New System - Questions

[Vince0000]

Hi Everyone... First off a HUGE thanks to your responses in advance, that's for your time...

I relied on your comments and it was the right thing to do in the past and i'm looking for comments on my current system I'm building now.

Please suggest / comment on anything that I should possibly consider different at this point.

{System I'm looking at so far...}
AMD Athlon64 3200+ CPU w/heatsink & fan, SOCKET 939
Asus A8N-E Socket 939 Motherboard
. . . . (Socket 939 / nForce4 Ultra / PCI-E / Dual Channel / ATA133 / SATA 2.0 / Audio / GBL / 8xUSB 2.0)
(2) 512meg PC3200 DDR Memory
Seagate 200GB 7200rpm 8MB SATA Hard Drive
Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Drive
nVidia NX6600GT / 128MB DDR / TV Out / DVI / PCI Express
Antec Sonata 17" ATX Tower Case w/420watt power Supply
Logitech LX700 Cordless Keyboard and Optical Mouse
LG 4163B 16x Dual Layer +/- DVD ReWriter(black)
Logitech Z5300e 5.1 speakersw/subwoofer
Samsung 915N II 19in LCD Monitor Black
. . . . (Hoping for Dual Display with 2 of these...)
Canon IP4000 color printer

*** Questions ***

{Case}
Antec Sonata... I love Antec Cases so I have this as my choice, not the nicest case i'm sure but nice and quiet and good quality... suggestions on others?

{Processor}
This is my first AMD, I'm assuming this is a wise move should I go to the AMD FX chip instead?

{Motherboard}
I would like to stay with ASUS for the quality... Changed to the Asus A8N-E board as suggested, looks good also.

{Video Card}
Really at a loss here, been awhile and lost in all the info...
I want to go with PCI-E (ATI or NVIDIA) I'm a Nvidia fan but is ATI the way to go lately? seems as though alot of there stuff is NON-ATI branded now and I like name brand "Good" components.

{RAM}
Should I go with a Board that can use the 4200 DDR2 Ram instead? and should more importantly should I consider 2 gig or ram?

{HardDrive}
Not sure I'm crazy about Seagate but it has a 5 yrs warranty... Suggestions?

{Keyboard and Mouse}
Would like to go cordless, Is the MX series better than the LX series as far as FAST cordless response? or would either be good enough? I've heard and seen good things with the MX DUO so i'm considering the LX 700 now.

Any thoughts or suggestions are "More" than welcome and I'm looking forward to seeing what or were I should change anything.

Thanks,
Vince


Quick Edit...

I will be using the system for Gaming, Video Production (Adobe Priemer Pro), IT admin and reg stuff like DVD and networking functions... Not so much on Video that I should build it around video probley more so a higher end gaming setup that can do all of the things IT admin etc..

As for Budget, I'm right around the price I would like to be if I go with (2) of the LCD's for dual display so if I was to swap a part for a part of similar price no problem, If it was slightly more but well worth it I will definatly consider it.
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by vince0000 on 06/10/05 03:33 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[dmroeder]

What will you be using the system for?
Do you plan on OCing at all?

I don't believe DDR2 is compatable with AMD's at this time

 

[dunklegend]

For the motherboard I'll recommend Socket 939 ASUS, DFI or EPOX with the nforce 4 ultra chipset. If you think that's too expensive you can get the nforce 4, but I think the nf4 ultra is worth it.

CPU The 3200+ is fine but get the venice core, is the latest revision. In my opinion the FX is a great CPU but too expensive.

Video Card the 6600GT is good.

RAM get a 2X512 pack instead of 1G stick

DVD Burner: I like the NEC 3520

Monitor if you're going to use it for gaming get one with 8ms refresh rate

Printer I prefer HP, the cartridges are like $50 but they last a long time.

Hard Drive: I use Seagate, Maxtor and Western Digital whatever gives me more bang per buck in that moment.

I hope this helps

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one thath will go wrong first will be the one that will do the most possible damage

 

[dunklegend]

One more thing. What's your budget?

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one thath will go wrong first will be the one that will do the most possible damage

 

[jmwpom3]

Should I go with a Board that can use the 4200 DDR2 Ram instead? and should more importantly should I consider 2 gig or ram?

One of the price advantages of going AMD is the 3200 DDR ram. I don't think they support the DDR2 yet, but I could be wrong.

<font color=blue> Failure is not an option -- it comes bundled with Windows. </font color=blue>

 

[endyen]

Amd A64s do not support DDR2 at this time. When, and or if the speed of the memory bus regains losses from latencies, that will change. It will require a new pinout, so current boards wont work.
Seagate makes very good drives. They are the only ones I'm using now. Not only do they last well, but they are quiet and fast to.
If you can afford a little more money, look at the Ati x800xl card. It's a high end card at a midrange price. Best bang for buck right now.

 

[K8MAN]

I can vouch for the X800XL. Its a great card and i like it alot. Feels about the same in games to a 6800GT o/ced a bit.

The know-most-of-it-all formally known as BOBSHACK

 

[Vince0000]

Thanks for the Replys...

I checked out that x800xl card and it's about twice the price of the nvidia 6600... I will have to see if I can swing that but I will consider it for sure...

Not sure if it would be wise to go with a 6600 now and upgrade again in 1 1/2 years or so vrs spending twice that now?

