Gaming computer, any recommendations before I order?

[Raern]

I just want to be sure I'm not missing anything important before I order this, please take a look:

Case: Gigabyte Aurora 3D Black, mesh panel. GZ-FSCA1-ANB
Power: Enermax Noisetaker EG495P-VE SFMA BLUE 485w.

Motherboard: Asus A8N5X socket 939
CPU: AMD ATHLON 64 X2 4200+ 2.2GHz
RAM: Kingston VALUERAM DDR 2GB PC3200 DUAL CHANNEL
Video: MSI Radeon RX1900XTX-VT2D512E
HDD: WD CAVIAR SPECIAL EDITION 200GB (SATA)

Remaining components are either not worth examining, or being taken from my old computer.

Main question is whether 485w is enough to comfortably run the X1900XTX, 2-3 HDDs and 1-2 optical drives?
Also, will this CPU run well enough on its stock heatsink?

Thanks for your help.

 

[yourmothersanastronaut]

The case looks good, I'm eyeing the one with the window for my next build, and it's liquid cooling-ready!

Yes, your power supply is fine for running all of that. The only reason you would have to worry is if that 485W power supply cost around $25. Enermax is a good brand, you will have nothing to worry about.

If you're not planning to overclock, that motherboard is fine. However, if you are, then I would suggest a DFI. If you can find an SLI motherboard that fits your needs, I would say get it - not for SLI, mind you, but for the extra PCI-E slot - so you can add a Physics card when they become available. Try the DFI SLI-Infinity for around $100 from newegg.com.

Instead of getting the A64, check out the Opteron (Denmark core) series for 939. They overclock really easily, and even on the Asus you can probably get at least 2.2 GHz out of the 1.8 GHz stock 165. I believe it's also cheaper than the 4200+, and it has 2 x 1 MB cache, which will help with multitasking.

If you can find a better brand than Kingston, I would suggest that. Try Patriot or A-Data's Vitesta series, both are really good and come with decent heatspreaders.

Good video card - I prefer nVidia myself, but that is one of the fastest cards you can get today, so good choice.

If your motherboard supports SATAII, I would suggest getting a SATAII drive. Even if you don't have SATAII, go with a SATAII drive. Once you upgrade, and drives finally catch up to their interfaces, you'll be glad you got one. The SLI-Infinity motherboard I suggested has 4 SATAII ports with RAID 0/1/0+1, so you'll be set.

The stock cooler on the Opteron Denmark series is equivalent to a Thermalright XP-90, one of the best heatsinks you can get. It also runs very quietly on the stock fan, so no worries about overheating in the Gigabyte case.

 

[bweir]

A few pointers:

1. Good choices for the board and CPU.

2. Make sure the memory is 2 x 1Gb sticks, not 4x 512mb sticks. You will get slightly better results in performance, as well as have more headroom to overclock if you ever decide to.

3. I've been wary of MSI motherboards, knowing several people who have had really bad luck with them. That being said, I've never heard anything about their video cards, but check out some other brands, as they are just as good or better. BFG is known to offer lifetime warranties on their cards, so keep that in mind, a video card is usually one of the first things to die when sh*t hits the fan, so a long warranty is a must.

4. Get a HDD with a 16mb cache. Maxtor and Seagate offer them, and i'd expect WD to offer some as well. A 300Gb SATA2 drive w/16mb of cache will run you about $120.

5. Get an fairly expensive power supply, because you don't want a cheap $40 one to blow up and take half your system with it. As an example, just last week my 3-year old Antec TruePower 550w power supply exploded loudly while I was playing a game. A capacitor burst and almost wasted my system, but I got lucky. That P/S lasted through 3 years of abuse, but still died on me. However, a cheaper one would have died much faster, and possibly surged back into the system, causing untold damage to Video cards, HDD's or the motherboard. Bottom line: Spend at least $70 on a P/S with 500-600 watts or more. It is often the most neglected part of a system and can be one the biggest headaches when it craps out on you. DON'T CHEAP OUT ON THIS PART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

6. I want that video card!!!! Nice choice, you won't be sorry.

 

[Hale73]

yes, get the opty and get urself a corsair memory module pref. XMS series
when it come to gtaphics card, get the 7900GT and

 

[Dade_0182]

Hey man thats a nice setup right there. I would have to agree with YourMothersAnAstronaut on the mobo, go DFI. If you do decide to rather get the Opty for overclocking purposes, you might want to look at a bit bigger PSU. Maybe the ANTEC 550W???

Great choice on the video card, ATI is just suited for future games so much better than nVidia. Look at the difference it made with the softshadows enabled in fear. Don't get me wrong, I am not a fanboy I just like the better card wich is the X1900XTX at the moment. I have an nVidia card at the moment, looking to upgrade my whole system real soon but first comes the wheels.

YourMothersAnAstronaut has the hdd scenario spot on. Go SATAII, you won't regret it.

