Time for a new one!

Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
Ok I've managed to hold down a decent job and am able now to build a complete system. So here's what I've got planned. Any suggestions?

Case: <a href ="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811133154">Thermaltake Armor</a> ~$150
Power Supply: <a href ="http://www.directron.com/ult31851.html>Ultra X2 550W</a> ~$100
Motherboard: <a href ="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136166">DFI LanParty UT NF4 Sli-Dr Expert</a> ~$200
Processor: <a href ="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103594">Opteron 150</a> ~$330
Heatsink: <a href ="http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835118223">Zalman 9500</a> ~$60
Ram: G.Skill / Corsair 2g kit Pc4000
Hard Drive: Western Digital 200G Sata-2
Video Card: <a href ="http://www.clubit.com/product_detail.cfm?itemno=A9602790">eVga 7800GT</a> ~$300

That list runs about 1300 on NewEgg, but I've found a couple other places that have some better prices.
I'd like to get 3Ghz out of the processor, a 250x12 fsb & multi should be alright. The Pqi ram has tighter timings than the other two, and newegg has a better price on them as well. I've already got a keyboard, mouse, etc, etc..
I'd like to keep the price down as much as I can. I don't want to buy cheap parts, but I'm not planning on spending a fortune on this thing.

I do have a few questions though.

1. Would 3Ghz be possible on air cooling?
2. Is the 7800GTX really worth it, or can I unlock the other 4 pipelines?
3. Which ram would be better?

I'm not trying to build an UBER 1337 HAXXORZ pc. I'd just like something I won't have to mess with for at least 2 or 3 years. I'm doing less and less gaming due to work and school but I still would like to pick up CoD2 and BF2. If any of you know of a better option let me know I'd be glad to hear it.
 
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Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
Matt's the PSU guy, so I'll leave that to him. I would *highly* recommend you get a 2GB kit though, 1GB is on the way out, especially if you want BF2.

I can see 3GHz being quite achievable on that CPU, especially with a nice cooler. I would personally go with the 7800GT over the GTX unless the price is too good to beat. Generally, you will not likely notice it unless you are running new games at above 1280*1024 resolution.

Corsair Platinum PC4000 2GB
eVGA 7800GT w/ Free Quake IV

Those are my two recommendations. I am not too sure about the PSU, but the rest makes a great PC.
 
madmat

madmat

Soup Nazi
I'd suggest something a bit better than the Just PC as it's a "mystery meat" type PSU, you just don't know what you're getting with it.

My suggestion would be the Antec NeoHE 550, That's a very, very demanding motherboard and it's not in the least forgiving of weak 12V lines especially coupled with a pair of 7800GTX cards in SLI.

By the choice of the mobo I'm assuming that you intend to go SLI in the future...
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
Well I did look up some reviews of the Just Pc power supply before choosing it. It's not a name brand power supply per se but it's performance is quite adequate. I do plan on going with an Sli setup sometime in the future.
I ran across a review of http://www.amdboard.com/sansun_arctic_550w.htm. I'm thinking maybe that would be the better buy in this situation. All of the reviews on NewEgg say that the Antec will NOT work with almost any current Asus board.

Edit: Am I doing something wrong or is the href coding just not enabled for my account?

<a href="http://www.amdboard.com/sansun_arctic_550w.html">Sansun Arctic 550w</a>
 
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madmat

madmat

Soup Nazi
The NeoHE is the exception, trust me on this...it has three 12V rails and has no issues with that motherboard at all.

The True II 550's only have two 12V rails and aren't up to the task although they're both certified by nV for SLI.

This should tell you something, if a known quality builder is having trouble with this particular board then it's quite likely that the lesser knowns will have them as well...

You'd be foolish to go with less than the NeoHE or PC Power & Cooling 510SLI with that board. That's just the facts as they stand.
 
Rob Williams

Rob Williams

Editor-in-Chief
Staff member
Moderator
I also highly recommend getting a good PSU. When it comes to your expensive hardware, especially the ones that really push the power, it's important.
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
Multiple postings from NewEgg:
DO NOT...I REPEAT DO NOT GET IF YOU HAVE ASUS A8N32-SLI DELUXE motherboard.

Incompatible with Asus A8N32-SLI DELUXE motherboard.

There were a whole bunch more and it seems they all are about the A8N line by Asus.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustRatingReview.asp?DEPA=0&Type=&Item=N82E16817103941&SortField=0&Pagesize=100&Page=

As well as this from the site itself: http://www.antec.com/us/support_roductInfo_FAQ.php?Qnumber=1&FAQno=22

Now it may just be a bios revision that would have to be done, but I don't want to get caught in the middle of a bios update and lose power. I certainly don't have the money to buy 2 high end power supplies.

Reading more reviews it seems this motherboard is at home with any top name power supply. Going to Nvidia's site also led me to look into an Ultra X2 550w Power supply. But that's not the main thing I've decided. I think I'm just going to get the Dfi Ultra Nf4 board. The gaming results are really too close for a sure winner and it definitely overclocks better. Opteron processors aren't mentioned as a supported cpu there's plenty of people out there using them. I doubt I'll ever need the Dual 16x sli option and the Dfi was my second choice.
 
madmat

madmat

Soup Nazi
The DFI likely has better memory performance as well...the x16 chipset just doesn't have a viable need at the present time really. Bear in mind though that you'll still need a good PSU no matter what brand mobo you get and the Ultra will require a small mod to run in SLI mode although you can find guides online for this.

