Building an AMD 64 system with DFI mobo - Need advise

[benplanet]

First and foremost I'd like to introduce myself to this wonderful community of modders and DFI fans! My name is Benplanet - nice to meet ya'll in advance.

I've been reading around the forums for a while and I finally decided to join up!

 

I'd really like to get more involved - in practice - with the AMD 64 and DFI stuff, so I have made up my mind.. I WIL BUILD A BRAND NEW KICK-butt AMD 64 SYSTEM WITH A GOOD DFI BOARD! enough BS .. I really need help now ( i sounded hardcore for a second)

 

 

Ok, so i just spit out a short intro and if you read the top half you will think i am loaded with $$$ .. guess what your task is now harder than you think! you are not only helping a noobie but a CHEAPASS butt well :nod:

 

 

Ok now lets really get started! ( if you are reading this right now, i thank you! it means you were not discouraged by the previous paragraph!)

 

I will start with the Basics - CPU / MOBO / PSUS / RAM / CASE / Grafix

 

 

CPU :

The best CPU for the bucks is probably the 3500+ for just under $200 at ZZF

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__AMD_Athlon_...HLON+3500%252B+

come with heatsink and fan (standard stuff) but i hear people buy OEM CPUs and then buy the heatsink and cpu fan separate - should i consider doing that??

 

MOBO:

I will go with an ASUS AN8! [got you there for a second!] of course DFI Lanparty - but the dilemma is now which one to pick!!

I still dont know if i could afford SLi! but really going Sli is a good idea because it's been around for a little longer than crossfire (correct me if am wrong) plus i could just buy one 6800GT card for now and get another one in a couple of months! instead of buying a regular Ultra-D now and changing my mind in a couple months which makes things a lot more complicated.

http://www.pricegrabber.com/p__DFI_LANPART...FI+lanparty+Sli

 

PSUS:

Of course it has to be Sli compatible - but in case i don't go sli would it matter? also, i know i have to look for the 24pin ones? correct? anything else i should look for?

 

here the selection from the renown DFI-Street A list:

 

Antec Trupower > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817709004 ://http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82E16817709004

 

http://www.costcentral.com/proddetail/Ante...0/SP500/F09966/

 

Skyhawk 570W > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817193002

 

Any clear winners?

 

 

Ram:

Ram is maaad expensive! I don't want to be paying 200 bucks for 1GB of ram! help me find some mid-level ram on SALE PRETTY PLEASE! I have seen OCZ dual channel kits going for 70 AR once! I just need 1 GB for now.

 

Case:

I am in love with the Cooler Master cases! some of them are soo beautiful! and so pricey! that's why i picked the Cooler Master Centurion for the style and the mesh front which allows good air-flow. This thing is CHEAP too!

49.99 @ NeWeGG > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16811119077

any other recommendation of serious cases (not fancy ones)

 

 

Graphix:

Nvidia 6800GT > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814170089

Nvidia 6800XT > MAAD CHEAP! > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814127179

Nvidia 6800Gs > http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814150118

 

Which one to go with? also could i combine a 6800GT with a 6800Gs for the Sli? or do they have to be EXACT SAME CARDS to enable Sli capability?

 

HD:

I'd like 1 fast drive where i could run my games from, like a 36GB Raptor.

Otherwise i have 2 x WD 120GB @ 7200 rpms.

Also one last thing! my noobie side just couldn't hold it no longer... could somebody give me a quick overview on RAID config?? what is it, what does it do.. what do i need?? a card / how many drives? regular drives or really fast ones? 10,000

 

 

Cooling:

1 x 92mm (top)

1 x 120MM (side window)

1 x 80mm (front)

1 x 80mm?? (CPU FAN)

1 x 120 - the Psus

 

Anything else i should consider/add/remove??

thanks.

 

 

Accessories:

please advise of any Thermal cooler / cooling fans that i might need.

or anything else i forgot to mention to make this a "Kick-butt" system at a good price!!

 

 

Ok this is all for now... now i will patiently wait for your replies. but if nobody replies within 5min i will really get pissed and start screaming and cursing and talking sh** which i don't even know nothing about = Noobie Mode. :drool:

 

Thanks so much for the help fellow DFI streeters!

[Bombebomb]

I have yet to fully build one but I can tell you that I myself have a 3500+ venice core and it runs great for games. It can easily outrun a pentium 3.2gighurtz. Just a small bit of information there.

[DFI939]

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/m...uct_Code=120330

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/m...uct_Code=120332

get one of these while you can. The stock heatsinks arnt nearly as good as aftermarket heatpipe style heatsinks.

 

I don't think that you should go sli unless you game 24/7. It would seem to me that two cards would extra heat. I like evga for graphics cards but i am sure they are all fairly the same.

I like the sunbeam psu. I think that if you do deside to go sli then you should get the expert its not much more any ways. If you do go sli you will need a better psu I would think. I think that the sli a list start at 130$ I know that the type R is sli certified but its not considerd to be worth what it costs as there are better for the price. But I don't think that the gains are worth the extra cost and plus it seems that heat would incress in the case. every ones favorite heatsink is the xp-90 with a 92mm panaflo fan. Others like the thermaltake Big typhoon. Or the xp-120. I think that you should get a 74gb raptor. Or you can get the hard drives with 16mb two of those can be bought for 240$ and would be like a total of 400-500gb run that in raid-0 and your nearly as fast as a raptor and you have three times the space.

