Cpu Q for new rig

Delvis · 1 Mar 2006 at 13:17

Hi, im going to be making a new rig soon, i currently have a lovely XP 2700+ with corsair 2700 512 x 2 and a 9700 pro....

Basically im going the A64 route, im more than likely going to get an ati card, either x1800* or 1900...not sure yet, and the mobo im not certain maybe the Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16 just due to a friend recommending it...

Now, for the cpu im looking at either the A64 4000+ or perhaps the x2 4200...which of these is better? Overclocking im not thinking of, so getting an opteron will be pointless in all fairness...i have a mate who has a 3700+ coupled with a 7800gt and it runs all games currently with hi res and aa/af.

Just wondered what people think i should invest in, im spending around £800,,,just depends on the money situation at the time.

Regards.

easyrider · 1 Mar 2006 at 13:22

Delvis said:
Now, for the cpu im looking at either the A64 4000+ or perhaps the x2 4200...which of these is better? Overclocking im not thinking of, so getting an opteron will be pointless in all fairness...i have a mate who has a 3700+ coupled with a 7800gt and it runs all games currently with hi res and aa/af.

.

Well the A64 4000 is single core and the x2 4200 is dual core.
I would go for the dual core option purely so you are not left behind in future multi core optimised games.

Delvis · 1 Mar 2006 at 13:25

Yea guess so, just thinking of "current" performance really...if ill actually benefit from dual core now, granted games etc will be using dual core soon enough, but im just thinking of now, i want to try and keep the system for atleast 3 years to be fair, as ive managed 3 years with my current one, and i can play games at a comfortable frame rate while looking fine in my standars...

and between the A64 4000+ and x2 4200, there is a lil bit of price difference.

easyrider · 1 Mar 2006 at 13:35

If wanting your rig for 3yrs then the dual core is the only option IMO.
The single core variants will be left behind in the gaming arena once the dual core optimisations are fully blown.

Delvis · 1 Mar 2006 at 19:37

Ah okies thankyou

A nice simple reply, ill have to see what my funds are doing really, i mite go up a step to the x2 4400+ if all's well...Also, the memory...Im just looking at a standard corair xms 1-gig or two-gig dual channel kit, much difference going from 1gig to 2gig? and for the speed im just looking at normal 3200 ie 400mhz? Is that the wrong thinking or should i reconsider?

Thanks for your input.

ajgoodfellow · 1 Mar 2006 at 21:17

Go for 2GB of ram over 1GB - it really makes a difference in newer games and to the general smoothness of windows

PC3200 ram is fine. If you want to overclock you can always put it on a divider - this doesn't really hurt the performance at all (unlike the AXPs and the P4s)

Delvis · 1 Mar 2006 at 22:12

Thanks dude, like i said i have about £800 to spend, maybe more...

so im needing:

Cpu, Motherboard, Memory, Graphics card...possibly a new harddrive (Just like an 80gb one or something, ill figure that out later...

Any ideas?

Xionic · 1 Mar 2006 at 22:19

went with the M/board as requested (though id recomend a cheaper non-sli board when going with ATI). stuck u some 3200 ram as cant see u needing 4000... X1800XT is bargain atm. snap it up

ACESHIGH · 2 Mar 2006 at 01:00

Xionic said:
went with the M/board as requested (though id recomend a cheaper non-sli board when going with ATI). stuck u some 3200 ram as cant see u needing 4000... X1800XT is bargain atm. snap it up

Xionic has posted a very good spec, for a good price: definitely worthwhile !!!

ajgoodfellow · 2 Mar 2006 at 01:02

Yep - I'd agree with that!

Nice spec!

Delvis · 2 Mar 2006 at 11:08

indeed, thats a nice setup if im to buy it...although i spec'd the wrong mobo originally

Imeant to say the "Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express " rather than the A8N32 one...since im going Ati, and that ati's dont work in crossfire on Sli boards (Duh..) is it worth me looking at an Ati chipset board like a saphire on or something?

Ive been looking at the X1800xt, looks cool to say the least, even if it is end of life :/ ill have to look up some benchies comparing the x1800 n x1900 later...

Ta for the info everybody, very much appreciated!

ajgoodfellow · 2 Mar 2006 at 11:36

Hi!

