Upcoming new build spec help!

Monstermunch · 17 Feb 2006 at 20:48

I am planning on a new system build within the next month, I have decided on some of the equipment but need help narrowing down on some of the others. I mostly play games and watch movies + i've decided on clocking my next rig aswell.

My current spec is:

Athlon XP Barton 2500+
Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
HIS Excalibur 9800 Pro
Samsung PC2100 512mb
430w PSU (unknown, may be sparkle) £75 3yrs ago
Coolermaster Tornado Case
NEC 4550 DVDRW
Hyundai Imagequest 19" Q995

The new stuff i'm decided on is:

Opteron 170 (or poss 175 from US)
DFI LanParty nF4 Ultra-D
250gb Western Digital SATA2 HDD
36gb Raptor (if enough spare cash)
GFX Card (ATM X1800XT 512mb) but may change by the time I purchase
Case (probably Thermaltake Soprano or Tsunami, or may recycle old if I can shut it up, man it's noisy)

And I need extra advice on:

2GB Ram (Poss Gskill but any other contenders? Budget max £185)

500w+ Modular PSU (poss hiper, but heard a few bad things recently. Budget max £85)
CPU Cooler (been looking at the Vapochill Micro, unsure really. Needs to perform well without being loud)
TFT (Looking at the Viewsonic VP930 but open to suggestions. Nudget max £300)
Should I recycle my old case (i.e. paint it and put some quiet fans in it!)

I want the new machine to be as quiet as poss without restricting my clocking ability, I'm just fed up with the damn noise my current case makes. Coolermaster Tornado = 6 x 80mm fans in case + PSU + CPU Fan = 45+db i'm guessing! :mad:

All advice much appreciated.

Eliminos · 17 Feb 2006 at 21:11

MO-036-SA Samsung SM-960BF 19" LCD Monitor - Glossy White (MO-036-SA)
£229.95 £229.95
CA-009-TG Tagan TG580-U15 580W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-009-TG)
£77.95 £77.95
MY-094-CS Corsair 2GB DDR XMS4000PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS3 (MY-094-CS)
£133.95 £133.95
HS-007-TT Thermaltake Big Typhoon 4 in 1 Heatpipe (Socket 939/754/775/478) CPU Cooler (CL-P0114) (HS-007-TT)
£21.95 £21.95
Total £544.97

To be honest, any case no matter how expensive is going to be loud with 6x 80mm fans. Why put that many fans in, it would probably lower the CPU temperature by about 2C at the most. I'm not very impressed with my G.Skill - hence Corsair - someone on an other forum that I use got quite good speeds out of them. I am also vouching for Samsung LCDs because my Viewsonic 17" doesn't give really good image quality at all.

as for the other stuff, it all looks good. The opteron 170 is fine I suppose, if you are prepared to spend the money on it. Just be warned that current stepping opterons aren't as good as they used to be.

Larok · 17 Feb 2006 at 21:49

For the PSU I would recommend a seasonic, enermax or tagan. I would stay away from the 930bf monitor as the overdrive is excellent for games but it adversely effects movie playback.

Monstermunch · 17 Feb 2006 at 22:03

The reason I was thinking about the Viewsonic VP930 was because it's an MVA panel as opposed to a TN panel. MVA is much better all round but a little more expensive and not quite as fast as some TN's.

I mentioned the Opti 170 but I am considering the 4400 X2 as well, just when I started looking people were unsure how well they clocked whereas the opti was previously proven. However I have also heard that the current batch of opti's arn't clocking anywhere near as well as they should.

Monstermunch · 17 Feb 2006 at 22:18

Ram wise I think i've read enough bad comments about the Gskill & the Ballistix to persuade me not to buy so I think I will have to choose between the following:

OCZ 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC4000 Dual Channel Gold GX XTC Series EL-DDR CAS3 (OCZ5002048ELGEGXT-K) (MY-060-OC) £149.95

MY-094-CS Corsair 2GB DDR XMS4000PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS3 (MY-094-CS) £133.95

MY-000-MK Mushkin 2GB DDR XP4000 Extreme Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) CAS3 (991483) (MY-000-MK) £139.95

ACESHIGH · 18 Feb 2006 at 03:34

Monstermunch are you sure you dont want a different graphics card mate.

To quote you ..

Monstermunch said:
the 7800gt is just as good if not better with many games than the x1800xt

Maybe you should go for the 7800GT, like you suggested to some other guy over the X1800XT.

LOL.

Monstermunch · 18 Feb 2006 at 06:33

ACESHIGH said:
Monstermunch are you sure you dont want a different graphics card mate.

To quote you .. Maybe you should go for the 7800GT, like you suggested to some other guy over the X1800XT.

LOL.

