Computer help

[ShaftyMcGee]

building a computer and i got 1500 or less to spend and id just like some imput form some people with a lil more knowledge in the subject then me. so far the only real definates i have are my case ($75 without a PSU), 200 gig harddrive (round $100) gig of ram maybe more ( $140 w/ 2x512). As far as PSU CPU mobo and a graphics card go i cant make up my mind. Definately going with a AMD 64 of some sort for the cpu but dont know what a good cpu mother board combo is.
oh and the $1500 budget is only for a case and the guts, i dont need to worry about a mouse, keyboard monitor or speakers.

*edit* oh yea this computer will be used mainly as a gaming computer probably running HL2 more then anything else

[WickeDKlowN]

I built my new rig for under a grand:

Lian-Li PC-61
Asus K8V SE Deluxe
Athlon 64 3000+ @ 3400+(2.4GHz, 10x240)
512mb Corsair XMS4000
BFG GeForce 6600GT OC @ 560/1100
120GB Seagate Barracuda SATA
Enermax 460w Power Supply
Generic DVD+/-RW and Floppy

Edit: I'm running HL2 at 1024x768 with everything on High, and it runs damn good. I would suggest going Socket 939 though with like a Abit AX8-3rd Eye and a 3200+ Winnie. And definatley Dual channel ram, like OCZ PC3200 Rev. 2.

[Darken Sun]

- A64 3200+ Winnie or A64 3500+ Winnie
- Thermalright XP-90 with Vantec Tornado 92mm and ArcticSilver5
- MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum
- 1gb OCZ EL Platinum Rev.2 PC3200
- Gainward 6800GT Golden Sample or Powercolor X800Pro VIVO
- Seagate 200gb 7200rpm SATA hdd (maybe 2 for RAID0?)
- Antec 480w "NeoPower" PSU

All the parts I just listed are absolutely amazing. Its like my rig, with the exception of PSU and RAM. The 3500+ Winnie on the K8N Neo2 Plat. with an XP-90/Tornado/AS5 is a killer combo. So far, I've hit 260x10 for 2.6ghz with ambient temps of 28C and load temps of 33C burn-in/35C gaming. The only thing holding me back is my RAM, which is where the OCZ EL Plat. comes in.
Continuing on the Neo2 Plat., it is hands down THE BEST mobo I've ever had the pleasure of using, and the best OC'ing mobo. Only gripes I have about the board are that the NB is too close to the AGP slot, so if you have a video card with a long PCB, it can be a pain to get it out, and the board temps are way off, but its better to have an external temp probe anyway. The BIOS allows you to adjust the HTT up to 400, to satisfy even your wildest overclocking dreams, and if you need to go below 3x LDT (over 333HTT), it provides increments of .5. I have to say, too, its really easy to hit 300HTT with this board, even with not-so-hot RAM.
Either of the two video cards will satisfy you entirely. The 6800GT GS has a modded BIOS, so it gets 1.4v, like its big brother, the 6800Ultra, which pretty much translates into really high potential for overclocking. The X800Pro VIVO can be flashed/softmodded to an X800XT PE.
Definitely get the Seagate drives. They have 5 year warranties, and the performance is amazing when if you stick two in RAID0.
Edit: In HL2, I run 1280x1024, all settings maxed out, except for AA (nVidia cards can't do 6x, and 8x/above is unusable/overkill), which I run at 4x. During firefights, I get around 80fps, and when walking around, I get anywhere between 120fps and 230fps.
In CS:S, I run same settings as HL2 and get between 180fps and 430fps.

[ShaftyMcGee]

ok so this is what im looking at

Seagate 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2)

Antec 480 watt 120mm fan ATX 12V v2.0 power supply

AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500+, 90nm, 2.2 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor

K8N Neo2 Platinum Mobo

Asus NVIDIA GeForce 6800 gt

any suggestions? that will all work together right? haha. need to decide one a CPU fan, or maybe go watercooled?? oh and a soundcard, nothing fancy though, i dont care to much

[Darken Sun]

Good choices!
Stick with air cooling, skip water, and head directly to phase change. With water, you might get another 200-300mhz out of your CPU. With phase change, its like a totally new level of overclocking. You'll be able to find the limits of your processor's architecture well before heat ever becomes an issue. Check out what it can do at the XS Phase Change Forum, and especially make sure you look at pc ice's 3 stage.


