proposed splash out

gittygoat · 18 Apr 2006 at 19:32

Hi all, been a long time lurker here (month or so) as I need a new system.
Finally have what I think I need but have a couple of questions. -

Would I be able to connect the x1800 up to my 5 year old crt monitor temporarily until I can afford a bigger/ better TFT ?
How likely is it that I will get Manchester core on cpu (retail) ?
Do I need to buy sata 2 cable also ?
Any points of view would be much appreciated.
proposed build is as follows - To go into akasa eclipse-62 (apparently sold out here at the mo. Also using dvd and cd drives from old pc.
Would be trying to clock moderately , is graphics card very clockable ?
CP-134-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM)
£183.95
MB-046-MS MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-046-MS)
£64.95
MY-046-GL GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS3 (GE2GB3200BDC) (MY-046-GL)
£89.95
HD-046-WD Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 2500KS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-046-WD)
£55.50
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£15.95
MO-028-SA Samsung SM730BF 17" LCD Monitor (MO-028-SA)
£159.95
GX-048-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-048-PC)
£214.95
CA-025-EN Enermax Liberty 500W ELT500AWT ATX2.2 Modular SLI Compliant PSU (CA-025-EN)
£61.95
Subtotal £847.15
VAT £148.26
Total £995.41
If the missus finds out about the price she'll nail me, so don't want to make any mistakes , and thanks in advance for any response .

Mortah · 18 Apr 2006 at 19:57

Looks very similar to what I'm going to order in about five weeks when my exams are over!

Personally, I didn't realise there were two versions of the Athlon 3800+ Dual core... can someone explain the difference?

Can't see much point in getting retail, you're throwing away about 15 quid for a box.

The arctic cooler HFS was recommended to me by someone before they realised I was going for water cooling, so it must be a good cooler

Thats the same graphics card I'm going to be going for, it's looking good

With the monitor, I think you'll not be able to run with the CRT unless you get some sort of DVI -> VGA convertor and I'm not sure whether these even exist!

JonnyGLC · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:02

Nice setup.

The only thing that i'd consider changing is the CPU Heastink. I'd reccomend the Thermalright XP-120 and a decent 120mm fan, a Panaflo or the like.

gittygoat · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:02

HI, going for the retail version in the hope of getting Manchester core !
will keep retail fan as spare .

gittygoat · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:05

Random name , is your suggestion based on noise or performance ? have read about someone replacing freezer 64 fan with akasa fan for noise reasons , are thety a bit loud ?

JonnyGLC · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:06

gittygoat said:
Random name , is your suggestion based on noise or performance ? have read about someone replacing freezer 64 fan with akasa fan for noise reasons , are thety a bit loud ?

It's for both mate.

The XP-120 will outperform the Freezer, you can also fit ANY 120mm fan onto it, which will be quieter than the 92mm fan on the Freezer. It doesn't come with a fan, so you simply choose the one you want.

gittygoat · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:12

That looks like a proper monster, would have been worried about size and weight but just read its got ally construction so may have to upgrade

Mortah · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:12

gittygoat said:
HI, going for the retail version in the hope of getting Manchester core !
will keep retail fan as spare .

What other core is available? What's the difference? Wasn't aware there was more than one version!

gittygoat · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:15

You can get toledo cores that don't overclock so well , I'll stop there tho' cos others will probably explain better than I could .

brightside_ · 18 Apr 2006 at 20:16

My 3800 X2 was an OEM and is a toledo core that failed the full cache test, so they locked the part of the cache that didn't work, and clocked it down to a 3800 x2

Manchester and Toledo Cores are pretty good for clocking, my toledo core is doing 2.6GHz on one notch above stock volts, so heat isn't a big probelm, although my PWIMs take a pounding when stability testing

gittygoat · 18 Apr 2006 at 21:04

Just been to Thermalright website and found that dimm slot one is unusable with xp 120 and msi neo 4 platinum, is this major issue or by the by with 2 gig ram (2x 1 gig)