My first time build

[philw007]

So here it is...looking forward to some comments...all parts are ordered and on the way. If you can't tell, i'm into bang for buck and not just all out best.

1. Cooler Master Stacker 830 Aluminum - yes, i ordered it from excalibur pc. yes, i splurged on this.

2. WD Caviar SE16 WD4000KD 400GB - don't want to run raid 0 or 1...so didn't get the enterprise one...great bang-for-buck

3. AMD Opteron 165 Dual Core CCBWE 0547TPMW SOCKET 939 - seems like a good bang-for-buck processor...my first amd

4. Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT 2GB Kit DDR500 XMS4000 - people say timings are less important than speed for amd processors; hope they are right

5. NEC ND-3550A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW - popular burner...

6. Plextor PX-740A 16X Internal Dual Layer DVD±R/RW CD-R/RW - ribbon recommends it! so decided to try one

7. Seasonic S12 600W SLi Rev-A2 PS - seems like one of the best bang for buck

8. ASUS A8N32-SLI DELXUE NFORCE SLIX16 MOTHERBOARD - ribbon recommends it!

9. Have old Radeon 850XT that I got about 4 months ago...will hold off on new graphics card.

10. Have old audigy 2 zs card that I plan to pull from current dell xps i'm using.

That's it. What do you think? I know i'm skimping on graphics card...but figure I will get a new one in the next 3-9 months when prices drop a bit. Does this sound like a reasonable build?

Thanks in advance for any comments and advice.

P.S. Everything mentioned above has already been ordered, and either shipped or in processing.

P.P.S. What are your thoughts on the scythe or just running stock heatsink? Also, thoughts on fans (ribbon likes delta...I was thinking for triple blade deltas for best bang for buck)? How many and which sizes do I need for my CM 830?

 

[Firsttime]

Looks like a very solid build. That graphics card although not top-o-the-line will certainly play just about every game out there at decent settings. Have fun with it, a great "Approved by Ribbon Rig" hehe

 

[OdiN]

Looks like a good system.

Personally I don't like the Coolermaster - a case shouldn't need that many freaking fans to keep components cool.

Why do you have two DVD+/-RW's?

For heatsinks I like the Zalman 120mm - quiet and cools very well. I had a P4 2.4 @ 3.4 with their 92mm one.

I also would recommend the Asus board. Also..the Plextor DVD+/-RW, while nice, I think is a waste of money. Lite-On's can be had for much cheaper and work very well. I sell them all the time and haven't ever had any issues - I use them myself in my own machines.

 

[theMan]

get a thermalright si-120 heatsink, not the zalman.

 

[Cabages]

You could save some money on a cheaper mobo. I cant find that one in stock for less than $210, and you can get the Premium edition for $50 cheaper. Heck, the plain old one is only $120 (Asus A8N SLI).

Why do you have two burners?

How much is that ram? I think you might be able to save some money on that also. Newegg has some Patriot memory for $210 AR for probably the same speed.

 

[secretanchitman]

i would get the a8n sli deluxe/premium instead of the sli x16 board. theres really no point to, and it looks like you arent going to do SLI, or crossfire for that matter since you have an ATI card on an nvidia mobo.

2 dvdrw drives? i would stick with the NEC. one of the best dvdrw drives out there.

as for heatsinks, a thermalright XP-90/90C/120/si-120 is good.

but, you said it is all ordered. its alright, 1 more dvd writer cant hurt (in case one fails), and theres no problem using a "ultra high-end" mobo and a stock heatsink.

congrats on your first time build! dont hesitate to ask any question, dumb or smart!

 

[potato28]

If u dont want to overclock the processer out of the box, or are on a silence streak, buy the third-party HS/F. For your uses tho, use the stock HS/F.

 

[atybimf]

Originally posted by: secretanchitman
i would get the a8n sli deluxe/premium instead of the sli x16 board. theres really no point to, and it looks like you arent going to do SLI, or crossfire for that matter since you have an ATI card on an nvidia mobo.

The A8N32 is better for overclocking. However, I think the Premium overclocks fine. I have one with my Opteron 148 at 2.9GHz!

