£1000, Upgrading from a AMD XP [Spec Me]

markyb · 13 Mar 2006 at 18:49

Ive come into some money and really want the best for my budget. Ive got most bits & bobs....
(Upgrading from Sig)

Re-using

Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS
Keyboard & Mouse
19" LCD Samsung 913n / 17" Sony G200
DVD-ROM / DVD-RW Drives
Floppy Disc Drive
160Gb Maxtor 160Gb SATA Drive
160Gb Maxtor IDE Drive

PC Uses

Everything,

Gaming (BF2), Music, Films, DVDs, Website Design ....

So just really need...

PSU, Thinking Seasonic, 500w~600w
Processor, Looking for Dual Core 3800+ ??
Graphics Card, ATi 1800/1900 Dep on price.
Motherboard, Really not sure. Always really had ABIT.

What do ppl think? If you could spec me a decent board, I wont be overclocking and need it to be very Quiet. Im going to use the PC in the front room. My Current PC has 2x 14Db fans & a Artic Cooling 18db processor cooler with a Artic Cooler on the 9800pro.

Dark_Angel · 13 Mar 2006 at 18:55

As a bit of a thought, if you arent overclocking you may want to consider going with a faster CPU, or possibly a san deigo 3700 single core. The 3800 really comes in to its own when overclocked TBH. Though obviously it will still perform great at stock.

markyb · 13 Mar 2006 at 18:56

Dark_Angel said:
As a bit of a thought, if you arent overclocking you may want to consider going with a faster CPU, or possibly a san deigo 3700 single core. The 3800 really comes in to its own when overclocked TBH. Though obviously it will still perform great at stock.

So I wont notice any difference @ Stock with a single core or a dual core?

BTW - Budget is about ~ £1000

Dark_Angel · 13 Mar 2006 at 19:03

You will notice a difference in some things, but only really in applications that make use of dual core. Games that dont use dual core then the 3800 will probablly be slower than a san diego 3700. But there are games coming out soon that are going to be written for dual cores.

Basically, if you do a LOT of multitasking photoshop + say wanting to make a DVD at the same time, dual core without thinking about it. If you want a cheap setup, just for gaming and net surfing and so on then a san diego 3700 would be better. you could then grab a dual core later really cheap... truthfully its a tossup.

The 3800 is popular because it can be cranked to the speed of a 4400 usually... making it great if you wanna overclock.

markyb · 13 Mar 2006 at 19:07

Dark_Angel said:
You will notice a difference in some things, but only really in applications that make use of dual core. Games that dont use dual core then the 3800 will probablly be slower than a san diego 3700. But there are games coming out soon that are going to be written for dual cores.

Basically, if you do a LOT of multitasking photoshop + say wanting to make a DVD at the same time, dual core without thinking about it. If you want a cheap setup, just for gaming and net surfing and so on then a san diego 3700 would be better. you could then grab a dual core later really cheap... truthfully its a tossup.

The 3800 is popular because it can be cranked to the speed of a 4400 usually... making it great if you wanna overclock.

ahhh ok, Ill go dual Core. Im playing quite a few games & multitask a hell of a lot. Cheers

Any recomendations on motherboards and ram combos?

Dark_Angel · 13 Mar 2006 at 19:13

probablly something like:

Abit KN8 Ultra nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-087-AB)
£76.32 Including VAT

As for ram... I am not the best person to ask. I am guessing something like geil 2GB value would be perfect.

markyb · 13 Mar 2006 at 19:37

Any comments on the following spec...?

CA-001-SS Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-001-SS)

MB-111-AS Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)

MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)

CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)

GX-121-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-121-SP)

£830.00

Dark_Angel · 13 Mar 2006 at 19:40

It looks pretty nice to me. The only thing worth thinking about is the graphics card.

256MB of ram is perfect for now, but in 6 months or less 512MB will be needed for high resolutions. On the other hand if you dont mind upgrading in a year then it might not matter so much....

markyb · 13 Mar 2006 at 19:51

CA-001-SS Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-001-SS)

MB-111-AS Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)

MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)

CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)

GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)

HS-015-ZA Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA)

£805.00

Amended order for a 512mb X1800 & a h/s fan.
Just noticed that I added two power supplies on the previous order! :eek:

The 1800x a better buy than the Geforce 7xxx series?

