I am making this thread as a write up / guide for other users to help them with their build up. This is dedicated for my own build, but I think that evryone could benefit from this. I will make this write up in sections and use as much reference as I can to make it easier to find information. It seems that alot of posts are asking the same questions over and over. I hope to adress them with this single post, and with the help of people who posted a repply below. Allot of people want to upgrade or build new, and there are allot of options, but most of us are looking into dual core processors and advanced video cards like ATi's Crossfire and Gforce's SLI technologies. Below is my process of selecting different components and based on the opinion of others on this board, changing them for better settup.
Changes made to original settup
Original Proposed New Sysem Spec: ___________________________________________________________
Video Card ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition PCI Express 512MB DDR3
Motherboard MSI RD480 NEO2-FI Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire Athlon 64
Memory KINGSTON 2GB Kit HyperX Reg ECC DDR 400MHz
Power Supply Antec TrueControl 550 ATX12
Processor AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Dual Core Processor
Case Raidmax Horizon ATX-287WB Black
CD/DVD Drive NEC ND-6750A Silm Dual Layer DVD±RW Writer
Fans AzenX Blitztorm System Slot Cooler BT-SC70BBLWater Cooling Kingwin AWC-1 Arctic Liquid Cooler System
Headset LTB Audio Systems Pro Series AC97 True 5.1 Surround
OS Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition - OEM
Sound Card Creative X-Fi XtremeMusic
Changes 1 (4/16/06) Motherboard ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe
As stated by MadModMikeI've decided to go for this particular motherboard. It has support for my video card, and it's 3200 board. It's also better for overclocking from what I have red.
Changes 2 RAM CORSAIR XMS 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel I'll switch to this RAM since people don't have good opinions about Kingston. Also it's allot cheaper than my original choice and it's perfect for 3200 systems. Thanks again MadModMike
Changes 3 Switching from AMD X2 3800+ to AMD Opteron 165. It is coupole of bucks more, but like MadModMike recomended it should be worth it. It's clock speed is bit less, but I guess it's better for OCing, so that doesn't really matter. What does matter is the fact that Opteron has 2 x 1MB L2 Cache as oposed to Athlon with 2 x 512KB L2 Cache.
Could someone recomend a better case? I need a mid tower or what ever the standard is, it has to have side went, clear side window if possible, front can not have door. If possible, slot for a slim dvd burner.
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In my courent system I have a decent hard drive of 150GB, which is split into two partitions. C: for windows and program files, and F: for extra storage. I also have seperate HD labled D: and it's 19GB and I use it for MP3 Files. And finally I also have another HD labled E: for back up files. My question is if I should go ahead and get a new HD for my new system with the speed of 10,000rpm, but small capacity and use it ONLY for windows instalation, and use the 150GB HD for progam files and evrything else. Should this contribute for better performance on other applications, and windows itself?
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Ok, so I've decided to update my hardware, after owning the same computer for 7 year, only upgrading parts at the time. So it's time fro brand new. Below you'll find my well-though and researched options for as far as the components go. I need your input and advice on what works and what would be better.
Processor: First thing is first, I started with a Processor first. I've decided to get a dual core processor. Between AMD and Intel, personally i chose AMD because not only it's cheaper, but it performs better. So I did some research and decided to get me an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+. The reason I chose 3800+ instead of 4200+, 4600+ is because of the value and price.
Video Card: The reason I put the video card in the second spot is because high end video cards have allot of requirements, so it's naturally a better idea to start from this then. Graphics are very important to me. I use my PC ALOT for gaming, as well as 3D applications. Without much thinking I've decided to get me an ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition. I wanted this card since I first red about it. Now the only problem is that the card requires me to use a Crossfire ready motherboard. This limits me in selecting a motherboard. So now I'm thinking if I should get the 1900XTX instead of Crossfire. I don’t know if Crossfire technology will make too much of a difference.
Motherboard: Motherboards are my favorite piece of hardware. They're in my opinion underrated and inexpensive. Anyways, I did lots of research, and was debating between ASUS and MSI boards. In the end I've decided to go with MSI RD480 NEO2-FI Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire. I've always been an ASUS fan, but from what I've heard the MSI board is very nice and reliable. I've also heard that this particular model is pretty low-end. This is where I need your help. If you would be kind to help me select a better choice for a motherboard. But remember, it has to be compatible with my video card.
