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Looking for some advice


Frog

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So I've decided to put my 3 year old Dell on the shelf and start building my own system. Money isnt a major problem as you will see below, but I dont want to go to overboard.

 

This is what I'm looking to buy this week through Newegg.com (only because they seem to be pretty reasonable and I can get everything sent to me in 3 days for about $75):

 

Socket type: AMD Athlon fx60

Mobo: ASUS A8N32-Sli Deluxe

RAM: 2 sets of OCZ Titanium 2GB (2x1GB) = 4GB :o (I know this is alot more then I need, but I guess you can't have to much :shrug03: )

Hard Drive: Western Digital Raptor 150GB, 10,000 RPM SATA

Video Cards: 2 sets of eVGA 256MB 7800GT PCI-e x16

OS: Windows Pro 64bit

 

I'm looking for everyone's advice....I've read up on alot of this equipment and have a pretty good understanding of what I'm getting into, but any extra advice would be appreciated.

 

P.S. I think that AMD is going to be coming out with a new chipset by the end of this year?

 

Thanks

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Looks like you did your research.... though if your main game is css, you are going way overboard lol. In fact you'll be eating any game out there right now for lunch with that outfit, but if you have the money to spend, go for it man.

 

I'm gonna assume you checked compatability between your mb and "the rest".

 

Everyone has there favorite companies, personally i'm a seagate fan for hdd (just because its all i've ever used, and have not had one fail me yet), and a corsair fan for ram, I know the reviews for the OCZ are high, but can't speak for them myself. Your also spending an extra 60 bucks for the titanium heat spreader compared to the OCZ platinum, but like I said if money is not an option.....

 

Also, I would get inputs from people running windows pro 64 bit, last I heard it's not the most compatible OS with games, but perhaps that's changed now, Im not up to date on it.....

 

I assume, too, you have a case/ps, and a plan for a good, excuse me, "great" cooling system to boot, you're gonna need it.....

 

Sound card?

 

And... if money is not concern... what is a good system without the proper tools... so might I recommend the logitech G5 mouse, it is absolutely awesome (im sure the wireless version is as well...). And a good set of headphones, for instance http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16826106013.

 

Thats all I have, not much really, like I said you did your research, everything *looks* golden, without me delving in and looking at compatability between your mobo and all.

 

GO AMD!

 

-tWc|RoGuE

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don't get four gigs. you'll push the mem controller so hard that you'll have to slow timings down and end up losing performance over just having two gigs. especially since you specifically mention the new amd cpus. if you know they're comin out why throw the money away on four gigs of ddr? also on the ram, if you're not going to overclock then just get the platinum edition with 2-3-2-5 timings. it'll save you some coin.

 

as for the rest please list the rest of your current specs/intended purchases. powersupply, monitor, etc.

 

don't go with xp64 if you already own a copy of xp32. there's no point. anything i've read shows a equal or worse performance in games and when you combine that with less than spectacular driver support it really doesn't make sense.

 

as i've started telling people recently, sli just doesn't make sense if you're going to sit there gaming on a 17/19 inch LCD with a max res of 1280x1024. you'll get equal performance at that resolution with just a single card. i would get a x1900xt at this point as they are resonably priced and will give you better image quality.

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Another advantage to sticking with 32-bit Windows is your processor should run cooler, which is a very good thing with a build like that. To add nothing new to the conversation, I have first-hand experience with the frustration of driver support in 64-bit Windows and the processor overhead of running 32-bit apps in 64-bit mode: It's obviously your call, but I would recommend against it for now. Vista will be out soon, which should feature pretty good driver support out of the box and should spur 64-bit software porting. I know it seems like a bum deal to buy a 64-bit processor and not run it wide open, but honestly the Windows operating system is, effectively, a beta for Windows Vista 64-bit.

 

Of course, a Linux enthusiast could come in here and make a shameless 64-bit Fedora / Ubuntu / [insert flavor here] plug, but Vista shouldn't be that far off.

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64-bit does == lack of driver support, i moved to 32 bit before I crashed....

 

if you have the money to burn then get the fx60, but I believe you can OC a slightly lower chip to get equal or better performance and save you a ton of cash.

