PC Upgrade... what do you think of my spec?

DeathByMonkey · 10 Mar 2006 at 15:04

Hello people of OCUK!

I'm upgrading my fairly outdated setup (athlon xp 1800+, abit nf7-s and sapphire radeon 9600xt) and so far i've got this stuff specced out, though i'm not 100% on it so any constructive comments would help me... cheers:

CPU: AMD Opteron UP 146 San Diego 2.0GHz 1MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail £163
(should overclock nicely - but should i go for an opteron 165 dual core jobby for aboot £60 extra??)

MOBO: Epox EP-9NPAJ SLi nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-050-EP) £76 (don't want to spend loads on a motherboard, deffo not over £100 - are there any others i should consider?)

GFX: Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £235 (bear in mind I dont want to spend much more than £230 on a graphics card)

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler £15 (seems good stuff to me)

TOTAL: £489

I've got about £500 to play with, but I don't really want to go over. I'm not too fussed about SLI or crossfire and don't think i will be in the near future either. I've already got good other components so all i need is the 4 things above.

Thanks again,

DeathByMonkey

ACESHIGH · 10 Mar 2006 at 15:24

DeathByMonkey said:
Hello people of OCUK!

I'm upgrading my fairly outdated setup (athlon xp 1800+, abit nf7-s and sapphire radeon 9600xt) and so far i've got this stuff specced out, though i'm not 100% on it so any constructive comments would help me... cheers:

CPU: AMD Opteron UP 146 San Diego 2.0GHz 1MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail £163
(should overclock nicely - but should i go for an opteron 165 dual core jobby for aboot £60 extra??)

Yes, go for the Opteron 165, these are very good overclockers too & dual core is the way to go now!

DeathByMonkey said:
MOBO: Epox EP-9NPAJ SLi nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-050-EP) £76 (don't want to spend loads on a motherboard, deffo not over £100 - are there any others i should consider?)

Abit AT8 ATI RD480 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-091-AB) £88.07 Including VAT

DeathByMonkey said:
GFX: Connect3D ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £235 (bear in mind I dont want to spend much more than £230 on a graphics card)

Great card, best bang per buck at present. Beats the 7900GT & 7800 GTX. Though the Sapphire card is bit cheaper still, but you have to wait a few days.

DeathByMonkey said:
CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler £15 (seems good stuff to me)

Yes this is a great cooler.

DeathByMonkey said:
TOTAL: £489

I've got about £500 to play with, but I don't really want to go over. I'm not too fussed about SLI or crossfire and don't think i will be in the near future either. I've already got good other components so all i need is the 4 things above.

Thanks again,

DeathByMonkey

semi-pro waster · 10 Mar 2006 at 15:27

Ok it will be a nice system as it stands and should clock well, a couple of ideas here though.

Dual core is worth it particularly if you will be multi-tasking or if you want to 'future-proof' of sorts. You could consider the X2 3800 as it is inbetween the 146 and 165 price wise, it has 512kb cache though but they do seem to be overclocking pretty well.

You could take a look at the Asus Nforce4 ultra motherboard at ~£72 because OcUK seem to have stopped stocking the Epox.

I can't think of a better graphics card in the price range so I'd go with that one.

Bennah · 10 Mar 2006 at 15:38

Good overall choice for starters.

I'd stay with the Opteron 146, good choice. Would'nt go DC yet, as games and apps dont really benefit from it.

I would also go with an DFI NF4 Ultra-D board. Even if your not into overclocking, you can still overclock a little with ease. The Opty is ideal for this too.

The GPU is a good choice for the money. Great value. What res do you plan to play games at though? Over 1024x768, you would want the 512MB version to yeild better performance.

The CPU cooler is fine by me.

My recommendation would be:

DFI NF4 Ultra-D - £93.94
Opty 146 Retail - £163.27
X1800 XT 256MB / 512MB - £217.35 / £252.37
AC Freezer 64 Pro - £15.22

Total. £489.73 (256MB card) or £524.80 (512MB card)

I'd shell out the little extra for the 512MB as then you got the option, if you upgrade to a LCD / CRT with high res's.