Vince


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by vince0000 on 06/13/05 09:42 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[jmwpom3]

Well, that is also about twice the card than the 6600. Compare it to the 6800, not the 6600. That one is a decent step downward from the 6800 (Nvidia) or x800 (ATI).
You could definately go with the 6600, but make your comparisons count, apples to apples. If you're looking in that range, what, x700 guys????? I haven't looked back at the 600/700 cards from ATI.

<font color=blue> Failure is not an option -- it comes bundled with Windows. </font color=blue>

 

[Oracle]

The 6600GT is a good card for gaming. It will drive you where you want to go, don't worry!
Sure, the X800XL will allow you to push image quality further, but it is up to you to decide if the price premium is worth it. I'm really satisfied with 6600GT's image quality.
BFG has a <A HREF="http://www.bfgtech.com/6600GT_PCIX.html" target="_new">6600GT OC version</A> that runs a tad faster than regular 6600GTs.
Other than that, AMD platforms do not support DDR2 at this time. Stick with a fast kit of DDR modules (2x512) like the Crucial Ballistix, Kingston HyperX, Corsair XMS or OCZ High Performance series. Other RAM companies are good too, but I prefer these.

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[Oracle]

Just forgot to add this :
I'm also using the z5300 speaker set (which is great), but if you'd like to make use of the digital audio offered by your board, go with the z5500 as the z5300 doesn't provide a digital connection. The z5500 comes at a premium though!
Another suggestion : if you don't mind the little extra cost and the 40Gb less storage, switch the 200Gb HDD for two 80Gb SATA in a RAID0 configuration, you'll gain performance. Just a suggestion though. If storage is more important than performance, just ignore this last bit.
If you use this PC for gaming, I suggest you consider dropping the LX700 combo for a Logitech MX518 or Razer Diamondback Mouse and a <A HREF="http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/gamerskey.htm" target="_new">Saitek Gaming Keyboard</A>.
That's about it.
Good luck!

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[Guest]

The sonata is a nice case, nice construction and very nice to work with!

Id go with a DFI board too. Im a big fan of asus board but with NF4 dfi is the way to go!

You didnt say if you planned on overclocking some. That would help for ram recommandation. OCZ Value VX is nice ram if you can find it, other great choice read here:
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2392" target="_new">http://www.anandtech.com/memory/showdoc.aspx?i=2392</A>

Mous if you dont mind paying a premium for the mous the MX1000 is reallly nice and really fast too.

But overall your on the good track!

Asus P4P800DX, P4C 2.6ghz@3.25ghz, 2X512 OCZ PC4000 3-4-4-8, Leadtek FX5900 w/ FX5950U bios@500/1000, 2X30gig Raid0

 

[Vince0000]

I've updated a few changes so I will list them here...

AMD Athlon64 3200+ CPU w/heatsink & fan, SOCKET 939
Antec Sonata 17" ATX Tower Case w/420watt power Supply
Asus A8N-E Socket 939 Motherboard
. . . . (Socket 939 / nForce4 Ultra / PCI-E / Dual Channel / ATA133 / SATA 2.0 / Audio / GBL / 8xUSB 2.0)
(2) 512meg PC3200 DDR Memory
(2) Seagate 200GB 7200rpm 8MB SATA Hard Drive
Panasonic 1.44MB Floppy Drive
Asus Extreme X800XL/2DT PCI-E 256MB 2xDVI
Samsung 915N II 19in LCD Monitor Black
. . . . (Hoping for Dual Display with 2 of these...)

Logitech MX518 Gaming Grade Optical Mouse
Microsoft Digital Media Pro Keyboard (Looking into the Saitech Gamers keyboard... looks great!)

LG 4163B 16x Dual Layer +/- DVD ReWriter(black)
Logitech Z5300e 5.1 speakersw/subwoofer

Canon IP4000 color printer

--- Final Thoughts ---

Note : Unlikely I will do any Overclocking for a year or so atleast, run it as a stock system for now.

1. LCD only has Analog inputs but i've read the Samsug performs as good or better than say LG on Digital inputs...
Is there a "Nice" comparable LCD that I can run with Dual LCD's on Digital inputs? Good bang for the buck LCD or stay with this one?

2. Is the AMD 3200 the way to go or should I consider a Hyperthreading Intel chip?

3. With the Asus Motherboard (A8N-e) should I go with the SLI board instead? I doubt I will run two video cards ever so probley good with this one i'd say...

Thanks again!
I'm feeling pretty good about this now...
Vince

 

[dunklegend]

The 3200+ should be fine.
And don't get SLI if you're not going to use it.

<font color=blue>If there is a possibility of several things going wrong, the one that will go wrong first will be the one that will do the most possible damage</font color=blue>

 

[Oracle]

Forget Hyperthreading, it's of no use for games.
Unless you want unparalleled graphics quality, forget about SLI or Crossfire (ATI's SLI parts). If you want SLI, you'll have to switch to an nVidia graphics board. But SLI or Crossfire is not necessary. Graphics are pretty good with just one card as the X800XL you now planned on getting or the 6600GT.
Should you plan on using a dual graphics card solution in the future, get a SLI-ready card or a X800 Crossfire (at a premium) now, and pair that with a decent motherboard (A8N-SLI for SLI, Crossfire-ready components will be available later this summer).
Your best bet for now is to stick with the X800XL as planned. It will provide you with more than enough power to play.

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