Just few questions about a new amd comp.

Element3

Hey guys,

Sorry about this, theres probably one of these threads every other day of the week, but I'm building a new computer for myself off Komplett.ie.

Its primarily for gaming, internet use and mp3's/DVD's. A multimedia computer one might say. But anyway...

I didn't know much about building a computer until last month, when I scratched my idea of going for a Dell Dimension 8300( I think). I've read a lot of threads etc on this kind of thing but decided to go for my own one here.

OK, so here's what I have picked out. None of its set in stone really but I like the look of what I have...Don't know much about ram choice or motherboard, so let me know what ye think.


Mobo:
EPoX EP-8KDA3+ Mainboard for Socket 754 nForce3 250GB,SATA,GbLAN,ATX,Raid, Sound
----or

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Abit KV8-MAX3 Mainboard for Socket 754 K8T800, SATA, LAN, ATX, Raid, Firewire,

GFX Card
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Atlantis PRO 128MB AGP,256bit bus,DVI-I,TV-Out, Lite-Retail

Fan
Thermaltake Venus 12 CPU-fan A1744 Socket 745/940-AMD Opteron/AMD 64


HD
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 160GB S-ATA 8MB cache 7200RPM

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2 GHz Socket 754, 512 KB cache, BOXED


RAM
Corsair TWINX1024-3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB Kit w/two matched CMX512-3200 DIMMs

DVD
NEC DVD-recorder ND-2500 IDE black OEM DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW

Case
Chieftec Dragon Medium Tower w/door Blue Case with 360W DX-01BL-D-U w/USB/FW

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Unsure about the RAM and the mobo like I said-also, will that power supply be enough?. Its my first time building. What do ye think Ii should go for? This thread is getting long so I'll end it here!

Col_Loki

If you havent read this thread already then it should be of some help .......... http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=152842

With reguards your motherboard you should be looking for a chipset with NF250. Komplett are a good supplier, theres also www.jes-computer.de who have a bigger range and are slightly cheaper.

EPoX EP-8KDA3+ Mainboard for Socket 754 nForce3 250GB,SATA,GbLAN,ATX,Raid, Sound

Great choice has gotten very good reviews and is the NF3 250. Another good option is the MSI K8N Neo........ http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=300050&cks=PRL

Sapphire Radeon 9800 Atlantis PRO 128MB AGP,256bit bus,DVI-I,TV-Out, Lite-Retail

Also very good choice. Watch out on komplett , there is a 9800pro for cheaper. Its a slightly crippled 9800pro as it only has 128bit Memory interface. The one you picked is good.

Thermaltake Venus 12 CPU-fan A1744 Socket 745/940-AMD Opteron/AMD 64

One of the best options is the Zalman7000alcu, very big, quiet, great cooling. Im not sure about the TT Venus (havent done any research on it) i just know the Zalman is a proven good choice. ( www.hitide.ie , www.pc-look.com , www.jes-computer.de)

Im sure the TT is prob pretty good.

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 160GB S-ATA 8MB cache 7200RPM

Decent hard disk, very quiet. Samsung is also a good option for reduced noise.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.2 GHz Socket 754, 512 KB cache, BOXED

Again good choice.

Corsair TWINX1024-3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB Kit w/two matched CMX512-3200 DIMMs

You might want to look at Pc3500 (for a little overclocking later on) . Have a look at www.pc-memory-upgrade.co.uk - based in kildare, free delivery, some of the best OCZ prices in europe.

OCZ EB range is supposed to be fantastic, Mushkin also very good ram.

NEC DVD-recorder ND-2500 IDE black OEM DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW

Has gotten very good reviews, supposed to be upgradeable (flash) to dual layer.

Chieftec Dragon Medium Tower w/door Blue Case with 360W DX-01BL-D-U w/USB/FW

You have a pretty powerfull system and this PSU might struggle. Have a look at the 380w Sonata (silent lovely case) www.elara.ie , or mabye get a seperate PSU and a case from www.xcase.co.uk.

Komplett have crappy PSU's , dont go near q-tec. (you could tie in a new PSU with a new Cooler?)


Anyway let me know what you think. You seem to have your homework pretty well done

Element3

Thanks for the great reply. Much appreciated.