 

[philw007]

TY all for such quick replies. I will try to answer questions posed.

Firsttime: thanks...approved by ribbon is what I seek

odin: doh...I guess i didn't need 2 burners....wasn't thinking when I ordered them...supposed could have bought 1 reader and 1 burner...lol...its already ordered, so I guess I will have 2. I have heard good things about the zalman, thermalright, and the ninja scythe...don't seem to have a concensus on which is best. I am thinking all 3 are excellent?

Cabages: I splurged for the mb becuase of the expected "longevity" of the a8n32. The memory wasn't much more $227 for corsair xms. And, yes, i'm dumb for buying 2 burners...wasn't thinking.

secretanchitman: the plan is to eventually go sli...just not willing to pay the premium for 2 sli cards right now...waiting for better prices as my 850xt does fine for the time being. <hangs head in shame> yes, 2 burners was a mistake. I will have to look into the hs again...from what i recall, tr si120, zalman, and scythe ninja are all good...will order with my fan order

potato: I plan on very modest oc initially as I am a oc newb. Silence is golden, but not going to go watercooling for it. I plan on a bunch of those delta triple blade low speed 120mm fans I think as I believe they are "ribbon" approved.

Again thanks for the comments and suggestions.

 

[secretanchitman]

Originally posted by: philw007
TY all for such quick replies. I will try to answer questions posed.

Firsttime: thanks...approved by ribbon is what I seek

odin: doh...I guess i didn't need 2 burners....wasn't thinking when I ordered them...supposed could have bought 1 reader and 1 burner...lol...its already ordered, so I guess I will have 2. I have heard good things about the zalman, thermalright, and the ninja scythe...don't seem to have a concensus on which is best. I am thinking all 3 are excellent?

Cabages: I splurged for the mb becuase of the expected "longevity" of the a8n32. The memory wasn't much more $227 for corsair xms. And, yes, i'm dumb for buying 2 burners...wasn't thinking.

secretanchitman: the plan is to eventually go sli...just not willing to pay the premium for 2 sli cards right now...waiting for better prices as my 850xt does fine for the time being. <hangs head in shame> yes, 2 burners was a mistake. I will have to look into the hs again...from what i recall, tr si120, zalman, and scythe ninja are all good...will order with my fan order

potato: I plan on very modest oc initially as I am a oc newb. Silence is golden, but not going to go watercooling for it. I plan on a bunch of those delta triple blade low speed 120mm fans I think as I believe they are "ribbon" approved.

Again thanks for the comments and suggestions.

haha, i see. hmm, if you really wanted to, you could sell your x850xt and get a 7800GT. that would complement your system perfectly! but i think for your uses, an x850xt would do just fine.

 

[philw007]

agreed secretanchitman.....I could sell the 850xt, but its working just fine for my current xps gaming rig...so will work fine for my new rig. I will get one or two of those 7800's in the not to distant future. It depends on price for performance ratio and games that take advantage... That is why I got the mb to be at least short term futureproof....

 

[philw007]

need...ribbons...blessing....need.....

 

[halw]

WTF?

 

[fire400]

"7. Seasonic S12 600W SLi Rev-A2 PS - seems like one of the best bang for buck"

I'm not sure if I could agree with this statement, not unless you really want something quite. Because the money you put down on this could be the money you could put down on a more overkill PSU, but silence is a bonus.

 

[BOLt]

Originally posted by: philw007
So here it is...looking forward to some comments...all parts are ordered and on the way. If you can't tell, i'm into bang for buck and not just all out best.

