F1N3ST

I have 768MB in this computer now, thats why i bought another 512mb for Dual-Channel, and the additional 256mb. I already have a HD (2) 80GB+200GB. And i have a DVD-RW/CD-RW/DVD/CD drive, and its black and matches my new case . I dont know if that case has good enough cooling though, it does have like a 9 inch fan on the side though lol, and a output on the back for a 120mm fan. I trust the case PSU, it has 24A on the +12V rail.

Athlon 64 X2 4200+ 189- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819103547

X1900GT 200- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102022

ECS ATI 200P MoBo 54- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813135009

512MB DDR 55- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820141424

450W Fortron PSU 50- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817104954

Case 40- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811208009

588 W/O Shipping

Should this be able to play ALL my games (I dont have Oblivian) at 1024x768 with 4XAA and 16XAF or something close to it. I play BF2, CS:S, HL2, FEAR, Doom 3, GTA.

Lowfat

do you overclock @ all? If so i suggest a slightly better motherboard. Also I HIGHLY suggest a better powersupply. At least get a low-end Fortron Source/Sparkle PSU (400watt'ish range). OEM PSU's are poop.

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F1N3ST

I will overclock some.... nForce4 motherboards are good for my needs. And, im using the case PSU for now. And im getting a Athlon 64 X2 939 4200+ instead of the 3700+ single core.

Judas

decent gaming rig?

First off, spend something on a PSU, do NOT GET A GENERIC sucker, it's just not worth it, get a powerful (500 watt or better) brand name psu (ocz).

That's the only thing i REALLY suggest you reconsider.

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F1N3ST

Ok, i will buy a Antec, how does that sound :P

F1N3ST

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817181108 40A on dual 12V rails will work fo sho, and its SLI certified :P

wee017

Another thing, NEVER mix and match RAM. It's a horrible practice. IMO, buy a good 1GB or 2GB set of RAM along with a power supply and that's it. DDR Channels exist for a reason.

Judas

Mixing ram of various speeds and settings and whatnot is not a wise thing to do, but it's not forbidden practice. Just be aware of which to set for and how to configure a system with mixed sets.

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Lowfat

definately not. Nor is it SLI certified as it would have a sticker right on the PSU stating if it here or not. 40A in the 12V rail means poop if its a crappy PSU. They could rate it @ 20°C for all you know.

Stick with name brands or you'll be kicking yourself later on when your whole computer blows up or starts on fire (I've seen both happen too).

Fortron Source and Sparkle (SPI) provide great power supplies at a great price..

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wee017

If he's gonna use the system for gaming, mixing ram will decrease performance. Configuration would be general and be negative for all kinds of ram included; buying a nice set of ram and putting the correct settings would make a huge boost.

F1N3ST

See, thats the ONLY reason i bought kingston because i have the exact same stick that im buying :P, so im not mixing speed or brands.

And that PSU IS SLI certified, it says on the specifications.

F1N3ST

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104954 Is a Fortron PSU 31A on dual 12v rails, should i get this?

Neshi

but you just said you were buying another 512 and 256 ram. so thats mixing the 2x512 with the 2x256. and thats the mixing they were talking about.

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If one does not attach himself to people and desire, never shall his heart be broken. But then, does he ever truly live?

Life is just too damn short for if's and maybe's

Tipstaff

Not only that, but the mixing of speeds that is being mentioned has to do not only with the bus speed of the ram, be it 333mhz, 400mhz, or other speeds, but also to do with timings (CAS specifically). For instance, if you buy faster or slower ram than what is in your system then the system will automatically slow down the bus speed of the faster ram to the slowest ram. However, sometimes it will increase the speed of the slowest ram if the SPD on the ram, which tells the system what specs the ram is capable of, isn't setup right, and can thereby cause major stability issues.

However, there is another issue that hasn't been mentioned, and that is that Kingston does not make their own ram. They infact commission another company to make their ram for them, and not always the same company. As such their ram, especially their value line, can change from batch to batch. One batch may have Samsung chips on them, or sometimes Hynix. Some can say Kingston, but they aren't actually as the company that made them for Kingston stampped their name on the chips. The bad thing about this batch to batch change is that a lot of times the ram can have compatiblity issues when used with other ram, even with other Kingston Value ram, or the CAS timings can be different enough to cause the system to become unstable.

Anyways, for stability issues, and to relieve yourself of any possible headaches or problems, it's always best to buy your ram in pairs, and if possible, do not mix ram types, speeds, or manufacturers. Especially if the chips on the actual ram are not from the same batch/company.