So it seems the power supply/ram are the weak points then? I'll try out some of those sites you mentioned and look around.

Also, is there any benefit of having 2 seperate hard drives? I'll have a look at the Samsung ones you mentioned.

Will I need any other fans or anything like that?

Thanks again.

Element3

Hope you don't mind, but you seem to know an aweful lot more than myself, could you pick me out some ram off that kildare based site? I'm lost when it comes to ram to be honest. 1GB is what Im looking for and under 300 excluding VAT if thats possible.

Cheers

Col_Loki

The Ram isint a weak point at all. Corsair is great stuff and will work perfectly. Im just thinkin in a month or two when you want to dabble in overclocking (which will most lightly happen - trust me) that you will have good memory to back you up (ie a little faster than you need). The Corsair is generally more expensive than OCZ & Mushkin also.

Fans wise if you get the sonata - it comes with a very quiet 120mm fan and a super quiet 380w PSU. This should sort out your cooling, and also have a very quiet setup.

The samsungs tend to run cooler than the seagates and thats the main reason i mentioned them. SATA is a good option, it has smaller neater cables, is more future proof, and has the option of Raid. Raid0 means getting two of the same hard drives and combining them........ ie the data being loaded is put half on one drive half on the other, so when you want to read them both drives are sending info so its much faster. Raid can increase hard disk performance by roughly 50% which is very nice.
Thus getting 2x SATA drives is a good idea.

Personally id get (or already have) 2x160gb SATA Samsungs Raid0. - if you go this route then make sure to look up the simlpe guide on how to setup the raid array (one of two things you might miss otherwise ).

Depending on your case choice you might need a case fan or two. Have a look at the links and see what you think.

Element3

Great stuff.

Unfortunately Im being run out the door here. Off on a little break until Saturday. But thanks for your help and I'll did this thread up when I get back.

grimloch

that rig seems real good i wouldnt go under a 400w power supply with new machines and not those cheap ones, a good psu is worth the money, you may need a case fan if youre overclocking as things can get a little hot try to get a quiet one as they can be quite loud, good luck with the build

Col_Loki

Unfortunately Im being run out the door here. Off on a little break until Saturday. But thanks for your help and I'll did this thread up when I get back.

lol, well enjoy it anyway.... and anymore questions feel free to ask!!

Element3

OK, so Im back again!

I'm looking at komplett here and I see the Athlon64 3200+.....BOXED

And then the Athlon64 3000+.....OEM.

There's 100euros in the difference so I was just wondering if that 100euros is worth it? I'd obviously like to save where possible(while sticking to the same site-Im lazy like that!).

I upgraded to pc4000 ram in case I ever decide to do that overclocking jazz....And I also switched over to a Samsung HD and will most likely buy 2.

So would there be much of a performance differnece with the 3000+? I won't be hardcore into my games...I wont cry when somebody else has 1fps more than me etc, but I'd like to have all the games looking really good.

Col_Loki

The difference between BOXED and OEM , is pretty much that the BOXED comes with a heatsink .

With the OEM you need to buy a heatsink. The difference between the 3000+ and 3200+ is a 10% speed increase (2ghz V 2.2ghz) ...... its up to you if you can afford it or not, both are smashing chips.

Pretty much any Ram you buy shouldnt effect your overclock with the AMD64, when or IF you start overclocking you will find out why . So tighter timings Pc3200/3500 v looser timings Pc4000 isint much of a difference TBH (provided your running at rated speed). The OCZ EB Pc3500 is a great choice and should run at Pc4000 ......... thats the Ram to get at the min. If not then the ADATA is lovely stuff and pretty cheap.

BTW getting Pc4000 Ram will hinder performance slightly if your only running it at slower speeds (ie at stock - Pc3200) , due to looser memory timings.

If you can afford it and want performance then Pc3500 OCZ EB is the memory to get, other than that Pc3200/Pc3500 Mushkin Level 1, or Pc4000 ADATA. Thats IMO.

Element3

Thanks again

You cleared up some of my RAM problems there. Can never understand it! hehe.

El_MUERkO

If your building a new PC it might be an idea to go with the Socket 939 boards, they'll be AMDs standard for a good while to come.

Also the newer 939 chips allow for dueling ram which is good for memory intensive programs.

