How's this system look?

[brzrkr0]

My AGP video card died recently, so I decided it was a good time to upgrade to a PCI-express system. I sold my socket 754 motherboard and CPU to a friend, and I think I have the components for my new system mostly picked out. The system will be used primarly for gaming. I would like to do some mild overclocking, but nothing too crazy. I don't plan to use SLI.

Planning to buy:
CPU: Venice 3200+
Mobo: EPoX EP-9NPA+ Ultra (I'll be using the onboard audio and LAN)
GPU: eVGA 7800 GT

I already have:
Antec Sonata case
DVD-RW drive
7200 RPM SATA hard drive
Floppy drive
CPU cooler: Thermalright SLK-947U

I already have 1 GB stick and 2 512 MB sticks of Corsair Value Select pc3200. Since I'll be able to do dual channel this time, I figure I should probably ditch the two 512mb sticks and get a second 1gb.

I have two PSU's available, but I suspect neither one will be quite good enough. The choices are:
- Antec Truepower 430 (20 pin), or
- Antec Truepower 2.0 380 (24 pin), came with the Sonata case


Thoughts? Will I be able to get by with one of those PSU's, or will I need to buy another? For a motherboard, I was also considering the DFI LanParty UT Ultra-D, but I heard it has issues with Corsair Value Select.

 

[Some1ne]

Looks good. Personally I'd save some cash and get a Venice 3000+ instead of the 3200+ and just overclock it.

I'd go with the Epox board, because if I remember correctly, the DFI board, although not SLI, is still silly in that it includes a second PCI-e x16 slot, and there's just really no reason for such a thing.

Either one of those PSU's should be fine for that setup.

 

[darkswordsman17]

I would go with the Opteron that is about the same price as that 3200+. I forget the model number, but its right around the same price, but you get the full 1M cache instead of 512K. Get a good overlcocking board and you could probably easily get 2.8 out of it.

Are you sure that Sonata PSU is 24 pin? The Sonata IIs have a 24pin 450W PSU, but the original only had a 20 pin 380W.

Really they should be fine though, as that system should draw maybe 300-350W under load, if that much.

You could always go for the ASRock Dual-SATA2 board if you were worried about the 20 pin on a 24 pin board.

 

[GamerExpress]

I think that looks great, you could do a couple things like maybe switch to a 3000+ venice (3200+ not really worth the extra money when you can overclock the 3000+).

I would also consider maybe going with an Opteron instead.

 

[brzrkr0]

You might be right about that 380w PSU. I haven't actually hooked it up yet, so I could be wrong about the number of pins. I'll check it out when I get home.

Let's say I don't buy any new RAM for now. I'm not all that familiar with dual channel performance, so which do you suppose would give better performance/stability for gaming: 2x512 dual channel, or 2x512 + 1gb non dual-channel?

 

[brzrkr0]

Which Opteron would you recommend? Looking on Newegg I see several listed as socket 940; is that compatible with socket 939, or am I looking at the wrong processors?

 

[FDF12389]

940 and 939 are not compatible. Do a search for all s939 cpus and you will find the opterons.

 

[CactusJak]

I just bought the 3200+ Venice over the 3000+ because of some multiplier thingy. The 3200 is 10x and the 3000 is 9x. Something to do with making it easier to overclock the 3200.

As you can tell from my highly intelligent post, I know nothing about overclocking yet. But the 3200 was only 10 bucks more, so what the hey.

 

[brzrkr0]

Where is the 3200 only 10 bucks more? It's $152 pretty much everywhere I look.

 

[Fern]

Originally posted by: brzrkr0
Which Opteron would you recommend? Looking on Newegg I see several listed as socket 940; is that compatible with socket 939, or am I looking at the wrong processors?

Look for a Opteron 146, socket 939. EXAMPLE.

Search the threads "CPU/Processors" section to find best steppings.

Might have to hunt a while to find any available, seems they're going like hotcakes.

Fern

 

[brzrkr0]

I just ordered everything (video card and cpu from Monarch, board from ZipZoomFly). I went with the 3000+ instead of 3200+, and will use the Epox board. I got the 7800 GT from Monarch for $333 + shipping, and they have a $20 MIR on that card right now (plus I can get COD2 from eVGA). Now I wait. =)