Bang for buck...

xirokx · 22 Mar 2006 at 10:02

Would you experts say this is "bang for buck" for the cash? Where do you think I can make a saving?

Recommended by another expert so just wanted other opinions....

AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-148-AM)
DFI LanParty UT NF4 SLI-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-013-DF)
MSI GeForce 7900 GT 256MB GDDR3 VIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-068-MS)
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)

Total around £840......

When overclocked is this deemed to be a top rig?? Even if not as it matters?

Do you think the components are all value for money??

thanks in advance

semi-pro waster · 22 Mar 2006 at 10:31

It won't be the "top rig", to get that you would be talking at least 1x X1900XTX, 2gb good clocking Ram etc etc but it is very decent overall, I might suggest getting an X1800XT 512mb over the 7900gt but it does cost slightly more. It would however mean you could save a little bit of cash on the motherboard. Sorry and yes as it stands it is good value for money, you have steered away from the bleeding edge but are still getting good components.

BigDom · 22 Mar 2006 at 10:31

Not really a 'top rig' these days, this a much better option. The Nvidia graphics cards are overpriced by far. This still isn't a 'top rig' as for that you need a X1900XT but it's still a very nice close to top end overclockable gaming rig.

CP-148-AM AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-148-AM)
£274.95 £274.95
MB-131-AS Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-131-AS)
£104.95 £104.95
GX-044-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
£164.95 £164.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£89.95 £89.95
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£59.95 £59.95
Subtotal £694.75
VAT £121.59
Total £816.34

xirokx · 22 Mar 2006 at 10:36

you have steered away from the bleeding edge

what do you mean exactly?

Sorry let me rephrase when I say "top rig" to clarify I mean can you think of something that would beat it for the same amount of money?

I am aware there is better however at this point I am more concerned about getting value for money?

What dya think?

thanks for the feedback so far

BigDom · 22 Mar 2006 at 10:40

xirokx said:
what do you mean exactly?

Sorry let me rephrase when I say "top rig" to clarify I mean can you think of something that would beat it for the same amount of money?

I am aware there is better however at this point I am more concerned about getting value for money?

What dya think?

thanks for the feedback so far

Well that one I've specced is FAR better value for money

Beat's it and is cheaper.

semi-pro waster · 22 Mar 2006 at 10:46

xirokx said:
what do you mean exactly?

By that I simply meant that you haven't gone for the very fastest components to which the law of dimishing returns applies so heavily.

But BigDom as per usual has given you a very good specification, you could even just about get the 512mb X1800XT and it would still cost the same. With that motherboard you may also not need a master card should you go Crossfire in the future although that is dependant on a new driver release

xirokx · 22 Mar 2006 at 10:47

why is the mobo n gfx card you suggested better than what I was told? I mean in what sense? How can you back up your claim?

I heard xt1800 is a noisey bugger and generates too much heat??

BigDom · 22 Mar 2006 at 11:17

xirokx said:
why is the mobo n gfx card you suggested better than what I was told? I mean in what sense? How can you back up your claim?

I heard xt1800 is a noisey bugger and generates too much heat??

lol the X1800 is NOT a 'noisy bugger' and as for heat - dunno.. my system doesn't seem hot to me. However if you do find them noisy a Zalman or Arctic cooler aftermarket cooler doesn't cost much and will sort it.

That mobo is the newest generation of motherboards, has very godo overclocking potential and awsome sound ( not far behind a Xi-Fi). Plus going for that option potentially means you can Crossfire the cards in the future. The 7800GT is far slower than the X1800 ( and both can be overclocked so overlocking potential isn't an issue).

semi-pro waster · 22 Mar 2006 at 11:18

xirokx said:
why is the mobo n gfx card you suggested better than what I was told? I mean in what sense? How can you back up your claim?

I heard xt1800 is a noisey bugger and generates too much heat??

Ok lets take this in order then, the motherboard is based on the new RD580 chipset which allows for Crossfire without a master card, it should also give better overclocking potential as well. It might not be quite as good in terms of overclocking as the DFI because the DFI has been around for longer and built on a more proven chipset but this is likely to be cured by later bios revisions.

