need some help with new build

[r_lee]

i still have agp system so time for upgrade i was tryin to wait for vista but im sick of video lag kill's in bf2.

i have a older antec server case now here is what im going to upgrade to

Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM Unbuffered DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel

eVGA 256-P2-N584-AR Geforce 7900GT KO 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Orleans 2000MHz HT 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor - Retail

Gigabyte GA-M59SLI-S5 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

now need some info

will this mobo and powersupply work in my older antec case

will my old hard drive i got work if i reformat and reload windows sp1 xp home its a western digtal 80gb ide-atx

and what drivers do i need for the motherboard Gigabyte's website has drivers and nivda's website has drivers
my friend going to be building it but i was going to download the drivers while the stuff ships to save em some time

and if u see any parts that won't work let me know so i can change em
or any other info u might have

thanks everone

 

[ikjadoon]

Hello and welcome to the Forums!

They all seem like very good sound choices, but are you willing to wait until tommorow for huge price drops in dual-cores? As you can see, I think a Dual-Core would be suited better, a X2 4000+ or a X2 3800+. You can pick a X2 3800+ for around ~150 and it is a great OC'er.

Good choice in RAM.

GPU looks good, but one little pickle: eVGA has been having some problems with it's overclocked 7900GT's, so watch out. I think it has been cured, though.

Any particular reason for the 590 SLi? If you got the cash, go for it, but I recommend the Foxconn 590 SLi over that one for better overclocking and just better performance.

If your case was built in the last 7 years or so, very good chance it will work. You mention it is a server case, does it have support for an ATX motherboard? I'm pretty sure it will, but sometimes it doesn't.

Power Supply should work regardless.

Well, I have some bad news. Any 500 series motherboard only includes ONE IDE connector, and I think you will want to reserve that you for your DVD/CD drive. You could grab a good SATA Segate 320GB (Only $94 and is a good bit faster than every other 7.2K drive out there) Perpendicular drive.

Here is what I would do: Back up any important data, format the disk to remove Windows, and then install Windows on the new machine.

You shouldn't need to download drivers for anything. All the hardware, if it is retail, should come with drivers. Of course, you don't need a drive for a CD/DVD drive or a hard drive so it is OK to buy those OEM over retail. But any device that needs drivers will come with them.

If you need to update your chipset drivers, I would go with Gigabyte unless they are lagging many driver revisons back because the drivers on Gigabyte's site are tested with your motherboard, while nVidia may have a later driver version, it might not work on your motherboard.

I think it is kind of fun to build a computer, I would watch just in case you ever want to build one and the friend isn't around. To build a computer you only need two major things, knowledge-wise: 1) All the parts are compatabile 2) You know where everything is

Finally, any reason for not going with Core 2 Duo?

~Ibrahim~

 

[r_lee]

thanks for the info ikjadoon

i didn't think the dual core would help me in gaming from what i had read so i thought i would wait for price drops but if they are droping that soon ill wait and get one

i was going with the Gigabyte cause thats what i have now and it's not give me any trouble i dont know any thing about overclocking and i wanted the 3rd pci express for later upgrades

ill check on the box my case come in for atx support

would u suggest a another videocard? i think from the forms that eVGA has got the bugs worked out

i have a dvd and cd burner drive now will i not be able to use both if only have ONE IDE connector

again thanks for the help

 

[The_Prophecy]

Suggested Changes:

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4000+ <--- this CPU should be about $200 after the price cuts are applied.

Mobo: Asus M2N-E <--- No reason to get an SLI board here.... unless you're planning on gaming at resolutions above 1600 x 1200, AND will be getting another 7900GT within the next 2 months. If you answered no to either of those, do not get an SLI board.... it would be a waste of money.

 

[r_lee]

thanks Prophecy your right i would never use sli anyway and with the saved money i could go with more cpu

thanks

 

[shadowduck]

Suggested Changes:

CPU: AMD Athlon X2 4000+ <--- this CPU should be about $200 after the price cuts are applied.

Mobo: Asus M2N-E <--- No reason to get an SLI board here.... unless you're planning on gaming at resolutions above 1600 x 1200, AND will be getting another 7900GT within the next 2 months. If you answered no to either of those, do not get an SLI board.... it would be a waste of money.

The price cuts have hit many sites now, including mWave which has been a favorite of mine for a long time. The 4000+ did not get a price cut. AFAIK alal 1MB cache products other than the FX-62 are EOLed and are not going the price cut the others are.

 

[The_OGS]

Hi guys,
Note that the CPU listed in the first post IS x2 (@2000MHz - the 3800+ single-core runs @ 2400MHz).
But silly to buy all that Socket939 stuff, and old memory...
Getta Conroe E6300, or something new.
L8R

 

[The_Prophecy]

The price cuts have hit many sites now, including mWave which has been a favorite of mine for a long time. The 4000+ did not get a price cut. AFAIK alal 1MB cache products other than the FX-62 are EOLed and are not going the price cut the others are.