Dark_Angel · 13 Mar 2006 at 19:55

Truthfully, a better buy is a bit subjective. Some stuff nvidia takes the slight lead in, others ATI. Typically though most people agree that the x1800XT is the best buy in terms of price and performance.

You should be fine like that, wait for someone else to glance a critical eye over it though, just in case I missed something.

ACESHIGH · 14 Mar 2006 at 07:23

markyb said:
CA-001-SS Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-001-SS)

MB-111-AS Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)

MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)

CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)

GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)

HS-015-ZA Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA)

£805.00

Amended order for a 512mb X1800 & a h/s fan.
Just noticed that I added two power supplies on the previous order!

The 1800x a better buy than the Geforce 7xxx series?

Yep the X1800XT is quicker than the Nvidia equivalent.

You could go for this mobo & save a fair bit ... just as good ...
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)

If you have the cash (by changing mobo) you could then for £317.19 Including VAT get the PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB.

markyb · 14 Mar 2006 at 07:57

ACESHIGH said:
Yep the X1800XT is quicker than the Nvidia equivalent.

You could go for this mobo & save a fair bit ... just as good ...
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)

If you have the cash (by changing mobo) you could then for £317.19 Including VAT get the PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB.

One of the main reasons for not going for a slightly cheaper board, or that board in fact is it has a chipset fan on it. I really need it to be silent. The Asus A8N-SLi Premium has a heatpipe and no fans on the board.

My friend has the A8N-E, and the chipset fan is the loudest thing inside the PC.

Are the x1800 stock coolers loud?

ACESHIGH · 14 Mar 2006 at 09:53

markyb said:
One of the main reasons for not going for a slightly cheaper board, or that board in fact is it has a chipset fan on it. I really need it to be silent. The Asus A8N-SLi Premium has a heatpipe and no fans on the board.

My friend has the A8N-E, and the chipset fan is the loudest thing inside the PC.

Are the x1800 stock coolers loud?

No they are pretty quiet.

Chronictank · 14 Mar 2006 at 10:17

This is what im going with

Chronictank said:
AMD Opteron UP 165 Dual Core San Diego 1.8GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-151-AM)
£224.95(£264.32)
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£79.95 (£93.94)
HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-HT)
£279.95(£328.94)
Western Digital Raptor 74GB WD740GD 10,000RPM SATA 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-015-WD)
£93.95 (£110.39)
Seasonic S12 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-002-SS)
£87.95 (£103.34)
G.Skill 2GB DDR HS PC3200 (2x1GB) CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit (F1-3200USU2-2GBHS) (MY-007-GS)
£124.95(£146.82)

TOTAL: £1047.75 inc Vat

Gun9 · 14 Mar 2006 at 11:06

that will run very sweet indeed great choices

markyb · 15 Mar 2006 at 11:27

Thinking of ordering this...

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-131-AS)
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
HS-015-ZA Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA)
CA-090-CM CoolerMaster Stacker 830 RC-830 - Silver Trim (No PSU) (CA-090-CM)
CA-001-SS Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-001-SS)

----
Been reading good reviews about that new ATi board, but is it worth the extra? or the

MB-129-AS Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire

a better buy? Would I be better of putting the money in something else and buying the cheaper board?

Please help..... im just bout to press the order button!!!

ACESHIGH · 15 Mar 2006 at 13:27

If within budget the Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire is the better board, i would stick with it.

markyb · 15 Mar 2006 at 16:29

markyb said:
Thinking of ordering this...

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-131-AS)
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
HS-015-ZA Zalman CNPS9500-LED Aero Flower (Socket 939/754/478/775) CPU Cooler (HS-015-ZA)
CA-090-CM CoolerMaster Stacker 830 RC-830 - Silver Trim (No PSU) (CA-090-CM)
CA-001-SS Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-001-SS)

Ordered