Building a Dual Core System for Applications/Gaming

Fenixds

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Hey well this is my first post but i've been wondering exactly how I should go about my next upgrade/new system buy.

I work in the Adobe Creative Suite all of the time, and I always have at least one of the programs on the go and frequently switch between them. Now im pretty sure that dual core is the way to go so ill show you what i have picked out and maybe you guys can help me out with it...

CPU
AMD Athlon X2 3800

Motherboard
ASUS A8N SLI

Hard Drive
Seagate SATA 250 GB
existing Maxtor 160 GB

Video Cards
XFX 6800 GT x2 for SLI

Sound Card
existing Audigy 2 Ex

Optical Drives
existing HP 420n DVD-RW Drive
existing LG x16 DVD-ROM

RAM
4 x 1024 OCZ DDR2 5400 667Mhz

Monitors
Monitor 1:
Gateway 21" HDTV-Ready LCD Monitor

Monitor 2 & 3:
NEC MultiSync 19" LCD Monitor (1940CX-BK)

Case
Not sure which to choose, I dont really want to spend a ton, but im more worried about buying the correct PSU. Is it just the 7800 series that has the additional power plugins?


Since I work with very large files I wanted to have the extra amount of RAM. Do you think this is necessary? Im really just going SLI because of the extra monitors but it doesnt hurt to have it for gaming. Do you think this build is okay?

Any suggestions are welcome! Thanks in advance!
 
A quick note...

Socket 939 boards do not support DDR2 memory, which is what you either have listed/selected, or have avail from a previous build (?)...

You will need some 184 pin standard DDR, PC3200 or above..
(Corsair XMS, OCZ, etc..)

As for additional graphics card power...

Nearly all graphics cards these days (including 6600/6800GT) will utilize one of your standard 4 pin molex connectors (from your PS) as a supplemental power input, same PS connectors as typical IDE hard drives require...("Y" splitters not recommended)

As for power supplies..as you will have dual 6800's, I'd look for at least a 550 watt unit by Antec or OCZ...

For occasional gaming, a pair of 6800GTs running in SLI will do nicely...

4 gb should be fine, although as you will be purchasing new mem, I'd give a pair of 1 GB sticks a try for starters, and see if that seems adequate...you can always add 2 more 1 gb sticks later for $200...

As for a case? I usually just buy whichever one is adequate in size for my needs at around $35-$40, and add my own preferred PSU..
 

Fenixds

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Well if I did want to go DDR2 memory over standard ddr which socket would be the best to go? Should I go AMD or go over to intel 775? I know AMD's tend to run better at the 3800's price range.
 

purelithium

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A single 7800 GTX would probably be better worth your money and performance than dual 6800 GT's....

Lian Li and Antec make excellent cases take a look at them.

Make sure you don't cheap out on the powersupply. This is a critical component often overlooked by first-time builders.

With today's software, more RAM is ALWAYS best, especially if you are going to work with graphics, etc.
 
Claimed mem speed (DDR2 667 vs PC3200/400 MHz) is not all it's cracked up to be when comparing platforms...

Generally, the Intel/DDR2 platforms, even equipped with the best DDR2 available and processors using a 1066 FSB, take a general purpose spanking from A64 series with superior integrated mem controllers in 95% of the benchmarks using lowly standard PC3200/DDR, the sole exception usually being video encoding/decoding using SSE/Hyperthreaded aware applications....

If you have not already purchased DDR2, I'd go with the A64 X2 as planned, unless exclusively doing video decoding, in which case you can look at a 975 board and a 9xx dual core from Intel. (AMD will be switching to DDR2 and a new 940 pin socket, AM2, in about July or thereabouts...)
 

kumana1

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Well if I did want to go DDR2 memory over standard ddr which socket would be the best to go? Should I go AMD or go over to intel 775? I know AMD's tend to run better at the 3800's price range.

as stated above, if you're looking to go with ddr2 memory, then you will have to switch to an intel chip as amd does not support ddr2 yet.

as far as the x2 3800, definitely a mighty little processor. i have mine overclocked to 2.5ghz/1.52v and it just flies. i do a lot of photoshop/dreamweaver/winamp/cs:s. i usually leave photoshop, dreamweaver, and winamp open and running when i startup cs:s and play for a couple hours. occassionally i will watch a dvd on my second monitor while working in photoshop/dreamweaver, with no drop in performance.
 

Compuru

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A little FYI you can only use the 2 vid. ports on the vidio card in the 1st slot.
(I'm speaking from experiance.)
 

Fenixds

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yeah but the 3 screen system is the issue and the only games i really play are COD2 and WoW so i dont really need a 7800
 

Fenixds

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A little FYI you can only use the 2 vid. ports on the vidio card in the 1st slot.
(I'm speaking from experiance.)

Isnt that only if I use the cards in SLI mode though? If I disable that I was under the impression you can run (if i wanted to) quad monitors
 

Heyyou27

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You can. But with SLI enabled you can only use one monitor. You can still have two videocards in your computer running, you just won't recieve the performance increase of the second card for games.
 

Fenixds

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You can. But with SLI enabled you can only use one monitor. You can still have two videocards in your computer running, you just won't recieve the performance increase of the second card for games.

Yeah I understand that, if it becomes an issue with game for performance ill turn SLI on.. I was worried there for a second.. phew!
 

Fenixds

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Alright if DDR400 outperforms DDR2 in some instances, will DDR2 have more potential in the future with new applications? Because if thats the case then ill go intel if not ill go AMD..

Thanks for all your posts by the way :)
 

purelithium

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the only reason the DDR400 outperforms the DDR2 in this instance is because AMD processors use on-die memory controllers, and Intel chips depend on the chipset to relay the signals.

It is speculated that when the new AM2 socket comes out that it will outshine the Intel memory times again.

I actually think that if you're going to use this many resources on this machine and are worried about future-proofing, I would wait until the new AM2 chips come out(if you can wait) if not, the AMD 939 chips are the way to go right now, that means DDR.
 

Vascular

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There is only so much future proof you can buy. If you wait something else will be coming out which is faster cooler and more than likly more expensive. I wouldnt base my computer decision on DDR2. By 2008 intel is supposed to move to ddr3, are you going to wait?
 

purelithium

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There is only so much future proof you can buy. If you wait something else will be coming out which is faster cooler and more than likly more expensive. I wouldnt base my computer decision on DDR2. By 2008 intel is supposed to move to ddr3, are you going to wait?

Exactly but it's just logic that the AM2 platform will have more life and upgradeability from this point on than the 939... AMD has said they aren't releasing any more chips for 939, but there'll probably be shitloads for the AM2.
 

Fenixds

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Well after going over everything you guys have told me I think im gonna go with the Pentium D 930, its a little more than the 3800 but when compared it runs better for all the applications that matter to me, namely CS2. I know I can only do so much to future proof a system but I think going to DDR2 memory is the better idea because when I upgrade my system next ill be able to port the RAM over.. (hopefully) and that might save me in the long run. Really im not a huge fuss over the highend graphics, I just want the processor to handle the workload well for photoshop, flash, illustrator etc. Thanks for all your help guys!

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