Mobo & CPU plus components - Please Check me

[okietex]

Will you all check me on this setup ...

1) will be using for business system, graphics, encoding, some gaming
2) going for stable, raid1/raid5 for drives, want speed but stable first
3) not OC'ing
4) want to be quiet/cool ... relative terms but within reason (ie, current setup is loud & hot ... and I have a couple of other IS7 systems that are so quiet - something with my current setup is whacked I think ... fixing it too)
5) Going with Asus Mobo b/c of 939, Upgradeability-SataII, RAID1/5/etc, SLI ... even though not using SataIIs or SLI at this time. Gives me room to grow if wanted/needed.

Spending more $$s than I want but ... should be a pretty good setup unless you all see me doing something really foolish: {prices all from newegg}

- ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA - nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - $175.00

- ATI 100-435500 Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 - PCI-Express x16 Video Card - $295.00
{going for good card, not best but good price/performance}

- SeaSonic S12-600 ATX12V 600W Power Supply - Retail $161.00
{going for power and quiet}

- AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego Integrated into Chip FSB - Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3700BNBOX - Retail $335.00
{like this since it has 1MB vs Venice @ 512kb}

- CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) - 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) - Retail Model #: Twinx2048-3200c2pt - $259.00
{tried to pick something ASUS recs}

- Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 73GB 10,000 RPM - Model #: WD740GD - 2 @ 183 = $366.00
{running in raid1, possibly too noisy-not sure but willing to try and see. hoping they will be fine and give speed + raid1 reliability}

- Seagate Barracuda 7200.8 ST3250823AS 250GB 7200 RPM - Model #: ST3250823AS - 3 @ 139.50 = $418.50
{will run in raid5}

- NEC Black IDE DVD Burner Model ND-3520A - Model #: ND-3520A BK - $ 49.00

$2100 approx ... + case
(which I'm still considering a couple that I have)

Anyway, I'm tired of doing this! For days now I've been going back and forth -- and I know I'll get a lot of different opinions which will make me question this build as well but this is what I'm thinking right now.

939 gives me some upgrading capability .. 754 doesn't.
P4 ... I have ... wanting to try AMD and see how it does.

P4 current system is Abit IC7-G, P4 2.8Ghz, 1GB DDR, 2x120@Raid0, 2x120@Raid1, Radeon 9800 Pro. Will retire as backup system, file server, storage - play some on it etc...

I'm expecting the proposed new AMD Sys to perform as fast as my current rig or faster... understanding that there are some tasks the P4 might do a bit better etc. and vice versa.

Anyway, how do you all see it?

TIA!!!!

 

[dunklegend]

Yes ASUS boards don't work with every RAM. I read the reviews for my previous ASUS mobo and some of the people complained that the RAM didn't work with it, and it was good quality RAM so I ended buying one from their recommended memory list.

Nothing is as easy as it looks

 

[okietex]

thanks wusy & dunkle...

I picked that off of the Asus approved list - if I've matched their list up right. We'll see I guess...

Thx.

 

[over_c]

Why bother with an SLI motherboard when you are getting an ATI video card? Get an nForce4 Ultra motherboard instead and save the $50.

 

[Starfishy]

If you find that noise is an issue you could always pad your case a little. I have never used it, as a loud rig doesn't really bother me that much (AC/DC can cut through anything), but I know people that swear by the stuff. Here are some good on how to keep the <A HREF="http://www.7volts.com/quieter.htm" target="_new">case noise to a minimum</A>. I know other people have other tips, so maybe they will link those or just mention them to you as well.

 

[Starfishy]

Yep... I was going to tell him the same thing, I was really surprised that wusy didn't mention that too him as well.

You could get <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136152" target="_new">this</A> board and save some money in the process.

 

[okietex]

Over_C - my thinking was that *IF* I ever want to get SLI enabled, then I'll have the board to do it ... But I didn't want to spend too much more $$s on one of those 6800 cards and it seems that the 800XL is getting good opinions on price/performance.

I'll look at this again - thanks for your thoughts.

 

[okietex]

Starfishy,

Problem with that board is that it doesn't have onboard sata raid1/5 as the Asus does... so i don't have to buy any additional cards to do a small raid 5 setup.

The acoustic-sound dampening stuff -- I've been looking at that already and considering it.

I have 5 computers in my office - 4 of them are all super-quiet ... 1 notebook, 1 iMac, 1 old Dell, 1 custom built ... all great. However, my "main" system ... loud as can be -- puts off so much heat. And I'm going to setup this new system + fix this system so it doesn't generate so much sound/heat ... or that's my goal.

 

[Starfishy]

Yeah, sorry about that I wasn't paying attention. And to get the RAID 5 card you would be spending like another $89 US.

 

[okietex]

Well, this is stupid of me -- but I didn't really understand the SLI stuff ... I figured I could put any PCI-e card in there and it would work -- then if I wanted to down the road, get the same card again and put it in... -- my ignorance there!