The 7900gt is about equivalent to a 7800gtx which is a fine card but handily beaten by an X1800XT plus the fact that you have 512mb of Ram which is better especially at higher resolutions. Anandtech comparing the 7800gtx to the 7900gt, "think of it as the same card with a different name".

I don't know about the heat or noise issue because I don't own one but from what others have said it isn't a big problem(if at all).

xirokx · 22 Mar 2006 at 11:30

semi : Im not going 512mb ram Im going 256mb....

BigDom · 22 Mar 2006 at 11:34

xirokx said:
semi : Im not going 512mb ram Im going 256mb....

He was referring to the fact you can get a X1800XT 512MB and stay withing £840. My spec was for a 256MB version but the 512MB version will stay in budget too.

Paul11 · 22 Mar 2006 at 11:43

xirokx said:
semi : Im not going 512mb ram Im going 256mb....

what monitor are you running......

512 much better at higher resolutions....

easyrider · 22 Mar 2006 at 15:09

BigDom said:
Well that one I've specced is FAR better value for money Beat's it and is cheaper.

Well i doesn't beat it and x1800 256 is not faster than a 7900 GT.
Also you quote a crossfire mobo when we all know that SLI offers superior performance.

Also the DFI board is superior in overclocking potential.

easyrider · 22 Mar 2006 at 15:11

BigDom said:
Plus going for that option potentially means you can Crossfire the cards in the future. The 7800GT is far slower than the X1800 ( and both can be overclocked so overlocking potential isn't an issue).

This offers less performance than an SLI setup.

His original spec is for a 7900 GT which is fine at his resolution of 12x10.
There was no mention of a 7800 GT :confused:

xirokx · 22 Mar 2006 at 15:13

oh sorry you specced a 7900 GT woopsies

Any comments?

Explicit · 22 Mar 2006 at 16:19

At the moment, I would cautious when buying an Asus A8R32-MVP because of all the problems it seems to be having.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17552304

Hopefully another mobo company like DFI will release an RD580 version which will be more stable than the Asus version.

easyrider · 22 Mar 2006 at 16:31

Explicit said:
At the moment, I would cautious when buying an Asus A8R32-MVP because of all the problems it seems to be having.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17552304

Hopefully another mobo company like DFI will release an RD580 version which will be more stable than the Asus version.

Agreed the most stable performing platform for s939 is NF4 without a doubt.
Offering stability and greater SLI performance over crossfire setups.
And the DFI mobo is a fantastic mobo for your requirements.

Artheas · 22 Mar 2006 at 16:37

i was asking myself this a week or two ago, what i thought was best bangs per buck were

Athlon64 x2 3800+ or Opteron 165
6800GS or 7600GT (possibly either in SLI)

Didnt think about the rest of the components in terms of bangs per buck.

I ended up not caring about bangs per buck and spent around £1400 :eek:

xirokx · 22 Mar 2006 at 17:07

well lucky me I found easy rider

wooohoooo

so easy and explicit this mobo is kewl right?

DFI LanParty UT NF4 SLI-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-013-DF)

explicit u rated the asus A8R32 very highly in all your posts last week and week before that.......pft......man it sucks when that happens

semi-pro waster · 22 Mar 2006 at 17:27

xirokx said:
oh sorry you specced a 7900 GT woopsies

Any comments?

None whatsoever, as far as I can tell BigDom typed an '8' instead of a '9' but that still doesn't alter the fact that the 512mb X1800XT is still faster in most games as well as costing only £10 more than the 7900gt so you get double the Ram and added performance for not much extra cash

If you are determined to go for that specification then don't let anyone else stop you but equally don't get sniffy about other suggestions being offered. The DFI motherboard is fine and would work just as well with an ATI graphics card but it does make some sort of sense to match an ATI chipset with an ATI graphics card, if there are serious problems with the motherboard then maybe not though.