AM2 - Spec Check

Kamakazie! · 12 Sep 2006 at 17:25

Been speccing up an AM2 based system for a total new build (going from a laptop to this) and just want to make sure there's nothing glaringly wrong with what i have chosen.
Decided to go AM2 over C2D because i like the upgrade path better going right through to 2008 and beyond. Also, the 3800+ is a little bit cheaper and there isn't many other places that i want to downgrade to save money.

MONITOR : Samsung 215TW
CASE : Lian-Li PC V1000+2
CPU : AMD X2 3800+
GPU : HIS X1900-XT ICEQ3
MOBO : MSI K9A Platinum
MEMORY : Geil 2GB PC6400 Ultra Low Latency
SOUND CARD : N/A (Onboard)
PSU : Seasonic S12 500W
MAIN HDD : Samsung Spinpoint HD160JJ
STORAGE HDDs : Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB (x2)
DVD : Pioneer DVR-111BK
MOUSE : Logitech G5
KEYBOARD : Logitech Black Ultra-Flat
COOLER : Scythe Infinity
FANS : Akasa Amber 120mm (x3)
TV CARD : Hauppauge WinTV-PVR150 MCE
OS : Windows XP Home

- The system is going to be a dual-boot between Ubuntu (for everyday use) & XP (for games).

- Gone for Crossfire chipset over nVidia due to power consumption and lack of stupidly big heatpipe coolers for the chipset

- Still might change the x1900-xt to the OcUK 7900GTO again for lower power consumption aswell as better Linux support (thats if they have them in stock when i order at the end of next week & that they are not breaking all the time now).

Would the would the 7900GTO be a good swap for the x1900xt? Not too bothered about PQ tbh, i've been playing on a laptop for the last 2 years with rubbish quality settings.

One last question:
Will 500W be enough for this and future systems (DX10/Quad Core) or should i play it safe and get a 600W seasonic instead?

snowdog · 12 Sep 2006 at 18:10

tbh i'd get a c2d becouse the cheapest c2d is @ amd 4400+ speeds and can be oc-ed to over fx-62 speeds, but then again i cnat force you, also upgarde path better? i dont think intel will be changing sockets anytime soon, nayhow nvm, to your question:

The amd spec looks ok on first sight, but i wouldnt get a msi personally but a dfi or asus instead.
also i'd get a beefier psu 550w+ for if you'd want a future dual gfx card or quad core cpu system (or both, then im almost sure 500w isnt enough), but i dont know if its really needed, becouse at this point, i dont know how much power amd quad cores will use...
Hope this was of any help.

Kamakazie! · 12 Sep 2006 at 18:31

snowdog said:
tbh i'd get a c2d becouse the cheapest c2d is @ amd 4400+ speeds and can be oc-ed to over fx-62 speeds, but then again i cnat force you, also upgarde path better? i dont think intel will be changing sockets anytime soon, nayhow nvm, to your question:

The amd spec looks ok on first sight, but i wouldnt get a msi personally but a dfi or asus instead.
also i'd get a beefier psu 550w+ for if you'd want a future dual gfx card or quad core cpu system (or both, then im almost sure 500w isnt enough), but i dont know if its really needed, becouse at this point, i dont know how much power amd quad cores will use...
Hope this was of any help.

thanks for the feedback.
I have been weighing up the pro's and cons of C2D for yonks and a just like the looks of the AM2 roadmap. For what i am gonna do on the PC (play games and watch DVD's + minimal encoding) C2D doesn't bring enough to the table to warrant the extra ££ now or the possibility (not sure what socket stuff will be on after Kentsfield... anyone know?) that i am gonna have to change sockets AND ram as soon as Intels native quad core comes out. The AM2 has a nice migration to AM3 cpu then i can swap out the mobo and ram at a later stage.

What is wrong with the MSI? It was a toss-up between the MSI and Asus but some very positive reviews on the MSI swung it for me. DFI don't currently make an AM2 crossfire board.