But, after re-reading some of this - for about $70 bucks more .. maybe this would be a better solution:
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16814122209" target="_new"> Leadtek PX6800GT TDH Geforce 6800GT 256MB</A> ($365 vs $295 for the ATI 800)

Then, I could add a 2nd and the SLI would be there and this supports it...

Is that a better use of $$s/Card Choices you think?

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by okietex on 05/26/05 03:44 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Starfishy]

Have you ever bought refurbished? I never have... but maybe someone else can let you know how good Newegg is on the refurbished goods. Cause if you don't mind, you could get this one for <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136151R" target="_new">50 bucks cheaper</A>

 

[Starfishy]

Well... there is no question that it is a better card. But if you are trying to justify going SLI, you might be in the wrong place. Many guys on this forum are not into "future proofing". The idea here being that in 2 years when you decide you want to buy the extra 6800GT you will be really tempted to get better cards. These will be old outdated cards if they are even produced still. Who knows where we will be, we might not be using SLI anymore. If you see SLI as being practical for you right now, then I say go SLI, buy two GF6600GT and be happy. But if you don't want to go SLI right now don't kid yourself into thinking that you will want to in a year, or two years (or even six months). We just don't know what will be around then.

 

[Starfishy]

<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130484" target="_new">This board</A> is not SLI (if you so choose), and has got good reviews, and is nForce4. And now that I have started paying attention, I actually found one with the RAID 5 that you wanted And best of all it would save you some more money.

 

[okietex]

Starfishy,

I think you're right about the SLI ... I probably wouldn't ever do it.... or when I decided too, like you said, no telling what will be out etc.

So, taking another look at the MOBOs...

The Asus, MSI & DFI -- all offer some RAID5 capabilities depending on which flavor-model of board you get from them.

So, going to look at this again.

On the VIDEO .. you think going with that LeadTech -- is still the way to go for $70 bucks ... comparing it to the ATI 800 ?? I think it might be...

But when I was searching this yesterday, all of those 6800 cards were going in the 400-500 range and I didn't want to spend that much on a card.

 

[redaetskcod]

Hey, how's everyone doing... just wondering what you think of the following system and if you think I should upgrade various components... I will be using the system for everything from gaming (lots of gaming)and video, to just whatever.

---AMD Athlon64 3200+ (2.0 GHz) 512k L2 Cache, Socket 939 (Retail) *Venice*
---MSI K8N NEO4 Platinum nForce 4 Ultra PCI-Express w/Audio, FireWire Gigabit LAN, SATA-RAID, Dual DDR400 (Socket 939)
---Western Digital Caviar SE 200GB - 7200RPM, 8MB Cache, SATA150 (OEM)
---Sapphire Radeon X800 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express w/DVI, TV-Out (OEM)
---GeiL Dual Channel 1Gb PC3200 with Blue Heat Spreader (2x 512MB DDR400 , CL=2.5, 8-4-4)
---Pioneer DVR-109 (Black) 16x DVD +/- R/RW, Double-Layer *No Software* (OEM)

Feedback would be greatly appreciated... Thanks!!!
Luke

 

[okietex]

Well, Luke, I think it looks pretty good.

I'm switching my motherboard to that MSI as well -- and still unsure on RAM/Video Card but leaning to the way I have changed it up some with that LeadTech 6800 card. It was only $70 more than the 800XL that I had looked at...

Other than that ... yours look nice to me.

 

[okietex]

Ok, I ordered... Looking forward to getting parts and putting together!! Here's my final order...

FD 1.44MB|SONY MPF920 Black (Qty=1,Price=$9.50)
CASE ANTEC|P-160WF ALUM SLV U2F (Qty=1,Price=$130.00)
MB|MSI K8N NEO4 PLATINUM NF4ULTRA (Qty=1,Price=$142.00)
VGA LEADTEK PX6800 GT TDH RTL (Qty=1,Price=$365.00)
PSU SEASONIC|S12-600 RT (Qty=1,Price=$161.00)
CPU AMD 64 |3700+ ATHLON 64 939P (Qty=1,Price=$335.00)
PQI DUAL 1GBX2 DDR PQI3200-2048DP (Qty=1,Price=$189.00)
HD 74GB|WD 10,000RPM 8MB WD740GD (Qty=2,Price=$366.00)
HD250G|ST 7200 8M SATA ST3250823AS% (Qty=4,Price=$558.00)
DVD+/-RW 16x|NEC ND-3520A BK W/O SW (Qty=1,Price=$49.00)

All @ NewEgg ... $2304.50

Take away all my HDDs ... and it looks more reasonable since I've got $924 bucks just in those bad boys... but, 750GB Raid5 storage + another 74GB in Raid1 ... bunch of storage there!