new rig help

[livingrock21]

Alright, I want some opinions. I'm a moderate gamer, movie/music buff(encoding, watching, ect.), and web surfer.

This is what I'm currently looking at, and will be buying my components shortly.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
G.SKILL 2GB DDR 400 (PC 3200) Model F1-3200PHU2-2GBNS
HIS Hightech Radeon X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB GDDR3
BIOSTAR TForce4U Socket 939
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB
NEC LCD1970GX-BK Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe

what do you think? I'm on a budget, and I'm buying everything from newegg(Is this pretty much the cheapest place to buy online?).

 

[MadModMike]

Alright, I want some opinions. I'm a moderate gamer, movie/music buff(encoding, watching, ect.), and web surfer.

This is what I'm currently looking at, and will be buying my components shortly.

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
G.SKILL 2GB DDR 400 (PC 3200) Model F1-3200PHU2-2GBNS
HIS Hightech Radeon X800GTO IceQ II Turbo 256MB GDDR3
BIOSTAR TForce4U Socket 939
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB
NEC LCD1970GX-BK Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe

what do you think? I'm on a budget, and I'm buying everything from newegg(Is this pretty much the cheapest place to buy online?).

Good CPU, consider the 3800+ X2 and overclocking if u wish to save some $
Good RAM
Get a x800GTO2 so you can unlock pipes and have a faster card
Good Mobo
Get a WD250KS, cheaper and you won't notice 70GB
Good LCD, but I recommend a 17", I sold my 19" as 1280x1024 is too small for it but is the max res. for 19" LCD's
Good DVD-RW

~~Mad Mod Mike, pimpin' the world 1 rig at a time

 

[Bluefinger]

Right... let's see how i can help....

Good choice on CPU... nothing wrong there.
I haven't heard of the RAM make, would recommend Corsair or OCZ for OCing, but if anyone's heard of Team, they are good too (Tried them, good for non-OCing, and lifetime warranty, which is always good)
Get a Sapphire X800GTO2, it can be OCed like hell, and has unlockable pipelines, and if you want cooling, try the AC ATI Silencer 5 (I think that's the one that will work on the GTO chipset... not exactly sure), which is basically what HIS uses for their ICEQ range.
Western Digital hdd... last one i bought from WD was so faulty it was an artform... too bad since all the reviews on that hdd were so good. Try it out, or go with Seagate, the 7200.9 hdd's from them are good.
LiteOn DVD-RW drives are good, i also recommend NEC drives, they are good too.

Overall, nice choice on components... good luck with sticking to the budget

 

[livingrock21]

I really appreciate everyones info, and would like some more input, but I have revised my list of components, check it out now.

-AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
-G.SKILL 2GB DDR 400 (PC 3200) Model F1-3200PHU2-2GBNS (good reviews on new egg, plus has, Timing: 2.5-3-3-6, and life time warrenty)
-SAPPHIRE Radeon X800GTO2 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Deluxe Video Card
-BIOSTAR TForce4U Socket 939
-Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB (going to try this, reviews seem better than the seagate counterpart, plus 20 more gigs)
-NEC LCD1970GX-BK Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor (what's everyone think of this monitor)
-LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe

would appreciate some more opinions please.

 

[Bluefinger]

OH i forgot to mention... drop the mobo... you are only going to suffer. Go for DFI or Epox and maybe Asus, but not Biostar....

 

[livingrock21]

-AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
-G.SKILL 2GB DDR 400 (PC 3200) Model F1-3200PHU2-2GBNS (good reviews on new egg, plus has, Timing: 2.5-3-3-6, and life time warrenty)
-SAPPHIRE Radeon X800GTO2 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Deluxe Video Card
-MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
-Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB (going to try this, reviews seem better than the seagate counterpart, plus 20 more gigs)
-NEC LCD1970GX-BK Black 19" 8ms LCD Monitor (what's everyone think of this monitor)
-LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner W/LightScribe

thanks for the info, what do you think about this motherboard? I cant find any good vga coolers, which I'll prob. need if i'm going to overclock my vid?

 

[Bluefinger]

I reckon one of the Arctic Cooling ATI Silencers might fight onto a GTO... not so sure....

 

[livingrock21]

Alright I got another ?

What's the difference between the athlon 64 and opteron... I know the opteron is designed for servers, but??? Why wouldn't everyone be getting the opteron(is it not 64 bit capable?)? It seems to overclock very, very well! And is generally cheaper than the athlon 64... I thought I was pretty set in stone about the processor, but I guess not... PLease help...

 

[Bluefinger]

It doesn't matter either way, both processors are powerful enough, its just the opteron is more suited for heavy OCing than the X2... and if you are fine with fine-tuning your cpu into optimal OC performance, then the opteron's for you, otherwise X2 will do just as good a job, for maybe a slightly not as good OC.

 

[livingrock21]

I have another question.

If I oveclock, and I voiding my warranty? I've never overclocked, but I'm sure I could manage. If I get the opteron, which would be the most reasonable/comparable to the x2 4200. Also, if I go opteron, would it be a smart idea to invest in a watercooling system?

 

[livingrock21]

ANOTHER quick question.

I was reading the reviews about the opteron, on newegg, and it says there's another distributor on the net that charges much less, does anyone know where this might be?

 

[Bluefinger]

Answer to question one, if you are new to OCing or unsure on OCing, stick with the X2. Yes, you void your warrenty if the chip is modified in any way or form. Opterons do not overheat like P4's when OCed a lot, but the chip will love you if you get a decent Aftermarket cooler like Zalman CNPS9500 or Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro.

