Cpuld any please check and correct this spec?

Curious

Curious

Curious

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10 Feb 2006
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Location
Copenhagen Denmark
Could any please check and correct this spec?

I am looking to buy a totally new configuration. It will be used for gaming and I would for once want a computer that is somewhere around the top.

As I don't feel a need to play at resolutions higher than 1280 x 1024 will Crossfire be overkill?
If I go Crossfire, I bet I will need a better PSU.
As for the case I prefere a more or less silent solution.
As I don't plan to overclock and if one card is enough... Maybe the ram is overkill, could I cut on expenses there?
HD's... Raptors look nice... but is it that much of an improvement. I need reliable and not too noisy.
And a question of curiosity... Why is it an XT-X card bundled with the mastercard? I thought than when you ran x-fire you could not utilize the higher speeds of the XT-X and only run XT speeds. And if disabling X-fire you would run on the Mastercard, not the XT-X. To run off the XT-X I would have to put it in the slot where the Mastercard is situated.. am I wrong on that account?


AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ - Retail £182.95

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £60.95

Liteon SHW-16H5S-05C 16x Lightscribe DVD±RW (Black) - OEM £25.95

Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU £65.95

ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X Crossfire Bundle / Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe / Corsair 2GB PC3500LL Pro - Bundle £964.80

Subtotal £1,300.60
VAT £227.61
Total £1,528.21

Looking foreward to your comments and aid in a good spec.



Build as is at the moment.

Well, I am waiting for a check to dump in and I have come to this config. Any comments appreciated.

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache £60.95

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

Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI £294.95

NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) £27.95

Antec SLK3000B Midi Tower Case £29.95

Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU £59.95

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 Dual Channel Platinum Series EL-DDR CAS2 £139.95

NEC MultiSync® LCD20WGX2 20.1" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver £349.95

Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition inc. SP2 - OEM £79.95

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound £5.50

Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire £124.95

Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Fatal1ty FPS Edition £119.95

Logitech Attack 3 Joystick £13.95

Leadtek Winfast DTV1000-T Digital TV Tuner Card £34.95

Subtotal £1,627.85

Shipping (Parcelforce Euro 48) £22.00

VAT £288.73
Total £1,938.58
 
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If you are only going up to 1280 you probably wont see any extra performance from crossfire or the x1900.
I would just go with an x1800xt and something like the DFI lanparty ut nf4 ultra-d mobo and the money saved on gfx card would buy you a faster cpu.
I would also be looking at either a Pioneer or NEC dvd writer,much better quality for only a few pounds more.
 
For that kind of money, you could have:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core FX60 (Socket 939) - Retail (ADAFX60DAA6CDBOX) (CP-146-AM)
£728.44
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-131-AS)
£146.82
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 Dual Channel Platinum Series EL-DDR CAS2 (OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K) (MY-057-OC)
£164.44
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
£258.44
Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD)
£71.62
NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-026-NE)
£32.84
Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-008-TG)
£70.44
Antec SLK3000B Midi Tower Case - No PSU (CA-027-AN)
£35.19

Total inc VAT: £1508.23

That will easily play games at 1280 x 1024. Crossfire is a major waste for such a low resolution. Instead, you can still have one hell of a good card, but with an FX60 :eek:
 
Explicit's spec is what I'd go for, I don't think you need Crossfire, and if you want silence then the noise Raptors make won't be too desireable:).
 
no point in buying 2 x cards yet IMO. make sure you have the ability to "crossfire" in the future and then spend the cash elsewhere.
 
So go with Explicits spec
Except changing the chip to a 2x4400
And go for one 1900 XT-X
That would leave me at roughtly 1250 quid
What could you guys recommend for a display?
 
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NEC MultiSync® LCD20WGX2 20.1" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver (MO-009-NE)
£411.19

Or

Dell Ultrasharp 2005FPW 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Midnight Grey (29082) (MO-000-DE)
£411.19

The NEC has better specs.
 
So does this look alright?

Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM £60.95
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4400+ (Socket 939) - Retail £284.95
Asus A8R32-MVP Deluxe Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard £124.95
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT-X 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £324.95
NEC ND4551 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM £27.95
Antec SLK3000B Midi Tower Case - No PSU £29.95
Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU £59.95
OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC3200 Dual Channel Platinum Series EL-DDR CAS2 £139.95
NEC MultiSync® LCD20WGX2 20.1" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Black/Silver £349.95
Subtotal £1,403.55
VAT £245.63
Total £1,649.18
 
Curious said:
And a question of curiosity... Why is it an XT-X card bundled with the mastercard? I thought than when you ran x-fire you could not utilize the higher speeds of the XT-X and only run XT speeds.
Click to expand...

No this is not correct. Its a common misconception infact.
Unlike SLI, crossfire cards can run at different clockspeeds. Infact a mastercard & X1900XTX will be slightly faster than a mastercard & a X1900XT. The faster card will simply do a bit more work.

That is why pairing a X1900XTX & a mastrercard will give you the most performance & why OcUK sell the crossfire bundles as they do.

See here ... http://www.ati.com/products/crossfire/faq.html

9. What happens when your CrossFire Edition card and and a compatible standard Radeon (CrossFire Ready) graphics card have different clock speeds?

A. Both cards will continue to operate at their individual clock speeds.
 
A question about the RAM....
As I am not overclocking at the moment... will I need buy that ram? Would cheaper ram not suffice? Or is that ram gonna make the difference while playing games? Just asking out of ignorance :)
 
Curious said:
A question about the RAM....
As I am not overclocking at the moment... will I need buy that ram? Would cheaper ram not suffice? Or is that ram gonna make the difference while playing games? Just asking out of ignorance :)
Click to expand...

The OCZ EL PC3200 is not really for overclocking (unless you use a divider). The beauty of them is the tight timings of 2-3-2-5, which is very good for a 2GB kit. AMD systems perform much better with tight memory timings, compared to a value RAM kit that probably has loose timings of 3-4-4-8.
 
Hehe. Well thanks a bunch for the answers and the patience :). That does not really tell me much. But I'll take your word for it. Was just curious :)



Oh. and thanks for the heads up on Crossfire info, ACESHIGH.
 
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