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Going shopping soon for parts to build a new system (thanks to landing a new contract yaterday which is going to leave me totally loaded for a few months), but as I've never done this before, would like some advice on components.
Basic requirements are 64bit AMD, shed loads of high end RAM, SATA and sound.
Looking at choosing between:
Processor Options
AMD FX53 64bit
AMD Athlon 64 3500 (Newcastle)
Mobo Options:
Gigabyte GA-K8NSN-XP nForce3 939 Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro nforce3 Motherboard (socket 754)
Using AGP GFX atm, but does anyone know if the newer PCI-E boards still have an AGP slot?
Ram
2 x 512 DDR400 Ram (Corsair XMS or OCZ Performance series) May be even DDR2. Am i on the right track, never built from scratch before and want to get it right first time. Is DDR2 worth the jump?
Sound Options
Creative Audigy2 ZS 7.1 Soundcard with breakout box
Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96 Sound
HDD
120GB SATA Hard Drive (Maxtor or Western Digital) or 2 x 80GB SATA's. Was possibly going to go for 2x250GB SATA?
Optical Storage Options
LG GSA-4120BB Dual Layer 12x DVD±RW ReWriter
NEC ND3500 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
Case options
CoolerMaster Stacker STC-T01
More than likely sticking with the Savrow SR-71 Blackbird case unless something else takes my fancy.
PSU option
X-Connect Ultra modular Powersuppy 400w
Antec Neopower modular cable management PSU 480w
GFX already handled with my OC's X800 Pro VIVO (16 pipes @ 550/1200).
Would also appreciate reccomendations for processor/case/vga cooling.
Not to worried about cost here as I'm paying Trade price + vat through work so no over bloated retail pricing here.
Basic requirements are 64bit AMD, shed loads of high end RAM, SATA and sound.
Looking at choosing between:
Processor Options
AMD FX53 64bit
AMD Athlon 64 3500 (Newcastle)
Mobo Options:
Gigabyte GA-K8NSN-XP nForce3 939 Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro nforce3 Motherboard (socket 754)
Using AGP GFX atm, but does anyone know if the newer PCI-E boards still have an AGP slot?
Ram
2 x 512 DDR400 Ram (Corsair XMS or OCZ Performance series) May be even DDR2. Am i on the right track, never built from scratch before and want to get it right first time. Is DDR2 worth the jump?
Sound Options
Creative Audigy2 ZS 7.1 Soundcard with breakout box
Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96 Sound
HDD
120GB SATA Hard Drive (Maxtor or Western Digital) or 2 x 80GB SATA's. Was possibly going to go for 2x250GB SATA?
Optical Storage Options
LG GSA-4120BB Dual Layer 12x DVD±RW ReWriter
NEC ND3500 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
Case options
CoolerMaster Stacker STC-T01
More than likely sticking with the Savrow SR-71 Blackbird case unless something else takes my fancy.
PSU option
X-Connect Ultra modular Powersuppy 400w
Antec Neopower modular cable management PSU 480w
GFX already handled with my OC's X800 Pro VIVO (16 pipes @ 550/1200).
Would also appreciate reccomendations for processor/case/vga cooling.
Not to worried about cost here as I'm paying Trade price + vat through work so no over bloated retail pricing here.
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Going shopping soon for parts to build a new system (thanks to landing a new contract yaterday which is going to leave me totally loaded for a few months), but as I've never done this before, would like some advice on components.
Basic requirements are 64bit AMD, shed loads of high end RAM, SATA and sound.
Looking at choosing between:
Processor Options
AMD FX53 64bit
AMD Athlon 64 3500 (Newcastle)
Mobo Options:
Gigabyte GA-K8NSN-XP nForce3 939 Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro nforce3 Motherboard (socket 754)
Using AGP GFX atm, but does anyone know if the newer PCI-E boards still have an AGP slot?
Ram
2 x 512 DDR400 Ram (Corsair XMS or OCZ Performance series) May be even DDR2. Am i on the right track, never built from scratch before and want to get it right first time. Is DDR2 worth the jump?
Sound Options
Creative Audigy2 ZS 7.1 Soundcard with breakout box
Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96 Sound
HDD
120GB SATA Hard Drive (Maxtor or Western Digital) or 2 x 80GB SATA's. Was possibly going to go for 2x250GB SATA?
Optical Storage Options
LG GSA-4120BB Dual Layer 12x DVD±RW ReWriter
NEC ND3500 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
Case options
CoolerMaster Stacker STC-T01
More than likely sticking with the Savrow SR-71 Blackbird case unless something else takes my fancy.
PSU option
X-Connect Ultra modular Powersuppy 400w
Antec Neopower modular cable management PSU 480w
GFX already handled with my OC's X800 Pro VIVO (16 pipes @ 550/1200).
Would also appreciate reccomendations for processor/case/vga cooling.