Like it states at the top of my post, this may change before I buy! (Please READ). Also, my comments in another post were to reply to a muppett comment that the x1800xt was better than the 7800gtx, which simply isn't true. I do believe that the 7800gt is just as good as the x1800xt but unfortunately I can't seem to find one with 512mb, unlike the x1800.

ACESHIGH · 18 Feb 2006 at 13:55

Monstermunch said:
Like it states at the top of my post, this may change before I buy! (Please READ). Also, my comments in another post were to reply to a muppett comment that the x1800xt was better than the 7800gtx, which simply isn't true. I do believe that the 7800gt is just as good as the x1800xt but unfortunately I can't seem to find one with 512mb, unlike the x1800.

No guy youre the muppet. I quoted you. You said the 7800GT (not GTX) was better than an X1800XT - this is simply not true. Next time please read other peoples posts before recommending or stating something then. Go reread your post - i quoted you exactly - see what you said above mate.

Besides the X1800XT is quicker than the 7800GTX as well, more often than not.

Monstermunch · 18 Feb 2006 at 16:34

ACESHIGH said:
No guy youre the muppet. I quoted you. You said the 7800GT (not GTX) was better than an X1800XT - this is simply not true. Next time please read other peoples posts before recommending or stating something then. Go reread your post - i quoted you exactly - see what you said above mate.

Besides the X1800XT is quicker than the 7800GTX as well, more often than not.

You think what you like, but I have read many benchmarks in magazines that would disagree. The 7800gt and the x1800xt are about on a level par when it comes to games, but some games prefer different chipsets. e.g BF2 likes ATI whereas Quake 4 likes Nvidia. Unfortunately the normal benchmarking for these things is 3dmark, but 3dmark quite obviosly prefers the ATI chipset, and puts it way ahead of the 7800gt. If you are basing your comments on that then I suggest you read more about it.

As far as the x1800xt being better than the 7800gtx, I dunno where that came from!, The 7800gtx has 24 pixel pipelines and 8 pixel shaders, it may not be clocked quite as fast as the x1800xt but that only has 16 pipes & 8 shaders. So with both cards having 512mb that puts the gtx infront. - However if you have read some reviews that show 2 x x1800xt's (crossfire) vs 2 x 7800gtx's (sli'd), showing the x1800xt's faster, it then comes back down to the game preference again, bearing in mind that some games don't currently use some of the chipset features that the cards have the faster clocked card will be quicker. Basically the comparisson doesn't really work well, it's like the 64 3700+ SanDiego vs the 64 X2 3800+, the sandy may run games quicker atm but it wont in 6+ months time - The same rule applies with the gfx cards, because the 7800gtx has more pipes it IS a better card!

InQ · 18 Feb 2006 at 20:40

If you want as quiet as possible dont get the DFI mobo as it has a chipset fan, you;d be better off with a passive cooled Asus NF4 mobo.
CPU Cooler wise try the Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro or Zalman 9500LED for more cash.
RAM wise if u do get the DFI mobo i wouldnt get Corsair as it can be a problematic combination unless u have all the RAM timings and voltage perfect (the DFI board has a lot of RAM timing settings!).
Case wise i'd have a look at the Antec Sonata II which includes a 450W PSU. This has one 120mm fan which has a lo-med-hi fan speed control and allows u to mount the HDD's on rubber grommets which does make a difference (speaking from experience of this case and the previous Sonata I here).
TFT wise i'm in the market also atm, for around £300 i'd look at the Viewsonic VX922 but it might not be to fantastic for movies....it could be worth saving some extra and going for a good 20" widescreen if movies are going to be a big use of the screen? I'm looking at the NEC 20WGX2 which is pretty new but sounds awesome, it is another £100 on your TFT budget though.

Monstermunch · 18 Feb 2006 at 21:06

I made a couple of posts in the memory forum and think i've pretty much decided to go for Mushkin.

I have also been thinking of things I could do to save money and go for better gfx & other things, so I think i'll keep my case and mod the fans from 80 to 120mm where poss and get some good new ones.

I think my max budget will be £1500 and i'm hoping i'll get £200-£300 back from selling my old stuff including monitor which is only 6 months old.

BTW when I mentioned silent as poss this is bearing in mind that my current setup with all the case fans working I think is probably around 60db.

ACESHIGH · 19 Feb 2006 at 01:34

Monstermunch said:
You think what you like, but I have read many benchmarks in magazines that would disagree. The 7800gt and the x1800xt are about on a level par when it comes to games, but some games prefer different chipsets. e.g BF2 likes ATI whereas Quake 4 likes Nvidia. Unfortunately the normal benchmarking for these things is 3dmark, but 3dmark quite obviosly prefers the ATI chipset, and puts it way ahead of the 7800gt. If you are basing your comments on that then I suggest you read more about it.

