Final spec check before it's ordered

[Dynix]

Hi there,

Could someone just run over this list quickly and check everything will be fine to use together incase I've missed something, would appreciate it

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 90nm (Socket 939) (Retail) (CP-119-AM)
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-014-DF)
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (MY-005-GL)
PowerColor ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) (Retail) (GX-037-PC)
Hiper HPU-4B580 Type R 580W Modular ATX2.2 PSU - Blue (CA-006-HP)

Parts of my old system will be added to this lot which includes 2 x 200GB HDD's (IDE), 2 x DVD-RWs/CD-RWs, 120mm/80mm case fan as well as the 2 x 512MB I already got in here (exact same type of ram, guessing there wouldn't be much of a performance decrease using 4 ram slots?).

Cheers!

Matt

 

[Monstermunch]

as well as the 2 x 512MB I already got in here (exact same type of ram, guessing there wouldn't be much of a performance decrease using 4 ram slots?).

Yes it would, sell the other 2 x 512mb and buy 1 x 2gb (2x1gb Dual Channel Kit) once you use more than 2 slots with an AMD setup the ram reverts to generic and ceases to be dual channel

 

[UOcUK Poopscoop]

Apart from a slight price increase have you any strong reason not to go for the SD3700 particularly if you are overclocking?

 

[Dynix]

Yes it would, sell the other 2 x 512mb and buy 1 x 2gb (2x1gb Dual Channel Kit) once you use more than 2 slots with an AMD setup the ram reverts to generic and ceases to be dual channel

What would be the (average?) performance decrease going from dual to genetic? In all honesty, I didn't really notice a difference from going genetic to dual?

Apart from a slight price increase have you any strong reason not to go for the SD3700 particularly if you are overclocking?

No particular reason. Never been into overclocking so that wouldn't be the case, and the 3500+ is what I had originally planned so didn't even think to look at the prices of the 3700+

 

[UOcUK Poopscoop]

No particular reason. Never been into overclocking so that wouldn't be the case, and the 3500+ is what I had originally planned so didn't even think to look at the prices of the 3700+

Bit of a Ninja mobo to go for if not clocking, hence why I suggested the 3700.

 

[Explicit]

For £20 more, you can have 2gb ram, and a 3700+

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3700BNBOX) (CP-121-AM)
£152.69
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£72.79
OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-006-OK)
£105.69
PowerColor ATI Radeon X850 XT 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-037-PC)
£146.82
Tagan TG430-U15 430W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-007-TG)
£55.17

Total inc VAT £533.16

Just something to consider
But your spec looks solid too (just remember that the x800/x850 series don't support shader model 3.0, whereas something in the same class such as the XFX GeForce 6800 GS Extreme XXX Edition 256MB (GX-056-XF) does)

 

[Monstermunch]

What would be the (average?) performance decrease going from dual to genetic? In all honesty, I didn't really notice a difference from going genetic to dual?

There is quite a large difference. With your current pair, were they bought as a dual channel kit or just 2 lots of the same ram? If they weren't a proper kit they probably won't be working as a kit.

Obviously 4 x 512mb is better than 1gb dual channel, but nowhere near as good as 2gb dual channel. The general rule is the more ram the better, but dual channel is one step higher than that.

My advice would be to sell your current pair and buy 2gb d/chan kit, the money you get back from your old pair + your new money will probably only leave you £30 short at the most, but a worthwhile investment IMO

 

[Explicit]

Forgot to say...you can still overclock with the asus board (Precision Tweaker), and the latest batch of 3700s are good clockers

 

[Dynix]

Taken all on board and liking the idea of the list put together by Explicit.

Quick question: Would it be worthwhile getting the XFX GeForce 6800 GS Extreme XXX over the x850 XT? Also, is the Tagan PSU considered to be reliable / good? I don't want to go spend £500+ on new parts then next week the PSU kills all

(As a note, I'm on a budget of about £550, so small price changes as suggested are nothing of a worry really)

Cheers for the feedback, highly appreciate it

Matt

 

[Explicit]

Taken all on board and liking the idea of the list put together by Explicit.

Quick question: Would it be worthwhile getting the XFX GeForce 6800 GS Extreme XXX over the x850 XT? Also, is the Tagan PSU considered to be reliable / good? I don't want to go spend £500+ on new parts then next week the PSU kills all

(As a note, I'm on a budget of about £550, so small price changes as suggested are nothing of a worry really)

Cheers for the feedback, highly appreciate it

Matt

If I had the choice, I would choose the 6800GS XXX over the X850XT. The X850XT has a slightly faster core speed, but the 6800GS can be overclocked. The memory speed on the 6800GS is faster than the X850XT. The difference is support for Shader Model 3.0 with the 6800GS XXX. Given that DX10 is just around the corner, you'd feel left behind without SM3.0 support on an X850XT, let alone the new SM4.0.

As far as PSUs are concerned, Tagans are the power supplies used by OcUK in their pre-built systems, and are a very good quality (better than Hiper in my opinion).

 

[Dynix]

If I had the choice, I would choose the 6800GS XXX over the X850XT. The X850XT has a slightly faster core speed, but the 6800GS can be overclocked. The memory speed on the 6800GS is faster than the X850XT. The difference is support for Shader Model 3.0 with the 6800GS XXX. Given that DX10 is just around the corner, you'd feel left behind without SM3.0 support on an X850XT, let alone the new SM4.0.

As far as PSUs are concerned, Tagans are the power supplies used by OcUK in their pre-built systems, and are a very good quality (better than Hiper in my opinion).

Thanks for the comments

Edited my original final spec to the following:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-121-AM)
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
XFX GeForce 6800 GS Extreme XXX Edition 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-056-XF)
OcUK Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 184pin DDR Memory Dual Channel Kit (MY-006-OK)
Tagan TG430-U15 430W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-007-TG)

Looking very much forward to getting this setup tomorrow providing nothing gets out of stock before I get it

..and hopefully I can finally play some games with a much more respectable FPS than I'm currently getting with my 9800SE AIW

Once again, appreciate the feedback very much so thanks

Matt

 

[Explicit]

No worries mate!

One last thing, some arctic silver 5 is always worth buying, roughly £6

 

[Dynix]

No worries mate!

One last thing, some arctic silver 5 is always worth buying, roughly £6

Found mine out the other day from my old CPU purchase last year when my CPU decided to idle at 96c

Ta for the reminder

Matt