Cpu Q for new rig

[Delvis]

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.

 

[Delvis]

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.

 

[Delvis]

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.

 

[Delvis]

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?

 

[Delvis]

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!

 

[Delvis]

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

 

[Delvis]

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

 

[Delvis]

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

 

[Delvis]

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

True true...Tis a nice setup, although you'd buy that opteron because you want to overclock it , with the X2 4400 on there its like £863 i think it said...

Also guys (sorry to keep hassling ya!) the memory kit from corsair "Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)" is the same price as the Gskill memory, would you still rather buy the Gskill or??? My corsair memory currently has given me no trouble at all, so its just another idea

 

[Delvis]

if you read my spec ul notice i recomended against it. but it was his request

EDIT: though just depends, take DFI for example...there has been a lot of reports about the crossfire boards been poor for clockers. so a lot have gone with SLI even though there using a ATI card. makes no difference at the end of the day if hes not planning on using xfire/SLI.

I know what you mean dude, i dont see any point in getting an sli board or crossfire if im not gona use it....But ive just heard its an all round good board...Well how about a non sli board then? any recommendations?

 

[Delvis]

yea thats one thing i do hate about boards these days...The noisey northbridge fans :/...thats why the heatsink n pipe on the asus sli board is good too...Hmz

 

[Delvis]

Rite, think im pretty much set on geting the following:

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

CP-127-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA4400CDBOX) (CP-127-AM)
£284.95 £284.95

MY-079-CS Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 (MY-079-CS)
£124.95 £124.95

MB-111-AS Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-111-AS)
£104.95 £104.95

Total Inc VAT = £863.39

I think the x1800xt will tie me over for a fair while, well hopefully, i dont inted to upgrade for a few years after this in all fairness...

Gona have to look at my bank now and direct debits going from it