Ch-Ch-Check it out

[powerfulpiggypits]

Right on. This is my first build and will be totally from scratch. I want it for gaming, sound editing, and general multipurpose use (read ripping, encoding, etc). I would also like it to be able to encode videos for my cell fairly simply too. At some point I want to go SLI, and I wonder if the PSU can handle that. If you would please comment on compatibility and size issues I would appreciate y'alls help. Thanks.

Com Pu Tor Specs:
Case
Thermaltake Tsunami VA3000SWA Silver Computer Case With Side Panel Window - 105

Mobo
ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD Motherboard - 229

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4400CDBOX - 463

PSU
Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V ATX12V 550W Power Supply - 99.99 w/ 19A on both +12V rails

GPU
eVGA 256-P2-N517-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - 314

HDD
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - 110

Sound
Creative X-Fi Xtreme Music - 116

Optical
PLEXTOR Beige SATA DVD Burner Model PX-716SA/SW - Retail

RAM
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR400 SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System ... - 105 w/ 2-3-3-6 timing (should i get different timing? what would it do?)

OS
XP Home OEM-93.95

Etc: This system is going to set me back a good $1800, after shipping, so I think I'll worry about extra heat sinks and fans after everything is up and running. Also, I'm thinking of getting the bones first (case, PSU, HDD, etc.) then getting the meat (GPU,CPU,MOBO) at a later date so it won't kill me. Once again, thank you for taking your time in reading this.

 

[joset]

Hi, there!


Since you're"cooking" from scratch, why not go with quality vegetables - Windows XP Professional - with some SP2 herbs...


Cheers!

 

[joset]

No, not huge: enough!


Cheers!

 

[Maxiius]

If your main agenda is gaming, I would have recommended 2gigs of ram, but other then that your rig should scream 8)

 

[crazywheels]

definately xp pro

 

[powerfulpiggypits]

Okay, will 2gigs make that large of a difference? I assume 2x1gb would be better than 4x512mb? This is getting expensive. Also, what's the big deal with XP Pro? I thought it only had a few extra network things that home doesn't have, and that for most users it isn't worth the extra $50. I do know however that Home can't use certain functions of WMPlayer 10, which might make the extra $50 money well spent. But, Vista comes out later this year anyway, and I'm thinking I'll probably upgrade sooner rather than later (just because i'm still running '98). Hmmmm....definitely stuff to think about

 

[joset]

But, Vista comes out later this year anyway, and I'm thinking I'll probably upgrade sooner rather than later (just because i'm still running '98).

Don't count on it, buddy; Vista is an entirely different matter (read, carefully, the articles about it!), it's awfully demanding, hardware wise, and you can not upgrade to Vista from XP! It's a (probably, the hottest) fresh install anyone will have to make when it comes out fully, by say, 2007ish.

Reality - here & now - is XP Pro, and yes, go with 2 Gigs! You won't regret it.


Cheers!

 

[chuckshissle]

Better make your memory to 2Gb for better gaming performance.

 

[Maxiius]

More ram will help with load times in games, it is a noticeable difference. I would recommend atleast 2gigs of ram to anyone building a computer who is a gamer. And I wouldnt worry about XP pro, it just lets you network easier or some crap like that. Just get Home and upgrade to vista lata (whenever is comes out) 8)

 

[pokemon]

Where do you get your money from?

 

[Anoobis]

Hate to keep pimping these, but a Raptor would sweeten the deal nicely. Especially for the encoding stuff. Maybe get the new 150 GB. It's pricey, about $290.00 at Newegg however, you could recover the cost by going with a slower processor like...dare I say an Opty 165. You could save about $130.00 right there and minus the cost of the Caviar's $110.00 would almost recover the cost of the Raptor.


????????........

 

[tenaciousleydead]

raptor isnt really worth it, all is does is give you a little faster r/w times and faster file loading. almost no in game performance would increase. the build looks good id go with 2 gigs just to be future proof.

 

[powerfulpiggypits]

Where do you get your money from?

The same place everyone else does. My job. And since I've only been out of college a year, don't own a home and have few bills, minus the huge expenses of college loans, I can afford to pamper myself a little. Especially since my last two computers were POS. At any rate, I digress. I thought of the raptor briefly, (before I knew they had a 150gb), but then I realized that they were hella expensive, and the WD I want is a speedy little SATA demon. That plus the fact that I know nothing of Opteron processors, not that I know anything of any other processors, but I have done a lot more reading about the 64's and 64X2's. which is why I want the 4400+. Way cheaper than the 4800+, only 200mhz slower, and it can occasionally outperform the 4600+ which is more expensive and has a smaller L2 Cache. After a brief trip to Newegg, I think the 4400 and big WD stay. One day I will own a raptor, alas that day is not today.

 

[tenaciousleydead]

the 4400 will overclock easily to 4600 speeds and almost guarenteed 4800 speed, even on stock cooling, no need to up voltages. save alot of money

 

[pokemon]

Just wondering.

I'm not quite finished with my home theater setup, but you would be surprised how much you can have for under $2000. I've spent about $1200 so far and all else I need is a multicomponent switch box for the projector and the projector its self, and that will only come out to be $1800. I guess it depends on how much performance you really need. You should start gambling, by the time you know it you can own your own house!!!

 

[dunawayc]

I have that exact mobo and discovered that the PSU that I bought has an 8-in dual CPU power connector instead of the 4-pin one that mobo has. I am having to wait 3 more days to get it all set up because the PSU did not include an adapter.