DeathByMonkey · 10 Mar 2006 at 16:06

Hey guys thanks for all your help. I considered the Opty 165 but having just toted up the total price including delivery (its £100 more than the 146 not £60 - somehow I cannot add up lol), we are talking more like £600 than £500 :eek:

So I think it's out of the question.

However I am tempted by the 512mb graphics card option as I'll definitely be going 19" LCD in the next few months. I think I can stretch to £524.

As for motherboard, I've thrown epox out of the window as I can't be bothered to order from more than one supplier and pay multiple delivery costs

So it's between:

Abit AT8 ATI RD480 Crossfire (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-091-AB) £88.07 Including VAT

DFI NF4 Ultra-D - £93.94

or the

Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS) £72.79

I dont know why but I'm not too keen on the Asus, and the abit board is both crossfire (getting an 1800xt remember, even though I said I didnt care about crossfire... maybe now i am lol) and cheaper than the DFI by a fiver. So I'm leaning towards the Abit, especially as I love my current NF7-s and it's never caused any problems. Anyone got any experience/opinions of this board, especially for overclocking the opteron?

ATM its lookin like this:

Abit AT8 ATI RD480 Crossfire - £88
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro - £15
AMD Opteron UP 146 - £163
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB - £252

TOTAL (incl delivery) = £529.64

Bennah · 10 Mar 2006 at 16:09

Wouldnt get the Crossfire mobo, if your not going to uprgade to Crossfire in the future. The DFI would get better overclocking results.

Definatly worth a shout, getting the 512MB X1800 XT card. With a 19" LCD, you would be running 1280x1024 most probs, so the 512MB would perform better than the 256MB card.

DeathByMonkey · 10 Mar 2006 at 16:13

Bennah said:
Wouldnt get the Crossfire mobo, if your not going to uprgade to Crossfire in the future. The DFI would get better overclocking results.

Definatly worth a shout, getting the 512MB X1800 XT card. With a 19" LCD, you would be running 1280x1024 most probs, so the 512MB would perform better than the 256MB card.

Hmm ok. I must admit I've heard good things about DFI mobos and they look nice fo sho'

lol.

Total is £535.51 now. Any more for any more?

DeathByMonkey

InQ · 10 Mar 2006 at 23:14

What about:-

Abit KN8 SLi nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AB)

£88 inc VAT.

My brother has just got one for his Opty 146 setup, seems like a nice board but he's only just building atm so hasnt had chance to clock his 146.

ACESHIGH · 11 Mar 2006 at 07:59

If not going for the Abit mobo i would then go for the DFI .

locutus12 · 11 Mar 2006 at 08:08

if your buying this week then heres another vote for the XT 512mb, just get them before the offer ends!!

ACESHIGH · 11 Mar 2006 at 09:33

Yes now available ...
This week only ....

Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800 XT 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-121-SP)
£217.32*Including VAT

PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
£252.57*Including VAT

Go for the 512MB version as said if in your budget, as better at higher res & with AA / AF.

Bennah · 11 Mar 2006 at 14:19

Id still get the DFI. Not sure about the Abit KN8 overclocking ability. The DFI's are proven though. The'e NF4 board to get tbh. They are pricey though, but worth it in my view.

DeathByMonkey · 11 Mar 2006 at 16:02

Right, just like to say thanks again for all your advice and help.

I think I've come to a decision:

Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) £12.95
AMD Opteron UP 146 San Diego 2.0GHz 1MB Cache (Socket 939) - Retail £138.95
PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail £214.95
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard £79.95

TOTAL (incl delivery) = £535.51

I think I'd better place the order before "this week only" offers end

I tell ya, compared to my current setup this is gonna rock for sure! (Athlon XP thoroughbred 1800+ @ 2352mhz, 1gb gskill ddr400, ATI radeon 9600XT 256mb [agp], abit nf7-s v2). I CANNY WAIT!

DeathByMonkey

Bennah · 11 Mar 2006 at 17:44

Good choice mate. It would be wise to get the card atleast very soon, for the price its at currently

Your are definatly going to see a little increase in performance for sure. Let us know if you notice it