Element3

They'll be expensive though, right?

El_MUERkO

Yeah the cheapest 939 at the minute is the 3500 at about 500 euros but the mobos are about the same price as the 754s.

Element3

I've decided I'll go with this ram:

512Mb DDR PC-3500 Enhanced Latency - OCZ


...And then add another stick of 512 when I need it( I presume I can do this?)

Thats off the Kildare based site col_loki showed me. It's 146euros excl vat(which I dont pay). Seems pretty good to me.

Samba

excellent ram and that's not a bad price at all.

Element3

Ok, so the main specs are sorted for now.

I like the look of the Sonata case with the 380W supply. Will that 380W be ok? Also, what kind of fans for the graphics card etc will I need? Don't want to go toasting my new computers equipment

Col_Loki

Yea the sonata should run your system pretty well. Its a decent 380w PSU !!

That Ram is pretty decent also, adding another stick later on will be fine.

The fans etc are already on the GFX card so your fine there. The sonata has a place to add another 120mm fan at the front, its a good idea to get one for it........... mabye even at a later date.

Venom

Good choices on the various bits and bobs, but one question for you. Are you planing on overclocking your chip and ram? If not you may be better going for cheeper DDR ram.

Element3

At the minute no I'm not. But who knows...


I saw that RAM and saw that it was the fastest ddr ram available so just jumped on it. I may yet change my mind again if anything else pops up. I'm on the site again now just looking at different options...


*edit*

Oh yeah, where the hell is the best place to get windows xp?! What kind of price is it? I've seen many different ones...

BKtje

MSI K8N Neo

I recently ordered this board (and a friend of mine did as well who has already installed it on his new pc). He did find a problem (small or large is unknown really).

Apparently in call of Duty (atm only in cod) it freezes for around 3 secs every so often (random time). He went to the boards forums and its a known issue and a new BIOS is due to be released shortly but hasnt been yet and no eta hs been given.

If it does this in CoD chances are other games are affected too. While they do hope to fix this nothing is definite as yet.

Just thought i'd let you know about it. Apart from this problem he says this bord is the best he's ever used so heres hoping they fix the problem

Element3

How would that be fixed?

Thanks for pointing it out....although I doubt it'll bother me that much.

So as of now I've changed a few bits around.

- 512Mb DDR PC-3500 Enhanced Latency - OCZ - e146(excl vat)
-128MB Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro Lite-RTL - e195
-HDD SATA 160GB Samsung SP1614C 8MB - e92
-CPU AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Tray - e178
-ZALMAN CNPS-7000-AlCu - e27
-MSI MS-7030 K8N Neo Platinum - e134
-DVDR IDE LiteOn LDW-851S 8x - e75
-Sonata Case - 380Wpsu - e130

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I dont have VAT to pay and I havent allowed for shipping, but that works out at 977euros. Thats pretty nice, although I still have to get windows on top of that...

Col_Loki

I saw that RAM and saw that it was the fastest ddr ram available so just jumped on it.

Ignore that. Thats prob an older review. This ram is a little cheaper and should perform better for overclocking http://www.jes-computer.de/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=152_116&products_id=14549 .

The fastest RAM in terms of timings is the Mushkin Level2 Pc3200 / OCZ LE / Corsairs new stuff. In terms of actual MHZ - Bandwidth there is Pc4800 Stuff on the market.

The OCZ EL is decent enough memory, not as good as the EB or Mushkin L1 / L2 stuff IMO. [edit] Reading some more reviews its actually getting pretty decent performance levels, its overclocking well and using tight timings....... not a bad choice at all.

Your system is going to be very nice and quiet BTW. The LiteOn DVD Burner is one of the quietest drives ive used and like wise with the rest of the components... Sonata / Zalman / Samsung HD .... nice !!

Think the GFX card will prob be the noisiest part

Element3

Alright so, things are pretty much finalised. I'll take your word and go for the Mushkin level 1 ram

Where would I get windows xp? Off microsofts site?

Col_Loki

Actually on the Ram issue there prob arround the same performance level. The Mushkin comes with Winbond CH5 chips which is a good thing and usually means a nice overclock with low timings. The OCZ EL is also a good option........ either or TBH .