Hmmm..... damn. AMD's loss I guess.... I would have loved to see the 1MB parts get cuts as well.

 

[ikjadoon]

The price cuts have hit many sites now, including mWave which has been a favorite of mine for a long time. The 4000+ did not get a price cut. AFAIK alal 1MB cache products other than the FX-62 are EOLed and are not going the price cut the others are.

Hmmm..... damn. AMD's loss I guess.... I would have loved to see the 1MB parts get cuts as well.

Me too, the X2 4000+ was a great step between the X2 3800+ and the X2 4400+... Shame it's gone. Makes a dream computer even cheaper, gotta live capitalism and competetion!

~Ibrahim~

 

[r_lee]

well been thinking it over and come up with this


CPU AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Windsor 2000MHz HT Socket AM2 Dual Core Processor Model ADA4200CUBOX - Retail

MOBO ASUS M2N-E Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 Ultra MCP ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

HD Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3320620AS (Perpendicular Recording Technology) 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

PSU Antec TruePower 2.0 TP2-550 EPS12V ATX12V 550W Power Supply - Retail

GPU HIS Hightech H190XTQ512DVN Radeon X1900XT 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail i know that connect 3d is cheaper but i like the fan better on this one its hot in my upstairs game room and its not OEM

now for the questions

is HIS alright are they good products and will my power supply run this will i need any connecters that's not included it said 30amps on one rail but psu said 19amps on each 12 output please explain

on the ram is the 4-4-4-12 worth the 100$ more bucks than the 5-5-5-12

and this board dont have a lpt for my printer will this work SABRENT USB to Parallel ( Printer IEEE 1284 ) Cable Model SBT-UPPC - Retail

i would like to have a temp disply any ideas

and any other info u can give me would be nice

thanks everone

 

[The_Prophecy]

Suggested Changes:

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon X1900XT <--- Better brand, and slightly cheaper.

RAM: DEFINITLY go for the 4-4-4-12 set. AMD systems love ram with lower timings.

 

[440bx]

Just a comment on the RAM,

You said that it would cost an *additional* $100 for the faster RAM. If that is correct, forget it!! Spend the $100 on a faster processor instead.

The additional processing speed $100 can buy will much more than make up for the more relaxed memory timings.

 

[r_lee]

sounds good ill go with that card then on the power question do both 12volt leads need to be combined and run to the card for the full amps needed do i need a connector for that or just 1 lead be good

thanks

 

[ikjadoon]

I'm sorry, but $100 does seem like a lot for some tightened timings. Maybe $25 or even $50, but not $100. So what, you'll lose a max of 7 FPS or something, and that is an exaggeration as it is.

When they say you need 30A, that is 30A of combined amps. 19+19 = 38. I would go for PSU with a bit more amps on the 12V, maybe 22 or something. This should work, but it doesn't leave much room.

~Ibrahim~

 

[r_lee]

what psu would u suggest i have a big server case so id have to have long cables thats why i was going with the antec

do the cable to combine both 12 volt leads come with the card or do i need to buy it?

thanks

 

[Doughbuy]

For a PSU, it depends on your preferences a lot. If you want a good straight up PSU, I would suggest an OCZ GameXStream, 700W should be fine for most anything you can throw at it right now. If you want a cleaner case and more user customizability, you could get a modular power supply like the Modstream. Your choice on that. And you just plug in one cable into the card like always, nothing really different.

Another thing about the power supply, if your not going to do SLI, you dont need more than the Antec 550W.

One more thing, I would strongly recommend going with an Intel solution based on the Conroe. Especially if your not doing SLI, there are a number of good mobo's out there without SLI for Conroe. Head over to www.anandtech.com and see their guide if your interested.

 

[ikjadoon]

I think you are slightly confused about the 12V. 12V is the rail on the PSU, it dictates how many amps can go to the components that use 12V. Your hard drives, fans, GPUs, CPUs, all of them use the 12V rail so we want large amps on the 12V. What PSU makers have done is "spilt" the 12V rail into two independent 12 rails which provides further stability. It lets the load of one 12V rail split onto two 12V rails, which equals better stability, as mentioned.

This is all done inside the the PSU. There aren't any new cable things in a dual 12V PSU versus a single rail PSU. Dual Rails just provide better stability. There isn't any combining needed.

This is a good power supply for under $100

Antec NeoHE 500W

It has modular cabling, which is good, and also Active PFC, and outputs over 50A on the 12V.

