PC Building help.

[Masherbrum]

I've been asking questions in game, but now, I'd rather ask in here.

1.) Which PCI x16 Card to get?  $180 limit.  

x800GTO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814131424

or

x850XT:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/CustratingReview.asp?item=N82E16814102505

Rest of PC I have picked out is this:


AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
ASUS A8R-MVP Socket 939 ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 CrossFire
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (will be getting 2GB)
Thermaltake W0093RU 500W PS
Cooler Master Centurion Case

Thanks in advance,

Karaya

[buzkill]

GOIN BY THE NUMBERS...X850XT, AS LONG AS THE PCI SLOT NEXT TO THE PCI-E SLOT IS OPEN

[Scrap]

Opteron 148

You may want to look for deals on this CPU.  Same unit as the 3700+ SD you are looking at, but built to server grade QoS.  When I bought mine they were about $20 diff in price (not much when spending over 200-250 on a chip).  However, it appears that the gap has increased over the months.  A decent buy for a PnB (proc-in-box) solution if you can find the right deal.

[Scrap]

Good pick on the MoBo.  I run an A8N-E, which is essentially the same as the A8R-MVP but with an extra PCIx1 in place of your second x16 slot.  Good idea if you plan on chuckin the X8 ATI card down the road for a Crossfire solution.  Even better (wish this deal was around when I was searching.. or caught my eye.. wuddeveah!) is that the Crossfire board you are looking at is only roughly $1 more (to trade a PCIx1 slot for a PCIx16).

However, if you plan on using alot of PCI slots (I do.. my box is a near completed Media Center) the A8N-E may be the way to go.  Heck, 512MB PCI-E cards are EXPENSIVE.  I sure don't plan on moving to Crossfire in the near future after this updgrade .

[TequilaChaser]

1st question? why not use the ASUS A8N-E board is only like  $94.00

unless you plan on buying 2 2crossfire enabled video cards.......

the X850XT is the better card, has 4 more pipelines available, has higher core/clock/memory and will outpreform the  800GTO card......

regardless if it is ATi / Sapphire / ASUS ---I have used all three of these branded Radeon cards and have had no glitches from any of them, except a card I gave away was a 9200 64 meg radeon, gave it to a player on the boards here, it helped him improve his FR, but he was already even worse.......that 9200 card was prob worse I have ever used as far as finding the corrct drivers to maximize its ability........

I have a Sapphire Ati 9000 atlantis Pro 128 meg 4x AGP and a TRUE Ati 9800 Pro 128 meg 8x AGP cards along with a 9000 sapphire ati 64 meg and all work great for what they are...

newest cards are ASUS X850Pro ( has 12 pipelines and the other 4 are unlockable :-( )
and an ASUS  EXtreme X850XT  both 256 meg, both rock and don't skip a beat.....

only GeForce card I have in use is an old Mx400 64 meg something or nother, works great also, was a gift from a squaddie.....

anyhow, I would go with the Sapphire X850XT, Karaya.......my opinion more for ya money......

I would opt for the A8N-E 939 socket MB though, unless u plan on using crossfire down the road sometime, or step up to the A8N Premium or A8N Delux ( one is like 114.00  the other is like 153.00<---deluxe) if you want to use the dual SLI stuff...better yet go A8N-E Deluxe 32bit Sli nforce4 thingymajiggy card ( 224.00 ) and cover all bases......

as for the opteron, can it overclock like the 3700+ can, 3700 is capable of running at FX57 speeds without an elaborate cooling schemes.......

I like the Antec powersupplies as well.....using in 2 different PCs the antec TPll 550 watt trupower 2.0  Power supplies, the big 120mm fan is quiet and even helps keep pc running cooler......( they run around 80 to 90 bucks though )

good luck , Karaya

need to add: Whels has been building PCs for as long as I remember him playing AW back in mid 90's, I will usually run my setup for a new pc by him, since he stays up to date on most all these things, and he has stopped me from buying 1 or 2 things before I made a BIG BOOBOO  

[TequilaChaser]

Originally posted by Masherbrum
I've been asking questions in game, but now, I'd rather ask in here.

Rest of PC I have picked out is this:

 
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (will be getting 2GB)
Thermaltake W0093RU 500W PS
Cooler Master Centurion Case

Thanks in advance,

Karaya

[Masherbrum]

Revised:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB
SAPPHIRE 100106SR-RD Radeon X850XT
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500W
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
Seagate Barracuda 7200 SATA
SAMSUNG Black DVD Burner

Better?

Karaya

[buzkill]

can i touch it?
a friend of mine has that very cpu...IT ROCKS...it runs cool...you'll love it

[TequilaChaser]

Originally posted by Masherbrum
Revised:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego
ASUS A8N-E Socket 939 NVIDIA
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB
SAPPHIRE 100106SR-RD Radeon X850XT
Antec SmartPower 2.0 SP-500W
COOLER MASTER Centurion 5
Seagate Barracuda 7200 SATA
SAMSUNG Black DVD Burner

Better?