The current crossfire motherboards have a fair few teething problems. Avoid the ones with the ATI southbridge as this has very poor USB & SATA performance - namely the Sapphire and DFI boards.

The MSI, ABit and ASUS boards all have the ULI southbridge which is far better. Out of these I'd be tempted to go for the ASUS board but a fair few problems have been reported

In all honesty unless you want crossfire in the near future I'd just get an nForce 4 board because these are very stable. The ASUS A8N SLi Premium is a nice board and it's also cheaper than the A8N32 Deluxe. You can run multiple graphics cards in this board, just not in SLI mode

ACESHIGH · 2 Mar 2006 at 11:38

If you want a crossfire mobo, this is the one to get.....
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-131-AS) £146.82 Including VAT

ajgoodfellow · 2 Mar 2006 at 11:41

Oh yeah - I forgot the new board with the RD580 chipset had been released

My comments were about the RD480 boards - the RD580 boards are a lot better

Xionic · 2 Mar 2006 at 11:44

wouldnt recomend xfire unless ** buying both cards straight away.... because most people say il buy on now and another in a month or two..... by the time uve done that a new/better gfx card is out. if your thinking of xfire go with 1x MSI X1900XT @ £340 instead

Delvis · 2 Mar 2006 at 12:40

Nice, nah im probably NEVER going to do Xfire or sli...unless i get given two cards

I didnt know about the xfire boards from saphire etc having problems, i was just merely saying is it worth getting one since ill have an ati card...Not to worry, im quite intent on getting the ASUS A8N SLi Premium now, as i know its a good board, think i know two people who have it....my main problem now i think is deciding what G-card and Cpu to get....

Would it be better to get a X2 4200+ with an x1900xt for example? Or say a x2 4400+ with an x1800xt?

Upgrading at this time seems to be a bit annoying, since theres a hell of a lot to choose from

Xionic · 2 Mar 2006 at 12:43

go for the 4400+ for the extra cache... also go for the X1800XT 512MB which is now just £25 more expensive that the 256MB i spec'd above. if u have the cash get the X1900XT and the 4400+ but a X1800XT will play most games @ full on mid range resolutions

Delvis · 2 Mar 2006 at 12:46

Ace, talking of resoloutions, im only ever going to use 1280x1024, i currently only use 1024x768...So hey

The higher resoloutions doesent bother me

ajgoodfellow · 2 Mar 2006 at 12:47

If you're not interested in XFire or SLI I'd get the ASUS A8N SLi Premium motherboard as it's a nice, stable proven board

The 256MB X1800XT is a bit of a bargain at the moment and it's still a very fast card. The X2 4400+ has the extra cache over the X2 4200+ which gives a fair overall boost in performance and a large boost for cache intensive utilities. You're likely to keep your CPU longer than your grapihcs card (on average) so I'd go for the faster chip.

The X2 4400+ will easily clock to X2 4800+ speeds - it might even make FX60 speeds if you're lucky.

Not wishing to confuse you any more but the Opteron 170 is also worth considering. It's slower than the X2 4400+ at stock (2GHz vs 2.2GHz) but it is an amazing overclocker - they're all reaching 2.6GHz on stock volts or with a slight voltage bump. This makes them an FX60 chip - very, very fast!

This would be the chip I'd go for

EDIT: Just read Xionic's post above. I didn't realise that the 512MB X1800XTs had dropped so much - that's definitely the better option.

I'd go for something like:

GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
£219.95 £219.95
MB-111-AS Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)
£104.95 £104.95
MY-007-GS G.Skill 2GB DDR ZX PC3200 (2x1GB) CAS2 Dual Channel Kit (F1-3200PHU2-2GBZX) (MY-007-GS)
£129.95 £129.95
CP-148-AM AMD Opteron UP 170 Dual Core San Diego 2.0GHz 2MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-148-AM)
£269.95 £269.95
Subtotal £724.80
VAT £126.84
Total £851.64

Delvis · 2 Mar 2006 at 12:50

Ahhh dont worry your not confusing me

Done some overclocking in the apst, but only a VERY little bit, ive heard about the Opteron 165 n 170 chip, and how well they overclock...i just dont like the idea of lessening its life and/or making it burst into flames

i know you say the 4200 has less cache than the 4400...but on other sites...obviously i cant say which

There are some 4200's with the same Cache as the 4400...although id rather buy everything from one place