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what do yall think of the gaming computer i am going to biuld:
ASUS A8N-SLI socket 939 mobo
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (going to overclock)
2gb PC3200 RAM (later 4gb)
Nvidia 6800GT PCI-E graphix card (going to overclock)
200gb SATA Hard Drive x2
Custom gamer case w/ neons and clear side
400-500 watt power supply unitsometime in the future i will probably replace the 3000+ with an FX-55. what do you think? any suggestions?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
Yeah it is quite bad azz. Just make sure you install one bad azz cooling system. Ya know, with all the overclocking and all. :-)
Feel the schwartz
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Dude, 4 gigs later is a total waste. Don't bother. I would get something higher than PC3200 (DDR400) if you're gonna overclock. Venice CPU's can hit commonly 250MHz (500DDR) and up, so get RAM that can do the same. DDR500 is what I would look at. Also, make absolutely sure you're getting the Venice core Athlon 64 3000!!!
As far as cooling goes for the Venice 3000, you don't need "bad azz" cooling. I have a Venice 3000, and I can hit 275HTT for a total of 2475MHz clock on the CPU (stock is 1800MHz) with the CPU at only 38C, and I'm using the stock cooler. You'll hit a brick wall with how high a bus speed you can get your CPU long before you overheat.
If you're gonna overclock, get the DFI SLI board or the MSI SLI board is pretty good, too. As an Asus A8N-E motherboard owner, believe me the Asus boards don't have much for BIOS options that help overclocking. DFI LanParty boards are bar none the best.
I do question the need for SLI, but I'm assuming you're gonna want to get a second video card for SLI later. If so, better get at the absolute least a 500W, and make absolutely sure it's SLI certified. Get something from a reputable brand - Antec, Enermax, Thermaltake, PC Power & Cooling, etc. Don't get el cheapo generic!
I personally feel SLI is a waste. If you want more graphics power, just get a brand new video card. That saves you money on the motherboard and PSU.
As far as going to the FX-55 later, just wait and see how prices are next year. FX-57 could be reasonably priced, and games may by then begin to be optimized for dual core, so that may be a consideration as well. However, your motherboard will be ready to roll with any of those CPU's, which is NICE! :-)
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www.redcross.org
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well my point with the 4 gigs of RAM is to 'future proof' the system. i don't want to be biulding a new one every two years (and couldnt afford to even if i wanted to)so i want something that will be competant for years to come. what settings does the A8N offer to modify?
by the way my uncle just completed his ultimate rig, i was basing mine on his outstanding performance:
-(Unknown) socket 939 motherboard w/ sli
-AMD FX-55 cpu overclocked to FX-57 level
-Nvidia 7800GTX PCI-E graphics card overclocked
-4gb DDR400 RAM overclocked (BIOS allows this)
-(Unknown) 550 watt PSUNOT EVEN DOOM 3 ON HIGHEST SETTINGS COULD BRING THIS THING TO ITS KNEES!!
what do you think of his system?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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"what do you think of his system?"
That he could have spent 1/2 to a 1/4 of what he did and Doom 3 still would have run on highest settings.
Dude, you don't need 4 gigs of RAM, PERIOD.
"what settings does the A8N offer to modify?"
It doesn't offer nearly what the LanParty series does. It basically has the normal voltage stuff, but it doesn't have all the drive strength stuff the DFI does.
Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
www.redcross.org
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i meant could NOT instead of could. Doom 3 on highest settings could NOT bring his syetm to its knees.
Hero, are you saying that five years from now 4 gigs of RAM wont be useful? as i said, i want a system that will be competent for many years to come as i cant afford to biuld a new system every tow or three years.
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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I think you should take heropsycho's advice. 4GB is a total waste & is not "futureproofing" at all. SLi is also a waste & the DFI LanParty is probably the best S939 board out there right now.