RAM Allot of people speculate that DDR2 isn't that much better than DDR. Besides, the MSI board above doesn't support DDR2, I don't think, so that is another reason why I chose KINGSTON 2GB Kit HyperX Reg ECC DDR 400MHz Pretty expensive, but well worth it I hope.
PSU For the power supply I know I would need at least 550w as my video card requires it. Also for the video card, it says it needs to be plugged into the power supply directly. I don't know if Antec TrueControl 550 ATX12 would be the right choice then.
Please leave your comments, recommendations, and thoughts.
Ok, so I've decided to update my hardware, after owning the same computer for 7 year, only upgrading parts at the time. So it's time fro brand new. Below you'll find my well-though and researched options for as far as the components go. I need your input and advice on what works and what would be better.
Processor: First thing is first, I started with a Processor first. I've decided to get a dual core processor. Between AMD and Intel, personally i chose AMD because not only it's cheaper, but it performs better. So I did some research and decided to get me an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+. The reason I chose 3800+ instead of 4200+, 4600+ is because of the value and price.
Video Card: The reason I put the video card in the second spot is because high end video cards have allot of requirements, so it's naturally a better idea to start from this then. Graphics are very important to me. I use my PC ALOT for gaming, as well as 3D applications. Without much thinking I've decided to get me an ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition. I wanted this card since I first red about it. Now the only problem is that the card requires me to use a Crossfire ready motherboard. This limits me in selecting a motherboard. So now I'm thinking if I should get the 1900XTX instead of Crossfire. I don’t know if Crossfire technology will make too much of a difference.
Motherboard: Motherboards are my favorite piece of hardware. They're in my opinion underrated and inexpensive. Anyways, I did lots of research, and was debating between ASUS and MSI boards. In the end I've decided to go with MSI RD480 NEO2-FI Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire. I've always been an ASUS fan, but from what I've heard the MSI board is very nice and reliable. I've also heard that this particular model is pretty low-end. This is where I need your help. If you would be kind to help me select a better choice for a motherboard. But remember, it has to be compatible with my video card.
RAM Allot of people speculate that DDR2 isn't that much better than DDR. Besides, the MSI board above doesn't support DDR2, I don't think, so that is another reason why I chose KINGSTON 2GB Kit HyperX Reg ECC DDR 400MHz Pretty expensive, but well worth it I hope.
PSU For the power supply I know I would need at least 550w as my video card requires it. Also for the video card, it says it needs to be plugged into the power supply directly. I don't know if Antec TrueControl 550 ATX12 would be the right choice then.
Please leave your comments, recommendations, and thoughts.
CPU: AMD Opteron 64 165
GPU: PowerColor ATI Radeon x1900XT
MOBO: Any CrossFire Xpress 3200 (not 200)
RAM: 2GB (1GBx2) Corsair XMS PC3200
PSU: Any PSU above 600 Watts, such as the XG Vortec 600w
Ok, so I've decided to update my hardware, after owning the same computer for 7 year, only upgrading parts at the time. So it's time fro brand new. Below you'll find my well-though and researched options for as far as the components go. I need your input and advice on what works and what would be better.
Processor: First thing is first, I started with a Processor first. I've decided to get a dual core processor. Between AMD and Intel, personally i chose AMD because not only it's cheaper, but it performs better. So I did some research and decided to get me an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+. The reason I chose 3800+ instead of 4200+, 4600+ is because of the value and price.
Video Card: The reason I put the video card in the second spot is because high end video cards have allot of requirements, so it's naturally a better idea to start from this then. Graphics are very important to me. I use my PC ALOT for gaming, as well as 3D applications. Without much thinking I've decided to get me an ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition. I wanted this card since I first red about it. Now the only problem is that the card requires me to use a Crossfire ready motherboard. This limits me in selecting a motherboard. So now I'm thinking if I should get the 1900XTX instead of Crossfire. I don’t know if Crossfire technology will make too much of a difference.
Motherboard: Motherboards are my favorite piece of hardware. They're in my opinion underrated and inexpensive. Anyways, I did lots of research, and was debating between ASUS and MSI boards. In the end I've decided to go with MSI RD480 NEO2-FI Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire. I've always been an ASUS fan, but from what I've heard the MSI board is very nice and reliable. I've also heard that this particular model is pretty low-end. This is where I need your help. If you would be kind to help me select a better choice for a motherboard. But remember, it has to be compatible with my video card.