As far as the x1800xt being better than the 7800gtx, I dunno where that came from!, The 7800gtx has 24 pixel pipelines and 8 pixel shaders, it may not be clocked quite as fast as the x1800xt but that only has 16 pipes & 8 shaders. So with both cards having 512mb that puts the gtx infront. - However if you have read some reviews that show 2 x x1800xt's (crossfire) vs 2 x 7800gtx's (sli'd), showing the x1800xt's faster, it then comes back down to the game preference again, bearing in mind that some games don't currently use some of the chipset features that the cards have the faster clocked card will be quicker. Basically the comparisson doesn't really work well, it's like the 64 3700+ SanDiego vs the 64 X2 3800+, the sandy may run games quicker atm but it wont in 6+ months time - The same rule applies with the gfx cards, because the 7800gtx has more pipes it IS a better card!

Ill try & help you for the last time, but you obviously dont have a clue.
This is common knowledge guy....

The X1800XL (XL not XT) is about same performance as the 7800GT.
Next quickest is the 7800GTX (256MB)
Faster still is the X1800XT (all have 512MB)
Bit faster still is the 7800GTX 512MB (you do know this is a differnetly clocked card than the original 7800GTX - much faster core & mem)

The ring bus helps the X1800XT perform despite its lower pixel pipelines.
Please go to the graphics card forum for help with cards as you know very little it appears. But its also apparent you dont want to listen & dont admit when you are clearly wrong. If you go back to the original thread you will notice Eliminos who you tried to back up actually admitted he was mistaken.
Oh well glad its not my money youre spending.

Monstermunch · 19 Feb 2006 at 15:46

ACESHIGH said:
Ill try & help you for the last time, but you obviously dont have a clue.
This is common knowledge guy....

The X1800XL (XL not XT) is about same performance as the 7800GT.
Next quickest is the 7800GTX (256MB)
Faster still is the X1800XT (all have 512MB)
Bit faster still is the 7800GTX 512MB (you do know this is a differnetly clocked card than the original 7800GTX - much faster core & mem)

The ring bus helps the X1800XT perform despite its lower pixel pipelines.
Please go to the graphics card forum for help with cards as you know very little it appears. But its also apparent you dont want to listen & dont admit when you are clearly wrong. If you go back to the original thread you will notice Eliminos who you tried to back up actually admitted he was mistaken.
Oh well glad its not my money youre spending.

Guess we'll have to just differ on this one, but don't accuse me of not knowing anything. What you've stated above does not change anything I stated in my previous posts.

I know that:

x1800xl = 7800gt
x1800xt = 7800gtx (256)
x1900xt = 7800gtx (512)
x1900xtx = 7900gtx (march)

I doesn't change the fact that ati is better with certain games and nvidia with others, depending on whether the games are utilising glide or direct3d etc. Neither chipset is perfect, the Nvidia has individual elements like cinefx 4.0 & & ati has shader model 3.0.

I will state again that this is based on threads I have read and web pages I have browsed with benchmarking results plus magazine reviews. Together these would be in conflict with some of your statements. If you have anything tangiable you could link me to, then please do as I would be greatful to have more information.

Unfortunately basically both chipsets are great and it's great to have a choice, unfortunately neither chipset does anything perfectly and both have instruction sets that the other would like to have.

Post any links you have to prove what you are stating (that ATI cards are just better in every way to Nvidia) and I will gladly read them!

Ender · 19 Feb 2006 at 17:31

i gotta agree with aceshigh, and anyway the stock on the 7800gtx 512mb is fairly low, not to mention costs

MSI ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB -
Price: £259.95 (£305.44 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Asus ATI Radeon EAX-X1900 XT 512MB
Price: £329.95 (£387.69 Including VAT at 17.5%)

XFX GeForce 7800GTX 512MB
Price: £494.95 (£581.57 Including VAT at 17.5%)

so imo the ati card is way better bang for buck anyways but all of those cards will serve you well

Monstermunch · 19 Feb 2006 at 18:04

Ender said:
i gotta agree with aceshigh, and anyway the stock on the 7800gtx 512mb is fairly low, not to mention costs
MSI ATI Radeon X1800 XT 512MB -
Price: £259.95 (£305.44 Including VAT at 17.5%)

Asus ATI Radeon EAX-X1900 XT 512MB
Price: £329.95 (£387.69 Including VAT at 17.5%)

XFX GeForce 7800GTX 512MB
Price: £494.95 (£581.57 Including VAT at 17.5%)

so imo the ati card is way better bang for buck anyways but all of those cards will serve you well

Price has nothing to do with what we were arguing about