Alrighty lads sooo I bought a freaking gateway 5028 earlier this year (2gigs of ram and a Athalon 64 x2 3800+) Anyways ive been itching to upgrade so I ordered some new parts and a new tower. I know the tower isnt important, but heres the specs on the rest:
Motherboard:
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...anufacture=ASUS
Hard Drives: (plus I have a 250 gig Maxtor external)
x2
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...facture=Seagate
And a new video card: ps I got it for arount $100 less than listed here
http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...manufacture=ATI
What do you computer dudes think, will I be happy for a while? I mean the video card was the big expenditure so Im hoping it lasts me a couple of years at least (Im not a BIG gamer) Is there any parts I should swap out for something else? Its seems as though alot of people in the know are huge fans of DFI whats up with that? I cant find anything substantial. Thanks for the input!
Sounds good.
Just make sure you get a good dual core processor, I think Opterons are still avail in 939, and fx-60s.
Although some reviews and people suggest to get the core 2 duos instead of Athlons for the best value.
And get 2x1gb of ram. That should last you a good while.
If you're going to overclock, go with a DFI board. If not, use an ASUS.
ASUS boards all the way. And for the video, stick with ATI's offerings, their drivers imo are the most stable. Lastly don't cheap out on the memory too much and it'll be a fine setup with whatever processor you choose. Personally, I buy only Intel procs, but I haven't kept up with the latest procs from the big two.
I'm running Kingston HyperX memory on a very mild oc, and I've only rma'd one stick (two years ago) flawless workmanship otherwise.
Oh, and nice choice with the Barracuda, very fast drives.
wow thats one crazy video card!
I have the same HD in my system at home... they're stupid fast AND quiet.
Core 2 Duos and Quads outrun the Opteron 1xx and 12xx processors, but for most gaming it's e-penis measuring. I'm playing all new stuff on my Opteron 170 S939 with an ATI X800XL.
Other than that, make sure you have plenty of good case ventilation at the expense of a few dB. It'll prolong the life of your system's components immensely.
EDIT - I have a DFI SLI-DR motherboard. It's great for RAM timings and the capability to have 8 SATA drives running potentially.
Just make sure that if your mobo comes with 2 SATA controllers, keep your SATA2 HD on the SATA2 controller (unlike my board, whose second controller is a SATA1 Silicon Image 3114).
As for RAM, 2GB for sure for top end performance. Some folks are going 4GB and really, if you're a RAM whore, it can't hurt. There are some timing issues with running 4 1GB sticks of RAM on Athlon 64 boxen - give me a shout if you need a hand configuring one.
Only other thing I would suggest is double check that the power supply in teh PC can handle what you want to do and then some. Esp. with the way that new mid & high end video cards seem to demand power these days <_<
NefCanuck
Good point Nef, almost forgot. I swear by Antec's psu's, never had any issues with them... and yoiu should be getting a 400-500w min.
Thanks for all the advice guys... Its made me feel better about my decisions. As for the power supply I got a 450 watt thermaltake and I've read a review of where I guy has my exact setup (except a 1900xtx) and three hard drives and hes having no problem.
Oh yeah and about the RAM, I have two gigs (4x512) of generic stuff that came with my Gateway (I think its made by Kingston though) is this stuff good enough for now, will I be able to maybe run a mild mild overclock with it or should I wait and get some corsair, or ocz stuff?
http://support.gateway.com/s/MEMORY/DIMM/1.../100894mv.shtml
Im pretty damn excited. As I said im sticking with my Althlon 64 x2 3800+ for now, but what is the real performance differences between the Opteron and the FX-60? I was planning on holding out until the FX 60 came down in price then I would upgrade.
The difference between an Opteron 165-180 and a FX-60? Clockspeed. the 180 runs @ 2.4GHz, the FX-60 runs @ 2.6GHz. Both have 1MB L2 cache per core.
lordkingod,Jan 15 2007, 12:15 PM Wrote:Thanks for all the advice guys... Its made me feel better about my decisions. As for the power supply I got a 450 watt thermaltake and I've read a review of where I guy has my exact setup (except a 1900xtx) and three hard drives and hes having no problem.
Oh yeah and about the RAM, I have two gigs (4x512) of generic stuff that came with my Gateway (I think its made by Kingston though) is this stuff good enough for now, will I be able to maybe run a mild mild overclock with it or should I wait and get some corsair, or ocz stuff?
http://support.gateway.com/s/MEMORY/DIMM/1.../100894mv.shtml
Im pretty damn excited. As I said im sticking with my Althlon 64 x2 3800+ for now, but what is the real performance differences between the Opteron and the FX-60? I was planning on holding out until the FX 60 came down in price then I would upgrade.
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Good choices with the Video and Mobo. I'd be a bit worried about the 450w falling short for the XTX though.
How many amps are on the 12v rail. does the PSU have single or multiple 12v rails.
In the future i'd make sure to pick up some performance ram, just to keep the timings tight. Good ram makes all the difference in the world especially if you ever plan to overclock.
AMD's S939 offerings all seem to overclock pretty well. My FX-60 has been rock solid at 2.8ghz since i got it in the summer. even with ridiculously hot case temps it usually doesnt see above 45c under load.
If you're interested in an FX-60 check with me in a few months. I'm waiting for a Quad Core hand me down, and then i'll have a FX-60, and 2gb of OCZ platinum 2-3-2-5 ram for sale.
scoobasteve,Jan 15 2007, 04:53 PM Wrote:Good choices with the Video and Mobo. I'd be a bit worried about the 450w falling short for the XTX though.
How many amps are on the 12v rail. does the PSU have single or multiple 12v rails.
In the future i'd make sure to pick up some performance ram, just to keep the timings tight. Good ram makes all the difference in the world especially if you ever plan to overclock.
AMD's S939 offerings all seem to overclock pretty well. My FX-60 has been rock solid at 2.8ghz since i got it in the summer. even with ridiculously hot case temps it usually doesnt see above 45c under load.
If you're interested in an FX-60 check with me in a few months. I'm waiting for a Quad Core hand me down, and then i'll have a FX-60, and 2gb of OCZ platinum 2-3-2-5 ram for sale.
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Definitely keep me posted. The FX-60 and some ram was my next step anyways... so please keep me in mind. Thanks B)