 

[MrsD]

I used to be a reseller/purchasing at a computer company and I've seen all the returns on motherboards I'd care to see. All I can say is I have always used MSI motherboards and never had a bad one. I've also owned at least 2 of their video cards, they were great. Secondly I'd go with Corsair xmx memory, its on sale right now at newegg cheap. Oh yeah and my thumbs up for the Opteron 165 or higher. They are extremely stable and very overclockable. Ive seen near FX-60 speeds from a Opty 165 at $325.

 

[MrsD]

I used to be a reseller/purchasing at a computer company and I've seen all the returns on motherboards I'd care to see. All I can say is I have always used MSI motherboards and never had a bad one. I've also owned at least 2 of their video cards, they were great. If your a gamer, you must get an sli board so you can add another vc later on when they get cheap. Secondly I'd go with Corsair xmx memory, its on sale right now at newegg cheap. Oh yeah and my thumbs up for the Opteron 165 or higher. They are extremely stable and very overclockable. Ive seen near FX-60 speeds from a Opty 165 at $325.

 

[clue69less]

If your motherboard supports SATAII, I would suggest getting a SATAII drive. Even if you don't have SATAII, go with a SATAII drive. Once you upgrade, and drives finally catch up to their interfaces, you'll be glad you got one.

Why does it matter if a current drive is SATAII? Motherboard, yes, assuming it's still alive when (if) SATA drives surpass SATAI bandwidth, but it seems that you are implying that a current drive can somehow be upgraded (?) in the future to need bandwidth beyond its spec?

 

[waylander]

Like most of us, he may want to retain data from older hard drives when he does a new build, therefore if you get a SATAII HD now you won't have to worry about any limitations when you upgrade your MB in the future and the cost of SATAII vs SATAI is negligible.

As to the question of the build, I would also suggest going with a better PSU and a SLI MB. The ability for upgrades later on is worth a little more money up front, if you get the lower cost parts now you may end up regretting it later.

 

[DarkPheonix]

I dont know what your budget is, but....

CPU and GPU are fine, at least until summer....

all I can say is:
1) consider a raptor
2) buy EVERYTHING from newegg because its highly improbable to find a better price anywhere else
3) dont get a bad PSU. Like everyone else said, a bad PSU is one heckuva bad thing to get wrong. If the PSU goes down, it can either take your system with it by shorting out all your components or it can make it look like the HDD or mobo or something else in the computer has gone bad when it really was the PSU. For peace of mind, I always buy PC power and cooling, but theyre like 2x-4x more expensive than everybody else, sooooo........

 

[timberwolf1]

I recommend the AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 processor and this DFI LanParty UT nF4 SLI-DR motherboard.

 

[clue69less]

Like most of us, he may want to retain data from older hard drives when he does a new build, therefore if you get a SATAII HD now you won't have to worry about any limitations when you upgrade your MB in the future and the cost of SATAII vs SATAI is negligible.

But a drive that reads and writes at </= SATAI (like a current drive) will still read and write at </= SATAI on that next new build. Are you thinking that in the (reasonably) near future that SATAII mobos won't also drive older SATAI HDs? A current HD, regardless of if it's SATAI or II, is not going to magically jump up and deliver data at SATAII bandwidth just because it's installed on a next generation mobo, is it? With regards to cost, I agree, but all I'm saying is that I don't see how it will ever matter since current HDs aren't yet in need of SATAII bandwidth.

 

[Raern]

Thanks for the replies.

This system is about the limits of my budget, meaning I can't add anything without taking something out. (although I can upgrade it later) An extremely high end PC would be nice, but for the most part I'm aiming for the best performance/cost ratio I can.

I want it to last a long time, maybe even 3-4 years like my current system has, which is why I chose the video card. Top of the line so it lasts without upgrade playing average games, not so it can run everything at high detail. I don't intend to overclock it for that reason too, I'd rather not risk voiding any warranties or shortening the life of any parts.

I'm in New Zealand so US prices aren't always accurate, and Newegg isn't an option.
Also the exchange rate is making me want to buy now, things may actually get more expensive to import in a few weeks: http://finance.yahoo.com/currency/convert?amt=1&from=NZD&to=USD&submit=Convert


The HDD is SATA II, I just didn't write the II last night. However, the HDD is the first thing I intend to upgrade. I'd like either a raptor or a RAID 0, but I'd rather upgrade to it later and use the 200gb for storage than try and squeeze it in now.

The MSI x1900xtx from this supplier is roughly NZ$200 cheaper than the average x1900xtx, and it's also cheaper than many x1900xt cards here. Given that a review listed all x1900xtx cards as being built by ATI then relabeled it seems a good deal.


I guess I can upgrade later if needed, but if I don't need perfect performance speed is the RAM at least acceptable?
I can switch to Corsair branded RAM (2x1Gb dual channel also) for roughly the same price, is that preferable?

To go to a 2x1Gb dual channel kit with heat spreaders would add ~NZ$200 which would be hard to find. I just don't want it to burn out or something under the pressure of the rest of the system.

 

[waylander]

A current HD, regardless of if it's SATAI or II, is not going to magically jump up and deliver data at SATAII bandwidth just because it's installed on a next generation mobo, is it? With regards to cost, I agree, but all I'm saying is that I don't see how it will ever matter since current HDs aren't yet in need of SATAII bandwidth.