RAM Allot of people speculate that DDR2 isn't that much better than DDR. Besides, the MSI board above doesn't support DDR2, I don't think, so that is another reason why I chose KINGSTON 2GB Kit HyperX Reg ECC DDR 400MHz Pretty expensive, but well worth it I hope.
PSU For the power supply I know I would need at least 550w as my video card requires it. Also for the video card, it says it needs to be plugged into the power supply directly. I don't know if Antec TrueControl 550 ATX12 would be the right choice then.
Please leave your comments, recommendations, and thoughts.
CPU: AMD Opteron 64 165
GPU: PowerColor ATI Radeon x1900XT
MOBO: Any CrossFire Xpress 3200 (not 200)
RAM: 2GB (1GBx2) Corsair XMS PC3200
PSU: Any PSU above 600 Watts, such as the XG Vortec 600w
~~Mad Mod Mike, fixin' the world 1 rig at a time
Thanks mike for the fast repply :-)
Could you explain in more detail as to why you would change to those components. I don't mean to be ass, it's just that I'm not an expert, and any aditional informantion is good for me :-)
Ok, so I've decided to update my hardware, after owning the same computer for 7 year, only upgrading parts at the time. So it's time fro brand new. Below you'll find my well-though and researched options for as far as the components go. I need your input and advice on what works and what would be better.
Processor: First thing is first, I started with a Processor first. I've decided to get a dual core processor. Between AMD and Intel, personally i chose AMD because not only it's cheaper, but it performs better. So I did some research and decided to get me an AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+. The reason I chose 3800+ instead of 4200+, 4600+ is because of the value and price.
Video Card: The reason I put the video card in the second spot is because high end video cards have allot of requirements, so it's naturally a better idea to start from this then. Graphics are very important to me. I use my PC ALOT for gaming, as well as 3D applications. Without much thinking I've decided to get me an ATI Radeon X1900 CrossFire Edition. I wanted this card since I first red about it. Now the only problem is that the card requires me to use a Crossfire ready motherboard. This limits me in selecting a motherboard. So now I'm thinking if I should get the 1900XTX instead of Crossfire. I don’t know if Crossfire technology will make too much of a difference.
Motherboard: Motherboards are my favorite piece of hardware. They're in my opinion underrated and inexpensive. Anyways, I did lots of research, and was debating between ASUS and MSI boards. In the end I've decided to go with MSI RD480 NEO2-FI Radeon Xpress 200 CrossFire. I've always been an ASUS fan, but from what I've heard the MSI board is very nice and reliable. I've also heard that this particular model is pretty low-end. This is where I need your help. If you would be kind to help me select a better choice for a motherboard. But remember, it has to be compatible with my video card.
RAM Allot of people speculate that DDR2 isn't that much better than DDR. Besides, the MSI board above doesn't support DDR2, I don't think, so that is another reason why I chose KINGSTON 2GB Kit HyperX Reg ECC DDR 400MHz Pretty expensive, but well worth it I hope.
PSU For the power supply I know I would need at least 550w as my video card requires it. Also for the video card, it says it needs to be plugged into the power supply directly. I don't know if Antec TrueControl 550 ATX12 would be the right choice then.
Please leave your comments, recommendations, and thoughts.
CPU: AMD Opteron 64 165
GPU: PowerColor ATI Radeon x1900XT
MOBO: Any CrossFire Xpress 3200 (not 200)
RAM: 2GB (1GBx2) Corsair XMS PC3200
PSU: Any PSU above 600 Watts, such as the XG Vortec 600w
~~Mad Mod Mike, fixin' the world 1 rig at a time
Thanks mike for the fast repply :-)
Could you explain in more detail as to why you would change to those components. I don't mean to be ass, it's just that I'm not an expert, and any aditional informantion is good for me :-)
CPU: It's just as good as the X2 3800+ and in the future, if you plan to overclock, it's the perfect candidate
GPU: An XTX is a rip, you can OC the XT to XTX speeds easily, and save alot
MOBO: Xpress 3200 is better than 200, and each GPU has 4GB/s Bandwidth which aids in CrossFire
RAM: Kingston is bad, Corsair XMS is great for stability and performance
Opteron 165 is better IMO. Performance is about same, but the Opetron runs cooler and uses less energy.
