New House = New Computer

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New House = New Computer

2006-07-22 22:31:32

BeerzGod: Hooray Beer!; +94|6871|United States

I'm trying to narrow down the compents for the computer I plan to build in the next couple months or so... once I get moved into my new house (I figure a new house deserves a new computer). Someone who knows quite a bit more than me about this stuff, please let me know if this comp is worth the price, hardware, etc. etc. Thanks.

- Aspire Black X-Cruiser Case ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Audio and Firewire Ports
- Sony DRU810A / 16x8x16x DVD+RW / 16x6x16x DVD-RW / 8x DVD±R DL / Interchangable Bezels White or Black / Internal DVD Writer
- Sony 16x DVD-ROM / Black / Cyberlink Software / DVD Drive
- Zalman CNPS7000B-CU LED CPU Cooler
- AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 / 2MB Cache / 2000MHz FSB / Socket 939 / Hyper-Transport / Dual-Core / Processor with Fan
- Seagate Baracuda / 320GB / 7200 / 16MB / SATA-300 / OEM / Hard Drive
- Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz E.P.P. Memory (2 x 1024)
- Logitech Media Keyboard Clavier Multimedia
- Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
- Asus A8N SLI Deluxe NVIDIA Socket 939 Motherboard / PCI Express / Audio / Dual Gigabit LAN / SLI / Serial ATA / Dual RAID / USB 2.0 & Firewire (3.5 lbs)
- XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual GPU 520M Xtreme / 1GB GDDR3 / SLI / PCI Express / Dual 520M / DVI / Video Card
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum PCI Sound Card
- Ultra / X-Finity / 600-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI Ready / Blue / Power Supply

$2,500 at final list price from tigerdirect.com.

Given I haven't shopped around for better prices on individual parts yet, I was just trying to get a ballpark figure of what I'm looking to spend on a top-grade system. I also heard something about AMD and Intel releasing new chipsets/mobo's about the time Vista comes out... along with PCI-E x24. Anyone know anything about this? I haven't caught myself up on what is coming out near the end of the year and I'd had to spend this much on a system that may or may not be nearly obsolete by the end of the year. Thanks in advance.

2006-07-22 22:50:41

Capt_Flapjack: Member; +12|7056|Kansas City, MO, USA

Alright, my first suggestion is to pricewatch and pricegrabber EVERY component and use resellerratings.com to weed out the bad stores. That will save you some dough. Tigerdirect seems to price things a little on the high
side.

The ram you have chosen is very good ram, but it isnt compatible with the motherboard or cpu you have chosen. If you stick with skt 939, then you need DDR ram.

Also, you may want to consider holding off a couple of more days. MASSIVE AMD price cuts are coinciding with the launch of intels Core 2 Duo chips. We're talking 50% off some chips...the FX-60 included.

You have all these top end components, but you have chose a mid/low level motherboard. I would recommend the Asus A8N32-SLI, which is the best socket 939 board out, hands down.

You may also want to consider shifting to a socket AM2 platform, as that will give you a lot more upgrade options down the road. If you decide to do this I would suggest the Asus M2N32-SLI board, which is the successor to the A8N32-SLI. If you choose this road you can keep the DDR2 ram, which your choice happens to be what MaximumPC magazine just put in their annual dream machine.

The X-Fi platinum is overkill, IMO. I would suggest the XtremeMusic flavor. If you really want that 64MB of onboard memory then the Fatal1ty one is the one you want. Platinum is overkill and right now not taken full advantage of by any programs.

Just a thought, but you might consider buying two 7900GTX's and putting them in SLI. You;ve chosen an SLI board, so you might want to choose that road. 7900GTX's from XFX in SLI are the fastest SLI videocards out there. Eventually the 7950GX2 will be better in SLI, but not yet.

I would suggest getting an OCZ GamerXStream 600w power supply over at MonarchComputer.com for a little over $100. OCZ has awesome customer support and that is an awesome price for a reputable unit.

If you want to cut some costs without cutting performance take a look a the NEC 3550a DVD DL burners. They hover around $35 and are equal to if not better than the choices you made.

