New Athlon 64 System Recommendations

JSD · Feb 13, 2004

I am looking to build a new 64 bit system and am planning on using the A64 3000 or 3200. For a 100 dollar price difference is the 512k cache worth it in terms of speed? Also, what kind of memory and board should I get if I am planning on starting with 512mb but possibly starting with or upgrading to 1gb. Sata wanted, firewire and nic wanted but not necessary.

For a mobo I was thinking about:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-135-147&catalog=22&manufactory=BROWSE&depa=0

Any pro's or con's to this board? Does the 333mhz ram speed really matter with an on-cpu memory controller?
What are the real gains of going with ddr400 vs 333?

Any other recommendations for a 100 dollar board to substitute for this 333mhz SIS?

Also, any $100-150 (preferably 100 or less though) dollar video card upgrade recommendations over my current gf2pro that would really be worth the cash outlay would be appreciated.

Currently DFI AK76SN 761 mobo, TB 1.4ghz, 512 ddr266, sblive value, msi gf2 pro, tekram dc315 scsi, dlink 10/100, intellimouse 3.0 wireless, ms natural key, plextor ultraplex 40 and plexwriter 8/20, wd 40gig 7200rpm

Thanks for any help or advice you can offer

Jay

TheRod · Feb 13, 2004

...A64 3000 or 3200. For a 100 dollar price difference is the 512k cache worth it in terms of speed?

Overall, the A64 3200+ is about 6% faster than the 3000+.

any $100-150 (preferably 100 or less though) dollar video card upgrade recommendations

You can find Radeon 9600XT or GeForce FX5700 around 150$. And under 100$ you can buy GeForce TI 4200, but you will not get DX9 hardware support for upcoming games (HL2/Doom3). Radeon 9500 (non-pro, around 130$) support DX9 (not the fastest card on the market) but they are not as fast in DX8 games.

My conclusion : you can't find a good performer in DX8 and DX9 under 150$. I strongly recommend you Radon 9600XT, GeForce FX5700 are not bad at all too, but the card will run HOT and have n clear advantage over the Radeon. They battle with each other in most games.

--
Would you buy a GPS enabled soap bar?Edited by TheRod on 02/13/04 01:46 PM.

darko21 · Feb 13, 2004

GeForce FX9700 i'm asuming that is just a typo

fx5700 is that what you ment.

If I glanced at a spilt box of tooth picks on the floor, could I tell you how many are in the pile. Not a chance, But then again I don't have to buy my underware at Kmart.

TheRod · Feb 13, 2004

Corrected, thanks!

--
Would you buy a GPS enabled soap bar?

coylter · Feb 13, 2004

My seller is selling R9700pro for 200 can (150$us)...

Athlon 2700xp+ (oc: 3200xp+ with 200fsb) , Radeon 9800pro (oc: 410/370) , 512mb pc3200 (3-3-3-2), Asus A7N8X-X

coylter · Feb 13, 2004

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=14-102-268&DEPA=0

wow this r9800 pro is cheap

Athlon 2700xp+ (oc: 3200xp+ with 200fsb) , Radeon 9800pro (oc: 410/370) , 512mb pc3200 (3-3-3-2), Asus A7N8X-X

Spitfire_x86 · Feb 14, 2004

Buy 3000+, it's very little slower than 3200+

I recommend 128 MB Radeon 9600XT as videocard

----------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig & 3DMark score</A>

Snaggle · Feb 14, 2004

" MSI K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU, Model "K8T NEO-FSR" -RETAIL

- Specifications -

Supported CPU: Socket 754 AMD Athlon 64 Processors
Chipset: VIA K8T800 + VT8237
RAM: 3x DIMM for DDR400/333/266 Max 2GB
IDE: 2x UltraDMA 66/100/133 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X/4X, 5x PCI 2.2(32-bit,3.3V/5V)
Ports: 2xPS2,1xLPT,1xCOM,1xLAN,8xUSB2.0(Rear 4),RCA SPDIF Out,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC655 6-Channel Codec
Onboard LAN: Realtek 8110S Gigabit Ethernet
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x Serial ATA, RAID 0/1
Form Factor: ATX

Model#: K8T NEO-FSR
Item#: N82E16813130449

Rating: Vote(s): 4 Review(s): 2
Free FedEx Saver Shipping

Yes $95.00"-newegg a cut down version of the more popular msi mobo,crucial ram for both is around $87 at newegg and $99 from crucial-lol,last week crucial was selling for $85...ram prices are going up fast 8(...

drr400 is about 6% better overall to ddr333...so you should notice the difference,even more than that between the 3200 and 3000.