Answer to question two... no idea.... i only shop around english sites, so i wouldn't know about any american ones...

 

[livingrock21]

Wow. I really don't know what do now. Like I said before, I was pretty sure on the amd x2 4200, but now.... I'm just not sure.

If I got the Opteron 165 I could save about $50 and get a top of the line air cooler, or decent water cooler.....

What should I do? Lol....

Any other opinions out there?

BTW, I really appreciate all of the info you've given me bluefinger, you've been a big help so far. I'd just wish everyone else would look at this also and give me there opinions, because I'm really stuck now! I dont want to be dissapointed a month down the road, you know?!

 

[Bluefinger]

Heheh, I like to help. Well i have a 4200 which is OCed a little, and i'm happy with it. Whatever you decide, you won't be disappointed either way, i can assure you.

 

[Anoobis]

You should SERIOUSLY be considering the X850XT which can be had at a very good price these days. Everybody's been "fillin the cup" on this one since the prices dropped.

 

[livingrock21]

Thanks anoobis, I'll keep that in mind.

Here's another question, if I get the opteron, and plan to oc, will I have to get another power supply? I'm keeping my case, and upgrading everything in it, it has a 400w power supply. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. If I happent to get the opteron, and I overclock to lets say, 2.4GHz, what do you think the lifespan of the chip will be?? Wouldn't overclocking it shorten it's life? Please help????

 

[Anoobis]

I think, since you're on a budget, you should go with the Opty. Everybody who's gotten one loves it. If you plan to overclock, I don't think watercooling is necessary since your new to it. A good air cooling solution works well. In fact, I believe the new AMD ship with very nice heat pipe air coolers that work very well. I think you might be very surprised with how well it runs that you won't feel the need to overclock it and you could also save some money by going with it.

The other supplier could be zipzoomfly. I've never ordered from them, but most people who have generally have good things to say about them. I've always stuck with newegg though.

You may want to look at another PSU. This is a real touchy subject around here and I'm not that up to date on it. A lot of people like Antec or Fortron (FSP), but this is an area where I cannot give you much help on.

Chances are you can shorten the lifespan of a chip by overclocking it. However, you'll probably upgrade it before it fails (knock on wood).

The rest of your spec looks good.

 

[livingrock21]

Thanks again Anoobis.

If you had to guesstimate, how long would you say an overclocked chip will last, I'm hoping mine will last for about two years? Thats about how long I've had the chip thats running in my rig right now, yeah it's old... Lol... I know I'm going to see a tremendous increase in speed with which ever processor I choose, I'm just trying to make the best decission(not spelled right)... Please help...

 

[livingrock21]

By the way, I just checked zipzoom fly, and it's not the right verndor... Hmm.. I've tried all the main vendors, newegg, tigerdirect, chiefvalue, monarchpc, and zipzoom fly, I just wish I knew where people are getting the opteron cheaper than what newegg has it, $325.?

 

[Anoobis]

Honestly, there is no clear cut answer on the overclocking. You're taking a risk when doing it, which is why it voids the warranty.

All I can say is that I've been overclockin by current Athlon XP (yah, I'm due for an upgrade as well) for almost a year and a half with no signs of instability.

The Duron I had before that overclocked for well over a year and is still running (stock speed now) in a charity PC I built.

I don't know what other vendor other people have been talking about. You could try www.pricewatch.com and see what a search for the Opty turns up. Pay very good attention to the seller ratings on Pricewatch. I've run into a few crappy dealers on there before which is why I've stuck with the Egg these days.

 

[livingrock21]

I'm prob. getting annoying, I'm just the type of guy that wants to get the most bang for my buck.

Lets say I ge the opteron 165, which mb would be best to overclock it?? Remember I'm on a budget, the only requirements are sata II, and firewire. Please help! I'm getting a little frustraded... I think I may go with the opteron.

 

[ches111]

About the monitor,

Using www.gotapex.com and Dell you could find a great deal for the Dell 20.1 inch widescreen display. I have this display now and it really is nice and DVD playback is awesome. Gaming response is also very good it is I beleive a 12ms response but I see NO ghosting in FPSs.

 

[ches111]

Also,

Since the monitor is a 16:10 (yes that is right 19:10 not 16:9) it has a whole lot more screen real estate than you would think. My 20.1 WSD has 7 full square inches MORE (Measured) than my 21 inch 4:3 at work.

Working docs/surfing side by side is really very nice.

 

[livingrock21]

ches111, I appreciate you input, but I think I'm going to stick with the nec....

nec is the only monitore besides sony, and sceptre that have the glossy screen(some people call it glassy, sony calls it xbrite, ect.)... If the dell was like that, I'd prob. buy it, but I doubt it is.... Let me know if it is...

 

[ches111]

Sadly NO,

IF you can find a widescreen version of those types of monitors I would greatly recommend it. The added space is nice to work with and DVD playback is in fullscreen 16:9 as it should be. Also if you later use a MYHD OTA tuner to recieve HDTV signals you will again be displaying 16:9 true format of the HD signal.

Some people will try to guide you away from a widescreen version because of gaming. I will tell you now that there is a little more setup to do widescreen in current games but newer releases are already supporting the WS resolutions.

I know what you mean about the shiny surface it does help to make things look a little brighter. Watch for scratches though!! Also, if you are thinking of taking that monitor mobile for Lan parties buy a good case and trasport that way or you will regret it.

Hope this helps...