I don't know if the X-2 is readily available yet though since it's brand new but hopefully you'll be able to find it, that's a nice looking PSU (ratings and features along with looks) and should be very good for you.
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
https://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/WishList/WishDetail.asp?position=HISTORY&ID=1848027&WishListTitle=Opty+Build

There's the wishlist from NewEgg, they didn't have the X2 in stock so I put one with a similar price. With shipping all from NE it's looking like 1500, which isn't too bad. I've found most of the parts cheaper looking through bizrate. I figure I can get away with spending 1200 total. I even found that power supply for under 90. I'll be getting my tax returns within the next month, but I'm going to start ordering the pieces in the next week or two. Hell, I'll even buy that digital camera I've been wanting.
 
madmat

madmat

Soup Nazi
Your wish list Detail is empty.


Printer-friendly Version
Your "Current Wish List" will be deleted after 30 days, so make sure to save your wish list. Please note that adding an item to a wish list does not guarantee availability or price.
Click to expand...

Sorry man but a newegg wishlist requires your browser to be cookied for them to recognize it as belonging there...

What PSU are you getting, please don't skimp there...
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
I ordered the Ultra X2 off of Directron.com. It ended up being about a hundred with shipping. Sorry about the wishlist thing. I did save it and listed it as shared, can't imagine why it's not working :rolleyes: . I'll be ordering the Dfi Expert this evening along with the case.

I still have some questions about the ram though. I know 2 gigs is needed for most of the high end games, but brand wise. I'm still up in the air on which kit to get. I don't want whole 1g sticks. The Dfi seems to be a little picky when it comes to ram, I'm thinking of going with the Crucial Ballistix kit. Those of you who can recommend a good kit without blowing my budget I'd be much abliged.

I'm going to just update my first post with the current info on the build. What products I've bought, etc. I'm definitely looking forward to a new pc!
 
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madmat

madmat

Soup Nazi
You're better off running a 2x1gig kit, the GSkill that I recommended to Madstork is really good and is compatible with the DFI boards, plus it's $60 cheaper than the Corsair kit.

the reason I say to go with 2X1 rather than 4X512 is that your board will only run 4 sticks at 2T command rate which is considerably slower and going with fast ram for OC headroom usually means higher latencies to begin with, coupling that with 2T command rates will really hobble your memory bandwidth.

Nice choice on the PSU, I'm sure you'll love it. Same goes for the board, the Expert looks to be pretty damned pimp.
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
I've looked into both of those options, I wasn't planning on spending so much on ram when I started, but I also just planned on buying a single gig kit. When the parts start to come in I'll use my Patriot ram until I can save up enough for a better set.

I've run across an offer from Club-It, where you can get an Evga 7800 GTX (eVGA N527-AX) for $450, with a $40 dollar mail in rebate. That's only about ten dollars more than the GT after rebate. I may go for that.

It may sound like I want to go hardcore with this pc, but I really just want to not have to worry about being oudated for the next few years. I don't want to have to upgrade everytime a new game comes out. To me, spending more than a thousand on a computer is really extreme. I also know that what I'm building couldn't be bought for less than two grand. The pc I'm using now I only spent $600 on. There's a lot of hard, frustrating work I've gone through to save up what I have. I mean, I could be putting a down payment on a newer car.. lol.
 
madmat

madmat

Soup Nazi
I spent $3500 on the PC I'm using now and other than swapping out ram for a dog set I got at the time (late 2003) and getting the 6800 in exchange for my 5900U when it suddenly freaked out it's basically the same PC as it was then.

Point being is I've been gaming on this PC for 2.5 years with no problems, yeah the newer games require a bit of sacraficing on resolution or IQ but that's curable with a CPU/GPU upgrade, I just don't have the cash for it.

When I can afford it though I intend to get a 3.0C or E to shoot for 4ghz with and hopefully by that time the 7800GS AGP will be out and I'll be in the game yet again. :)

I think the PC you're building will be the same way, another GTX in the future, 2 gigs of fast ram and a good OC and that PC will be potent for quite some time.
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
madmat said:
Point being is I've been gaming on this PC for 2.5 years with no problems
Click to expand...

That's the same with this one. I built this pc my Senior year in high school, 2003, and have been using it since. I've added the 9200 video card, a dvd rw, and just recently the 1 gig set of Patriot ram. It's served me well, but it's definitely time to upgrade.
 
madstork91

madstork91

The One, The Only...
Id have to recomend the G.skill i got. Ill let mat sing the praises on it.

The pc4000 2 gig pack on newegg
 
Jakal

Jakal

Tech Monkey
Stork, I'd be willing to buy a 2gig set off of you if you feel you didn't want or need it. I know you said it was too much of a hassle to send it back.

I'm kinda worried now about ordering the processor. I know the Opteron's can do 3Ghz but I'm not guaranteed a CABGE or CABYE that tend to oc better. I missed out on a CABGE on ebay, now I'm a little uncertain about purchasing one. Even if I do get a good core, would air cooling be enough to reach the 3g mark.. I've seen the 148's with a CABYE reach 3g on air I'm quite sure it's possible with the 150; I just need to find a good core. The 150 is about $350 with some Arctic Silver 5. I'd sure like to know ahead of time which core I'm getting!
 
madmat

madmat

Soup Nazi
If you'll watch certain sites will list the stepping of the procs they're selling. I don't remember which they were but you'll also end up paying a premium for them which in my book isn't worth it.

I say just take your chances and go for it with newegg, I haven't heard of any other opty steppings BUT those 2 so you knever know...you most likely will get one.
 
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