Compy Upgrade Time

Computer Forum New Build / Upgrade Advice
1

Hey all, I just signed up here.

Its time to upgrade to a new comp from my current one which is not very healthy and really starting to show its age. Here’s what I’m typing on now:
AMD Athlon 1.2ghz
256mb ram
30gig Hard Drive
GeForce 2MX 100/200
Cd-burner & dvd drive

The final nail in its coffin was when the vid card died.

Anywhoo I’ve looked around at a few computer stores, seeing what sort of set ups I could get them to put together. I have some basic knowledge about whats good and whats not, but not enough to make any firm decisions yet. There doesn’t seem to be any huge cost in getting the computer put together by the store compared to the trouble of putting it together, which I’d rather not do.

It’d be preferable if the price could be kept around the AU$800-$1000 mark (about US$650-$800 or £340-420). Also the main requirement for power is that its able to play the current games like Doom3, Half Life 2, and a good aim is to smoothly enough run Battlefield 2, plus games for the next couple of years. I don’t have to turn all the graphics settings to max either, I’ve been living on low settings for hte last 4+ years.

Here’s option #1 (Some of its typed straight off the quote, so hopefully you know what it means)
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 939
ASUS A8V-E Deluxe S939 M/B (PCI-e/SATA/AUDIO/GLAN/RAID/1394)
2x512mb DDR400 DUAL-CH PC3200 RAM
120gb SEAGATE HDD (8MB, 7200prm)
128mb ASUS GeForce6600GT PCI-E (DVI, TV-O, SLI)
CD Burner & DVD drive

COST: AU$1055 (US$about 800 i think)

Option #2:
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ S939
Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 s939
512mb 3200 @ 400mhz DDR Ram
Western Digital 80gig ATA100 7200rpm HD
128mb NVidia geforce6600 PCI-E (DVI & TV-O)
LG DVD Burner

COST: AU$845 (about US$650)

Now on the second option I’m pretty sure I would want 1gig ram rather than the 512mb, and I might spend another $30 to get 120gig HDD.
The second 6600 doesn’t seem to be a GT, and from what I’ve heard I should get a GT.

The hardest decisions are on what cpu/motherboard combo I should get. I’m set on an AMD, and leaning much towards the 64’s around the 3000+ mark. One thing I dont know is whether to get a 939pin or 754?

Also, assuming I get the 6600GT, how important is SLI and how much will I save if I get a 6600GT without SLI (If that’s possible)?

2

The first system hits the nail right on the head:good:, that’s spot on really. If you’re not into overclocking I’d get a 3200+ socket 939 as it bumps the speed up to 2.0GHz rather than 1.8Ghz on the 3000+ and that’s a pretty big difference for about $40 or so.
Definately go with socket 939, it’s the newest gives you great upgrade potential down the road as AMD won’t abandon it for quite some time and supports dual-channel ram. Don’t go with 754 as it’s all but obsolete now and you don’t want to limet yourself in the future.
All 6600GT’s are SLi ready but you need a compatable board, and neither of the ones you picked out are so you can’t run two of those cards in tandum. SLi is still a tad pricey for a good board and few barebones kits come with this option, if you see one concider it as if you need a performance boost you can simply add the exact same card you bought and you’ll effectively boost speed by about 50-80% or so.
So if I were you I’d go with the first one unless you want to future-proof your system by going SLi, in that case you’ll need a new mother board:( And just so you know the 6600GT is noteably faster than the 6600 so don’t go with the 6600 if you can help it (it also doesn’t usually work well in SLi, if at all).

3

couple tips:

get a san diego or venice core in the processor which enhance the cores and also support SSE3

make sure to use the full potential of the on die memory controller and get dual channel ram AKA two sticks that support dual channel, it should boot DC by default

a gig of RAm would be a good upgrade and its becoming the norm lately, be sure to check your memory manufacturer’s website if it’s compatible fully with your motherboard

try to get a motherboard with 2000 fsb, the higher the better

If you want a 6600GT I recommend getting an eVGA line, since they have built in OpenGL 2.0 support

you don’t need a cd burner and dvd burner, and If you want one dvd burner I’d recommend a Pioneer DVR-109

and on a personal note, id go with the A8V which is a good board and has built in wireless capabilities which is a bit unusual for a board, I have its big brother, the A8N-SLI Deluxe, and they both have a couple same features

Try to get a SATA drive too, they might only have a 12mhz gain for 150, but the speed is raised in many different areas, and later on I’d recommend to get Raid 0 and have a different drive to back it up (Raid 0 sorts out a verified amount of kilobytes of each file to each drive, and then both act as a single one, which enhances performance two times, but if one becomes corrupt you’re screwed. So be sure to get an Ide third drive cheap for back ups later on)

Awesome pick with the 939, you’ll love it

And stick around the forums, If you ever need any help we’ll be here for you

4

Thanks for the replies guys, I’ll definitely stick around to keep you posted on what choices I make.