I agree with what you are saying to a point but I don't like the idea of a possible bottleneck anywhere in the system. You will always have one component of the system which will slow you down (it's only as strong as the weakest link) but I try to avoid that if possible and since the there really is no cost difference go for the newer interface whenever possible is best.

I did not suggest any particular drive but what most do is pick a 10,000 rpm drive for OS and programs and 7,200 rpm drives for data. This is the best compromise between performence and price. I personally have 3 HDs 1 for programs and two for data, all SATAII.


As to the question of Ram, it can come down to the bottleneck effect I spoke of above. Poor quality ram will have an effect on all aspects of your system, whether gaming or regular computing. You don't have to go with the best but I would suggest that you buy it as a kit (tested as a kit). I would personally spend $100 more on better ram than on a better CPU as it can have more effect on gaming especially.

 

[clue69less]

A current HD, regardless of if it's SATAI or II, is not going to magically jump up and deliver data at SATAII bandwidth just because it's installed on a next generation mobo, is it? With regards to cost, I agree, but all I'm saying is that I don't see how it will ever matter since current HDs aren't yet in need of SATAII bandwidth.

I agree with what you are saying to a point but I don't like the idea of a possible bottleneck anywhere in the system. You will always have one component of the system which will slow you down (it's only as strong as the weakest link) but I try to avoid that if possible and since the there really is no cost difference go for the newer interface whenever possible is best.

I did not suggest any particular drive but what most do is pick a 10,000 rpm drive for OS and programs and 7,200 rpm drives for data. This is the best compromise between performence and price. I personally have 3 HDs 1 for programs and two for data, all SATAII.


As to the question of Ram, it can come down to the bottleneck effect I spoke of above. Poor quality ram will have an effect on all aspects of your system, whether gaming or regular computing. You don't have to go with the best but I would suggest that you buy it as a kit (tested as a kit). I would personally spend $100 more on better ram than on a better CPU as it can have more effect on gaming especially.

A perfectly balanced system would have no bottleneck, right? OK, but to get back to this discussion, even a 10K rpm drive can't overtax SATAI, so what's the worry? Again, wanting a SATAII mobo is smart, even if it may be a bit of wishful thinking at this point in time. But today's SATAII HDs aren't overtaxing SATAI and they aren't going to magically start just by getting older. Make no mistake - for alot of what I do, the HD is my bottleneck, but getting a SATAII drive won't change that.

 

[yourmothersanastronaut]

In my humble opinion, a hard drive is a lot easier to add or change than a motherboard. If your motherboard has the right interface (or an interface for a card with the right interface :lol, then that's just dandy. I recommend SATAII to anyone buying/building a new computer because SATAII is quickly becoming a new standard.

I have a feeling that the 150 GB Raptor will be one of the last SATA150 drives made. Therefore, the focus will be on creating a hard drive that can take full advantage of the interface. And when the day finally comes when a mass storage device can finally take full advantage of its interface, you'll be right there. Solid-state disks aren't too far off from being widely accepted, I think, even if they're considered Raptor-class high-end uber-fast drives. Manufacturers will stop using the older interface if it means their products will become faster. Let's use a little logic here, people.

Point is, if you have the interface of the future that can still use the drive of the past, then go with it. It means fewer upgrades and expansions, which may increase the operating life of your system.

If it works now, and will work even better later, then why complain? GO WITH SATAII, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

 

[clue69less]

In my humble opinion, a hard drive is a lot easier to add or change than a motherboard. If your motherboard has the right interface (or an interface for a card with the right interface :lol, then that's just dandy. I recommend SATAII to anyone buying/building a new computer because SATAII is quickly becoming a new standard.

I have a feeling that the 150 GB Raptor will be one of the last SATA150 drives made. Therefore, the focus will be on creating a hard drive that can take full advantage of the interface. And when the day finally comes when a mass storage device can finally take full advantage of its interface, you'll be right there. Solid-state disks aren't too far off from being widely accepted, I think, even if they're considered Raptor-class high-end uber-fast drives. Manufacturers will stop using the older interface if it means their products will become faster. Let's use a little logic here, people.

Point is, if you have the interface of the future that can still use the drive of the past, then go with it. It means fewer upgrades and expansions, which may increase the operating life of your system.

If it works now, and will work even better later, then why complain? GO WITH SATAII, YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT.

You seem to be talking in circles. Way back up in the thread, you said:

"If your motherboard supports SATAII, I would suggest getting a SATAII drive. Even if you don't have SATAII, go with a SATAII drive. Once you upgrade, and drives finally catch up to their interfaces, you'll be glad you got one. The SLI-Infinity motherboard I suggested has 4 SATAII ports with RAID 0/1/0+1, so you'll be set."

I've said repeatedly to go with SATAII mobo, even if it's wishful thinking. But SATAII vs I HDs alone right now won't get you anything of worth. And I'm not complaining - just stating the facts.