new rig time

hardc0re_tid · 27 Sep 2006 at 14:23

havent been on here in ageeees, surprised how far things have moved on, and its time for a new rig me thinks.

my current setup is getting a bit slow for what i want it to do, PS CS2, newer games, video editing here and there etc.

going to be buying bit by bit

i will need a whole new base unit as i will be keeping my current setup for media playback via tv or to act as a server, not sure what yet.

was thinking of going down the AM2 route. what do you think of the following setup, please tell me if things arent compatable, oh and can i use my current sound card, a PCI SB Audigy 2, with the below motherboard?

MoBo - Asus M2N32-SLi-DLX nForce 590 SLi (Socket AM2) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-142-AS)

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.20GHz (Socket AM2) - Retail (CP-168-AM)

RAM - GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB6400UDC) (MY-057-GL)

HDD - Samsung SpinPoint P HD160JJ 160GB SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-024-SA)

Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music - OEM (SC-043-CL)

Graphics Card - BFG GeForce 7900 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-033-BG)

i am able to get case and psu from local store

hyper_piper45 · 27 Sep 2006 at 14:47

Swap your cpu and mobo for

CP-135-IN Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN)
£107.99 £107.99
MB-061-GI Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-061-GI)
£91.99 £91.99
HS-017-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR)
£17.99 £17.99
Subtotal £217.97
VAT £38.15
Total £256.12

Heatsink is in there so you can overclock that bad boy to unleash its full potential!

Edit: You wanna swap you HDD for a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB ST3200820AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-085-SE) aswell

hardc0re_tid · 27 Sep 2006 at 14:58

hmm... was wanting to stay AMD, never had any bother with them, didnt really want to change to Intel.

forgot to mention, didnt want to overclock either. what do u reckon is my best option.

whats the difference between the Intel and the AMD?

EDIT - just seen that the Intel performs better at gaming than the AMD over at Extreme Tech

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,2014654,00.asp

maybe this is the time to go Intel!

any particular reason for changing the HDD? i dont need anything bigger as i have over 300gb elsewhere

.

hyper_piper45 · 27 Sep 2006 at 15:27

Intel core 2 duo cpu's are the best at the moment bar none.

The e6300's also clock to 3ghz easily, giving you the performance of a £400 cpu for £130! So it is well worth it.

I would swap the HDD because it is the consensus that the seagate 7200.10's are the fastest sata drives out at the moment with the exception of raptors.

Brocon · 27 Sep 2006 at 15:45

At the moment I would definatly go Intel. It is just live everything, these things go in cycles. I have no doubt that AMD will be back on top and then it will filp again, the question, as always, is when

wizardmaxx · 27 Sep 2006 at 15:49

"have no doubt that AMD will be back on top and then it will filp again, the question, as always, is when "

Certainanly look forward to the day, but 2010 is a far way off.

Brocon · 27 Sep 2006 at 15:58

Hey, I never said it would be soon

I just buy whoever is best value for money when an upgrade is due!

hardc0re_tid · 27 Sep 2006 at 15:58

*** NEW SYSTEM SPEC ***

Motherboard - Gigabyte GA_965P_DS3 (Socket 775) PCI-Express DDR2 Motherboard (MB-061-GI)

Processor - Intel Core 2 DUO E6300 "LGA775 Allendale" 1.86GHz (1066FSB) - OEM (CP-135-IN)

HSF - Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 775) (HS-017-AR)

RAM - GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC6400 800MHz Ultra Low Latency DDR2 Dual Channel Kit (GX21GB6400UDC) (MY-057-GL)

HDD - Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 200GB ST3200820AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-085-SE)

Sound Card - Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music - OEM (SC-043-CL)

Graphics Card - BFG GeForce 7900 GS OC 256MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-033-BG)

All for £675 exc. P&P

Is the RAM compatable with my Mobo and is it the best combined with my CPU, FSB wise, eg will i get the most from my cpu, the RAM holding it back or visa versa?

Can i use my current Sound Card - SB Audigy 2 PCi, with the mobo in question?