1. Cooler Master Stacker 830 Aluminum - yes, i ordered it from excalibur pc. yes, i splurged on this.

2. WD Caviar SE16 WD4000KD 400GB - don't want to run raid 0 or 1...so didn't get the enterprise one...great bang-for-buck

3. AMD Opteron 165 Dual Core CCBWE 0547TPMW SOCKET 939 - seems like a good bang-for-buck processor...my first amd

4. Corsair TWINX2048-4000PT 2GB Kit DDR500 XMS4000 - people say timings are less important than speed for amd processors; hope they are right

5. NEC ND-3550A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW - popular burner...

6. Plextor PX-740A 16X Internal Dual Layer DVD±R/RW CD-R/RW - ribbon recommends it! so decided to try one

7. Seasonic S12 600W SLi Rev-A2 PS - seems like one of the best bang for buck

8. ASUS A8N32-SLI DELXUE NFORCE SLIX16 MOTHERBOARD - ribbon recommends it!

9. Have old Radeon 850XT that I got about 4 months ago...will hold off on new graphics card.

10. Have old audigy 2 zs card that I plan to pull from current dell xps i'm using.

That's it. What do you think? I know i'm skimping on graphics card...but figure I will get a new one in the next 3-9 months when prices drop a bit. Does this sound like a reasonable build?

Thanks in advance for any comments and advice.

P.S. Everything mentioned above has already been ordered, and either shipped or in processing.

P.P.S. What are your thoughts on the scythe or just running stock heatsink? Also, thoughts on fans (ribbon likes delta...I was thinking for triple blade deltas for best bang for buck)? How many and which sizes do I need for my CM 830?

Why two burners? I woulda picked a Seagate Barracuda over a WD, but that's just me. Nice proc. I woulda bought a 144/146 and OC'd the f*** out of it instead of spending so much on that one, though. I woulda taken 2GB of Ballistix PC4000, G.Skill, or OCZ instead of Corsair for OC RAM. Woulda taken a DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D instead of the ASUS and OC'd the f*** outta everything. Woulda taken a less expensive Antec PSU (still reliable, but not as expensive).

Solid build, but I think you spent a little too much for my taste. Of course, it's your computer, not mine and it spanks mine for sure! ;-D

 

[ElFenix]

timings are actually more important than bandwidth for athlons, actually.

you can get PDP 2-3-2-5 ram for about the same as that 3-4-4 corsair.

 

[philw007]

Hmmm...seems like i've read that athalons care more about bandwidth than timings. I remember reading that distinctly somewhere.

 

[philw007]

Can someone else comment on amd processors and memory? I've seen couple posts say that bandwidth (mhz) is more important than timings for amd processors...

 

[SuperSilicon]

Can't give you any advice about the AMD processor, but I can say everything else in your build is excellent. Can't go wrong with corsair, and asus motherboard.

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: philw007
Can someone else comment on amd processors and memory? I've seen couple posts say that bandwidth (mhz) is more important than timings for amd processors...

Intel likes high bandwith. Thats y the Intel boards have DDR2 instead of DDR. AMD loves low low tiimings, and low latency in some cases. But if the RAM is underclocked to DDR400, the timings will drop.

 

[tvfreakazoid]

Originally posted by: philw007
TY all for such quick replies. I will try to answer questions posed.

Firsttime: thanks...approved by ribbon is what I seek

odin: doh...I guess i didn't need 2 burners....wasn't thinking when I ordered them...supposed could have bought 1 reader and 1 burner...lol...its already ordered, so I guess I will have 2. I have heard good things about the zalman, thermalright, and the ninja scythe...don't seem to have a concensus on which is best. I am thinking all 3 are excellent?

Cabages: I splurged for the mb becuase of the expected "longevity" of the a8n32. The memory wasn't much more $227 for corsair xms. And, yes, i'm dumb for buying 2 burners...wasn't thinking.

return it or sell it.

secretanchitman: the plan is to eventually go sli...just not willing to pay the premium for 2 sli cards right now...waiting for better prices as my 850xt does fine for the time being. <hangs head in shame> yes, 2 burners was a mistake. I will have to look into the hs again...from what i recall, tr si120, zalman, and scythe ninja are all good...will order with my fan order

potato: I plan on very modest oc initially as I am a oc newb. Silence is golden, but not going to go watercooling for it. I plan on a bunch of those delta triple blade low speed 120mm fans I think as I believe they are "ribbon" approved.

Again thanks for the comments and suggestions.

Either return it or sell it.

 

[philw007]

hmmmm.....damn.....i had read posts about amd prefering bandwidth over timings.... sounds like it was wrong...