A-C3N" - $118

So, is the 6600GT $100 bucks better??
I have no idea -- I usually just buy an ATI-type Radeon so just going on newness and good things said about the 6600.
--------------
AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor -- $193

vs the

AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor -- $129

I felt like for $70 it was worth it to jump up and be faster. Thoughts???
-------------------------
PDP SYSTEMS DDR Memory 184-Pin 1GB PC-3200, PSD1G400 - $157

Since the SOLTEK only has 2 DDR slots and 2 GB max -- I felt like going with 1 stick of 1 GB and that gives me extra room.
NewEgg users rated this good but I have no clue and not sure if the SOLTEK board needs certain brands or likes certain brands/types more or less. THOUGHTS?

I'd usually by Crucial or Corsair but haven't bought in a while so not sure on some of these other brands. Also, seems like 2 sticks of 512 can run around the same price as this one stick so that also made me think this way.

Off base or really whacked??

TIA

 

[pat]

I can't help you on the videocard choice, because I'm not really knowledgable about them, and I always have Radeon in my systems... So I let other s to help you there.

as for the CPU, WellI went in between, with the 3000+, but this is the minimum I would go. Having had a little bit more budget, I would have choose the 3200+, but I wanted a RAID array to have better performance at this point.

As for memory, well I dont know. But I guess that you should be fine as since it is not dual channel, this board should be more tolerant.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[georgebeee]

one reason I liked the epox board, 3 ram slots, max 3 gb

would sure like to hear from an owner of a 64 bit epox board owner

"Filling all three available memory slots is more strenuous on the memory subsystem than testing 2 DIMMs on a motherboard. Epox does not recommend using 3 double-sided DIMMs, and in this case, it is solid advice. No matter what we tried, or how slow the timings we set, 3 double-sided DIMMs would not operate in the 8KDA3+. We do not consider the inability to run 3 DS DIMMs a real handicap on a Single-Channel memory motherboard, but if this is an important feature to you, the Epox is not the motherboard to run 3 DIMMs. Despite the fact that 3 DS DIMMs are not officially supported on the nForce3-250, the other nF3-250 boards did manage to run 3 DIMMs, some at the same aggressive timings used for 2 DIMMs. "

so much for the epox board having 3 DIMM slots
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2063&p=7" target="_new">clicky</A><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by georgebeee on 01/02/05 11:24 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[dougyfresh]

you could consider a socket 939 and get dual channeling memory if you planned on getting two or four dimms. the socket 939 mobos have a few more features than the comparing 754 ones, you might as well

 

[dougyfresh]

you could consider a socket 939 and get dual channeling memory if you planned on getting two or four dimms. the socket 939 mobos have a few more features than the comparing 754 ones, you might as well

 

[endyen]

So, is the 6600GT $100 bucks better??

Short answer, yes. Long answer, power crapper cards are a waste of a gpu, while the 66oogt is better on average than a 9800pro. You should check with the guys in the graphics forum on this, but I'm pretty sure they will agree. BTW, I am running a 9600pro, and am seriously thinking of replacing it with the 6600gt. I love my 9600pro but it's getting old, and the 6600gt is great value.

 

[pat]

"the socket 939 mobos have a few more features than the comparing 754 ones"

Which are???

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[tweebel]

More holes for the pins?

 

[athena]

I have a Epox EP-8KDA3J and it's the same as the 8KDA3+ only the "J" doesn't have the extra SATA channels / chip.

I read the review of the "+" at the clicky, Thanks!

My 8KDA3J is upgraded with the latest 11/04 bios and by measurement (no overclock) determined that I can't use either SS or DS memory and get >1GB while maintaining DDR400 speed. EPOX's manual is BS.

I have a topic over in the components > memory section of this forum, but there is less traffic there.

Please take a look at what I've found and if you have a solution for >1gb with DDR400 actual speed per measurements let's hear it.

The topic I started there is "Phoney DDR400 speed with AMD64 754pin MB ram > 1GB"

My system is A64 3400+ EP-8KDA3J, various DDR400 memory tried, plus X800 Pro ATI.

By the way, my long term experience is that by the time I'm ready to upgrade a processor, the motherboard needs to be upgraded too. That's why I went with the 754 pin style. Maybe I made the wrong choice, as I'll bet the 939 pin dual channel gets 2gb at DDR400. Any word on that?

Thanks
Athena

 

[pat]

I dont think you did a bad choice, because with all the new feature coming as SATA2, SLI, DDR2, Dual core, you 939 mobo will need tu be upgraded too and you sure wont put your "slow" CPU on a brand new board, so you'll end up with a MOBO/CPU upgrade anyway.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[Lazerous]

I bought the ASUS K8N-E deluxe board to go with my a64 3700+. I wieghed out the 754 vs 939 also and realized that when I'm ready to upgrade it will be at least a mobo/cpu proposition so I went for immediate performance over future promises. The future will take care of itself i figure.

I really love the features of the asus as well. The raid options are fantastic. it will support 4 ide devices and 6 sata devices all simultaneously if you wanted to. It has a built in Nforce sata raid and also a seperate Sil3114 sata raid setup. I'm not sure how 3 dimms works in it yet though as i haven't got it all put tohether yet. This board also has built in firewire on the panel with support for another as well as support for 8 usb 2.0 ports. Asus has also bundled some handy new utilities with it, like EZ Flash, ASUS crash free bios and Q-fan technology.

AMD 64 3700+,ASUS K8N-E Deluxe-250gb,1.5 gb PC3200,Gigabyte GeForce 6800gt 256mb,Audigy 2 ZS , 2-36.7gb 10,000 rpm Raptors/Raid 0, Thermaltake butterfly 480 watt PSU , + asst. other amenities.....