High-Spec Dev / Gaming Machine - Opinions

[arty]

It's about time for an upgrade, and I'd appreciate all / any thoughts on the spec I've been eyeing up. The machine will be used for fairly advanced .net dev work, a spot of web design and a fair amount of gaming, as well as general 'office' use.

• NEC LCD20WGX2
• Logitech diNovo Media Desktop Laser keyboard and Mouse Set
• Silverstone Temjin TJ07 - Black
• OcUK GeForce 7900 GTX 512MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI
• Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX nForce 590 SLi (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2
• AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.40GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail
• Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU
• OCZ Platinum PC2-6400 EL XTC 2048MB Kit, DDR2, 240 Pin, 800Mhz (4-5-4-15)
• Zalman VF900-CU Quiet Copper VGA

I already have a couple of HDDs and a Pioneer DVDRW to put in this new machine, as well as a posh soundcard, so those aren't needed. I'll basically consider everything up to about £2000 (the above is ~£1800) as this will be used for freelance work and I'll make the cost back fairly quickly.

One concern I have is the total lack of AM2 HSFs around at the moment. I'd ideally like a good Thermalright one, having had good experience with those in the past, but none seem to be available. Does anyone have any idea what is appearing and when on this front?

Thanks as always

arty

 

[arty]

Bit of a bump - any feedback, even 'that's all good' is appreciated. Would be helpful if I could have it this weekend as I'm hoping to put it together before I go away on 9th June

arty

 

[Nazbit]

"Thats all good" ....no really

I know what you mean about the heatsinks though, I have known this happen before, I had to just buy the best one that was available at the time and update later.

There does seem to be a bit of a lag time with them.

 

[semi-pro waster]

I'm afraid I can't help much more than to say that all looks pretty decent, if the AM2 versions are anything like the socket 939 ones(and they should be given they are pretty much just ported across) the 4400 will offer better value and can be overclocked as far. Although I don't know if overclocking is likely to be on your agenda.

I don't know about new heatsink and fan combos but I'd guess that within the next month or probably even less you will find a few suitable starting to come out. Some of the socket 940 versions may already.

 

[arty]

I'm afraid I can't help much more than to say that all looks pretty decent, if the AM2 versions are anything like the socket 939 ones(and they should be given they are pretty much just ported across) the 4400 will offer better value and can be overclocked as far. Although I don't know if overclocking is likely to be on your agenda.

Ah, probably should have specified - I need a quiet system, so overclocking is more or less out of the question as I'd like it to be as quiet as possible. I was considering the 4400 but I'm not sure how much of a performance leap it'll be over my 3GHz P4, and also the odd multiplier / RAM thing puts me off a bit.

I don't know about new heatsink and fan combos but I'd guess that within the next month or probably even less you will find a few suitable starting to come out. Some of the socket 940 versions may already.

Yeah, I may order the main components this weekend then, when coolers are more readily available, put in a second order with one of those and undoubtedly a few other bits and pieces in. Computing is expensive, but so fun

Thanks guys

arty

 

[Explicit]

[*]AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4600+ 2.40GHz (Socket AM2)

Drop down to the 4400+ as it has a larger 1MB cache compared to the 4600+ which only has 512KB. You can always gain that extra 200Mhz with a very mild overclock, but you can never add more cache.

One concern I have is the total lack of AM2 HSFs around at the moment. I'd ideally like a good Thermalright one, having had good experience with those in the past, but none seem to be available. Does anyone have any idea what is appearing and when on this front?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Zalman_121.html
Second one down

 

[arty]

Drop down to the 4400+ as it has a larger 1MB cache compared to the 4600+ which only has 512KB. You can always gain that extra 200Mhz with a very mild overclock, but you can never add more cache.

Hmm, that's quite a good point, though I was under the (possibly mistaken) impression that cache was less of a contributor to performance overall than clock speed. As this saves me money I will consider it though

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Zalman_121.html
Second one down

That's not in stock yet though - and I'm not sure about that green fan If they appear pretty soon I might pick one up.

arty