About to buy new components for rebuild

[macacoraivoso]

ok,

After reading a lot and getting great advice from this forum, I think I'm just about ready to dish out 500 euros to pick up some quality hardware and rebuild my system.

The objective is to changre from AGP to PCIe. The PC will be mainly used for gaming, making and mixing music and graphic work.

Here's what I need opinions for. About to buy:

- Asus A8N-E (not interested in SLI, so I chose this one)
- Asus EAX1900XT (always used nVidia, but this one seems to beat the nVidia equivalent while having double the RAM and not being much more expensive)
- BE Quiet Dark Power Pro 600W PSU (seems like a good al around PSU with 20A on each of the two 12v rails)

In doubt: Should I change my RAM?

Currently, I own 1 stick of 1GB and one of 512MB both DDR400 from Kingston.

As always, I look forward to your opinions and suggestions.

Thanks!

 

[pmr]

Pelo nick assumo que sejas português ou brasileiro, mas vou responder em inglês.

If I were u, I´d sell those sticks of ram and get 2x512 or 2x1Gb if u're encoding, video or audio editing. If not, 2x512 it's enough.
By having two sticks, ram will run in dual channel mode (insert one stick in slot 1 and the other in slot 3). The sticks need to be equaly matched( same amount of memory, same brand and same frequency). Make sure that dual channel is enabled in bios.

Take a look at the x1800xt 512Mb.

You won´t sli anything, u didn´t say that u have half a dozen of disks in raid, or 20 fans, so, a 600w psu it's too much. Try to find anything cheaper, like a good 500W one

Cheers

 

[macacoraivoso]

Yep, sou português, mas vamos manter o default

I know about dual channel, hence my doubt... Can't I get another 1GB stick and match it to the one I already have? (the 512 one, I'd use somewhere else, got other machines)

I looked at the 1800XT, but it didn't look as compelling as the 1900XT.

You're right about the PSU... it's overkill, isn't it? Here's what I'll be running besides what you already know:

- SB Audigy 2 with external console
- 1 IDE disk
- 2 SATA disks
- Zip drive (rarely used)
- DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive
- External DVD Burner
- External Maxtor 500GB drive
- Two 80mm fans (maybe adding a 3rd one soon)

I currently have an unstable 530W PSU.

Obrigado!

 

[pmr]

yes, get a "cloned" 1Gb Kingston stick.

About the gfx card, assuming u're playing @ 1280x1024 or 1600x1200, the 1900xt it´s a waste of money, you'll play every game with the 1800xt 512 above the feared 60fps (not oblivion though ) and @ 1600x1200 they are matched. Check out the thg vga charts. But this is my opinion...


Well, 600 watts aren´t an overkill, but a 600W 170€ psu it´s for sure.
Since we're in Portugal take a look at this (cheap, good, silent) psu:

http://www.pcstation.com.pt/product_info.php?cPath=1_57&products_id=1490

A friend of mine has one, and just for comparision, he has: Pd 950, ddr 1000, 4hdd Raid 0, 1 external hdd, 2 x 7800gtx, 6 fans, 2 dvd burners, 1 creative soundcard and a tv card. Plus all that usb things all over the desk...

It´s your call.

Feel free to ask if you need some more input.

Abraço

 

[macacoraivoso]

Hey,

Why "feared" 60fps?

Thanks for the PSU tip, will check it.

PS: I can get the darkPower 600W for a little over 100 euros.

 

[pmr]

Because the human eye can´t see any difference above 60 fps.
For me, 25 is the minimum playable framerate, as for some 30 are acceptable. The best possible gameplay comes at 60.

Either the 1900xt or the 1800xt 512 are good choices, just check if the price difference worth the performance improvement.

That darkpower it´s great. I saw them marked at 150€. But for 100...go for it.

Here's a review:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/psu/371/