Hows this spec?

[Mortah]

I recently asked about a new machine I'm going to buy but have since decided to spend a little less than first thought. I still want dual core (I'm a programmer and I want to play with them ) but have downsized a bit on the rest... What do people think of the following for just over 800 quid.

Athlon X2 3800+
Sapphire X1600 Pro 512MB DDR2
G.Skill 2GB Zx
Zalman Aero Flower
Zalman Silent HDD cooler
Zalman VF900
Samsung Spinpoint P 250GB
Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire
Thermaltake PurePower TWV 500W ATX2.0 Modular PSU
Asaka Eclipse case
Akasa 120mm Fan

This is a complete new machine (have monitor, keyboard and mouse though).
Still wanting it to be nice and quiet too

 

[m3csl2004]

go for am2 mate - also, ditch that x1600, go for the x800xl (remember youll need ddr2 for am2)

gimmie a bit of time ill knock you something up

 

[Explicit]

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£190.29
Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£64.57
GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£135.07
Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO)
£170.32
Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (0A31636) (HD-002-HI)
£62.22
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£17.57
Tagan TG430-U15 430W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-007-TG)
£55.17
Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)
£57.52

Total inc VAT: £752.73

£50 left to upgrade whatever you like. Please please please do not buy the X1600. I'll pay you not to buy it!

 

[hp7909]

Sapphire X1600 Pro 512MB DDR2

Look at the NVIDIA 7600GS, should be a better performer than that and is passively cooled (saving you from buying Zalman VF900);

Samsung Spinpoint P 250GB

Samsung's are generally considered quiet. Why not try it out first before getting the Zalman Silent HDD cooler;

Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire

Better cheaper mobo's out their & i think this is the buggy one ;

Thermaltake PurePower TWV 500W ATX2.0 Modular PSU

& Don't know much about this PSU. I'd recommend (& so would most people) FSP (Sparkle) , Seasonic, Enermax and or Tagan because their reliability is known.

 

[Mortah]

Can't see much point in going for AM2 as it's more money for not much difference... Also, I'll probably get another completely new rig in about a years time so I'm not overly fussed about future compatibility

Whats so bad about the X1600? I can't see much point in spending nearly two hundred smackers on a gfx card right now as I'm not really too fussed about all the latest best effects tbh

 

[kmistry]

the x1800xt will last you way longer than the x1600xt, and even if you're not bothered about the latest and greatest effects, its nice to know that you can do it imo

 

[m3csl2004]

MB-070-MS MSI K9N Platinum nForce 570 (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-070-MS) 1
£74.95 £74.95
GX-044-CO Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-044-CO) 1
£144.95 £144.95
CP-166-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ 2.00GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-166-AM) 1
£184.95 £184.95
MY-003-PA Patriot Low Latency 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (PDC22G5300LLK) (MY-003-PA) 1
£139.95 £139.95
HD-018-SA Samsung SpinPoint P SP2504C 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-018-SA) 1
£45.95 £45.95
CD-035-NE NEC ND3550 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-035-NE) 1
£19.95 £19.95
CA-023-EN Enermax Noisetaker 535W EG565AX-VE(W) SFMA ATX2.0 SLI Compliant PSU (CA-023-EN) 1
£54.95 £54.95
CA-005-AK Akasa Eclipse-62 Aluminum Case (CA-005-AK) 1
£69.95 £69.95
Subtotal £735.60
VAT £128.73
Total £864.33

over, but youve got the case you want with a cracking psu, and am2 with decent ram, good psu, and a nice shiney board

 

[BigDom]

Better cheaper mobo's out their & i think this is the buggy one ;

NOPE!!!

The one with 32 in the name is the one that had a troubled start although I suspect that that has been fixed by now.

the A8R-MVP is a VERY nice board, excellent sound and runs X2 processors very very nicely (better than nforce 4 which does sometimes have problems with them).