Best all around for a resonable price is the Thermaltake ToughPower 600W:

Thermaltake ToughPower 600W

The only thing that it does NOT have is modular cabling, which is a bit of let down to this great PSU. To throw some numbers around, it gives over 70A on the 12V. Talk about "Peace of Mind"... It should be "extra" quiet because of the enormus 140mm fan on it. The cables look good and long to me. Just how big is the server case?

You mentioned the USB to Parallel converter: It looks good and fine to me. It mentions USB 1.1, but that shouldn't hamper you too badly.

A temp display: The ultimate accessory. Well, it is the ultimate accessory after a pixel-precise mouse, lit keyboard, 7.1 surround sound set of speakers, and mind-bloggling 24" screen at 1920x1200. I can't find a setting to search for one with a screen, so just browse through some of these:

Temp Displays and everything else

I like the AeroCool PowerWatch, but it is $70+. Ouch!

~Ibrahim~

 

[r_lee]

thanks for all the help i really appreciate it that psu deal had me really confused

my case is knee high and almost as long i got two case fans in the front two in the back one on the side so it's pretty big

i think ill go with the Thermaltake cables look pretty long and should have no trouble running everthing and all my fans

here is the memory i was talkin about it went up some after my post it's like 70bucks diff after rebate could u tell what u think

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145590

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145034

iv'e got the lighted keyboard and the razer mouse just need that
monitor ill check them displays out

one guy mentioned the intels but as long as i can run bf2 and bf2142 when it comes out on high ill be a happy camper

thanks again

 

[ikjadoon]

You're welcome!

Knee high, that puts it around a full tower. The PSU is an enthusiast model and should Thermaltake has the good sense not to provide short cables.

I've been analyzing the two memory modules and I just cannot justify $73 for 3 clocks. I just can't. Sure you get EPP and "SLi Memory", but those are not worth $73, IMHO. Maybe $25 or so, but not $73. And I think EPP/SLi memory only work for $$$ 590 SLi chipset. Anyways, you might be able to tighten the timings a little, when you get.

Haha, I'm glad you've got the essentials down pat, lol. With that X1900XT, you'll be pushing high frames for a good deal of time.

~Ibrahim~

 

[r_lee]

im thinking about going with this mobo instead of the asus

Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128014

it's sli and 40 more bucks but it's got the Parallel port so don't have to buy that usb cable deal that will save me 15 bucks and work better im sure i think its the same chipset and it's got dual bios and automatic bios update that sounds good to a noob like me ive had a Gigabyte mobo in this computer for 3 or 4 years now and had no trouble

please let me know what u think and will it work with my other parts alright

is there another Gigabyte board u would suggest

 

[ikjadoon]

Well, I like this board a tid bit better:

MSI K9N Platinum

It has Dual-Gigabit LAN and it is a bit cheaper. But they are both great boards....

The rest of the boards use either the high-end Nforce 590 or 570 chipsets. The cheapest of these is the MSI K9N SLI Platinum, which also comes with a generous bundle. Even with an early BIOS, performance was excellent - just like all the Nforce boards - and the layout is pleasingly logical. The three PCI and two PCI Express 1x slots offer good expandability, both now and for the future. With the six SATA ports, there's plenty of storage potential, especially with the new version of MediaShield. The sensible arrangement of ATX power connectors makes for a tidy case too, while you have a FireWire and three USB headers along the bottom for extra ports and expansion. It's an aggressively priced, well-featured and high-performance board that deserves the runner-up award this month.

Unfortunately, that's to the detriment of the Abit K9N SLI and Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4, both of which are light on extras while being more expensive. Judged on board layout alone, there isn't much to hold either back, so it's worth hunting for a lower price. Both arrange the two power connectors to the top and right for tidy case internals, and all the drive connectors are sensibly placed on the right near your drive bays.

Just saying....

~Ibrahim~

 

[r_lee]

my friend bought a msi board and had a god awful time think ill just go with the Gigabyte

thanks for all the help im going to order my parts this weekend ill let u know how it goes

 

[ikjadoon]

All right, perfectly fine! Good luck!

~Ibrahim~

 

[r_lee]

hey got all my parts put em together pluged up the dvd drives upside down fried em both but everthing else worked at first then it said missing windows system config file repair windows so i done that and its working now but i started out with 2gig dual chanel worked fine at first then it wouldn't boot beeped ram code so took out 1 stick and it booted swaped the sticks and it wouldnt boot so is that 1 stick bad? will i have to send back both sticks?

 

[ikjadoon]

Oooh, sorry on the drives!

So it won't boot with one of the sticks and gives an error? Yeah, I'd say a stick is bad..I think you might need to return it, and if so, they'll want both sticks, sorry.... It might need some settings changed, have you checked with Corsair?

~Ibrahim~