Advise on computer parts

ShY · Oct 17, 2005, 02:06 AM

I have wanted to build a computer for a long time and after a long time of searching i was thinking of getting:

AMD 64 3700+ San Diego
Asus A8n-SLI deluxe (socket 939)
Thermaltake Cl-P0114 Heatsink/fan (I'v seen MANY people have a problem with the fan for the above motherboard so just taking precautions)
Corsair XMS DDR 400 1gb
Western Digital Caviar 250GB (16mb cache)
Enermax ATX 550w PSU

Does that seem ok? I was thinking I would get the AMD 64 4000+ San Diego instead of the 3700+ for an extra $100 bucks. And can someone clear up whether the Clawhammer cores are better then the San Diegos?

Lowfat · Oct 17, 2005, 02:16 AM

what videocard? The rest seems fine. I wouldn't pay the difference for the 4000+. Clawhammers are not better than San Diegos.

ReDGuiTaR · Oct 17, 2005, 02:26 AM

good Mobo choice, the rest will fit nice in it . What about the videocard?

ShY · Oct 17, 2005, 03:07 AM

well I will probably be using my current ati 9700 PRO but I might just upgrade that to the x850.

**dj_stick** · Oct 17, 2005, 05:53 AM

iirc the SLI board is PCI Express is it not? your 9700 will only work if it's PCI-E, not AGP

CDsDontBurn · Oct 17, 2005, 06:03 AM

indeed, the ASUS A8N-SLI is a PCI-E MoBo. Your current 9700pro will not work with that MoBo. You'll need a new gfx card.

**dj_stick** · Oct 17, 2005, 08:54 AM

if you want a card that will run games fine, without a hefty price tag, i can vouch for the nVidia 6600 - nice cheap card with decent performance

CDsDontBurn · Oct 17, 2005, 06:02 PM

speaking of the 6600s, for a little more than the 6600, the 6600GT will perform slightly better than the 9800XT. So even that would be a nice upgrade

Vikingod · Oct 17, 2005, 06:27 PM

Nice choices for the system (see my sig?). The mobo is a great choice (enough bells and whistels to shake a stick at). I love the HD too, the 400gb version is due out very soon, you may want to check the price of that.

CDsDontBurn · Oct 17, 2005, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikingod

I love the HD too, the 400gb version is due out very soon, you may want to check the price of that.

really? how soon is soon?

ShY · Oct 17, 2005, 06:37 PM

oh yea I completly forgot my card is an AGP =[
I would prefer to stick with ATI but I'm not too sure now with all this Sli stuff. Would there be a big improvement using an Nvidia card rather than an Ati one in this setup?

drwho · Oct 17, 2005, 09:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShY

oh yea I completly forgot my card is an AGP =[
I would prefer to stick with ATI but I'm not too sure now with all this Sli stuff. Would there be a big improvement using an Nvidia card rather than an Ati one in this setup?

The ATI vs Nvidia debate is an endless one, and all it really gets down to is which brand you prefer. I myself prefer ATI, they've always worked for me and done whatever I've asked of them. If you would prefer ATI, then I'd say stick with it. As for a SLI setup, if your big into gaming and that's all you do, then try a SLI setup or even a Crossfire (ATI's version of SLI), otherwise I don't see what advantage a SLI setup would give you with everyday computer usage. If you prefer to stick with ATI, try going with an X800XL PCI-e card, they can be had for a pretty decent price.

Other than that, I'd say that your new rig looks pretty nice.

drwho

twoodcc · Oct 17, 2005, 10:15 PM

well i was in the same boat as you in my 10,000 mile long thread that's still going. i went dual core, and i got the 6600GT that some people have mentioned on here. the reason is that video card was affordable and i have read a lot of reviews and benchmarks and nvidia was ahead of ATI

CDsDontBurn · Oct 17, 2005, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShY

oh yea I completly forgot my card is an AGP =[
I would prefer to stick with ATI but I'm not too sure now with all this Sli stuff. Would there be a big improvement using an Nvidia card rather than an Ati one in this setup?