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Thanks guys....I agree now about the 4GB of memory :boo: ...from more reports that I have read it will slow the performance of the system down. I will probably also just stay with my 32bit XP as well, but I had another questions...is it better to have 2 256MB SLI video cards or have 1 512 MB Video card. Cujo....to answer your other questions, i already have a 19in LCD and a 500 watt power supply that is pretty good (so far).

 

Thanks guys again this has helped a lot........frog :peace:

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Antec 550 truepower powersupply. Youll need it for that setup. And with those components CSS will be no problem running everything maxxed out. :D

 

Thanks guys....I agree now about the 4GB of memory :boo: ...from more reports that I have read it will slow the performance of the system down. I will probably also just stay with my 32bit XP as well, but I had another questions...is it better to have 2 256MB SLI video cards or have 1 512 MB Video card. Cujo....to answer your other questions, i already have a 19in LCD and a 500 watt power supply that is pretty good (so far).

 

Thanks guys again this has helped a lot........frog :peace:

Id stick with the one 512. It will take less power to run and 2 of those vid cards are a little overkill but hey theyll do the job nicely. Im using one 7800gt oc 256 and its the best one Ive had yet. Playin Doom, Fear and HL2 on max settings. :D

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x1900xt single card is all you need. with a 19inch lcd you're limited by your resolution. adding a second card will not gain you enough performance (to make it worth the price) as a single card has all you need to handle that res. only when you switch to 1600x1200 and higher will you benefit from having a dual card set up.

 

what is your power supply? 500w means nothing.

 

hmmm, i just browsed up the page to see if you'd mentioned power supply before and i realized that i've said exactly the same as above already.

Edited by Cujo
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x1900xt single card is all you need. with a 19inch lcd you're limited by your resolution. adding a second card will not gain you enough performance (to make it worth the price) as a single card has all you need to handle that res. only when you switch to 1600x1200 and higher will you benefit from having a dual card set up.

 

what is your power supply? 500w means nothing.

 

hmmm, i just browsed up the page to see if you'd mentioned power supply before and i realized that i've said exactly the same as above already.

 

 

Sorry..been working a lot...the power supply is a Ultra X-Connect 500w

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Well the order is in, I appreciate everybodies input into teh matter it has been somewhat exhuasting to say the least in trying to research all the new stuff out there.

 

Cujo...I'm gonna try the Ultra X-Connect for now and see what happens.

 

The New System (Hopefully gets here before the EOW)

Mobo: Asus A8N32 Deluxe

Processor: AMD FX60

RAM: OCZ Titanium (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC3200)

Video Setup: 2 x (Leadtek PX7800GTX 256MB Pci-e SLi)

Hard Drive: WD Raptor X 150GB, 10000 RPM Serial ATA

Case (needed a new case, this looks cool): ATRIX CSCI-A9001-C4

DVD Drive: Samsung Model SH-W162L/BEBN

Power Supply: Ultra Connect X 500w

 

 

:boing: .............Cant wait to start putting this ANIMAL together............. :boing:

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you're crazy.

 

those vid cards are a complete waste of money and your power supply definately will not hold up. you clearly have money so why not go big on the power supply and get a better monitor?

 

edit - took a look at the case as you posted a link in the other thread. honestly the cooling is sub par. the front panel thing that looks like you could swap it for an ipod is cool but the rest is nothing special.

Edited by Cujo
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edit - took a look at the case as you posted a link in the other thread. honestly the cooling is sub par. the front panel thing that looks like you could swap it for an ipod is cool but the rest is nothing special.

 

 

What type of power supply do you recommend? Highwer wattage? or better brand?

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lol same but i'll post it again here.

 

ocz powerstream 520 or 600w is good or an enermax liberty 500 or 620w.

 

a guy bought virtually the same system as you're getting off me at work and i recommended him the 620w liberty. he loves it. so far that's 4/4 in ppl that i've sold it to and that love it. one of the other guys is actually a technician at work.

 

the ocz are also good but were out of stock when i sold the liberty and i knew he was new and didn't want him messing with the rails... lol.

Edited by Cujo
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