Athlon 64 3800+ MB Recommendation

[saxman717]

Hello,

I am planning on building a new custom PC and am new to this board (and the process of building a PC). Any good recommendations that you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Here's what I'm planning on starting with:

AMD Athlon64 3800+ 939 Processor
Wester Digital 10,000RPM 74GB SATA Raptor HD
GeForce5900 (possibly Ultra, and possibly upgrading to a 6000+ model in the next year or two) graphics card

Right now, I'm looking for the best motherboard to support all of these. On the top of my list right now is the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Nvidia Nforce4 with SLI for 939pin CPU. If there are better options, then it'd be great to hear about them.

Also, while this doesn't specifically fit under this area of the MB, if anyone has good recommendations on relatively quiet cases, a good power supply to support the above components, and recommended memory that I should purchase, that would be great.

Thank you for the help --- I look forward to hearing your ideas!

Thanks,

Steve

 

[over_c]

The nForce4 SLI boards are all PCI Express boards, not AGP. As such, you will be unable to purchase any GeForce 5xxx cards to go with it. This is a good thing, however, as those cards are roundly considered to be great disappointments. The 6xxx are much, much better. And since it appears you are spending a fair amount of money on this build, you should consider a 6800 GT or better.

I'll leave nForce4 mobo recommendations to those with more experience with them than I.

 

[Rugger]

What do you plan on using this system for? What's your budget? How often do you upgrade and what do you upgrade?

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[saxman717]

I'm trying to keep the cost of everything (except the video card) to under 1000-1200.

Right now, I have a GeForce FX 5900 Ultra.

I'm looking for mainly gaming performance, and overall system performance for standard usage like internet, word processing, MATLAB, watching movies/DVDs etc. My system as it is is a 1.8GHz P4, 512 RAM. I'm thinking I'll spend my tax return on this upgrade This is the first time I'll be building a custom PC.....every previous time I've upgraded, I've bought a new PC from Dell.

Since the GeForce 5900 Ultra isn't an SLI card, should I get an AGP MB? Is the 6800 a major leap from the 5900?

 

[Rugger]

The 6800 WAY ahead of the 5900 Ultra - you will get a significant performance boost with this card. Do you OC or run stock speeds? Are you planning on upgrading your monitor right now or will the one you have do for now? Buying a new DVDRW? I can spec you a system for about $1200 - that will include the video card/DVDRW. It will not include the monitor and the CPU will not be quite as fast but very capable of handling the video card.
Try this on for size:
1. <A HREF="http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270402" target="_new">Enermax 535W Whisper II model EG565P</A> for $93.99
2. <A HREF="http://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?p=CA-P160&c=pw" target="_new">Antec P160</A> for $122.
3. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-160&depa=1" target="_new">WD Raptor 74GB</A> for $182
4. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-502&depa=1" target="_new">A64 3200+ (s939 Winchester)</A> for $190.
5. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=13-136-152&depa=1" target="_new">DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra-D</A> for $136.50.
6. <A HREF="http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=140761" target="_new">OCZ Value VX</A> for $154.90.
7. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-465&depa=1" target="_new">Sapphire X800 Pro</A> for $259. <--Great deal for this card!!
8. <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=27-151-066&depa=1" target="_new">Samsung TS-H552U DVDRW</A> for $57.99.
<b>Total: $1196.38</b> All prices include shipping, but do not include sales tax for th website if you live in their state.

With this setup the 3200+ should easily OC to 3800+ speeds if you're interested in OCing. If you don't want to OC, then this system will game well for at least a couple of years and will be very upgradeable. You don't have the SLI option, but that option is too expensive for my blood...really for anyone who likes good price/performance. The above rig will absolutley dominate your current rig in performance.

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[saxman717]

Those are some great recommendations.....I'll look more closely into that motherboard option and the performance of the 3200+ compared to the other Athlon64 CPUs. I'm all set with the DVDRW, monitor, sound card (from my current computer.

From the research I've done in the meantime, I've come up with a potential list of my own....what do you guys think of this list:

CPU: AMD Athlon64 3800+ 939 Processor $380

Motherboard: Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe Nvidia Nforce4 $180

Memory: 1GB DDR400 (Brand TBD) $190-230

Hard Drive: Western Digital 10,000RPM 74GB Raptor $180-240

Power Supply: Antec TRUE550 550W PS $95

Case: Lian-Li Black ATX Mid Tower Case Model PC-V1000B $180

Video Card:GeForce 6800 GT $370

The price will be getting up there, but I'm expecting to have the graphics card covered by someone else, and potentially one other part, so that'll bring my costs down to about $1200. If there are better and cheaper options, I'd love to hear them.

Thanks for the help.

 

[saxman717]

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-141-431&depa=1

Not sure whether this is high-quality RAM......could use some tips on what to look for. I was hoping to get a single stick of 1GB, so I can upgrade with another stick later on.....but since my motherboard should have 4 DDR slots, maybe I could do the 512x2 option if it's more cost-effective.

 

[Rugger]

CPU: The 3800+ is twice the price of the 3200+, but doesn't provide twice the performance...it's your call on whether the extra cost is worth the performance you will get. You should consider getting one of the new Venice core (Rev E.) CPUs if you're going to OC - nearly identical performance, but the Venice should OC better and only cost a little more than the Winchester core CPUs.