ATI's competition to the 6600GT is the x800GT. Though from what i've seen the x800GT is a little more expensive than the 6600GT

CDsDontBurn · Oct 17, 2005, 11:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twoodcc

well i was in the same boat as you in my 10,000 mile long thread that's still going. i went dual core, and i got the 6600GT that some people have mentioned on here. the reason is that video card was affordable and i have read a lot of reviews and benchmarks and nvidia was ahead of ATI

lol.....and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going and going

ShY · Oct 17, 2005, 11:22 PM

Crossfire? ok so if I want to stick with ATI then I assume I would need to get a different mobo that supports crossfire rather then SLI right?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 17, 2005, 11:35 PM

correct

ShY · Oct 18, 2005, 12:13 AM

and I see on newegg that I dont have much of a selection to choose from. If I waited a month or two would there be more crossfire compatible mobos?
And what exactly does crossfire and SLi do?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 18, 2005, 12:28 AM

crossfire is relativley new compared to SLI. If you did wait a couple more months you probably would be able to see more MoBos available for Crossfire.

As far as what they do exactly, basically what happens is that the work load is split up between the two cards allowing each card to do more work for a smaller part of the monitor.

ShY · Oct 18, 2005, 01:08 AM

thanks for the info. I will be using the rig mostly for gaming so would sli and crossfire really be needed by me? And even if I get an sli compatible mobo I shouldn;t have any problems using lets say an ati x850xt right?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 18, 2005, 02:37 AM

np dude

. Well, if you want to shell out like $800-$1,200 on two high end gfx cards, then the money spent on two mid range cards in SLI or Crossfire would be better spent on one high end gfx card. it's just no way around that truth.

and yes, you can get an nVidia chipset MoBo and use an ATI card

ShY · Oct 18, 2005, 03:18 AM

I guess I can wait a few months then for more crossfire mobos to come out. Originally I was planning on getting the AMD 64 3700+ San Diego but should I get one of those AMD 64 X2's? I plan on using the rig for quite some time and I don't want it to become too outdated. Like I said I will mainly be using it for gaming and small apps so should I go to the x2's or stay with the single cores?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 18, 2005, 03:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShY

I guess I can wait a few months then for more crossfire mobos to come out. Originally I was planning on getting the AMD 64 3700+ San Diego but should I get one of those AMD 64 X2's? I plan on using the rig for quite some time and I don't want it to become too outdated. Like I said I will mainly be using it for gaming and small apps so should I go to the x2's or stay with the single cores?

what kind of question is that? If you have the dough to blow on a 3700+, then you've definatley got the dough to blow on an x2 3800+. Games will start to utilize the dual core features more and more as time progresses, so having a single core CPU will in the long run hurt you.

ShY · Oct 18, 2005, 03:55 AM

hehe a stupid one apparently =[.
No its just Iv heard that duals have their own sets of problems. Something about the clock speeds adding up to what they are supposed to be (1.3ghz+1.3ghz=2.6ghz) or something along those lines. Sorry if I'm not making any sense or if what I'm saying is totally wrong.

CDsDontBurn · Oct 18, 2005, 05:21 AM

lol, you're not stupid dude

. you're asking questions to become more knowledgable on what it is you're going for

. if you were stupid, you wouldn't ask questions at all. as far as the clock speed thing goes, i'm not sure on that. i myself have do not know, but i'm sure other DH members here do know since more and more members are beginning to have their own x2 rig

twoodcc · Oct 18, 2005, 06:26 AM

from what i've read about dual core is this: technically if your software FULLY supports dual core, then it's like 2.0 + 2.0 = 4.0 ghz. but not any software fully supports it....yet. but dual core does help with multi-tasking, and some software does somewhat support dual core, from what i've read. hope that helps

ShY · Oct 18, 2005, 10:50 PM

would I have to buy one of those 64bit compatabile versions of windows if I went with the X2's?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 19, 2005, 02:17 AM

nope

. all current consumer available processors are 32bit w/64bit exentions. I.E., they're not true 64bit processors. Which means that they are compatible with both 32bit and 64bit versions of windows

ShY · Oct 19, 2005, 04:40 AM

would it be stupid to just get the 3700+ and use it for like two years and then upgrade to a dual core? Iv been hearing many mixed reviews of the dual cores some saying they had gaming problems and some not having any. Around how long will it be when game makers start making their games for "multithreading"?