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PangingJr

about the RAM...
it may or may not work, look at those 64GB, 32GB serverboard likes one from Intel's, Tyan's, Supermicro's.
are there a 64 GB, 32GB RAM kit? i don't think so. but even the upgrade RAM is a certified RAM for the board, it may or may not work.
anyway, like other advices. if you can, avoid using different memory sizes, speed and even chips.
but if you can't, then no one can tell for certain, but you, whether the new RAM module that you're going to buy will work in conjunction with the other modules? make sure that you can return it if it doesn't work.

Judas

sorry if it seemed like i "suggested" that mixing ram is good, it's highly recommened you don't, but it's not impossible or terribly bad thing to do.

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technonerd

I'm a bit uneasy about ECS board but the review said it seems a good board. Best thing is to get a dual identical ram like 2.x512mb or 2x1gig.

This is a pretty cheap and a good ram for amd 939:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145440

I live in small town and work in a computer company. We sell most of these rams and I install it many time, had yet had too much problem with it. It's also good for budget gaming system.

F1N3ST

No, i got the one with the right CAS latency, the SAME model number and everything, both PC3200. Tell me thats mixing RAM.... And is the fortron or the ohter PSU better?

F1N3ST

And, if i was going to buy MORE new RAM, i would have gotten a Core 2 Duo.

technonerd

Hehe, I build couple of Core 2 Duo for somebody and I'm really impress with it lately. I do really want to get one but I rather save my money for now and get a Xbox 360 instead. Early-mid 2007 I might get a Core 2 Duo system.

Btw the PSU seem to be good, I'm just more comfortable with Enermax and Antec anyways. Go get it, clicky click.

F1N3ST

Im gettin antec case/psu save on shipping and more quality.

technonerd

Sweet, gratz on your new machine

F1N3ST

Yes, how is yours going? Yours looks like teh pwnzorz!

Tipstaff

F1N3ST, just wanted to clairify this, cuz you might be missing the advice we're trying to give. See, going by your first post you said, "I have 768MB in this computer now, thats why i bought another 512mb for Dual-Channel, and the additional 256mb". Does this mean you will be using 4 sticks of ram in the end? That being 2x512mb sticks, and 2x256mb sticks? If so, then you WILL be mixing ram. Even though you may not be mixing them in the same channels the system will still follow the specs of the 256mb ram, and if they are slower than the 512 sticks, then the system will slow down the 512 sticks to the 256mb speeds. They are only seperate as far as the channels are concerned, not with the rest of it. That's why the followup posts from all us in regards to this has been to not mix and match, or to be careful when doing so.

Just a note: if your intention is to use 3 sticks, that being 2x512, and 1x256, then my advice would be not to use the 256 stick. Reason being is that as soon as you add a single stick or ram into a system setup for Dual Channel (which you will get with the 2x512s) you will disable Dual Channel. Just thought I'd warn you about that.

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technonerd

It ROXORZ, RAWR

F1N3ST

So, your sayin i should by 2x512mb, and leave out my current RAM, but these boards have 2 dual channels, so would it run at 1.5gb single channel, or 1gb dual channel, 512mb single channel? And i was gonna leave out my 256mb of RAM and just have 2x5112mb.

Tipstaff

If you use 3 sticks of ram in the system it will kick over and run in single channel mode for all the ram, and it doesn't matter where you put it either. Same thing will happen if you use the ram side by side, slot after slot. For dual channel to work you need to place equal sized ram into each paired channels (of note: you may be able to get it to run in dual channel if the ram is of different speeds as the system will slow down the faster stick to the slower one, but this isn't recommended as it can cause system instability). Most boards that support dual channel will be setup like this: ram slots 1 and 3 = channel 1 or A (might colored blue), slots 2 and 4 = channel 2 or B (might be colored black). As I just mentioned most manufacturers color code their sockets as to make it easier to tell what slots are for what channels. So, putting 2 sticks of equal ram size in slots 1 and 3 (which might be blue) would give you dual channel. If you add more ram to the system then you need to buy a pair in order to keep that dual channel setup, cuz as soon as you add a third stick the system will revert back to running them in single channel.

So, since you've ordered a second 512mb stick you will want to pair it with your current 512mb stick, and put it in the way your motherboard supports dual channel (slot 1 and 3 most likely). Then you have to decide whether to leave out the 256mb stick, run the system in single channel mode by using that stick, or by a second 256mb stick to get another channel running. It all depends on whether you think that more ram will be better for you, or having dual channel running instead. Choice is yours really.

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F1N3ST

I dont know where to buy a matching 256mb stick, it came with my current computer, and has a samsung sticker on it. Plus i might sell the 256 stick to my dad :P.

PangingJr

would you recap for us again, how many RAM modules do you have at this point, and what sizes and speed on each RAM module?

F1N3ST

I have one 512mb kingston DDR 400 PC3200, and 256mb of "Samsung" that im leaving out of this new computer.