X1900XT is a wise choice.
CrossFire Xpress 3200 has dual X16 slots. Basically, if you Crossfire, you'll have the two cards running at X16 each, rather than X8 each.
I can't really trust Kingston RAM, I say OCZ, or Corsair. Corsair SMX is very good. Better choice than Kingston.
I went to Corsair website, they have so manny choices. I need at least 2GB of RAM. Which would be ok with my settup? Please note that i've switched the motherboard to ASUS. Look above....
Opteron 165 is better IMO. Performance is about same, but the Opetron runs cooler and uses less energy.
X1900XT is a wise choice.
CrossFire Xpress 3200 has dual X16 slots. Basically, if you Crossfire, you'll have the two cards running at X16 each, rather than X8 each.
I can't really trust Kingston RAM, I say OCZ, or Corsair. Corsair SMX is very good. Better choice than Kingston.
I went to Corsair website, they have so manny choices. I need at least 2GB of RAM. Which would be ok with my settup? Please note that i've switched the motherboard to ASUS. Look above....
Opteron 165 is better IMO. Performance is about same, but the Opetron runs cooler and uses less energy.
X1900XT is a wise choice.
CrossFire Xpress 3200 has dual X16 slots. Basically, if you Crossfire, you'll have the two cards running at X16 each, rather than X8 each.
I can't really trust Kingston RAM, I say OCZ, or Corsair. Corsair SMX is very good. Better choice than Kingston.
I'm a bit sceptical about buying Opteron. It's about $100 more than X2 3800+ with no major advantages. I guess it is better for OCing, but I might have to consider this.
Opteron 165 is better IMO. Performance is about same, but the Opetron runs cooler and uses less energy.
X1900XT is a wise choice.
CrossFire Xpress 3200 has dual X16 slots. Basically, if you Crossfire, you'll have the two cards running at X16 each, rather than X8 each.
I can't really trust Kingston RAM, I say OCZ, or Corsair. Corsair SMX is very good. Better choice than Kingston.
I'm a bit sceptical about buying Opteron. It's about $100 more than X2 3800+ with no major advantages. I guess it is better for OCing, but I might have to consider this.
The Opteron 165 is $327, the X2 3800+ is $295 last time I checked, where are you quoting your prices from? If you don't plan to overclock alot, get the cheaper X2 3800+.
Opteron 165 is better IMO. Performance is about same, but the Opetron runs cooler and uses less energy.
X1900XT is a wise choice.
CrossFire Xpress 3200 has dual X16 slots. Basically, if you Crossfire, you'll have the two cards running at X16 each, rather than X8 each.
I can't really trust Kingston RAM, I say OCZ, or Corsair. Corsair SMX is very good. Better choice than Kingston.
I'm a bit sceptical about buying Opteron. It's about $100 more than X2 3800+ with no major advantages. I guess it is better for OCing, but I might have to consider this.
The Opteron 165 is $327, the X2 3800+ is $295 last time I checked, where are you quoting your prices from? If you don't plan to overclock alot, get the cheaper X2 3800+.
~~Mad Mod Mike, fixin' the world 1 rig at a time
You wouldn't hapen to have a link with these two comparing? Not that I'm questioning your knowledge, just curious...
8) Opteron 165 is better IMO. Performance is about same, but the Opetron runs cooler and uses less energy.
X1900XT is a wise choice.
CrossFire Xpress 3200 has dual X16 slots. Basically, if you Crossfire, you'll have the two cards running at X16 each, rather than X8 each.
I can't really trust Kingston RAM, I say OCZ, or Corsair. Corsair SMX is very good. Better choice than Kingston.
I'm a bit sceptical about buying Opteron. It's about $100 more than X2 3800+ with no major advantages. I guess it is better for OCing, but I might have to consider this.
The Opteron 165 is $327, the X2 3800+ is $295 last time I checked, where are you quoting your prices from? If you don't plan to overclock alot, get the cheaper X2 3800+.
~~Mad Mod Mike, fixin' the world 1 rig at a time
You wouldn't hapen to have a link with these two comparing? Not that I'm questioning your knowledge, just curious...
