1st build plz give some advice for a newbie ^^

[Sano]

HI i'm new here
Here are the spec:

CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400
Motherboard Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
Graphic Card XFX Nvidia 7900 GT XXX Edition
RAM OCZ PC3200 2GB 1024MBX2 EL DC GOLD GX XTC
Hard disk Seagate 300GB SATA II 16Mb Cache
Case Thermaltake Eclipse DV
PSU Cooler Master Real Power 550W
Cooling System Thermaltake Bigwater 745 Liquid Cooling System

I dont know if i need the liquid cooler and also what other ram have around the same speed and performance as the OCZ which is cheaper?? And are the spec above good or it need some improvement? Also will all the components above be compatible? Plz give some advice as all comments are welcomed (good/bad)

p.s i'm not planning to overclock the ram but i'll still buy one which can be overclocked just incase i need some more speed. I know that the OCZ let u overclock a bit n still hv the warranty that's why i choose it but i also want to find another one that's cheaper.

 

[kuzkos]

You might want to think about a sound card as well, I've read many problems with the on-board sound on the A8N32-SLI Deluxe. The Soundblaster X-Fi cards are the best to go for.

 

[Darkchyld]

I am envyious! Looks like a good hi-end gaming/entertainment rig there.
My thoughts. Definataly get a sound card. Given any thought about running the audio output to a home stero? I've got mine hooked up to a Pionner VSX9200 reciver with Cerwin-Vega AT18's on the main channel, AT 12's on the second channel and AT-8's on the rear. Who needs force feedback! Water cooling. Unless fan noise is a concideration bag it. OC'ing usally nets one single percentage point gains. Set the system up for stability. You don't want spontainase reboots and lockups. A good copper based CPU HSF and thoughtful case fan placment will work out just fine. Use larger fans that spin slower for less noise. Your video, just a single 7900 or a pair, SLI'd? For the best in speed you might want to consider a pair of 7800 over a single 7900. You compatibilty issues will be in software. You going to spring for Windows XP 64? How about drivers?

 

[Sano]

well... i'm just rewarding myself for working ^^ n i dont normally upgrade that's why i spend more.
i pick asus bcoz it's a stable motherboard brand and it seems like that board will give better performance for that graphic card? i dunno what other boards are good, can u give some suggestions? i pick sli bcoz i was thinking of upgrading it later if needed. And i'm not planning to get 2 graphic card now bcoz it cost more and i think 1 card now is enough as that is around the max money i can spend =P. For cooling i was thinking of getting thermaltake gold orb instead of the liquid cooling system and as for the sound card i will get it later when i hv money bcoz the speaker i hv now is not good anyway =P

p.s i'll be using window XP pro

 

[Darkchyld]

If your not going SLI now or in the future consider this MB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131569
Its been my experance that the better know names, ASUS, MSI, DFI, CHAINTEC, all offer good MB's. It comes down to features, what do you want? Lots of USB 2.0, Firewire, ect.

 

[Sano]

Thx~~ but i am considering sli in the future but 1 thing not sure is.... can sli use diff cards or it hv to be the same pair of graphic card? i used to think that sli need 2 cards in the same brand n same model so i was thinking of getting crossfire instead but after 7900gt come out i decide to get this graphic card n change to sli mob. i know crossfire allows u to use diff cards just that those cards need to be the crossfire version from ati.

Well obviously i use this to play games ^^ and also for dvd n media things so i want it to be fast so i might overclock the ram a bit but i dont think i'll touch the cpu or motherboard. And also i'll be transferring files alot. The comp i'm using now is really old n it always overheat... it's AMD1.2 with geforce2GTS n 512 ram but surprisingly i can still play games like guildwars n lineage just that sometimes my comp auto restart lol

And now i'm thinking of getting another PSU as many ppl in this forum never mentioned it so it might be bad?? maybe silverstone or antec is better?

 

[Maxiius]

Antec makes a good PSU 8)

 

[HoldenMcGroin]

My advice runs on the software side:
GHOST GHOST GHOST GHOST GHOST GHOST GHOST GHOST!!!!!

That's right, once you get everything loaded and working, this is the single most important thing you can do. For the worst case scenario of a virus from hell that will not go away, a complete OS reload, complete with updates can take 10+ hours. Less than 1 hour to reload a ghost image (on average for me), and everything's installed and ready to go.

 

[Sano]

um.... i changed my mind now n here's the new spec... the only thing i dunno is if i should get sli motherboard bcoz if i upgrade n add another gpu later will it hv to be the same card?? if it is then i dont think i'll get sli. So what motherboard is good for this spec? i hear asus A8N-E is good but i dunno much about it. 1 more thing.... will Asus A8N32-sli deluxe perform better than A8N-E even if it only hv 1 gpu??

here's my new spec

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 Dual-Core
Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe ???? (if i go for sli)
XFX Nvidia 7900 GT XXX Edition
OCZ PC3200 1024MBx2 EL DC PLATINUM CL2
Seagate ST3300622AS
300GB SATA II 7200rpm HDD 16Mb Cache w/NCQ
Thermaltake Eclipse DV
Antec True Power 2 550W
THERMALTAKE BLUE ORB II

 

[Darkchyld]

One of the best things you can do for yourself is a little research,
http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_faq.html#c3
http://www.slizone.com/object/slizone2_build.html
http://www.slizone.com/page/slizone_learn.html
On power supplies. I like Antec too. I had a TrueBlue 480 that failed shortly after install, the only one I've ever had trouble with, Antec made good on it very quickly. Good product, good service.

 

[gahleon]

Go with the premium more stable and nicer design. X-fi soundcard will help reducing bottlenecks. From all the research I did it seems that the opteron 165 or 170 will be better performers. However, if you want no overclock go with the 170. Good bang for the buck. Good luck.

 

[Sano]

thx~~ but i dont think i need a sound card yet..... i'll get one when i hv a better speaker ^^

And also what is the best nforce 4 motherboard?? (not sli) gonna build one for her too n she wont do any overclocking at all. She's going to get a similar spec but with XFX 7600GT XXX

n what's the main diff between X2 4400 and opteron 170 dual?? coz i dont think i'll overclock unless i really need to. In what performance r opt 170 dual better (i know it's a bit stable)?

 

[gahleon]

do as you wish man it is your machine. You will experience slower speeds in games especially. I can promise you that especially high end games like fear which strongly recommend X-FI. If you are doing your normal work processing and what not it won't matter at all but playing sound intestive games even if you have the speakers off the game is still trying to play sound and routing through your onboard chip which in turn uses your system memory thus causing slowdowns in games and bottlenecks. Good luck anyhow man.

 

[gahleon]

To be honest if you aren't overclocking get which ever is cheaper. I have heard that the opty is crafted with higher grade of silicon but I have also heard that the cores are the same. I just know that opterons are meant to take more of a beating because they are the server grade of processors on a consumer level since they are socket 939 versus 940. I love my 170! If you aren't into overclocking then I would go with asus a8n-E which has been a fast board and rock solid. Just beware of the active armor! Don't install that or the network manager! Only problem with the nforce 4 chipset and it is a big problem at that!

 

[Sano]

i'll do some more research n if i get opt 170 then with that money saved i can pay some extras to get Xi-fi

i think my gf will just get A8N-VM CSM it's her decision =P
n i got plenty of time to decide coz where i am dont hv 7900 XXX version yet n i still need to wait for the case to be out

 

[gahleon]

youll be happy with the build