Mobo: If OCing, the DFI is THE board to squeeze all the performance out of your system. There are a lot of reviews out there.

RAM: The Value VX has the potential to OC very high, but there is some luck in getting the best chips on these sticks and the OCZ requires high voltages to reach the best OCs - read a recent Anandtech review on value RAM for more info. The DFI board can give those voltages without any mods or the OCZ voltage booster. The XBLK that Wusy mentioned will OC very high without a doubt - they have the Samsung TCCD chips. If you get a single 1GB stick of RAM then you will not be able to use the dual channel functionality of the memory controller - that will give you a performance decrease of 2-5%.

Case: I think the P160 is a cheaper option than the Lian Li and will work just as well for you. Anand also has a case reviews for both of these...

Video card: I've already told you how I feel about SLI. Look at charts on the performance increase you will get. Whether or not all of the money that goes into those cards is coming out of your pocket the fact remains that it is a LOT of money for the little bit of performance incrrease you get. Is it faster - Yes. Is it worth the extra cost in mobo/vid cards - not in my opinion. If both of your cards cost $370, then you will spend nearly $800 more for that SLI setup! If you don't buy them at the same time, then make sure you get the exact same card and have fun making sure the BIOS and everything else is the same - SLI is very picky about the cards being the same. The only reason I would get SLI is if I HAD to have cutting edge performance NOW, for high resolution gaming and money was not a concern. If that is your situation, then SLI is your huckleberry...


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[endyen]

S939 boards use dual channel memory, so get 2 sticks of ram. It's about 7% perf gain/loss.
The venice cores should be out in a couple of weeks, so if you can wait... They do run cooler, have a better memory controller, and for what it's worth (almost zero actually) SSE3.

 

[Rugger]

7% from single to dual channel....didn't think it was that high.

SSE3 is worth a check in the box - that's about it. :/

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[endyen]

SSE2 progs are very efficient at memory use, and of course any encoding. What really supprized me was the gaming impact. No, it's not 7% more frames, but in high cpu use games,(halo, fart cry) it does make a difference.

 

[Rugger]

If it's 7%, then the s754 has a nominl 3% advantage even being 200Mhz faster - that's impressive...

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[endyen]

Seems about right. Though dont forget to give s939 an extra 0% for it's faster HT link.

 

[chadwickvm]

Unless you plan on upgrading almost your entire system -- every time you decide to upgrade -- to peak performance, I would definitely go with less pricey equipment. Bleeding edge loses its value a lot quicker than something more mainstream. I really think, unless you plan to continuously upgrade to the top you may want to start out w/ a high end mobo with a cheaper cpu ie amd 3200+ and then moving to an FX-55 when they drop to the price the 3200 is at now. but that could be flawed logic. its what I go by anyway.

 

[Rugger]

Uhhhh - Endyen is one of the biggest proponents of price/performance on these boards. Don't really need to counsel him on bleeding edge and prices...

BTW - your logic makes perfect sense. One of the downside of that argument is that the FX series have unlocked multipliers - up and down. The rest of the A64 series only have downward locked multipliers. I'm not recommending buying the FX-55 to anyone except hardcore gamers that must have a processor that doesn't bottleneck their top end video card OR to an extreme OCer who wants unlocked multipiers without modding the CPU.

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<font color=red>You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!</font color=red>

 

[jmwpom3]

I have almost an identical system to that, and it SCREAMS. I went with the Ultra version of the 6800, though. Make sure you're getting the PCI-e version if someone else is gettin it for you. They have a factory overclocked version of the GT too, in case that wasn't already said.

Second, the 3500 has a much nicer cost point for the performance if your looking to save a little cash. I just wouldn't be quite willing to take that big a jump that the prices make from 3500 to 3800.

And I definately agree w/ the 2 sticks of dual channel ram.



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[saxman717]

Hey, thanks a lot for all the great suggestions. I ordered all my parts yesterday, so should have them by sometime next week!

I ended up going with the components I listed above (b/c I was in the mood to spend a little extra this first time for a good MB and CPU), and ended up going with the 512x2 Patriot memory sticks.

I've never tried overclocking, as I've always been worried that doing so will significantly reduce the lifetime of my system (i.e. make it much more prone to crashing). If it's a good idea to overclock, I'd be really interested in hear about how to do it.

Also, after I place the CPU onto the MB, is it imperative that I place thermal paste onto the CPU before attaching the heat sink/fan that comes with the Athlon64 3800+ kit that I'm getting? I ordered a bottle of thermal paste just in case. Am I right in thinking that you just place a small dab of it onto the center of the CPU, and then just place the heatsink/fan into position on top of it? Is this an important step to complete when I assemble my PC? Are there any other crucial steps like this that aren't just things like plugging in the cards, attaching the drives and power supply etc.?

Finally, when the PC is fully-assembled, will I need to do anything special the first time I turn it on? What will be the first steps? Just directing the PC to start up and read from my DVD drive (with my Windows XP CD in there)?

Thanks a lot for the help --- I can't wait to get this thing going. My wallet is crying now though.....there goes all my spending money for awhile!

 

[chadwickvm]

heh woops, not used to using this forum. was meant to be a reply to saxman not endyen