Not to worried about cost here as I'm paying Trade price + vat through work so no over bloated retail pricing here.
Basic requirements are 64bit AMD, shed loads of high end RAM, SATA and sound.
Looking at choosing between:
Processor Options
AMD FX53 64bit
AMD Athlon 64 3500 (Newcastle)
Mobo Options:
Gigabyte GA-K8NSN-XP nForce3 939 Motherboard
Gigabyte GA-K8NS Pro nforce3 Motherboard (socket 754)
Using AGP GFX atm, but does anyone know if the newer PCI-E boards still have an AGP slot?
Ram
2 x 512 DDR400 Ram (Corsair XMS or OCZ Performance series) May be even DDR2. Am i on the right track, never built from scratch before and want to get it right first time. Is DDR2 worth the jump?
Sound Options
Creative Audigy2 ZS 7.1 Soundcard with breakout box
Terratec DMX 6Fire 24/96 Sound
HDD
120GB SATA Hard Drive (Maxtor or Western Digital) or 2 x 80GB SATA's. Was possibly going to go for 2x250GB SATA?
Optical Storage Options
LG GSA-4120BB Dual Layer 12x DVD±RW ReWriter
NEC ND3500 16x DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
Case options
CoolerMaster Stacker STC-T01
More than likely sticking with the Savrow SR-71 Blackbird case unless something else takes my fancy.
PSU option
X-Connect Ultra modular Powersuppy 400w
Antec Neopower modular cable management PSU 480w
GFX already handled with my OC's X800 Pro VIVO (16 pipes @ 550/1200).
Would also appreciate reccomendations for processor/case/vga cooling.
Not to worried about cost here as I'm paying Trade price + vat through work so no over bloated retail pricing here.
If price is no object, go for 2x250GB drives in a RAID 0 array.
Also, I don't think many PCI-Express cards come with an AGP socket as well.
Also, I don't think many PCI-Express cards come with an AGP socket as well.
Nimco wrote:
> If price is no object, go for 2x250GB drives in a RAID 0 array.
>
> Also, I don't think many PCI-Express cards come with an AGP socket as
> well.
Can someone explain to me how RAID works? Heard of it, but never come across it?
As for PCI-E, ruled out completely as I'm not forking out another £300 ona graphics card.
> If price is no object, go for 2x250GB drives in a RAID 0 array.
>
> Also, I don't think many PCI-Express cards come with an AGP socket as
> well.
Can someone explain to me how RAID works? Heard of it, but never come across it?
As for PCI-E, ruled out completely as I'm not forking out another £300 ona graphics card.
RAID 0 (striping) is where your PC reads/writes alternative bits of data to each of the 2 hard drives. This means that the 2 drives appear as one large drive to the OS, and the data transfer rate is doubled because it is using 2 hard drives at once.
RAID 1 (mirroring) is where the same data is written to both drives. This is used for backups, since both hard drives are exact copies of one another. If one hard drive should fail, you have a full backup. The transfer speed is the same as if you just had one drive, but if you had 2x250GB drives in the array, you would only have 250GB of space to use, not 500GB.
RAID 0+1 is a combination of the two.
There are other RAID arrays as well which use more drives and things, but the 3 above are the most common outside of dedicated servers and stuff.
RAID 1 (mirroring) is where the same data is written to both drives. This is used for backups, since both hard drives are exact copies of one another. If one hard drive should fail, you have a full backup. The transfer speed is the same as if you just had one drive, but if you had 2x250GB drives in the array, you would only have 250GB of space to use, not 500GB.
RAID 0+1 is a combination of the two.
There are other RAID arrays as well which use more drives and things, but the 3 above are the most common outside of dedicated servers and stuff.
How would you connect two HDDs via RAID 0?
Is it just a cable?
(Sorry, complete n00b... Just thinking about expanding my storage space. Only used IDE before...)
Is it just a cable?
(Sorry, complete n00b... Just thinking about expanding my storage space. Only used IDE before...)
If you are open to socket 754 then go for the DFI LanParty UT nF3 250Gb, ive read some very good things about it.
Both of those processors are socket 939 based. Whilst it does perform better, it also costs more. If you decide you are spending too much, switch to socket 754. If not...
I see you mentioned the FX53 and the 3500. Socket 939 also has the 3800, which costs £130 less, runs at the same speed, half cache. Also no unlocked multipliers. But it does offer at least 90, closer to 95% the performance of a FX53, with both at stock. The 4000 is also available to pre-order now, along with the FX55.
But really, the best choice would be the 3500. Half the price of the 3800 for the loss of 200 MHz, which a fairly simple overclock would make up for.
As for the motherboards, everybody seems to go for the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum when they buy socket 939. I've no personal experience with it, but it seems to be pretty decent. It also has 7.1 surround sound on board, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 3 firewire ports, 2 x IDE connectors, 4 x SATA connectors that support RAID 0 and 1, and onboard gigabyte LAN. Also looks rather snazzy.