I was talking about this on some different forums and these two guys were arguing about which processor is better, an AMDsempron 3100 or the AMD 64 3000. This was considering things like price and stuff as well. One guy said that with overclocking the sempron 3100 can get up to the level of a 64 3800+ !

In the case that I need to save some money (I’m not 100% sure of how much help with funds i’ll get from the rest of the family) would it be wise to get a cheaper processor, or should I stick with the 64, and downgrade something like the vid card?

Everywhere has pretty much said the first set up is good, and from what I already know I like it. I think the first quote has the venice core.

I’m tossing up whether to worry about SLI, since I’ll probably be able to stretch the life out for a fair while before needing any upgrade, and by that time a newer card might be a good deal anyway when compared to spending extra on SLI now. I can get a A8N-SLI board for an extra $10-$30 (depending on whether the A8V-E Deluxe I got listed there has wi-fi or not) or an A8N-SLI Deluxe for another $30 ontop of that. Out of those two will I need to get the deluxe? If the vanilla A8N-SLI is as good as the A8V-E Deluxe, but with the addition of SLI support, then I’ll get that.

5

an amd 64 3000+ is better than a 3100 simply because sempron is a value edition of the AMD line, picture it as a value edition 3k

maybe you can overclock the speed up to 2.4ghz but the performance still wouldn’t be the same, you’re still talkin sempron vs. athlon

I have the A8N-SLI Deluxe and I’d recommend it, it has very much goodies you won’t even use such as Raid 10 and 8 SATA/SATA2, 2 IDE 133 connectors, but the drawback is that it doesn’t have built in wifi, but its a very good board, it just broke the 3Dmark05 record with two 6800Ultras, and it comes with awesome documentation, warranty, and a hell lot of add-ons

just keep in mind that if you get SLI sometime, two 6600GTs have little performance gain over a 6800GT and cost areound the same price give or take a few dollars

it depends on your budget

6

Yeah forget the Sempron, it’s socket 754, no dual-channel memory support, and lacks the multimedia instruction set that newer athlons have. Even overclocked it couldn’t touch the 3800 with it’s bigger cache and on die memory controller/integrated fsb. Stick with the athlons for now.

7

Everything here looks good but get the x800xl, much much better than the 6600gt.

8

Very true but I don’t think he can afford to spend the extra $130 or so:(

9

I’m trying to stick to a budget, and by the sound of it a 6600GT is around what I need. I don’t wanna spend any more than the 6600GT price on a vid card.

With the SLI I’m definitely not intending to make use of it for atleast 2 years. I’m just thinking ahead to when the time comes that I need more out of the video department. I’m leaning towards not getting the motherboard with SLI and saving myself $60.

[QUOTE=zRoCkIsAdDiCtInG]

I have the A8N-SLI Deluxe and I’d recommend it, it has very much goodies you won’t even use such as Raid 10 and 8 SATA/SATA2, 2 IDE 133 connectors, but the drawback is that it doesn’t have built in wifi, but its a very good board, it just broke the 3Dmark05 record with two 6800Ultras, and it comes with awesome documentation, warranty, and a hell lot of add-ons

[/QUOTE]

Is that a typo or is it good to have features not to be used??

If I get the A8V-E Deluxe (or non-deluxe) I won’t have SLI, but I will have the option of wifi, which would cost an extra $20. Wifi worth the extra $20? What do I use it for?

10

I understand the budget thing, I have an X800 Pro but knowing what I do now I would have made the leap to the XL. Anyways, having extra features is good, it gives you expandability for the future. And Wifi is short for wireless fidelity, wich is a pun of high fidelity, but thats another story for another day. What it is, is wireless network access. It is useless unless, A. it is in a laptop, or B. you have a wireless home network. From the sound of things you do not so you should be ok.

11

Ah yeah, I’m not planning on setting up a wireless network in my house so I guess I can save myself $20. And I’ll make sure to spend that $20 on the deluxe.

One thing I haven’t really thought about until now is sound. I’m assuming its built in to the motherboard or whatever? I just have a 2 desktop speaker/subwoofer combo. Also I’ve got an LG flatron 775FT so I’m hoping it’ll connect alright. I’m sure if not theres some simple adapters I can get?

On the list I’ve got here the X800XL (512mb!) costs about $500 more than the 128mb 6600GT. I’m guessing you were talking about a 256mb X800XL.

