Opinions on new AMD system

[swisswig]

Hello,

I'm in need of a new gaming rig. I've been looking at the following components:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000+ Windsor 3.0GHz Socket AM2
ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX
XFX PVT80GGHE4 GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
GIGABYTE ODIN GE-S800A-D1 ATX12V / EPS12V 800W Power Supply

Does anyone have any advice or opinion? I want something that can play games like Oblivion and NwN2 fairly well.

I'm also confused on the type of case and amount of fans I need. Should I get a mid-tower only, or a larger case because of the larger video card and room enough to swap parts. Also, how many fans do I really need?

I'm looking to spend around 1300 max, and the above components with case, hd, and dvdrom gets me to about 1200, so I can spend a little more if need be.


Thanks for any help!

 

[g-paw]

A Mid Tower case will work One 120mm fan will work unless you're getting into seriously overclocking. Personally I like Antec cases. Something like the Sonata III with a 550w PSU would save a lot. If you what a case with out a PSU, there are a number of Antecs but there are a lot of good cases out there but get one with 120mm fan, which will be much quieter. If you decide to go with a separate PSU check out some of these can save a lot of money. i think 800w is really overkill for that system, 550w to 650w should be fine. Check what w is recommended for the video card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104014
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104015
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817103941
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371010

 

[Falken699]

Yeah, as g-paw said, try the Sonata III, I hear their new PSU OEM is Seasonic, but not sure. Get the EVGA 8800GTS 640MB, as you may be forced to play on Med. Textures all the time with 320MB, like in GRAW where the game checks your vram. And, yes, 5-600W PSU should be fine, 800W is overkill.

 

[swisswig]

Thanks for the help!

I checked out the EVGA 640MG 8800GTS:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071

It recommends a minimum 400 Watt PSU. So based on your list below, I'm going with this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371010

I also decided to go with an Antec 900 case:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021

The reviews say it fits the 8800GTS without a problem, and it has the 120mm fans that you suggested.

This is great, because this really puts me well under budget. I'm still debating whether to go with AMD or an Intel quad core processor and LGA775 mb. I'm not sure the advantages or disadvantages of selecting Intel over an AMD setup. I'll have to do some additional research. But thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

My only other question is if I should purchase a cpu cooler? I'm not planning on overclocking, so I'm not sure how necessary it would be. The AMD processor I'm looking at comes with a heatsink and fan already. Maybe they all do, I don't know. So just wondering if spending extra on a cooler is recommended.

 

[sirrobin4ever]

Make sure to buy another fan for the door panel on the Antec 900 case. It helps to cool your GPU a LOT. If you aren't overclocking, don't bother to buy an aftermarket cooler for your system. Besides, if you are using the stock cooler, your chip is covered by the 3 yr. warranty.

If your looking into overclocking, then Intel is the chip manufacturer for you. If not, the AMD chip you have selected is surely a fine chip, with good price/performance ratios. AM2 motherboards will be compatible with the new upcoming CPU release from AMD also; meaning that if in a few months you wish to go quad core, you can do so without swapping out everything.

 

[Dior]

It's a big mistake to spend $345 on an X2 6000 + an AMD motherboard when for the same amount of money you can get Core 2 Duo E6750 + Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3R. Intel will perform way faster, that's not even counting the great overclocking potential. Here's the comparison:

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/intel/showdoc.aspx?i=3038&p=6

Links:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115029

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128050

I agree with the others, you should definitely get 640MB version of 8800 GTS, upcoming games are going to be VRAM hungry.

I see you picked an Antec PSU for $150, if you are ok with spending that much, you might as well go with a top tier brand and pick Corsair 620HX. It is an exceptional unit, extremely reliable, very powerful and almost silent. You can see a video review of it here, somewhere in the middle of that video you can hear how quiet it is.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=4TrEHFpP7Y4

http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=373110

Also keep in mind that for your system a 520W Corsair would be more than sufficient, it also costs only $90. Get 620HX if you have possible future upgrades in mind, but if you plan to keep this system for 3-4 years, Corsair 520HX is a perfect pick.

http://www.buy.com/prod/corsair-520w-sli-certified-modular-atx-power-supply/q/loc/101/203270716.html

I didn't link to Newegg because these sites have better prices and ship for free. They also have great reputation.

Antec 900 is a good choice and no additional fans are needed. Rest looks good.

Good luck.

 

[swisswig]

Thanks alot!

Since you guys recommended to go with Intel if I'm interested in overclocking, I reconsidered and decided on the Core2 Duo E6850. I originally didn't think I would ever overclock, but I don't want to close the door on my options, either.

So I've decided on this processor:

Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0ghz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115028&Tpk=E6850

Also decided on the Corsair 620HX, thanks!

And because I thought about purchasing a second video card down the line and run both in SLI mode, I thought about
this board:

XFX MB-N680-ISH LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813141003,

or ASUS P5N32-E SLI Plus LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131153

Again, I'm just getting up-to-speed with SLI. Whether its supported by Oblivion or other games, or even matters that much performance-wise, I'm not sure. But I wanted to keep my options open with that as well. There's a bit of a price difference between the XFX and ASUS boards. The only difference I see is in the chipset, and the XFX has more USB ports. I guess my one main concern is with the reviews of both boards on Newegg. A lot of them talk about getting used boards? Has anyone had experience with that issue?

But I also don't want to close the door on the Gigabyte board that was recommended above, since its fairly inexpensive, I don't really care that it doesn't come with a Firewire port, and if running 2 cards in SLI isn't that major, then I don't need the feature. If I wanted, I could always upgrade to a different board down the road. So maybe I'm talking myself into getting the Gigabyte to start with.

I guess my only other thought is if I do overclock, it sounds like I should get a cpu cooler? I'm already going to get an extra fan for the case.

This does put me a bit overbudget, not by much. But if I can upgrade easily then I think its worth it.

Anyway, thanks for the great advice, everyone! Really helpful.