Again, intel is releasing Core 2 Duo (conroe) within days, but that would be a new topic. In brief, C2D spanks AMD in everything.

For $2,500 you can get a KILLER system. For more help hop over to MaximumPC.com and put this exact post on the forums over there. There are some experts there that can hook you up with a sweet, sweet rig.

Good luck.

2006-07-22 23:24:55

Capt. Foley: Member; +155|6889|Allentown, PA, USA

Up your power supply. THe DX10 cards are gonna be BEASTS. 300W, no way 600W is good enough. Go get a 1KW power supply scince your spending that. Then you dont have to worry about power again. EVER. Seriously.

2006-07-22 23:34:39

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|7017

ok dont get what your getting... it will be obselete in a week... coz conroe is comming out in 4 days...

reason to buy conroe:

energy efficient, saves you on the electricity bill in the long run
300 dollar conroe kicked an FX60's ass.
less heat
can be overclocked very high

https://cache.www.gametracker.com/server_info/203.46.105.23:21300/b_350_20_692108_381007_FFFFFF_000000.png

2006-07-22 23:44:48

BeerzGod: Hooray Beer!; +94|6871|United States

That's what I was curios about... whether or not it's worth the wait for the Conroe chips or not because it's going to be some months before a mobo comes out that supports Conroe SLI setups. Anyone have any idea about the PCI-E x24?

2006-07-22 23:55:24

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|7017

Nvidia is shipping an SLI mobo in august, thats what ive heard, but it cant be overclock much due to heat. PCI-E X24 i guess is the total speed of all pcie busses like 8+8+4+4+1 and so on. are you getting 2 X 7950GX2? or just one, coz one doesnt need SLI mobo

2006-07-23 02:10:38

ShotYourSix: Boldly going nowhere...; +196|7020|Las Vegas

I agree with what was said about conroe. I have an FX60 and yet I'm drooling over those conroes.....

Here is a pretty good guide to building a compatible Conroe system using (more or less) available components. It's 19 pages but worth a look if you are considering Conroe.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2797

2006-07-23 06:29:12

Harmonics: A stabbing fatality; +22|6804

No point in spending all that money now, wait for DX 10 and get a DX 10 card.

2006-07-23 07:56:05

ghettoperson: Member; +1,943|6950

Except that if he want's a DX10 card he's going to have to wait till about Feb 2007, and I get the impression he'd like a new computer a lot sooner than that...

2006-07-23 08:36:03

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|7017

Harmonics wrote:
No point in spending all that money now, wait for DX 10 and get a DX 10 card.

err why dont he get a conroe set up and buy a cheap 7600gt and save up cash for that and get DX10 cards.

2006-07-23 08:46:22

SargeJp: Member; +87|7051|Canada

cyborg_ninja-117 wrote:
ok dont get what your getting... it will be obselete in a week... coz conroe is comming out in 4 days...

reason to buy conroe:

energy efficient, saves you on the electricity bill in the long run
300 dollar conroe kicked an FX60's ass.
less heat
can be overclocked very high

they kicked FX62's ass too.

2006-07-23 09:06:30

Capt_Flapjack: Member; +12|7056|Kansas City, MO, USA

Yeah, I have my eye on the E6600. I'm not going to build until there is a good, solid SLI conroe board though. Crossfire just really can't compare to the ease and performance of SLI.

Personnally, with that budget, I would use a conroe chip. IMO you will be happier with it than with the FX-60. Not that it isn't fast, but even the E6600 beats it, and the E6600 is going to be a $300 chip compared to $800.

With all that said, you won't be able to do SLI right away, though, so if you go with conroe then I would get the 7950GX2. They are beasts. That 600w psu should be able to handle one 7950GX2, but if you add a second one later on you might want an 850w or a 1kw.

Good luck.

2006-07-23 11:07:39

CommieChipmunk: Member; +488|6871|Portland, OR, USA

are dx 10 cards going to be compatable with the motherboards out now? cuz if they are just get a 7600 gt and wait....

2006-07-23 11:09:36

Cybargs: Moderated; +2,285|7017

CommieChipmunk wrote:
are dx 10 cards going to be compatable with the motherboards out now? cuz if they are just get a 7600 gt and wait....

yes... but they use 300 watt of power each.