I don't ever plan on going dual-gfx so that is not an issue. The only issue is that the DX10 cards are meant to be HUNGRY! As for quad core, i am not sure either. I have heard they won't be much more power hungry than dual-cores but asked for confirmations sake. Still i might go for the 600W just incase... anyone else think i should?

What about the GFX card?

snowdog · 12 Sep 2006 at 19:21

ati 1900xt seems to be the best bang for buck on the high performance cards , try looking @ gamign & encoding benchmarks, c2d offers a lot better performance as amd, also msi is ok, but asus is just better quality, im selling mainboards here and the msi's usually have more problems as the asus ones...
Although if the msi works, theyre usually very good too, also if you say you dont want dual gfx cards why go for an xfire chipset, xfire= for 2 ati cards, sli=for 2 nvidia cards, but with a single card its best to just go for the fastest chipset wich for amd is nforce i think...
Theres no difference in performance if you go for a ati card on nvidia chipset or nvidia on ati chipset.

locutus12 · 12 Sep 2006 at 20:24

MONITOR : Samsung 215TW
CASE : Lian-Li PC V1000+2
CPU : AMD X2 3800+
GPU : HIS X1900-XT ICEQ3
MOBO : MSI K9A Platinum
MEMORY : Geil 2GB PC6400 Ultra Low Latency
SOUND CARD : N/A (Onboard)
PSU : Seasonic S12 500W
MAIN HDD : Samsung Spinpoint HD160JJ
STORAGE HDDs : Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB (x2)
DVD : Pioneer DVR-111BK
MOUSE : Logitech G5
KEYBOARD : Logitech Black Ultra-Flat
COOLER : Scythe Infinity
FANS : Akasa Amber 120mm (x3)
TV CARD : Hauppauge WinTV-PVR150 MCE
OS : Windows XP Home

all perfect, but use the seagates as the main drive, just a small point, but they are more reliable.

Kamakazie! · 12 Sep 2006 at 21:27

snowdog said:
ati 1900xt seems to be the best bang for buck on the high performance cards , try looking @ gamign & encoding benchmarks, c2d offers a lot better performance as amd, also msi is ok, but asus is just better quality, im selling mainboards here and the msi's usually have more problems as the asus ones...
Although if the msi works, theyre usually very good too, also if you say you dont want dual gfx cards why go for an xfire chipset, xfire= for 2 ati cards, sli=for 2 nvidia cards, but with a single card its best to just go for the fastest chipset wich for amd is nforce i think...
Theres no difference in performance if you go for a ati card on nvidia chipset or nvidia on ati chipset.

ok i will stick with the x1900xt.... the power consumption doesn't seem to be THAT much more than the 7900gtx. Seen its about 17W somewhere.
is that true?
as said in the first post, going for an xfire chipset as on one of the reviews... it consumes as much as 30W less than the nVidia 590 chipset. It also has passive cooling without the need for stupidly large heatpipe coolers.

locutus12 said:
all perfect, but use the seagates as the main drive, just a small point, but they are more reliable.

I was going for the Samsung as the main disk because it runs very quitely though i guess the Seagates aren't that much louder and the 5year warranty is always good... i will have a see about it. I will only buy the .10's though as they are far better than the .9's

locutus12 · 12 Sep 2006 at 21:54

Kamakazie! said:
ok i will stick with the x1900xt.... the power consumption doesn't seem to be THAT much more than the 7900gtx. Seen its about 17W somewhere.
is that true?
as said in the first post, going for an xfire chipset as on one of the reviews... it consumes as much as 30W less than the nVidia 590 chipset. It also has passive cooling without the need for stupidly large heatpipe coolers.

I was going for the Samsung as the main disk because it runs very quitely though i guess the Seagates aren't that much louder and the 5year warranty is always good... i will have a see about it. I will only buy the .10's though as they are far better than the .9's

seagate barracuda`s are one of the quietest drives in the market, i have 2.

Kamakazie! · 12 Sep 2006 at 22:02

okey doke.
thanks for the help. I might cut down the storage drive to just the single 320gb for now an all... get the second one when i have enough on the first to warrant a backup drive!

Tony Williams · 12 Sep 2006 at 22:07

Personally I perfer nVidia but that does look a decent box.