CDsDontBurn · Oct 19, 2005, 04:52 AM

TBH, having a multi threaded CPU (even if single core like the p4s) are much more efficient at everything else than a single threaded CPU. You can do alot more in less time with multiple threads going on.

For example:
you can burn a DVD, while using photoshop, listen to music from your computer, and surf the net all more efficiently than a single threaded CPU will ever be.

Oct 17, 2005, 02:06 AM	#1
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	Advice on computer parts I have wanted to build a computer for a long time and after a long time of searching i was thinking of getting: AMD 64 3700+ San Diego Asus A8n-SLI deluxe (socket 939) Thermaltake Cl-P0114 Heatsink/fan (I'v seen MANY people have a problem with the fan for the above motherboard so just taking precautions) Corsair XMS DDR 400 1gb Western Digital Caviar 250GB (16mb cache) Enermax ATX 550w PSU Does that seem ok? I was thinking I would get the AMD 64 4000+ San Diego instead of the 3700+ for an extra $100 bucks. And can someone clear up whether the Clawhammer cores are better then the San Diegos? Last edited by ShY; Oct 17, 2005 at 03:42 AM.

Oct 17, 2005, 02:16 AM	#2
Lowfat Xtreme Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Grande Prairie, AB, Can Posts: 4,254 Rep Power: 101	what videocard? The rest seems fine. I wouldn't pay the difference for the 4000+. Clawhammers are not better than San Diegos. __________________

Oct 17, 2005, 02:26 AM	#3
ReDGuiTaR DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Quebec , Canada Posts: 746 Rep Power: 0	good Mobo choice, the rest will fit nice in it . What about the videocard? __________________ Zing a ling... zing a ling a ling ... A8N-E - A64x2 4600, 2048 Mb Kingston ram 400mhz cas 2.5 ( 2 x 1024 DualChannel ), Seagate 320 Gig 7200 16Mb cache S-ata 2, GeForce 7900GT 512MB, Enermax 460watt power supply, WindowsXP SP2.

Oct 17, 2005, 06:03 AM	#6
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	indeed, the ASUS A8N-SLI is a PCI-E MoBo. Your current 9700pro will not work with that MoBo. You'll need a new gfx card. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Oct 17, 2005, 06:02 PM	#8
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	speaking of the 6600s, for a little more than the 6600, the 6600GT will perform slightly better than the 9800XT. So even that would be a nice upgrade __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Oct 17, 2005, 03:07 AM	Thread Starter #4
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	well I will probably be using my current ati 9700 PRO but I might just upgrade that to the x850.

Oct 17, 2005, 06:27 PM	#9
Vikingod Int'l Fish Liaison Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: By the light of lamp I sit and type... Posts: 16,197 Rep Power: 112 System Specs	Nice choices for the system (see my sig?). The mobo is a great choice (enough bells and whistels to shake a stick at). I love the HD too, the 400gb version is due out very soon, you may want to check the price of that.

Oct 17, 2005, 06:37 PM	Thread Starter #11
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	oh yea I completly forgot my card is an AGP =[ I would prefer to stick with ATI but I'm not too sure now with all this Sli stuff. Would there be a big improvement using an Nvidia card rather than an Ati one in this setup?

Oct 17, 2005, 10:15 PM	#13
twoodcc DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 143 Rep Power: 0	well i was in the same boat as you in my 10,000 mile long thread that's still going. i went dual core, and i got the 6600GT that some people have mentioned on here. the reason is that video card was affordable and i have read a lot of reviews and benchmarks and nvidia was ahead of ATI

Oct 17, 2005, 11:22 PM	Thread Starter #16
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	Crossfire? ok so if I want to stick with ATI then I assume I would need to get a different mobo that supports crossfire rather then SLI right?