As far as your uncle's PC goes, it's overdesigned & probably cost WAY too much...in less than a year it will be worth 1/2 of what he paid for it, maybe even less. BTW, DOOM3 isn't as graphic intense as some of the other games out there, such as HL2...there are plenty of systems with specs that don't come close to his that will run at the highest settings without so much as a hiccup
ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1
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it plays Half Life 2 on highest settings without any issues what so ever, either.
by the way, he spent $2123 on the system total, including the taxes and software. how is 4gb of RAM not future proofing? do you have a specific example? there was time when 64mb of RAM was overkill (hell, i have heard of a time when 4mb of RAM was overkill!) judging by the progress of computers, 4gb of RAM will be usefull and the amount used in industry-standard higher-end computers someday, will it not?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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do you have a specific model numebr of a recommened S939 mobo?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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i want the most versatle motherboard i can get for S939, with the most BIOS overclocking, voltage, and general "customization" options, but specifically i would like the most versatle motherboard for overclocking. do you have any model numbers for me?
btw, what do you mean by "PC3200 2.5-3-3-7" in your specs, jam?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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$2123 is a lot of money for a PC in my book, especially when all it's gonna do is lose it's value. He could have built a decent system for 1/2 that much & hardly seen a real world difference in performance.
By the time 4GB of RAM is really "needed", DDR-SDRAM won't be the standard anymore. DDR2 has already been adopted by Intel & AMD will go to it with the next socket change (M2) which will be coming up in early 2006, so in a sense, the S939 is already close to retirement. Advancements in the S939 Athlon 64 will stop & the newer models will shift to the M2 platform.
http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050513/socket_939-01.html
PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 is my type of RAM & what I have it timed at...it's "supposed" to be timed at 3-4-4-8.
ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1
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"Hero, are you saying that five years from now 4 gigs of RAM wont be useful?"
I'm saying in five years, you're gonna need a new system no matter what you buy if you're a gamer. Sorry.
Want proof? You could have built a system in 2000 with 2 gigs of memory, which back then was considered an obscene amount of RAM, much like 4 gigs is today. That was certainly possible. What gfx cards were top of the line in 2000 though? 2000 was if I remember a Geforce 2. Would you game with that today? Nope.
What CPU's were top of the line in 2000? That was the 1GHz days. Would you game with a 1GHz CPU today? Nope.
And yet only now we're just beginning to see games that can benefit from 2 gigs of memory. Your 2 gigs of memory would finally be used, except your CPU and graphics card you bought state of the art in 2000 can't run anything now. A 1GHz system can't run FEAR, Half Life 2, Doom 3, Far Cry, etc. Time to upgrade...oh crap, you bought SDRAM for that 1GHz system, and now everything is DDR, so that was one HUGE waste of money!
Will you need 4GB's of RAM in 5 years? Absolutely, but you're gonna need a faster CPU, which will require a new motherboard...which will require new memory...and you're gonna need a new graphics card by then...which may not fit on the motherboards of today...
"as i said, i want a system that will be competent for many years to come as i cant afford to biuld a new system every tow or three years."
You can't build a system today that will play the games coming out in 2010. Don't even try to do it! Why do you think I keep telling you not to waste your money? If you simply accept the fact that you will ALWAYS need to upgrade, don't throw your money away on bleeding edge stuff that's priced at a premium!
Don't buy a 6800GT! Why? They're $400!!! A 6800 is $200!
Don't buy an SLI board. That should save you $40 on the motherboard plus the money you'd need on a better power supply (probably $40 at least there, too).
Don't upgrade to 4 gigs of memory. That would save you $200.
That's $500 right there! Save it for the next upgrade you're actually gonna need! That'll probably be a video card. A 6800 would run most everything for the next year and a half to two years. At the end of two years, buy a different $200 graphics card. Guarantee you a $200 graphics card two years from now beats the $400 graphics cards of today.
Why buy an FX57 CPU today (I know you're not, but I'm making the point) @ $1000 when you can get a Venice 3000 for $140? There's not a single game out there that can't be run on an Athlon 64 3000 perfectly fine, and probably will be that way for the next year or two. How much you want to bet an FX-57 falls at the VERY LEAST $150 in the next year? It'll probably drop $500. In two years? It'll probably be under $200 at that point.
Be smart with your money, and be realistic. You WILL have to overhaul your system in four years if you want to game. That's the way it is. A state of the art PC from 2001 would today not be able to run Battlefield 2, FEAR, Half Life 2, Doom 3, etc. At the same time, you can affordably keep your system able to play your games. That means don't plop down over $2000 on the system like your uncle did. Your uncle's system will not play games that will come out in 2009. Just watch...
Plan now for a CPU and video card upgrade in a year and a half to two years.
