New build and not updated with today’s hardware = help :)

[RDgH]

Well, awhile ago I was looking into a new computer, but lack of money and other things to put my mind on other tings. Here is what I then considered of buying:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400
Motherboard: Abit - Socket 939 - ATX Nforce4 (AN8-FATAL1TY-SLI)
Memory: Some where that got lost
Graphic: XFX GeForce 7800GT 256MB
HDD (general storage): Western Digital Caviar RE2 400GB
HDD (OS): Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB
Dvd: BenQ DW1640 dual format DVD
Sound: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power: OCZ PowerStream 520w
Case: Antec Case Perfomance One P180 Special edition
Cooling: Waterchill CPU/VGA/Chipset Kit KT12A Dual Xtreme 120mm


Now I actually have the money to buy a new computer and because I'm not updated with today’s hardware I want to know what to change in my previous list (I guess I can probably get better hardware now) at the price range of about 2900$.

What do I want to use my computer for? Mostly playing games and watching films. I basically use my computer for everything photoshopping, 3d, writing: P so I’m really in to multitasking.

Btw, I’m not planning of Sli so I guess that’s not so smart to pay extra bucks for, so what is the best 939 motherboard without Sli, or isn’t socket 939 the best choice?

Ah well, I really would love some help 

 

[sandmannight]

Get a 7900gt instead of that 7800gt. It is more powerful,cheaper,newer plus less heat and less power hungry

 

[doolittle]

^ he said it

EVGA e-Geforce 7900 GT 256MB $279 shipped

This is not a bad deal for memory
G.SKILL 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 CL2.5 $155 shipped

 

[4745454b]

Possible problems I see.
Motherboard. I wouldn't bother with the fatal1ty board. It isn't really any faster then other NF4 boards that are out, and it a bit more expensive. Find something else.
HDD. I like the two harddrive idea, but I'm not convinced you need a raptor. Ofcourse if you do go raptor, then get the 74GB one, not the 37.
Cooling. Is there a reason for the water cooling? Overclocking is great if you have the money to replace anything that gets fried. Seeing as you said it took you awhile to get the $$$ together, I'm guessing this doesnt' apply to you. Drop the watercooling idea.
Monitor. You didn't list this, but I wonder if it applies. I wouldn't go with an LCD if you do lots of PS, I'd look at getting 2 large CRTs.

 

[shadowduck]

Well, awhile ago I was looking into a new computer, but lack of money and other things to put my mind on other tings. Here is what I then considered of buying:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400
Motherboard: Abit - Socket 939 - ATX Nforce4 (AN8-FATAL1TY-SLI)
Memory: Some where that got lost
Graphic: XFX GeForce 7800GT 256MB
HDD (general storage): Western Digital Caviar RE2 400GB
HDD (OS): Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB
Dvd: BenQ DW1640 dual format DVD
Sound: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power: OCZ PowerStream 520w
Case: Antec Case Perfomance One P180 Special edition
Cooling: Waterchill CPU/VGA/Chipset Kit KT12A Dual Xtreme 120mm


Now I actually have the money to buy a new computer and because I'm not updated with today’s hardware I want to know what to change in my previous list (I guess I can probably get better hardware now) at the price range of about 2900$.

What do I want to use my computer for? Mostly playing games and watching films. I basically use my computer for everything photoshopping, 3d, writing: P so I’m really in to multitasking.

Btw, I’m not planning of Sli so I guess that’s not so smart to pay extra bucks for, so what is the best 939 motherboard without Sli, or isn’t socket 939 the best choice?

Ah well, I really would love some help 

Change the motherboard to the Asus A8N-E (or if you need onboard firewire the DFI Lanparty Ultra D) The Asus is $90 the DFI is $120ish.

Change the CPU to an Opteron 165 and overclock it to FX-60 levels.

The P180 is an awesome case, you will love it.

As the other poster suggested, get a 7900. The 7800s are DOA.

You don't need a Raptor most likely. If you feel you need the marginal extra speed (as the other poster suggested) get a 74GB. Using Photoshop alot, you would actually be one of the few to benefit from RAID. Consider 2 250GB (or so) WD SATA II drives with 16MB cache in RAID 0. Its a nice setup and appearantly beats the Raptors in data transfer.

Unless you are a really hard core gamer or music lover, you really do not need a $100 sound card. Onboard sound has come a long way, but even a sold SB Audigy card at $30 will be great, unless you really care about your music.

 

[RDgH]

First of thanks for all advice

This is what I’ve changed so far (Only listing changes):

Processor: AMD Opteron 165
Motherboard: Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
HDD (general storage): Western Digital 500GB SATA II Caviar RE2
HDD (OS): Western Digital Raptor 74GB

I'm new to AMD and that means I'm new to overclocking with AMD. Are there any good guides/forums to read through regarding overclocking with Opteron 165? I hope it isn't too hard? And I can see that there is a difference in wattage
with that processor (110W and 89W), which should I choice?