Is it possible to upgrade to the DS4 mobo and still keep the rest of the suggested setup the same

.

hardc0re_tid · 27 Sep 2006 at 20:06

bumpage

sorry, but i want to start buying lol

Participant · 27 Sep 2006 at 20:27

Sounds like a really good spec mate. The memory yes is perfectly compatible with the motherboard, only thing I'd say is that you don't necessarily need 6400 RAM but on the other hand it'll leave you a nice upgrade path in a year if you decide to upgrade to a 6600 or a 6800, and stick another gig of RAM in. Personally I'd prefer 2Gb of even PC4200 to 1Gb of 6400 given the requirements of modern games.

hardc0re_tid · 27 Sep 2006 at 20:36

with the RAM question out of the road i have 2 more questions:

Can i use my current Sound Card - SB Audigy 2 PCi, with the mobo in question?

Is it possible to upgrade to the DS4 mobo and still keep the rest of the suggested setup the same or is their not much point if im not going to use 2 graphics cards?

Topgun · 27 Sep 2006 at 21:17

hardc0re_tid said:
with the RAM question out of the road i have 2 more questions:

Can i use my current Sound Card - SB Audigy 2 PCi, with the mobo in question?

Is it possible to upgrade to the DS4 mobo and still keep the rest of the suggested setup the same or is their not much point if im not going to use 2 graphics cards?

The Audigy 2 will work just fine. If you are not planning to SLI, I would avoid the DS4. It offers no significant benefit unless you have IDE drives and according to what I have read, it has worse overclocking potential.

hardc0re_tid · 28 Sep 2006 at 10:48

Topgun said:
The Audigy 2 will work just fine. If you are not planning to SLI, I would avoid the DS4. It offers no significant benefit unless you have IDE drives and according to what I have read, it has worse overclocking potential.

excellent, thats more money for a better spec GPU then! any recomendations for £200?

ill stick with the DS3 then!

hyper_piper45 · 28 Sep 2006 at 10:50

hardc0re_tid said:
excellent, thats more money for a better spec GPU then! any recomendations for £200?

ill stick with the DS3 then!

If you could stretch a little bit get the Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (3056) (GX-047-CO) for £234.99

wizardmaxx · 28 Sep 2006 at 10:53

Topgun said:
The Audigy 2 will work just fine. If you are not planning to SLI, I would avoid the DS4. It offers no significant benefit unless you have IDE drives and according to what I have read, it has worse overclocking potential.

DS4 not meant 4 sli in the first place. What exactly is the benefit for ide ?
And benefits would include heatpipe cooling and better powersupply for cpu.

hardc0re_tid · 28 Sep 2006 at 11:03

hiper_piper45 said:
If you could stretch a little bit get the Connect3D ATI Radeon X1900 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (3056) (GX-047-CO) for £234.99

not sure if i could stretch that far, im sure ill run into problems and have to spend money elsewhere, what about an nVidia 7950GT?

BFG GeForce 7950 GT OC 512MB GDDR3 HDTV/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-034-BG)

wizardmaxx said:
And benefits would include heatpipe cooling and better powersupply for cpu.

what do you mean better powersupply, getting a brand name rather than a cheap one that comes with a case?

wizardmaxx · 28 Sep 2006 at 11:12

AFAIK, please correct if im wrong

the ds3 has a three phase power supply to the cpu (The mosfets, caps, etc around the socket)

the ds4 has six phase

the dq6 has twelve phase

hardc0re_tid · 28 Sep 2006 at 11:38

hiper_piper45, if i go for the same setup as you, mobo and cpu wise how hard would it be to overclock to the same speeds as you? is it just simply changing settings in the bios to the same as yours or would there be more to it?

if i am not going to overclock would the ds4 be the better mobo for me to go for seing as it is newer?

wizardmaxx, you said that the ds4 isnt sli compatable, im not saying you are wrong but it features dual PCIE graphics interface.

i have also seen the

Asus P5N32-SLi SE Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16 (Socket 775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-174-AS)

would the asus be any good if i wanted to go for dual GPU

wizardmaxx · 28 Sep 2006 at 11:42

The DS4 was designed for single pci-e and if u wanted multi monitor (more than 2) the second was for that purpose at x4, However speed diff on x1900gt between x4 and x16 afaik is around 15%.

hardc0re_tid · 28 Sep 2006 at 11:43

if i wanted to go for dual graphics ard would the Asus P5N32-SLi SE Deluxe nForce4 SLi X16 (Socket 775) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-174-AS) be any good?