Oct 17, 2005, 11:35 PM	#17
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	correct __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Oct 18, 2005, 12:13 AM	Thread Starter #18
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	and I see on newegg that I dont have much of a selection to choose from. If I waited a month or two would there be more crossfire compatible mobos? And what exactly does crossfire and SLi do?

Oct 18, 2005, 12:28 AM	#19
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	crossfire is relativley new compared to SLI. If you did wait a couple more months you probably would be able to see more MoBos available for Crossfire. As far as what they do exactly, basically what happens is that the work load is split up between the two cards allowing each card to do more work for a smaller part of the monitor. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Oct 18, 2005, 01:08 AM	Thread Starter #20
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	thanks for the info. I will be using the rig mostly for gaming so would sli and crossfire really be needed by me? And even if I get an sli compatible mobo I shouldn;t have any problems using lets say an ati x850xt right?

Oct 18, 2005, 02:37 AM	#21
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	np dude . Well, if you want to shell out like $800-$1,200 on two high end gfx cards, then the money spent on two mid range cards in SLI or Crossfire would be better spent on one high end gfx card. it's just no way around that truth. and yes, you can get an nVidia chipset MoBo and use an ATI card __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Oct 18, 2005, 03:18 AM	Thread Starter #22
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	I guess I can wait a few months then for more crossfire mobos to come out. Originally I was planning on getting the AMD 64 3700+ San Diego but should I get one of those AMD 64 X2's? I plan on using the rig for quite some time and I don't want it to become too outdated. Like I said I will mainly be using it for gaming and small apps so should I go to the x2's or stay with the single cores?

Oct 18, 2005, 03:55 AM	Thread Starter #24
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	hehe a stupid one apparently =[. No its just Iv heard that duals have their own sets of problems. Something about the clock speeds adding up to what they are supposed to be (1.3ghz+1.3ghz=2.6ghz) or something along those lines. Sorry if I'm not making any sense or if what I'm saying is totally wrong.

Oct 18, 2005, 05:21 AM	#25
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	lol, you're not stupid dude . you're asking questions to become more knowledgable on what it is you're going for . if you were stupid, you wouldn't ask questions at all. as far as the clock speed thing goes, i'm not sure on that. i myself have do not know, but i'm sure other DH members here do know since more and more members are beginning to have their own x2 rig __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Oct 18, 2005, 06:26 AM	#26
twoodcc DriverHeaven Lover Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 143 Rep Power: 0	from what i've read about dual core is this: technically if your software FULLY supports dual core, then it's like 2.0 + 2.0 = 4.0 ghz. but not any software fully supports it....yet. but dual core does help with multi-tasking, and some software does somewhat support dual core, from what i've read. hope that helps

Oct 18, 2005, 10:50 PM	Thread Starter #27
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	would I have to buy one of those 64bit compatabile versions of windows if I went with the X2's?

Oct 19, 2005, 02:17 AM	#28
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	nope . all current consumer available processors are 32bit w/64bit exentions. I.E., they're not true 64bit processors. Which means that they are compatible with both 32bit and 64bit versions of windows __________________ Her First Day \| A year later

Oct 19, 2005, 04:40 AM	Thread Starter #29
ShY DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Oct 2003 Posts: 44 Rep Power: 0	would it be stupid to just get the 3700+ and use it for like two years and then upgrade to a dual core? Iv been hearing many mixed reviews of the dual cores some saying they had gaming problems and some not having any. Around how long will it be when game makers start making their games for "multithreading"?

Oct 19, 2005, 04:52 AM	#30
CDsDontBurn Lurking DriverHeaven Join Date: May 2003 Location: Southern California Posts: 22,779 Rep Power: 235 System Specs	TBH, having a multi threaded CPU (even if single core like the p4s) are much more efficient at everything else than a single threaded CPU. You can do alot more in less time with multiple threads going on. For example: you can burn a DVD, while using photoshop, listen to music from your computer, and surf the net all more efficiently than a single threaded CPU will ever be. __________________ Her First Day \| A year later