For the motherboard. I fast check through the forums a lot are considering that motherboard with the opteron and it has Sli which I wasn't interested at first, but I guess it could be somewhat good for future upgrades. Ah well, correct me if I'm wrong with the choice of that motherboard.

Regarding the HDD I'm pretty sure that I will take those.

2 more components left which I haven’t decided of yet. RAM and graphic.
I really would like some help regarding the RAM and I would like to add that I live in Sweden I and couldn't find any Ocz, mutsh and G.15 something in Sweden. Which is the best Ram choice if you don’t include those brands that would work fine with the opteron?

I was prepared to choose the EVGA card, but couldn't find any of those in Sweden. I've decided of a 7900 gtx instead of gt. Which type of 7900gtx card besides Evga should I get, and also has ATI any better card?

 

[mad_fitzy]

If your gettin a water cooling setup then you are obviously planning on overclocking in which case you should get a DFI Lanparty board. Very OC friendly

 

[RDgH]

Actually I found ocz and evga products

This is probably what I'm going for:

Processor: AMD Opteron 165
Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 ULTRA
Memory: OCZ 2x1024MB PC-4000 EB DDR Platinum Edition Dual Channel Kit
Graphic: eVGA GeForce 7900GT CO Copper Version 256Mb DDR3
HDD (general storage): Western Digital Caviar RE2 500GB
HDD (OS): Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB
Dvd: BenQ DW1640 dual format DVD
Floppy: Sony Floppy Drive, 3, 5"
Sound: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power: OCZ PowerStream 520w
Case: Antec Case Perfomance One P180 Special edition
Cooling: Waterchill CPU/VGA/Chipset Kit KT12A Dual Xtreme 120mm

So what do you guys think?

 

[Flakes]

Actually I found ocz and evga products

This is probably what I'm going for:

Processor: AMD Opteron 165
Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 ULTRA
Memory: OCZ 2x1024MB PC-4000 EB DDR Platinum Edition Dual Channel Kit
Graphic: eVGA GeForce 7900GT CO Copper Version 256Mb DDR3
HDD (general storage): Western Digital Caviar RE2 500GB
HDD (OS): Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB
Dvd: BenQ DW1640 dual format DVD
Floppy: Sony Floppy Drive, 3, 5"
Sound: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power: OCZ PowerStream 520w
Case: Antec Case Perfomance One P180 Special edition
Cooling: Waterchill CPU/VGA/Chipset Kit KT12A Dual Xtreme 120mm

So what do you guys think?

good build go for it... there are overclocking guides in the stickys of this forum in the CPU section.

 

[angry_ducky]

Well, awhile ago I was looking into a new computer, but lack of money and other things to put my mind on other tings. Here is what I then considered of buying:

Processor: AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400
Motherboard: Abit - Socket 939 - ATX Nforce4 (AN8-FATAL1TY-SLI)
Memory: Some where that got lost
Graphic: XFX GeForce 7800GT 256MB
HDD (general storage): Western Digital Caviar RE2 400GB
HDD (OS): Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB
Dvd: BenQ DW1640 dual format DVD
Sound: Creative SB X-Fi XtremeMusic
Power: OCZ PowerStream 520w
Case: Antec Case Perfomance One P180 Special edition
Cooling: Waterchill CPU/VGA/Chipset Kit KT12A Dual Xtreme 120mm


Now I actually have the money to buy a new computer and because I'm not updated with today’s hardware I want to know what to change in my previous list (I guess I can probably get better hardware now) at the price range of about 2900$.

What do I want to use my computer for? Mostly playing games and watching films. I basically use my computer for everything photoshopping, 3d, writing: P so I’m really in to multitasking.

Btw, I’m not planning of Sli so I guess that’s not so smart to pay extra bucks for, so what is the best 939 motherboard without Sli, or isn’t socket 939 the best choice?

Ah well, I really would love some help 

Change the motherboard to the Asus A8N-E (or if you need onboard firewire the DFI Lanparty Ultra D) The Asus is $90 the DFI is $120ish.

Change the CPU to an Opteron 165 and overclock it to FX-60 levels.

The P180 is an awesome case, you will love it.

As the other poster suggested, get a 7900. The 7800s are DOA.

You don't need a Raptor most likely. If you feel you need the marginal extra speed (as the other poster suggested) get a 74GB. Using Photoshop alot, you would actually be one of the few to benefit from RAID. Consider 2 250GB (or so) WD SATA II drives with 16MB cache in RAID 0. Its a nice setup and appearantly beats the Raptors in data transfer.

Unless you are a really hard core gamer or music lover, you really do not need a $100 sound card. Onboard sound has come a long way, but even a sold SB Audigy card at $30 will be great, unless you really care about your music.

I agree with the other duck. The Lanparty boards are awesome, and they perform great. For the RAM, newegg has some Corsair XMS for $138 after rebate. Find it HERE.