Athlon System!

[Guest]

I am currently thinking about building a system with the following components. Comment plz on stability, value and performance plz:

Motherboard: Asus A7V133 ($116)
CPU: Athlon-C (266) 1.2GHz ($170) (retail)
RAM: 256MB Crucial SDRAM ($79)
Video Card: Elsa Gladiac Ultra ($254)
HD: 75GXP 30.0GB HD 7200 RPM ($130)
Audia Card: Soundblaster Live! Platinum ($136)
CD-Drive: Suggestions (reliability, DVD unnecessary)

ATX midtower Case, 300 Watt powersupply, fans. All covered.
I plan to use the system for hardcore gaming.
Ideas, missing components, suggestions? Thanks

 

[btvillarin]

Heatsink? I suggest a Swiftech MC370-0A due to ease of installation plus performance. Try to get an AXIA Athlon T-bird. Video Card...not sure about that, because as of now, I don't play that many games. I use the same hard drive you wanna buy; it's awesome...no problems. Check reviews for sound cards. There have been compatibility problems with the Soundblaster. But, after patches, mine's running fine. CD drive...I would get a CD-burning (I hear a 24x CD-burner is coming out, so the 16x will be cheaper...just get a regular CD-ROM for now (unless you got the money).

I hope you check out the case specs, such as places for case fans. I think you should consider heat as an issue. (I'm sorry...I'm giving advice, but in no particular order...LoL

<b>My Current System (5 weeks old):</b>
Asus A7V133 ($126.88)
Athlon T-Bird 850 200FSB ($86.88)
IBM Deskstar 75GXP 30GB 7200RPM ATA100 ($147.50)
ATI Radeon 32MB SDRAM ($102.88)
Teac Floppy Disk Drive ($29.99 @ CompUSA...another bad choice)
HP CD-Writer 9150i ($129.99 @ BestBuy I think - I bought it last year for my old computer for $199...times change)
Soundblaster Live! Value ($37.45)
3Com NIC ($42)
Swiftech MC370-0A ($44.99)
Arctic Silver II Compount ($8.99)
<A HREF="http://www.crucial.com/store/partspecs.asp?imodule=CT32M64S4D7E" target="_new">256MB SDRAM @ Crucial.com</A> ($83.69)
AVLogic MidTower Case w/300watt P/S ($29.50 - bad choice for me...there are better)

*Note: I list the current prices from the website I've purchased them from for your comparison. The prices aren't what I bought them at. They all have given good service, so if you want the links, just ask.

I hope some, if not all, of this helps!

<i>OC...unless your computer's cheezy (is that a good rhyme?)</i>

 

[Guest]

> Heatsink? I suggest a Swiftech MC370-0A due to
> ease of installation plus performance. Try to
> get an AXIA Athlon T-bird.

He got the retail t-bird, so he doesn't need to worry about AXIA, he will get a copper core regardless. The fan that comes with the retail version is just fine for the retail CPU's, as they don't get near as hot as the OEM ones with aluminum cores.

As for the CD-ROM, there's a bunch of 52X ones that will do you just fine, though I would try to get one with UDMA personally, not much difference in the price either way.

The Gforce2 Ultra card you picked out is an excellent one, probably a better choice than a Gforce3 at the moment. Elsa gives a 6 year warranty on their cards, nice choice.

Wayne

 

[peteb]

I think the AXIA chips are all copper core?

-* This Space For Rent *-
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[btvillarin]

>>>He got the retail t-bird, so he doesn't need to worry about AXIA, he will get a copper core regardless. The fan that comes with the retail version is just fine for the retail CPU's, as they don't get near as hot as the OEM ones with aluminum cores.<<<

Is this true?

<i>OC...unless your computer's cheezy (is that a good rhyme?)</i>

 

[Guest]

> I think the AXIA chips are all copper core?

Most are, but even so, to be OEM chips they still didn't pass the standards required to be able to sell them as retail chips. The retail ones are better, period.

Wayne

 

[peteb]

What standards are those? My OEM AXIA runs very happily at 1.6Ghz aircooled. Seems like a pretty good standards pass to me? Why assume retail is better? I'd rather AMD kept the crappy heatsink and I'll buy something decent instead.

$255 was the cheapest I saw for a retail 1.33 on pricewatch, $185 cheapest for OEM, that difference will get you a Silverado or a MC462, give or take small change. I know which package I'll be taking.

-* This Space For Rent *-
email for application details

 

[Guest]

> Is this true?

Yes, it is. Now of course you can get lucky and get an AXIA chip, put an expensive cooler on it and get good performance, but you are relying on luck to get a good chip.

Anyway, don't just take my word for it, for more info check out this thread:

http://forumz.tomshardware.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=faq&notfound=1&code=1

Wayne