2006-07-23 14:45:12

slo5oh: Member; +28|6962

I'll chop it apart as I see it...

BeerzGod wrote:
I'm trying to narrow down the compents for the computer I plan to build in the next couple months or so... once I get moved into my new house (I figure a new house deserves a new computer). Someone who knows quite a bit more than me about this stuff, please let me know if this comp is worth the price, hardware, etc. etc. Thanks.

- Aspire Black X-Cruiser Case ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB, Audio and Firewire Ports
case is 95% eye candy 5% useability (as long as you avoid $19 mom and pop speicals)
- Sony DRU810A / 16x8x16x DVD+RW / 16x6x16x DVD-RW / 8x DVD±R DL / Interchangable Bezels White or Black / Internal DVD Writer
stick with NEC for your DVD RW drives, they're the cream of the crop
- Sony 16x DVD-ROM / Black / Cyberlink Software / DVD Drive
doesn't matter much for a standard DVD player, just get a color that matches
- Zalman CNPS7000B-CU LED CPU Cooler
Great cooler, but there're are much less expensive options like the AC freezer 64 that cool as good or very close without breaking the bank
- AMD Athlon 64 FX-60 / 2MB Cache / 2000MHz FSB / Socket 939 / Hyper-Transport / Dual-Core / Processor with Fan
FX=Overpriced CPUs. Get a standard a64 x2 chip like the 3800 and you should be able to overclock it up near the FX speeds for a fraction of the cost.
- Seagate Baracuda / 320GB / 7200 / 16MB / SATA-300 / OEM / Hard Drive
can't go wrong with a seagate
- Corsair Dual Channel TWINX 2048MB PC6400 DDR2 800MHz E.P.P. Memory (2 x 1024)
This ram won't work on the mobo you listed. This is DDR2 ram, you'll need DDR ram to go with a 939 style motherboard and CPU.
- Logitech Media Keyboard Clavier Multimedia
- Logitech G5 Laser Mouse
- Asus A8N SLI Deluxe NVIDIA Socket 939 Motherboard / PCI Express / Audio / Dual Gigabit LAN / SLI / Serial ATA / Dual RAID / USB 2.0 & Firewire (3.5 lbs)
While I'd never tell anyone not to buy an Asus board since they've been the leader for nearly 10 years, you do need to decide if you're going to get an AM2 motherboard and chip to go with the ram you chose or get DDR ram to go with this now older 939 setup.
- XFX GeForce 7950 GX2 Dual GPU 520M Xtreme / 1GB GDDR3 / SLI / PCI Express / Dual 520M / DVI / Video Card
Haven't used it, nor looked at it yet.
- Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Platinum PCI Sound Card
an extra sound card is overkill if you have decent built in sound. Some guys will tell you it's needed, or you'll lose some FPS in game, but if you're already pulling 100fps who cares if you're losing 5?
- Ultra / X-Finity / 600-Watt / ATX / Dual 80mm Fan / SATA-Ready / SLI Ready / Blue / Power Supply
Nice PS, their new designed cables work well, but to keep the system quiet I'd recommend something with a single 120mm fan instead of 2 80s.
$2,500 at final list price from tigerdirect.com.

Given I haven't shopped around for better prices on individual parts yet, I was just trying to get a ballpark figure of what I'm looking to spend on a top-grade system. I also heard something about AMD and Intel releasing new chipsets/mobo's about the time Vista comes out... along with PCI-E x24. Anyone know anything about this? I haven't caught myself up on what is coming out near the end of the year and I'd had to spend this much on a system that may or may not be nearly obsolete by the end of the year. Thanks in advance.

Last, I recommend you never buy anything from Tigerdirect, they've screwed too many customers out of honest mail in rebates. Newegg and monarch are good alternatives. Monarch will actually build the system for you, for a fee, if you don't feel up to the task. Newegg has customer reviews on most of their products so you can make sure you're not buying garbage.

Last edited by slo5oh (2006-07-23 14:46:48)

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Harmonics wrote:

cyborg_ninja-117 wrote:

CommieChipmunk wrote:

BeerzGod wrote:

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