Aces High Bulletin Board

General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: moot on May 24, 2007, 03:18:16 AM

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: moot on May 24, 2007, 03:18:16 AM

ASUS M2A-VM Socket AM2 AMD 690G Micro ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131172)

Open Box: AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+ Windsor 2.0GHz Socket AM2 Processor Model ADO3600CUBOX - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103760R)
   
Kingston 1GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Desktop Memory Model KVR667D2/1GR - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134216)

Any incompatibilities or suggestions?
The only problem I see is that the shipped bios seems to be a problem for some people:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductReview.aspx?Item=N82E16813131172&SortField=0&SummaryType=ALL&Pagesize=100&Page=

Thanks in advance,
m.

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: wooly15 on May 24, 2007, 09:05:40 AM

I would look again at the MoBo. It's micro ATX formfactor which is smaller than your standard ATX.  Check the specs on your case to make sure it will fit.

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: moot on May 24, 2007, 09:29:21 AM

That's not a problem, I'm shaping the case out of extruded vinyl and aluminum scrap myself.
Anything else?

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: wooly15 on May 24, 2007, 10:19:05 AM

In that case, go for it.  Are you going to be running XP or vista.  If its vista, I would consider 2gig of RAM.  Its an insane memory hog.

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: Krusty on May 24, 2007, 02:10:33 PM

Quote

Originally posted by wooly15
In that case, go for it.  Are you going to be running XP or vista.  If its vista, I would consider 2gig of RAM.  Its an insane memory hog.

If it's Vista I would consider MORE.

Vista default (not using Aero Glass) took up 900MB or RAM while IDLING on a system that had only 1GB. Another system had similar, but was taking some of the RAM to share on the vid card (laptop). After whittling the entire thing down process-wise, I had it "merely" down to 700+ MB while idle.


Vista is bullhockey. IF you choose to use it, be prepared. By "be prepared" I mean take the minimum and double it: that's your new minimum. You then need to go beyond that minimum or you'll suffer later.

So, 1GB is the "new gaming minimum" these days. I wouldn't even dream of running Vista on it, but that's like saying Win98 ran on 64MB. Double that so your bare min is 2GB for gameplay on Vista. Then add more (3 or 4 GB) if you want it to be better.

RAM is dirt-friggin-cheap right now. In the past month certain brands have dropped literally 50% (and I mean name brands). Getting 2GB costs today what it took to buy 1GB 6 months ago. So, spend the same money and double what you want to get.

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: moot on May 24, 2007, 03:16:39 PM

I'll be running XP.

Sorry for posting in the wrong forum.. I forgot about this one :p

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: Krusty on May 24, 2007, 03:17:24 PM

You can get 2x1GB sticks from Corsair for about $70 USD. Why not get 2?

Title: About to buy this combo - any flaws?
Post by: Irwink! on May 24, 2007, 06:16:11 PM

Quote

Originally posted by Krusty


So, 1GB is the "new gaming minimum" these days. I wouldn't even dream of running Vista on it, but that's like saying Win98 ran on 64MB. Double that so your bare min is 2GB for gameplay on Vista. Then add more (3 or 4 GB) if you want it to be better.
 

2GB with Vista and AH is just fine even with no tweaking. With hi res and textures preloaded the whole system, AH and all, is using just under half of 2GB.