Crashman · Feb 14, 2004

hehe, VIA garbage

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Crashman · Feb 14, 2004

Consider the ECS 755-A2, it's the newer version that Anantech recommends, supporting DDR400 RAM during their complete test, and doing so even at the fastest timings.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

FUDDER · Feb 14, 2004

hehe, ECS garbage

<A HREF="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=39514#39514" target="_new"> Vote for FUDDER </A>

I am severly limited in what my mind can perceive.

Crashman · Feb 14, 2004

Therein lies the problem, use a board from a questionable maker, or use a junk chipset from a company that makes good boards.

The best answer I can come up with concerning ECS is...they K7S5A was better than ALL KT266 chipset boards...when you actually got one that worked!

The key thing to remember is you can RMA a defective board and expect to get a better replacement, you can't RMA a board for a poorly designed chipset and expect to get a better replacement.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Snaggle · Feb 14, 2004

via may have a few bugs;but they don't do much any more:so the mobo maker is more important than the chipset.Ecs already lied and cheated once and that's all the chances they should get before no one deals with them.

Crashman · Feb 15, 2004

LOL, I don't know what ECS lied and cheated about, but VIA has a long history of lying and cheating about everything, they lied about AGP issues with the MVP3 and KT133, PCI bus issues all the way up to the KT266A, and that's when I quit keeping track. Almost 100% of their technology is stolen (and later settled) or free, and don't forget that they bullied the top board manufacturers into not supporting the SiS 735 when VIA couldn't produce anything to match it.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Spitfire_x86 · Feb 15, 2004

dude, K8T800 isn't KT133 or MVP3. It's good enough unless you overclock.

----------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig & 3DMark score</A>

Crashman · Feb 16, 2004

Sorry, "Good enough" doesn't cut it at the top end of the price range.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Spitfire_x86 · Feb 16, 2004

Since there's no better solution for Socket 754 at this moment, it does cut.

The main thing is- they are not unusable

----------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig & 3DMark score</A>

Crashman · Feb 16, 2004

According to OCWorkbench, ther is a better solution, the Soyo K8USA.

But this is a stupid stupid stupid, completely pointlessly stupid arguement you make, because a high quality chipset is already available in the 755, blame your board makers for dragging their feet.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

trooper11 · Feb 16, 2004

Well if you look at the scores, the asus k8v deluxe got an 8.5 while the soyo got an 8.8 so i wouldnt say it was a blow out, thier scores were very close but soyo had the elad in overall performance and overclocking by 1 point. The features i was talking about werent formt he via chipset actually, so i was wrong there, it was the asus board, having 4 sata ports and support for up to 4 ide channels too, which the soyo board only has 2 of each. Otherwise thier features are close, granted the soyo has the overclocking features, although for any pro, they wont be overclocking in order to keep good stability. The soyo baord is the ebst perforaming board out, but the asus deluxe gives its a run for its money and the added features were an edge in my book since i use 4 drives. Either baord would be great. Of course if you want to overclock, the soyo has the edge, we will see if it is actaully stable enough to handle it wiht more testing.

Crashman · Feb 16, 2004

I agree with a lot of what you said. But the thing is, the K8USA uses an ALi, not SiS, chipset. And the ALi I believe has fewer features than the SiS. Not only that, but because ALi's recent efforts have been so problematic, and SiS's have been so nearly perfect, I have more faith in SiS to produce a quality chipset.

That being the case, I appreciate what ALi is doing and hope them the best. But I'm still cautious and will wait until this board is well established before making a firmer recommendation. Hopefully I'll already be following other boards by then, because Soyo really screwed me hard before.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

New Athlon 64 System Recommendations

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Distinguished

Splendid

Distinguished

Polypheme

Polypheme

Distinguished

Polypheme

Distinguished

Polypheme

Splendid

Polypheme

Splendid

Polypheme

Distinguished

Polypheme

Share this page