Recommended mobo:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136152
Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
www.redcross.org
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okay then, what platform would be the most expandible? is socket 939 good choice for the most expandible (i.e. i can upgrade to an X2 4800+ in a couple of years)? if i dont max it out now i want something that will be reasonably expandible. suggestions?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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Most Nforce4 Ultra motherboards support the FX-57 and the X2's. That's why Socket 939 is the best choice in AMD CPU's right now.
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www.redcross.org
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that motherboard in your link is odd. why does it have two network connectors, and why are there RCA-style composite jacks on it?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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does it still have a connector for a 3.5" floppy? i still use floppies sometimes. do the slots that appear to be IDE support both SATA and standard IDE?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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will it support an X2 cpu? all it says is A64, A64 FX, or Sempron.
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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"why does it have two network connectors?"
It has dual gigabit NIC's. You don't have to use both if you don't want to. This is useful for making a linux router, or sharing an internet connection with NVidia's built in hardware firewall features.
"why are there RCA-style composite jacks on it?"
Coaxial SPDIF in and out. :-)
"does it still have a connector for a 3.5" floppy?"
Yes. The only thing missing from other boards is a parallel printer port, but most printers today are USB anyway.
"do the slots that appear to be IDE support both SATA and standard IDE?"
No, and why should they? SATA is physically a different connector. And yes, it has SATA connections, too.
"will it support an X2 cpu?"
www.dfi.com.tw
Look it up!
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thanx for the advice hero and jam. much appreciated.
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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No problem. Like to see fellow gamers get their money's worth. :-)
Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
www.redcross.org
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one more question: instead of an fx-55 i was considering now getting an X2 4200+ if that motherboard will take it. if i got an X2 4200+ and wanted to overclock it as much as possible, how far could i overclock it to without messng with liquid cooling? what ****+ level? i will probably get a 3000+ now then an X2 4200+ later. how far can i overclock the X2 with a good HSF?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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Dragon you're thinking WAY too far ahead...live for today dude, tomorrow may never come
ASUS A7N8X-X
Athlon XP 1800+
8.5 x 200MHz
1024MB PC3200 2.5-3-3-7
Asus A9550GE/TD 128MB
WinME/WinXP Pro SP1
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a valid sentament but i would still like to know how far it will overclock. also, I read a reveiw on the recommended motherbaord (on newegg) and he said it is very tempermental when it comes to memory. what type of PC3200 RAM should I use?
Argue for your limitations and sure enough, they're yours.
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Dual core won't game better unless you're heavily multitasking until games are optimized for dual core. I suspect you should be looking to upgrade to an FX-57 in the future, not dual core. But like I said, wait and see. No point in making your mind up yet.
I don't know how well dual cores overclock because I don't buy bleeding edge.
"he said it is very tempermental when it comes to memory."
The board is particular about how you set everything. You must be prepared to tweak all those extra settings, but in the end, this is what will allow you to get the better overclock this board is capable of. It's like driving stick vs. automatic. Stick does perform better, but you have to learn how to drive it.
What memory? I'll repeat again if you're gonna overclock, you should be looking for PC4000 or higher memory, NOT PC3200. Recommended brands: Mushkin, OCZ, Corsair, Crucial.
Consider you're virtually guaranteed to hit AT LEAST 250MHz HTT on that CPU. Get memory that can go the distance with the CPU! That means DDR500 (250x2) should be the minimum you should consider.
Also, remember that this memory will probably be the only memory you're gonna buy for this motherboard since you're starting at 2 gigs, and probably won't need more than that for the useful lifetime of this board. Here's something you SHOULD spend more money on! These look like a winner...
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146578
Please help survivors of Hurricane Katrina.
www.redcross.org
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thanx again hero.
Never try to teach a hog to sing. It frustrates you and aggravates the hog.
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I think I can be proof for Hero's case. MY setup (Which used to have a P4) was top of the line in 2003.Now I can't even play doom 3.
SuSE LINUX 8.2 / Windows XP
2 Ghz Celeron - 640 MB DDR
ASUS MOBO - GF4 MX
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you could play D3 it just would not run the best. on low settings it would run though. look up the syetem requirements.
Never try to teach a hog to sing. It frustrates you and aggravates the hog.
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i would build a good azz gaming computer
P4 3.2GHZ
kingstone 1GB DDR 3200
ABIT AS8 mobo
Nvidia geforce 6800 128mb
Soundblaster 24-bit audigy 2
520W PSU
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