Going OTT now?

phill9800

phill9800

phill9800

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Joined
14 Dec 2004
Posts
939
Location
Bridgwater, Somerset
Since thinking I'd be building a basic PC for my mate and his wife, I have since learnt they hardly use their current PC so I get the feeling it would be nice but pointless in me getting all that hardware and giving it too them..

So....
Here's my updated list:

HIS ATI Radeon X1900 XT Iceq 3 Silent (figured it could overclock to XT-X speeds... if not, darn fast enough anyways!!)
Pioneer DVR 111Bk
Logiech Cordless optical desktop
DFI LanParty UT Ultra D
AMD X2 3800 or should I go for the 4400?
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro cooler
Samsung SM-913N 19" LCD Monitor
OC Z 2Gb (1x2Gb) PC3200 Platinum memory
Maxtor 300Gig SATA-2 16mb drive

Now is there anything wrong this the above system? If so, what would you change?
Am I better to get the 2Gb memory or 2x1Gb packs?
I have also been reading about this Ninja heatsink/fan combo. Would I need it since I'm buying the CPU as a retail item or is the retail heatsink/fan fairly decent? Wouldnt mind trying to overclock the 3800 or 4400 (depending on which one I get) but wasnt sure of 'limits' I guess...

Anyways, please, pick away if there's things you'd change :)
 
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i would swap the dvd drive for an NEC. they seem to be the best loved by most people here and wont snarl at some disxcs liek others do :P

also id be a bit wary about maxator hard discs. may be able to get soemthing a lot more reliable for a few extra quid.

the retail AMD will come with a HSF.
but you could replace it with an arctic freezer 64

**EDIT**
and a case:P
 
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I have the following:

XP Pro + Service Pack 1A (that's all I install)
OC Z 520W PSU
Coolermaster Stacker 810
Lite-On DVD
Lite-On CD-RW
OC Z 1Gb PC3200 (thinking about it going to my Fiance's machine and taking out the Geil Value PC3200 stuff)
Maxtor 200Gb SATA (Storage)
Raptor 74Gb SATA (Windows and Games)

One question I do have is about the hard drive....
Would I be better off getting a small IDE for Windows and then having the Raptor just for games? I've never had any problems with a Maxtor hard drive... That's why I buy them!
Which is a better CPU to get as well? Cost isnt too much of a problem...
With regards to the HSF, I was looking into a Thermalright or a Zalman... Looking at noise and not wanting it to be really noisy, but not silent either... Any thoughts?
 
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phill9800 said:
Sounds about right... I've got it partitioned that way at the moment as my Fiance is using it...

Many thanks SiriusB
Click to expand...

No probs

Couple of other points - stick with the Pioneer DVD rewriter. Damned good at what they do and at a good price.

Regardless of which CPU you go for, I recommend you get the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro cooler. Even if you do overclock the 64 Pro should keep your processor cooler than a snowmans frosty bits!

SiriusB
 
With the memory, would the 2Gb be a better option or should I stick with the 1Gb that I already have?
I'd love the 4400+ as its 2.2GHz and has a 1Mb cache on each core... The CPU cooler sounds really good, I'll add that to the list!! :D ;)
Would that HIS card be overclockable to XT-X speeds with ease?
 
I would definately go for 2GB of RAM. You might not see the need for it just yet but if you're planning on dual core and an X1900 then it would be criminal NOT to have 2GB RAM lol :D

Just make sure you get a Dual Channel kit [ie 2x1GB] for best performance.

I recently read a huge graphics card comparison in CustomPC and there isnt a lot of difference between the X1900 XT and XTX. Im pretty sure you can overclock an XT to XTX speeds but I dont know how easy/hard it is or what amount of extra cooling [if any] that you will need.

If anyone has the answer it would be appreciated as I am ordering an x1900XT very very soon :D

SiriusB
 
I was looking at the OC Z Platinum 2Gb pack as I have had the 1Gb for over a year now and its fantasic :) It overclocks really well and I'm more than happy with it :)

The difference is 25Mhz on the core and I think about 100Mhz on the memory... I reckon I can manage that!! ;) Hope so!! Will save me £50 doing it that way!!

Many thanks for the help and advice SiriusB :)
 
Well lemme know how that goes :D

I have already stretched my PC budget to the max so if I can avoid paying extra for an XTX all the better :D

I am personally going for a X2 4400+ with 2GB RAM :)

SiriusB
 
What is wrong with Maxtor hard drives? Over the last 5 years, I've never had one fail on me!! :confused:

I can afford either CPU, but which one (more importantly) is better to buy? Overclocking or not?

I like the Pioneer drives, never complained with anything I have ever put in it.. Nice bit of kit :)
 
phill9800 said:
What is wrong with Maxtor hard drives? Over the last 5 years, I've never had one fail on me!! :confused:

I can afford either CPU, but which one (more importantly) is better to buy? Overclocking or not?

I like the Pioneer drives, never complained with anything I have ever put in it.. Nice bit of kit :)
Click to expand...

Lots of people have though.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/poll.php?do=showresults&pollid=449 and view results.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17566863

Topic on it.


Posting this, I am using a maxtor 60gb ide drive thats been in this pc since '00 and has had countless crashes on :p Never reformatted, although a replacement install of WinXP has been put over the top of ME :p
 
Personally I've never had a Maxtor hard drive fail on me. Only when I do mess about and overclock things too much do they ever seem to give me any problems, but nothing so major that a re-boot wouldnt fix.

I keep buying them as they are great value and work well :) Personally I've no problems with them. My first drive that died on me was a Western Digital and that failed within 7 months from new!! Had Maxtor's ever since!

I guess I have been lucky then!
 
My Maxtor went into the light just 6 months after getting it. It was mainly a storage drive for my music so it wasn't exactly under high load with at most one application accessing it at any one time.

Still RMAing it tho when my credit card comes through [need it for Advanced RMA... i err.. misplaced the original packaging :D]

SiriusB
 
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