 

[Mortah]

Look at the NVIDIA 7600GS, should be a better performer than that and is passively cooled (saving you from buying Zalman VF900);

Samsung's are generally considered quiet. Why not try it out first before getting the Zalman Silent HDD cooler;

1. What's everyone elses opinion on this NVIDIA card? I think I might break my habbit and go for NVIDIA if it's a better performer

2. Postage mainly... If I decide I want one then I have to pay a lot more for it due to postage, plus if I realise its not necessary I've got another machine that would hug it quite happily

 

[Mortah]

CA-023-EN Enermax Noisetaker 535W EG565AX-VE(W) SFMA ATX2.0 SLI Compliant PSU (CA-023-EN) 1
£54.95 £54.95

How noisy is this? Can't find anywhere that says how loud it is... would have thought single big fan quieter than two smaller ones...

 

[Mortah]

*bump*

 

[Monstermunch]

I recently asked about a new machine I'm going to buy but have since decided to spend a little less than first thought. I still want dual core (I'm a programmer and I want to play with them ) but have downsized a bit on the rest... What do people think of the following for just over 800 quid.

Athlon X2 3800+
Sapphire X1600 Pro 512MB DDR2
G.Skill 2GB Zx
Zalman Aero Flower
Zalman Silent HDD cooler
Zalman VF900
Samsung Spinpoint P 250GB
Asus A8R-MVP Crossfire
Thermaltake PurePower TWV 500W ATX2.0 Modular PSU
Asaka Eclipse case
Akasa 120mm Fan

This is a complete new machine (have monitor, keyboard and mouse though).
Still wanting it to be nice and quiet too

Look at this another way, by ditching the stuff you really don't need in favour of better performing components look at what you could get:

CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£161.95 £161.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£14.95 £14.95
MB-000-BG BFG RNF4U nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-000-BG)
£59.95 £59.95
MY-006-MK Mushkin 2GB DDR EM3200 Enhanced Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) CAS3 (991461) (MY-006-MK)
£109.95 £109.95
GX-103-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-103-SP)
£189.95 £189.95
HD-002-HI Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 NCQ 250GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (0A31636) (HD-002-HI)
£52.95 £52.95
CD-033-NE NEC ND4571 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer LabelFlash ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-033-NE)
£24.95 £24.95
CA-040-AN Antec Sonata II Piano Black Quiet Case - 450W Smart Power PSU (CA-040-AN)
£56.95 £56.95
Subtotal £671.60
VAT £117.53
Total £789.13


And it's under your budget!

 

[hp7909]

NOPE!!!

The one with 32 in the name is the one that had a troubled start although I suspect that that has been fixed by now.

the A8R-MVP is a VERY nice board, excellent sound and runs X2 processors very very nicely (better than nforce 4 which does sometimes have problems with them).

1. What's everyone elses opinion on this NVIDIA card? I think I might break my habbit and go for NVIDIA if it's a better performer
{snip}

XFX 7600 GS PCIe Video Card Review (keep in mind that its passively cooled)

EDIT: XFX GeForce 7600 GS 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (PVT73P-UDL3) (GX-080-XF) £88.07 incl. VAT

 

[Mortah]

I like the look of that NVidia card I quite simply can't see any point in spending the extra money on a better graphics card... I'd rather spend the spare money on a better case, quieter bits etc (Having it quiet is one thing I wanted too).

Nice suggestion with the Hitachi hard drive... think I'll spend an extra tenner for it as it looks to be a better performer

What would be the difference between that Mushkin RAM and the stuff I initially put down? I figured the CAS2 stuff would be faster...

 

[Mortah]

I also like the look of the Antec case...
But how do the rubber grommits on the HDD trays help noisewise? Would have thought the best way to reduce noise is between where the hard drive connects to the case...

Also, I like removeable motherboard trays and I quite dislike doors... Can anyone recommend a similar case which has these? Or does it become a lot noiser when there isn't a door?

 

[Mortah]

Bump