12

Well the onboard audio should do fine for a 2.1 setup, and the monitor will connect to any video card with a DVI out (almost every one on the market). And as for the x800xl, yes, I was referring to the 256 MB versoin, besides, the 512 MB is not worth it.

13

I’ve got my 2.1 set-up hooked into my mobo with integrated audio and it’s works great and I can’t imagine it sounding better. If you only want to spend around $160 or so than you picked the right card, you can’t do better if you’re not going to spend more. I really wouldn’t bother with SLi if you’re not upgrading in around 2 years. By that time the nForce 4 chipset will be out dated and you’ll have a harder time finding the exact same card you already bought, and when you do you’ll be popping in an over 2 year old card which will still only bring you up to the very low end level by the standards of the time. Get the 6600GT now and buy something better when the time comes, no game will ever require SLi to my knowledge.

14

Yea, people have to remeber, that dual card rigs are still a luxury. They were not absolute a year ago, and not many new games have come out since then (at least not ones that count). Dual card may be neccessary in the future, along with dual core, and dual hard drive, and dual layer DVD’s, but with the 7800 GTX, it doesn’t look like it will be for a while.

15

I suppose in the distant future dual cards may be necessary but people like to keep things compact and efficient, SLi doesn’t quite fit that and it’s not super economical if you wait awhile to upgrade to the next card as it’s outdated. Dual-core video cards seem more realistic.

16

Went to another computer shop today, this time the deal was $1127 (after it initially seemed like things were gonna be cheaper).

AMD 64 3000+ $218
Gigabyte K8NSC 939 nforce SATA D-CHAN $155
1gig 184pin oc3200 DDR 400mhz RAM $195
WD 120GB SATA 8MB HDD3 $119
MSI 128mb NX6600GT PCI-E $279
Gigatech Silver Case 8870KL w/500W ps $86
Samsung 16x DVD-RW $75

Total cost $1127

The main thing is that the guy told me the cheaper and older motherboard I chose, rather than the A8N-SLI Deluxe, couldn’t support dual channel on the RAM so I had to pay a bit extra for the single 1gig RAM there. It says right in the name of the K8NSC that it has “D-CHAN”! Whats up with that, and is this a better deal than the first two?

Originally I went thru and chose this set up off the price list at the shop:
AMD 64 3000+ $218
Western Digital 120gb SATA HDD $119
Gigabyte K8NSC 939 $155
1gb Dual 3200 Kinston RAM $139
Jetway 6600GT PCI-E $269
Samsung DVD-RW $75
Gigatech 8870KL MIDI ATX P4 500W Silver Case $86

Total Cost $1060

I could go for the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe for $255, bringing the total cost to $1160. Do I want/need the more expensive motherboard? Bear in mind that its $55 cheaper to go 2x512mb Ram instead of 1x1gb RAM.

17

Personally, I’d get 2x512, as then you can dual channel them.

A SLI Config would be nice, but do you really need it?

If you aren’t buying two graphics cards, then you can’t really take advantage of the power of the board. If its for gaming, no games as of now and the near future can take advantage, as they aren’t properly coded etc.

You might want to consider dropping the 230 dollar motherboard, going slightly cheaper and getting a 6800 Ultra card.

18

I don’t want an SLI config now I’ve decided. I asked about the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe in relation to the guy at the shop saying I’d need to buy that if I wanted to dual channel my RAM, which I was surprised by. On another forum someone just said thats crazy since even nfroce2 motherboards support dual channel RAM.

Would I save money by using a 6800 Ultra for similar performance when compared with the 6600GT?

19

You could get the same board I have, for abour 80 dollars, at a rough guess - Asus AV8 Wireless Deluxe. socket 939, support for 4 gigs of RAM, comes with wireless, firewire, raid, everything.

The guy hasn’t got a clue, to be honest, if he said you need a SLI Deluxe to get dual channel…BS. Trying to make an expensive sale. My board was 50 quid, and supports it.

As of now, I believe that the 6600GT is the best value for money card available, its performance: price ratio is fantastic.

I’ve fallen behind a little, been concentrating on other things so I’m not uptodate with the likes of the aforementioned Radeon X700LE series, so that could also be an option.

But a lot of users wanting an upgrade on this scale tend to go for a 6600GT.

20

I’ll stick with the 6600GT then. One of the main options for motherboard is the Asus A8V-E Deluxe, don’t know if I mentioned it earlier. Guess I’ll just get the slightly cheaper boards rather than spend an extra $100 on the A8N-SLI Deluxe.

I’m hoping the guy was just confused with SLI compared to dual channel RAM, wouldn’t be happy if he was just trying to rip me off. Well not really ripped off, more like unnecessary expense.