Is this system any good?

DevilsAdvocate · 18 Jul 2006 at 13:31

Hi all, I just registered on this site and i'm in the process of building a new computer for myself. Its been a while since I have done this and i'm a little out of touch. I had already bought most of the parts, stupid idea I hear you say before, before actually getting some advice on them. So i'd like to know now if I have messed up big time so as I can arrage to return some items if need be. Cheers.

CPU: AMD (Venice) Athlon 64 3500+
Motherboard: Asus A8N-E SKT 939 NFORCE 4 AUDIO LAN PCI-Express ATX
Memory: Kingston 1GB DDR PC3200 400MHz (2 x 512MB)
GPU : Sapphire Radeon X850 XT 256M GDDR3 PCI-E
Heatsink/Fan: Arctic Cooling CPU Cooler with Heat pipe cooling
Hard Drive 1: Maxtor 250GB SATA300 7200rpm 16MB Cache
Hard Drive 2: Western Digital 180GB (IDE)
Hard Drive 3: Western Digital 80GB (IDE)
Optical Drives: NEC ND3550A 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer Internal IDE
Case: Coolermaster Centurion 5 Silver
PSU: Hiper 580W Type-R Modular

hp7909 · 18 Jul 2006 at 13:35

Everything looks compatible

Only thing is how much did you spend? & did you know about Intel Core 2 Duo (A.K.A. Conroe)? Because that's the only way/s you could have 'messed up big time'

fenderbass86 · 18 Jul 2006 at 13:37

Could've got a 3700+ San Diego, a 7600GT instead of an X850XT and an FSP Blue Storm 500W PSU. It's your system though, enjoy it.

DevilsAdvocate · 18 Jul 2006 at 13:40

Have spent about £280 so far and I have, the Motherboard, Heatsink, SATA drive, the memory, and the case! I also got myself a new mouse and keyboard out of that though aswell!

EDIT - and no, i'm not aware of 'conroe'

hp7909 · 18 Jul 2006 at 13:48

DevilsAdvocate said:
{snip}EDIT - and no, i'm not aware of 'conroe'

Do a search to enlighten thyself

Seems, your building on a (tight) budget. What's the system for if you don't mind me asking, i.e. gaming, office work, etc or all of the above :cool:

DevilsAdvocate · 18 Jul 2006 at 13:51

I was looking to use it for gaming and just general use! I play a lot of Counterstrike: Source and my current system can only just run it above 20 fps. I read about some problems with my board and the SATA drive, I've never used SATA drives before, how do I go about installing XP on them? The same way I would on an IDE drive? The drive was OEM so didn't have anything other than the drive itself with it.

And yeah I'm on a pretty tight budget.

hp7909 · 18 Jul 2006 at 14:08

DevilsAdvocate said:
I was looking to use it for gaming and just general use! I play a lot of Counterstrike: Source and my current system can only just run it above 20 fps. I read about some problems with my board and the SATA drive, I've never used SATA drives before, how do I go about installing XP on them? The same way I would on an IDE drive? The drive was OEM so didn't have anything other than the drive itself with it.

And yeah I'm on a pretty tight budget.

SATA drivers come with mobo CD (or you can get them from maker’s website). You need to have them ready on a Floppy, and then hit F6 just after Windows XP installation CD starts-up (normally it quickly shows a message at the bottom of your screen). That said, newer mobos don't need you to have drivers & Windows will just see the SATA drive/s. I say newer, but some mobos, like mine Socket 939 Asus A8V-Deluxe, still needs drivers

If you haven't bought a CPU, you should consider the retail A64 3700+. The price they are going for is a steal. Also since you might not know, AMD have stopped production of Socket 939 chips so this might be the last one's around at that price!

GFX, also if not bought, aim for either a 7600GT or the ATI X1800XT's. Price vs. performance the X1800XT is the business!

DevilsAdvocate · 18 Jul 2006 at 14:12

I've read different stories on whether or not my board will pick up the SATA drive without drivers, some said it did, some said it didn't, so I guess the only way is to try it and see!

As for the CPU, i'll probably go with your suggestion after what has been said, I can't believe i'm already out of date before I've even finished upgrading lol!..

DevilsAdvocate · 18 Jul 2006 at 14:17

Have just had a look at the 939 CPU's, Is it worth spending the extra few quid to get the 4000+ over the 3700? Thanks

hp7909 · 18 Jul 2006 at 16:11

DevilsAdvocate said:
Have just had a look at the 939 CPU's, Is it worth spending the extra few quid to get the 4000+ over the 3700? Thanks

I suspect that's the older (Socket 939) 4000+ ClawHammer & not San Diego like also the 3700+ (see here).

Major difference is that the ClawHammer is manufactured in 130nm process thus consuming more power (TDP) & running hotter. Also doesn't have SSE3 like the newer San Diego's

DevilsAdvocate · 18 Jul 2006 at 16:50

So the 3700 San Diego would be a better choice?

EDIT - Also, I've just noticed things like Athlon x2 Dual core socket 939 CPU's, are the compatiable with the board I have?