Athlon 64 3200+ rig suggestions

[bajajg]

My new rig,

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K 90nm Rev. E (ADA3200BPBOX) (939) (Retail Box-w-Fan) $204.99

Mobo: Foxconn NF4UK8AA-8EKRS ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $104.00

RAM: Corsair Value Select (Dual Pack) 184 Pin 512MBx2 DDR PC-3200 VS1GBKIT400 $79.67

GPU: POWERCOLOR Radeon X800XL 256MB PCI-Express Video Card $279.00

Case: Antec Solution SLK3000-B Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $49.00

Power: SEASONIC S12-430 430W Power Supply - Retail $99.00

Hard drive: Seagate 160 GB 7200 RPM 8MB SATA $99.00

Have a few questions
1) How does the CPU/MOBO combo look? It was either the Foxconn or a Chinatech. I went for the Foxconn since I read that the placement of the chipsets is better and it has support for firewire.

2) How does the CPU/RAM combo look? The ram is a DDR400. Im not sure, but can I go with a DDR500 possibly? Does the CPU have to support this speed as well? What CPUs support DDR500?

3) The case. The shipping in this case is loads of $. Im hoping I can get one from monarchcomputer but they dont carry this one. Can anyone reco another?

4) The PSU. Im concerned about the power supply. Do I really need such an expensive one? Will this power supply fit nicely into another brands case?

5) Any other stuff you guys see that need improvements?

I dont intend to overclock btw, and my budget is around a 1000$ for all the above listed components.

appreciate anyones input,
girish

 

[Chosonman]

for $200 less you could get an AMD 64 3000+ (754) and Chaintech K8T800 Motherboard.

 

[bajajg]

im looking to upgrade to dual core in a couple of years tho... this is a long haul computer.

 

[Chosonman]

For $200 you can basically build a new computer in a couple years.

Future Proofing in a Nutshell by Chosonman

Dual core is good if you're planning to encode or decode much video or plan on running several applications simulteneously. Otherwise you're better off with a faster CPU than multicore.

 

[Bar81]

Word life.

 

[bajajg]

Makes sense. what about the multimedia instructions tho? the venice core supports MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3 and 3DNOW Professional.

also i plan on using this system to do some 3d rendering/modelling and to program and play games ofcourse.

i also generally have loads of windows open (not while gaming ofcourse). you know the normal for a programmer, 10 IE browser windows, vs.net, word, outlook, excel, sql server etc.

i dont mind either way, as long as like you said, you play it smart.

girish

 

[Rike]

For mobo you could get a MSI K8N NEO4-F for about $90 or you could get a Gigabyte GA-K8NF-9 nForce4 for about $120. They would each serve you well.

 

[bajajg]

yeah i got some other advice on another forum that the mobo was not too good. thanks for the tip.

any advice on the power supply anyone?

also, the big q. Rev E chip. I was also told that not all mobos support this chip. do the ones you mentioned support it?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

For $128 you can get a DFI LanParty NF4 Ultra-D =).

Save $10 and get the Antec TP2.0 430. This is definitely enough. I also highly recommend that you get a Seagate 7200.8 instead.


Neo4 and LanParty Ultra-D definitely do support this. Get a new bios update or whatever. BTW, if you're not going to OC as much, Neo 4 or Asus AN8 (or was it A8N.... stupid Abit and Asus naming their boards like this) will run really well.

 

[Rike]

Originally posted by: bajajg
yeah i got some other advice on another forum that the mobo was not too good. thanks for the tip.

any advice on the power supply anyone?

also, the big q. Rev E chip. I was also told that not all mobos support this chip. do the ones you mentioned support it?

Which mobo didn't you like? I listed two.

All the current 939 mobos will need a BIOS update to run the Rev E cores, AKA Venice. I would have recommended the DFI LanParty NF4 Ultra-D as well, but I thought it might be outside your budget. You could also go with this Asus mobo. Asus and AMD have already announced that the Asus boards will support dual core for sure. I don't know if any other mobo manufacturer has made a similar announcement although I'm sure many other 939 boards will support dual core as well.

Seasonic have a solid rep, although I've only bought Antec so far and I've never had one fail me yet (knock on wood).

The ram you choose will not be likely to have a lot of head room for OCing. (BTW the DFI mobos boards are supposed to be the best OCing nforce4 boards.) Check out this review of value RAM. It's a good read. I think anyone buying value RAM right now should give a few mintues of their time.

If I were buying right now, I'd get the DFI LanParty NF4 Ultra-D, an A64 3200+ Venice core, some OCZ Value VX, and a X800XL. Then I would get ready for some serious overclocking fun and some kickbutt gaming. And I wouldn't even have to sell my soul to pay for it.

If you want to be extra safe, you could buy the whole combo pre-tested from Monarchcomputer.com. Their pre-testing really can cut down on DOA parts and nasty RMAs.

But all that's just me. Do what makes you happy.

 

[knothead34]

i definately like rikes suggestion took the words right out of my mouth lol uh ur mind ..uh ur keyboard oh hell. i would recommend the fortron blue storm 500 watt for psu. and it has native 24 pin which is required for dfi nforce 4 boards.

 

[bajajg]

hey rike, i meant i got advice that my original mobo reco was a downer (foxconn).

im not plannin on overclocking actually. i did originally pick the DFI LanParty, but that is a bit outside my budget.

Thanks for the harddrive tip DLeRium.

wheres the fun in building your own system if you cant build it on your own eh?!

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

That PSU isn't necessary. For $50, you can get the XClio 450W with dual +12V rails @ Newegg.