So if your PSU does not have a 4-pin CPU power connector, then make sure it includes and 8-pin to 4-pin adapter, or get a PSU that has a 4 pin connector.

 

[powerfulpiggypits]

Thanks for the info. When I was looking at the PSU specs the other day, I seem to remember it saying that it had dual 4-pin connectors. Of course it could have been one of several other PSUs I was looking at. Are there any other quirks with the mobo?

 

[Dybowski]

you might want to look into ati x1900 instead of sli, plus with sli you wont get 2x the performance of 1 7800gt and it will cost 600$ and x1900 is the way to go if you want top of the line

 

[powerfulpiggypits]

After some quick lookups at lunch, it appears that the new ATI's are the cards to beat. However, they are hella expensive. Yes, cheaper than two 7800's but I'd have to find a new mobo (to get crossfire support). My idea is to get one 7800, and then when the 7900's come out and the prices drop to pick up a 2nd 7800. That way I'd get sli on the cheap. much cheaper than I could get crossfire (though I probably wouldn't need it with a 512 1900XT). Crossfire with 1900's would definitely future proof me for a looooong time, but I think the 7800's will (for a shorter time), for less (once the 7900's come out). Plus, sli is still better supported, and I'd need a new monitor to really take advantage of sli or crossfire (which will be a purchase saved for later).

 

[RichPLS]

SLI is more mature, but CF is more flexible and more supported by design.
Also, an Asus A8R-MVP is $100 and the best CF board current.

 

[Dybowski]

cf boards are not really that expensive, about the same as a good sli board, i reccomend a abit at8 although it has a bios bug where it resets youre memory timings its still better than a a8r-mvp the has proc voltage issues, im sure abit will relase a better bios soon is about in 112 at newegg correct me if im wrong, a x1900xt runs 500$ so that will set you back but you wont have to buy another for cf for A loooooooooooooooooooonnnnnnnnnngggggggggggggg time, and when you do youll have 1gb of video memory.

 

[powerfulpiggypits]

Yeah, those are exactly the right prices. I was looking at them since your last post, and I am very tempted because switching to the CF ABit board (or Asus for that matter) would save me a hundred bucks, which would put me within a hundred dollars (or less) of a x1900xt, which makes the decision between 7800 or x1900 very hard.

Two problems arise:
1) an X1900 will put me out of CF for a very long time. Because a) I won't need it, and b) it will be very expensive. Only b) is a real problem, but by the time I'd want CF, the x1900's will be old and cheap (like the 7800s will become within the next 4 months).

2) What happens if the 7900's are way better than the x1900's. If this happens then I'd have to get a new mobo to switch to sli. If I have the 7800's I'd already be set up for the 7900's. This is pretty much a moot point because I won't ever by a tippity top of the line graphics card (not to mention two of them) when I can wait a few months and get them for way cheap.

So that leaves me with a fairly level playing field. My only real question on top of this is about the Abit or Asus mobos. Do either of them allow x16 playback in CF mode? The Abit website gave me no help, and I didn't even bother looking at the Asus site. The whole reason I'm paying an arm and a leg for the mobo I want now (Asus A8N32) is because it runs both cards at x16 in sli configuration. No other sli card will do that (they knock it down to x8 which is why running sli doesn't double the performance). When I eventually utilize the sli, even if they are just 7800gt's, they should scream alongside even the x1900s or 7900's simply because they are both running at x16. So, I'm still very torn........and I thought I had everything figured out......dang it....

 

[Dybowski]

a 7800 or x1900xt wont max out the pci-e 8x if you look for reviews youll see theres no difference between 2x16 and 2x8 when a single card wont max out at 8x.

 

[powerfulpiggypits]

Yeah, I actually found those reviews about the time I read your post. While the x16 in SLI isn't totally taken advantage of, THG did mention that it was nice to be able to run it at full speed. Then again there was a slight advantage with the A8N32 mobo with sli x16. Though I doubt its worth the extra $100.

I finished the x1900 review too. Its obvious that the card is superior to the 7800. I was hoping the x1900 would totally kill the 7800, alas it was not the silver bullet to the werewolf of my problems that I hoped it would be. The performance for the most part wasn't a whole lot greater than the A8N32 mobo (vs. other sli mobos), except in Half-Life 2 (which totally killed the SLI, but I don't know why...lol), and FEAR with the Soft Shadows which is due to the new soft shadow hardware stuff. Soft shadows are the wave of the future I'm sure, but who's to say the 7900's won't come out with the same support soon?

So, now after all these reviews my decision is further complicated.
1) I can go with my original setup which (after reading more about the A8N32 mobo) will future proof me for a kickass amount of time (because it has more features than I will use within the near future).

2) I can go with the CF solution, and have the roughly the same future protection because of the lack of features. Unless I wait for the new ATI chipset on new mobos (which may happen with the speed I'm going about actually buying stuff). This will cost a $100 more than the current option, which pushes me right up to the $2000 mark (which I expected to hit anyway).

OR

3) Save myself 60 to 100 dollars and go with a cheaper mobo, knowing that it really isn't going to affect my performance currently, and will still be moderately future proof.

In any event these new benchmarks have proven to me, that my monitor is craptastic and will need to be replaced before I can ever truly enjoy the high-res effects SLI and CF offer.

 

[Dybowski]

my monitor is only a 19 inch that goes to 1600x1200 and i just sit real close and pretend its real big