superflyguy Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Hey Ho Well my ovetime gets paid Monday, so time to treat myself to a new rig! I've decided to go for DFI mobo because they get good reviews and this forum is excellent support. Here is my rig I'd like to get, can you folks take a look and advise if there are better bits or any incompatible parts? DFI Lanparty NF4SLI Athlon 4400 Arctic Cooling Freezer64 Fan 2Gb XMS3200C2PT TwinX Cas2 2x Western Digital 250Gb 16Mb SATA-2 HDD HP Lightscribe DVD-RW Club3D X850Pro 256Mb Graphics Card OCZ Powerstream 520W PSU Antec P180 Case Any conflicts in this rig? I'll be putting the HDD's into silentmaxx enclosures. I'll also be replacing the fans in the P180 for 3 panaflo 120mm 7v fans and a panaflo 80mm 7v fan. I think the only likely trouble is if the cables can stretch far enough from the PSU, as the power pack is on the bottom of the P180, with the mobo at the top of the case. Also not too sure about the graphics card, is it likely to make contact with the mobo's northbridge cooler? Also what is the best bios to flash to? I'm looking for it to be quite stable for some online games, probably won't start tweaking 'til I've been thrashed at CS:Source a few times! Any help much appreciated, I've worked my butt off hard to save the money, so can't afford to make mistakes!!! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DaVe Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 dont get corsair ram this mobo can have issues with it, get some ocz stuff as we got some ocz reps on this forum and ocz run very well on this mobo. good luck with your build Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
superflyguy Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Hey Dave m8, Can I get this in 1Gb modules? I'm assuming I need to use matched pairs for this mobo? I'm really looking to get 2Gb, but have'nt seen any OCZ in pairs in that quantity. Any OCZ folks shed any light? Maybe I'm not looking at the right retailers, I'm in the UK. Thanx. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erekosse Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 I have not had experience with the Corsair RAM in my MOBO, but the I'll ditto the remark above on the OCZ. I've got the OCZ installed in my system, and it's working well (although I need to use some active cooling to crank the OC - ambient temperature in Atlanta, GA being hot as it is...) You may want to look into a third-party CPU heatsink/fan. I've got the stock HSF running at the moment, and the 4400 is getting warm (along with the RAM ). I picked up the HSF combo below from svc.com for about $40 (including shipping). What OS are you planning to install? The process for XP Pro (64-bit) has gone pretty smoothly allbeit with mostly beta drivers scavenged around the net. Good luck with the build. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erekosse Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Hey Dave m8, Can I get this in 1Gb modules? I'm assuming I need to use matched pairs for this mobo? I'm really looking to get 2Gb, but have'nt seen any OCZ in pairs in that quantity. Any OCZ folks shed any light? Maybe I'm not looking at the right retailers, I'm in the UK. Thanx. I've not got experience with the 1GB modules. I have installed 4x512 of the sticks in the sig and was able to boot into windows XP after changing the CPC setting in the BIOS to 2T. Memtest ran stably on the configuration for about 6 hours. David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
superflyguy Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 Hey Erekosse Yeah, was thinking of either the zalman or an Arctic Cooling Freezer64. It's gonna be Xp 32bit for now, for games etc. Once there is enough drivers and bugs ironed out in Xp64 I'll probably move over. Or maybe a dual boot, is that how you have your rig? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erekosse Posted July 17, 2005 Posted July 17, 2005 No. I've shot all the way to 64-bit on this one without dual boot. I'm using the system mostly for video editing/effects with occasional gaming. I installed and ran Jedi Academy briefly to test the install of my Audigy 2 ZS with the 64-bit drivers (not sure the card is in my sig yet); the program ran without any hitch via the 32-bit emulation (surround sound was cool :cool: ). The primary reason I'm not dual booting is that I've got my 3-year old prior video editing system (Intel socket 478) to run anything that will not be stable, efficient and/or smooth under XP 64. Of course, I've got this system set-up on the desk in the kitchen so the wife and kids can check e-mail. Of course the 2 ZS above was scavenged from this system, and I reinstalled my old Audigy 1 card... David Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
superflyguy Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 Hey Erekosse I thought the Corsair issues were ironed out with the new bios? Would I be able to boot to install windows then update the bios, or will it fail to boot with Corsair? Also a wee bit confused, I thought ram had to be in matched pairs? Also I thought using all four slots would put the speed to 333Mhz? I know the NF2 had these issues, have they been removed from NF4? I've looked at OCZ but can't find any 1Gb matched pairs (giving 2Gb on two sticks). I've seen Ballistix, but it comes in at £165 more than the Corsair!! What about Crucial Value? I've seen that a lot cheaper, but it has a CAS of 3, would this slow my machine any? I've started purchasing the basics, but need to be sure before I commit to the mobo/ram and need to get it right! I could'nt be bothered with buying the main parts then having to return any :sad: , I just want to get the bits and build it without hassles, so I really appreciate any advice, thanx Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erekosse Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 You've just gone beyond my limited experience on this. I think you may want to see if someone else chimes in on it. I'd also suggest you hit the search feature on this board pretty heavily. I've found quite a few answers through some well chosen key words... -dsk Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
superflyguy Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 Hey Erekose No problem, searching now. Thanks for the advice given, it's helped me skip a problem or two before i start. Worse nitemare is getting the bits then discovering this does'nt work with that and so forth! Arrgh!!! :sad: Cheers again, m8 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacific vortex Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 stay away from corsair(this board doesnt seem to like them)and stay away from the artic cooler its all show.....try this instead...http://epowerhousepc.com/index.php?cPath=4...89200a0d139def3 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
xguy Posted July 18, 2005 Posted July 18, 2005 I have this in my system and they are rock solid so far 2 x1gb sticks http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820227210 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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