Karaya

I was just giving my opinions Karaya, of stuff I have used before.......

looks good to me,  you going to use SATA 150  or step up to SATA II  3gig/sec HD?  in all seriousness I can not tell to much difference in the 2, except when I am doing DVD burning or CAD work....any other times even playing AH or other games I do not see a difference....... I did step up to the SATA II though on the wifey's pc I just built....... heck her HDs were 10 dollars cheaper for same capacity as I paid for my SATA 150  and all are by same manufacture just bout 1 year apart...

I going to go review that opteron , scrap posted about, see if it is unlocked and capable of being OC'ed...

but with your setup here, there really isn't a reason to even overclock the 3700, it is fast enough and with the ram and vidcard you should be able to run max quality on everything and not take any fps hit.....should max out ok....

again, my opinion......

years ago, I would follow advice from others, and install 1 component ( ie  vid card ), then boot up, set up restart, then move to next component do same rinse, repeat........I guess had alot to do with setting IRQs and stuff, for my last 5 pc builds, I basically throwed everything together at once, booted up, loaded Win XP Pro SP2 or Win98se ( depending on which PC )( or dual boot ), and loaded all drivers /updated then let pc run for a full day or 2 without shutting off to see if it crashed, have not had one fail me yet, doing it this way verses setting each device up individually.......which back then seemed always had some issue conflicting somewhere......food for thought.....maybe....maybe not....... only issue I had was lost processor fan, while playing AH, it literally melted processor down into the socket on my old athlon 1800, I put new fan on it ( processor is still stuck to the board LOL, and it is still running fine, I thought it had messed up my memory because of the heat, but after cleaning registry all is still good, it has runned like this for over a year now, and my youngest daughter uses it like 24/7 except when I catch her door unlocked and her not in her room, where I can shut it off...........kids......

[38ruk]

Below in my sig is a CPU-Z validation for 3.0ghz for my 3700+, up from 2.2 ghz . I have an older stepping KABCE, The newer ones KAB2E OR KAB3E are even better , some even getting 3ghz on air. If the place you order it from lists the stepping , look for the '3E.   From being on the fourms over at overclock.net ,and helping people clock theirs , Id say the average is 2.8. GL

[Scrap]

TC,

The Opteron 148 is a 3700+ SanDiego.  Only diff is that the Opteron is held to a higher standard off the assembly line.

Also, if you look at the differences between the ASUS A8R-MVP and the ASUS A8N-E were only talking interfaces.  Otherwise they are identical.

A8NR-MVP $95.99 :
3 PCI
2 PCI x16
1 PCI x1
*firewire


A8N-E $94.99 :
3 PCI
1 PCI x16
2 PCIx1
*no firewire


As for the A8N Delux, the board is SLI.  That means you will have to go with Nvidia when stepping up to dual GPU.   Not that there's anything wrong with that...

[boxboy28]

Karaya (Jay) if you read what the SKUZZY master said recently right now is not the time to upgrade .... as much as i know you need it wait a lil!


I know AMD is switching socket type again and you might want to wait for the newer socket type MOBO... (just a suggestion)  on the Ram dont skimp!  get good fast stuff from a good manufacturer!  NOT VALUE SELECT.

[Scrap]

Originally posted by TequilaChaser
the X850XT is the better card, has 4 more pipelines available, has higher core/clock/memory and will outpreform the 800GTO card......

Oh yeah... and the X800s they are shipping out now are 16 pipes out of the box.  But the point is moot, X850 is boasting better core speeds, better memory, and better pixel shaders... and CHEAPER (by a couple O bucks)!

I would make the call between the two based on:

a) How much space I want to sacrifice (the X850 is the size of the new X1900)

b) Outputs 2DVI for the 800, only 1 for the X800

c) Reviews/Feedback

d) overclock capability (might be able to push the 800 to the same limts as the 850.. dunno, could be possible the way manufacturers make the same card and lock it down to make price points for various models).

The way I look at it w/o any other reseach other than looking over the specs on NewEgg (which aren't accruate for the X800 in pipes) I would go w/ the 850 mainly b/c of price and the features it boasts over the 800 (shader technology, etc..).  However, if you are running alot of PCI cards like I am going to (Media Center) I would think twice... the X800 will leave me room for sound card, TV tuner, GPU, etc..

It's all a matter of careful planning and research.



*Side note: my X800-GTO came from NewEgg w/ a software bundle that included a set of standalone Pacific Fighters CDs.

[Scrap]

Originally posted by boxboy28
...on the Ram dont skimp!  get good fast stuff from a good manufacturer!  NOT VALUE SELECT.

Good point.  I opted for the XMS (2 sticks, 1gig) over 2gig of the CheapoSelect.  I figured quality is important and so is RAM.  Plus, you can always pick up an extra G of XMS later down the road.  An easy upgrade that would do the least amount of damage to the pocket book (somthing the wifey might not even notice.... ).

[Masherbrum]

I can't wait anymore Box.  As much as I want too, I can't.  I can play AH2 just fine, after 5mins of surfing.....Blue screen O' Death.

Last thing then.   So 1GB of XMS is more "effective" than 2GB of ValueSelect?  If so, I'll get 1GB now, and then add another GB later.

I sincerely appreciate all of your help.

Karaya