Edit: Also make sure you take a look at the Neo2 Plat tips and tricks guide
Edit2: Onboard sound is plenty good. You only really need a sound card if you do a lot of work with sound and the likes.

[ShaftyMcGee]

since i am on a limited buget i think ill stick with air, what would be a good fan to cool the cpu?

[Darken Sun]

If you could really care less about noise, definitely get a Vantec Tornado 92mm paired with an XP-90. If you want a fan that has decent airflow to dBA, check out a Thermaltake 90mm fan. I have one blowing onto my video card, and its cooled it 3C or 4C, so I was able to squeeze a few more mhz out.

[WickeDKlowN]

ok so this is what im looking at

Seagate 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive

OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2)

Antec 480 watt 120mm fan ATX 12V v2.0 power supply

AMD Socket 939 Athlon 64 3500+, 90nm, 2.2 GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor

K8N Neo2 Platinum Mobo

Asus NVIDIA GeForce 6800 gt

any suggestions? that will all work together right? haha. need to decide one a CPU fan, or maybe go watercooled?? oh and a soundcard, nothing fancy though, i dont care to much

Looks good to me. For cooling, like Darken Sun said, if you don't mind a little noise, an XP-90 and a Tornado(or High-Speed Sunon) will work nicely. If you want quiet, you might want to check out Zalman or something.

[hardr0ck68]

bugger OCZ, cost vs latancy mushkin smokes it, plus lifetime warrante upto 2.8vts i have a gig of level 1 mushkin running at 2-2-2 flawlessly

also antec makes good PS's but i prefer vantec, cost more but they are like a rock...i dont know how antec got such a rep, i mean i think there good, but i know theres better. 400 watts is all you need unless you wanna run 6+ hds or opti drives....

get yourself a cheapo sound blaster like this one if you like

and of course go newegg for everything, read lots of reviews and check manufactures web pages for compatability.....

[Darken Sun]

bugger OCZ, cost vs latancy mushkin smokes it, plus lifetime warrante upto 2.8vts i have a gig of level 1 mushkin running at 2-2-2 flawlessly

Its not about low latency at DDR400, its about hitting high FSBs with tight timings and a 1T command rate, which the OCZ can do without breaking a sweat. It uses Samsung TCCD chips. Any stick of RAM using them is pretty much guaranteed to hit 290-310 FSB with relatively tight timings.

and of course go newegg for everything

Pssh. Stray from the Egg, they don't always have the lowest prices. The processor he was looking at is $325 at Newegg, but is only $251 at Monarch. With that $74 just saved, he could buy one helluva nice heatsink/fan combo and still have money left over.

[ShaftyMcGee]

which nicely transitions into my next question, best places to shop so i spend less and possibly get a couple better parts

[hardr0ck68]

newegg isnt always cheapest this is true, but they take care of you if something craps the ed on you. No going threw manufactures tech support for hours, just return it for a new one....

now i dont quite catch you on the fsb deal in respect to ram, shouldent all ddr400 run 200 (or 400 which ever you wanna view it as) at the set bios latancies? maybe im uninformed here, link me to something where i can read up on this please.

[WickeDKlowN]

I've been using ZipZoomFly alot myself.

[Darken Sun]

Newegg, ZipZoomFly, CrazyPC, TigerDirect, Monarch, and Xoxide are all good places to buy from. Especially Xoxide. The PSU that blew on me was purchased through them. They have a 15-day RMA time, but it had been about 30 days since it was purchased that it blew. What'd they do? They let me slide and accepted the RMA. Now that's some great service!

hardr0ck68, I was referring to when you are overclocking. If you check the first post I made in this thread, I mention how easy it is to get to 300HTT (FSB for P4 guys) on the K8N Neo2 Plat, the board ShaftyMcGee chose. The OCZ RAM can hit that 300 FSB and still keep decent timings and a 1T command rate the whole way, which is perfect, as A64 systems love the extra bandwidth, and that's shown through benches like 3DMark2001 SE. Some TCCD based RAM is going to be my next upgrade. Right now, I'm benching 25246 in '01, but my system has the potential to be hitting the really high numbers. The only thing holding me back: my RAM, which is Corsair XMS PC4000.

[Rumble]

The best advice I would give you is to make sure you get a Socket 939 CPU and mobo, if your going AMD. Thats where AMD's headed in the future and thus if you need to upgrade, all you have to do is swap a chip.