 

I think that you should get the new stacker that is comeing out in december. or the nzxt lexa.

[Switch]

To be honest SLI is a waste of $$$. Stick with 1 6800GS or GT, they both are comparable.

[Bombebomb]

Yes, I must agree unless your gaming or wanting bragging rights, no need for duel video cards.

[benplanet]

wow! great guys! you def turned me off on the SLI thing! LOL

[Nero.Jacinth]

Good choice on the CPU, as for you the mobo, I would suggest the Ultra-D or SLI-D. I prefer Zalman for CPU cooling, take a look at the CNPS7700. For the PSU, everbody's favorite is the OCZ Powerstream 520, around $130. For the graphics card, I would say the 6800GS, lower price than the GT and nearly the same performance. What I plan on doing with my computer is getting two Hitachi 80GB hard drives, then a third 250GB storage drive. All three add up to around 200 dollars. As for the memory, just take a look at the "A" list and look at some retailers, and try to pick the best ones for your needs that are in your price range. Good luck!

[ReD.SkY]

me too

 

i was thinkin bout dual 6800gs

 

also, how much better is 7800gt compared to 6800gs... is it worth extra 100$$

[benplanet]

']me too

 

i was thinkin bout dual 6800gs

 

also, how much better is 7800gt compared to 6800gs... is it worth extra 100$$

 

i think it depends on what you'd like to acheieve .. lil performance boost = worth the $100 extra??

 

what games you play? and how much

and ill tell you

[Sharp]

Hello,

 

Power supplies

# CoolerMaster Realpower 550W

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817171006

 

# Antec TRUEPOWERII TPII-550

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817103931

 

 

Hard drives

# Dont waste your money on a WD drive.

 

There are 2 main RAID modes,

 

Mirror mode (array)

If you have 2 identical drives, the second drive will be an exact image of the first one, a backup drive. So should the first drive fail all your data will still be ok.

# 2x 80GB drives would be seen as only 80GB.

 

Stripe mode (array)

This is exactly like Dual channel mode, both drives operate in parallel.

Both drives are combined together and both drives can be used at the same time.

# 2x 80GB drives would be seen as 160GB.

 

DATA gets shared between the drives in the stripe array.

 

So if both drives on their own can write 10MB in 10 secs/5MB in 5 secs, in stripe mode what would happen?

 

The files get shared across all the drives in the stripe array

(in this example my stripe array = 2 drives)

 

Suppose a 10MB file gets sent to the stripe array,

 

drive 1 gets 5MB

drive 2 gets 5MB

 

And how long would it take to write the data?

5 seconds

 

1 drive = 10MB is 10 seconds

Stripe array with 2 drives = 10MB in 5 seconds

 

So it is much faster.

And if the Stripe array had 4 drives 10MB would be done in 2.5 seconds.

 

Also if 1 drive in the stripe array goes funny, the whole array will go corrupt.

So this mode is not recommended for storing important data.

 

If you would like to run a stripe array + store important files you should get 3 drives. (or use another pc to store your important files.)

 

Remember, what I am saying is only the theory behind a stripe array.

 

You should consider at least 2 drives even if you are not going to be running a RAID array.

# 1 drive to install the operating system + programs

# 1 drive to backup/store important files + windows Pagefile

 

SATA2(3Gb/s) vs SATA1(1.5Gb/s)

Do not spend more money for SATA2, it will offer a very little performance increase.

# Not worth it.

 

 

Memory

# Crucial BallistiX, some users have been having problems with these.

Sticks suddenly going bad or not working.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820148007

 

# OCZ GOLD 2-2-2-5, very good and solid memory.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820227211

[DFI939]

I think that if you can afford the 7800gtx that you should get it. If not then I would get a good 6800.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...ATT=Video+Cards

 

that seems like a good price plus you get a free game with it. Call of duty 2 or something. If you can afford the 7800gtx by evga then they will give you there 200$ motherboard for free.http://www.evga.com/articles/public.asp?AID=258 I think that the combo price is a bit more than non combo price. so its really not free

[red930]

I'll agree that Sli isn't really worth it, however it really depends on what kind of gaming performance you're looking for. Dual 6800GT's is roughly 1 7800GTX/GT, so if you have $400ish to spend on graphics I'd suggest getting one of those. Personally I like evga, they've been pretty good to me.

 

Don't get me wrong, a single 6800GT or GS is still pretty good, but if you want 1600x1200 resolution with most of the eye candy turned on, you'll need either a pair of those or a 7800.

 

If you do decide on the 7800 route, I have an extra GTX I've been trying to sell on here, PM me if you're interested, no big deal.

 

 

Personally for your planned build I'd go with the OCZ Powerstream 520 (make sure it's the powerstream and not the modstream). It's a very safe bet that you'll never have an issue with it. Otherwise I never had any problems with my old Antec Trupower 2.0 550 watts, thoughy I believe others have.

 

One more point, when it comes to the memroy, $70 for a gig won't cut it (probably). It sucks, but spend more for some decent ram and it'll work much much better. Crucial Ballistix and Geil Ultra kits are around $150 on newegg and are both DDR500, so they'll work much better for you, I think. OCZ also has some fine products in that range.