Another Spec check!

[marinecommando]

Hey all! First time poster and long time lurker / reader!!

Yet another spec check / reassurance!!
I've currently got an (almost) 3 years old Alienware Tower (yes i know.... ) Spec is:

P4 3 Ghz on 533 FSB

1 Gb PC2700 DDR

ASUS P4PE Mobo

Audigy 2

Geforce FX 5900 Ultra 256 MB 8x AGP (on a 4x AGP mobo )



And what I am thinking of upgradeing to is:


Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) - Retail £276.95

Hiper HPU-4K580-MK Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Black UV £52.95

Arctic Ceramique Thermal Compound (2.7g) £2.95

DFI LanParty NF4 SLI-DR EXPERT (Socket 939) £129.95

HS-017-TR ThermalRight XP-120 Heatsink £24.95

YS-TECH FD1238 120mm Fan - 4 Pin £9.95

Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin £8.95

G.Skill 2GB DDR HZ PC4000 (2x1GB) CAS3 Dual Channel Kit £129.95

XFX GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB XXX Edition GDDR3 (PCI-Express) £424.95

Hitachi Deskstar 7K80 NCQ 80GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM £63.90 (edit for 2 drives - sry peeps!! )

Subtotal £1,125.45
VAT £196.96
Total £1,322.41



I've specced two fans in because i want to test quiet V cooling performance. the two hard disks will be striped.

I guess i want you to rip it apart but also just to reassure me that its going to be £1300 well spent. I currently play BF2 and CSS etc and although their failry ugly there still playable - am i going to see a huge difference in overall performace in both windows and games?

Thanks in advance!!!

MC

 

[semi-pro waster]

Welcome to the forums, you will see a huge overall jump in performance as although your current system is still reasonably respectable this is a massive leap forwards.

If you aren't particularly concerned about going Nvidia then I'd suggest an X1900XTX which will be around £100 cheaper but offer about the same level of performance.

I'd also consider getting a larger hard drive but if neither suggestion appeals then go for it you will have a very fast new system.

 

[ACESHIGH]

Spot on.

HDD does seem on the samllish side. But if you only game (dont download much) then the 80gig HDD should suffice.

Completely agree if you just want the best value for money with graphics card then the X1900XTX which perform the same as the 7900GTX you specced are the way to go, for a much cheaper price.

PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-059-PC) £328.94 Including VAT

By getting this graphics card you will have the same performance & yet the money saved can go to other goodies like a larger HDD. Or on a keg of beer!

--------

The rest of the spec is great

 

[marinecommando]

Wow that was quick!

I'm not sure about the ATI if im honest. Ive read a lot of very positive things about them and their IQ, but theres still a nagging doubt about drivers / software issues after having being burnt in the past (7500 and a 9700). On the other hand I've had a Ti 4600 and the 5900 and no problem to speak of.

Regards the hard disks my plan was the use the sriped volume just for windows and games. I'm going to stick a netgear NAS box in for all my media files / docs / backups etc. SC101 i think its called.

 

[semi-pro waster]

Regards the hard disks my plan was the use the sriped volume just for windows and games. I'm going to stick a netgear NAS box in for all my media files / docs / backups etc. SC101 i think its called.

Ok I see, I did think it was rather pricey for a single 80gb hard drive but I couldn't tell offhand if you had gone with 2 for a striped setup. As long as you are aware that Raid0 is not a good way of storing critical data without backups(actually you ought to backup regardless) and are happy to mess about then there isn't any harm in it.

ATI are in fact thought to have more solid drivers than Nvidia just now and certainly less in the way of driver releases(Nvidia have 2 teams competing and releasing drivers so version numbers can be confusing) but if you prefer Nvidia on the basis that you haven't had any problems with them then don't let me stop you

 

[Monstermunch]

How about this, much better spec will clock very well and £150 cheaper:

CP-153-AM AMD Opteron UP 175 Dual Core San Diego 2.2GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-153-AM)
£319.95 £319.95
MB-014-DF DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
£79.95 £79.95
MY-000-MK Mushkin 2GB DDR XP4000 Extreme Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) CAS3 (991483) (MY-000-MK)
£144.95 £144.95
GX-059-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-059-PC)
£279.95 £279.95
HD-002-HI Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (0A31636) (HD-002-HI)
£56.95 £56.95
CD-026-NE NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-026-NE)
£27.95 £27.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£12.95 £12.95
CA-008-TG Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-008-TG)
£59.95 £59.95
Subtotal £982.60
VAT £171.96
Total £1,154.56

 

[volt9291]

I think you would be better getting a Raptor for you os and games

and something like this for everything else: Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD) £68.09 Including VAT

 

[ACESHIGH]

Yeah, ATI's drivers are light years ahead now from where they were in the 9700pro days. With regualr releases & good community support. You also have OmegaDrivers.net with their drivers too.
Nvidia seems to have more driver issues now if anything, with the shimmering problem.

 

[marinecommando]

Thanks Monster munch - food for thought!! Would an opty be a better choice than an X2? I've never overclocked before but I do want to start!

Would you guys advise against using raid 0 then? What would be the better option do you think - a larger SATA II drive or a smaller faster raptor say the 74GB version?

All the help is much appriciated guys!!

 

[Monstermunch]

Thanks Monster munch - food for thought!! Would an opty be a better choice than an X2? I've never overclocked before but I do want to start!

Would you guys advise against using raid 0 then? What would be the better option do you think - a larger SATA II drive or a smaller faster raptor say the 74GB version?

All the help is much appriciated guys!!

If you're clocking then the Opty is definitely the better choice. The Opty 175 should achieve 2.8 - 3.0 Ghz on air.

As far as the HDD issue goes, if you want to utilise the speed of SATA2 then I would suggest 4 x 80gb Hitachi Deskstars. 2 on Raid0+1 & 2 on Raid0. This will give you the 3gb/s speed rating and is faster than a raptor. Although by setting it up in this way you can only use 160gb as the other 160gb acts as a mirror.

I will be going 4 x 80gb Deskstars + 160gb IDE133 for data storage.

 

[marinecommando]

Okay I've revisited my spec and ive done an ATI option

I'm quite impressed as the spare money lets me get a 150Gb raptor and an uber geek chic lcd display for my 5.25 slots

My heads telling me ATI but my hearts telling me Nvidia!

Thank God there seems to be no aurgument about getting an AMD processor or my head would be spinning like Linda Blairs!!

 

[marinecommando]

Lol i forgot the spec

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) £276.95

Hiper HPU-4K580-MK Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU £52.95

Arctic Ceramique Thermal Compound (2.7g) £2.95

G.Skill 2GB DDR HZ PC4000 (2x1GB) CAS3 Dual Channel Kit £129.95

Alphacool 240x128 USB Graphic LCD Display £57.95

HIS Excalibur ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 £289.95

Western Digital Raptor 150GB 10,000RPM SATA 16MB Cache £168.95

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler £12.95

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) £114.95 £114.95

Subtotal £1,107.55

VAT £193.83

Total £1,301.38

 

[ACESHIGH]

Looks very good.

I assume you will be using your old case & DVDRW.
As these are not listed anywhere.

 

[marinecommando]

Looks very good.

I assume you will be using your old case & DVDRW.
As these are not listed anywhere.

Yeah my Alienware case is big but its very pretty