As for the RAM, you won't need DDR2. It is on LGA 775 only at the moment, I think anyway. Either way, even if you have the option of getting it, don't. It offers higher speeds, but with much relaxed latencies, meaning that at the moment, DDR1 as it were is still faster. I'd probably go for OCZ or Corsair as well, but read up on Crucial Ballistix, it is getting some great right ups just now.
Also, PCI-E is only just coming out on Athlon 64 platforms. nForce 3 doesn't support it, nForce 4 which is due just at the end of the year will.
As for the power supply, go for the big Antec.
The drives I'm not sure about really. Depends on how much storage you think you'll need. After 10 months this system still has around 120 GB free.
Cooling... Thermalright XP-120 is the king at the moment when coupled with a big fast fan. Only problem is, it really is huge and is incompatible with a bunch of motherboards. Check the compatibility list on the website before buying to see if it works with your motherboard. It's little brother, the XP-90 is almost as good and compatible with all boards at the moment, although Gigabyte boards need to change the backplate first.
The XP series is big, but being made from Aluminium is also light. The SLK 948 is all copper, ways a lot more, but is more compact. And cheaper, being half the price of the XP-90. Couple it with a big fan. Personally I'd be looking at the XP-120 and a big F*** off fan, like the 120 mm Delta. 4000 rpm, 190 CFM and only 59 dB!
I see you mentioned the FX53 and the 3500. Socket 939 also has the 3800, which costs £130 less, runs at the same speed, half cache. Also no unlocked multipliers. But it does offer at least 90, closer to 95% the performance of a FX53, with both at stock. The 4000 is also available to pre-order now, along with the FX55.
But really, the best choice would be the 3500. Half the price of the 3800 for the loss of 200 MHz, which a fairly simple overclock would make up for.
As for the motherboards, everybody seems to go for the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum when they buy socket 939. I've no personal experience with it, but it seems to be pretty decent. It also has 7.1 surround sound on board, 8 USB 2.0 ports, 3 firewire ports, 2 x IDE connectors, 4 x SATA connectors that support RAID 0 and 1, and onboard gigabyte LAN. Also looks rather snazzy.
As for the RAM, you won't need DDR2. It is on LGA 775 only at the moment, I think anyway. Either way, even if you have the option of getting it, don't. It offers higher speeds, but with much relaxed latencies, meaning that at the moment, DDR1 as it were is still faster. I'd probably go for OCZ or Corsair as well, but read up on Crucial Ballistix, it is getting some great right ups just now.
Also, PCI-E is only just coming out on Athlon 64 platforms. nForce 3 doesn't support it, nForce 4 which is due just at the end of the year will.
As for the power supply, go for the big Antec.
The drives I'm not sure about really. Depends on how much storage you think you'll need. After 10 months this system still has around 120 GB free.
Cooling... Thermalright XP-120 is the king at the moment when coupled with a big fast fan. Only problem is, it really is huge and is incompatible with a bunch of motherboards. Check the compatibility list on the website before buying to see if it works with your motherboard. It's little brother, the XP-90 is almost as good and compatible with all boards at the moment, although Gigabyte boards need to change the backplate first.
The XP series is big, but being made from Aluminium is also light. The SLK 948 is all copper, ways a lot more, but is more compact. And cheaper, being half the price of the XP-90. Couple it with a big fan. Personally I'd be looking at the XP-120 and a big F*** off fan, like the 120 mm Delta. 4000 rpm, 190 CFM and only 59 dB!
Current shopping list stands at:
DFI LanParty UT nF3 250Gb (Socket 754) Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3700 Clawhammer 130nm (Socket 754)
Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR PC3200 Ballistix Dual Channel Kit
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 120GB 1200JD SATA 8MB Cache - OEM x2
Samsung TSH-552B 16X Dual Layer DVD±RW ReWriter (Black)
Samsung SC-152AEBB 52x CD-ROM (Black)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 THX - Retail
Antec NeoPower 480W PSU
Coolermaster Wave Master - Black (No PSU)
Logitech MX510 Performance Optical Mouse
Microsoft Windows XP Professional OEM
Networking bits:
D-Link AirPlus XtremeG DI-624 Wireless Router
D-Link AirPlus XtremeG DWL-G520+ Enhanced 2.4GHz Wireless PCI Adapter
D-Link AirPlus XtremeG DWL-G650+ Enhanced 2.4GHz Wireless CardBus Adapter
DFI LanParty UT nF3 250Gb (Socket 754) Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3700 Clawhammer 130nm (Socket 754)
Crucial 1GB (2x512MB) DDR PC3200 Ballistix Dual Channel Kit
Western Digital Caviar Special Edition 120GB 1200JD SATA 8MB Cache - OEM x2
Samsung TSH-552B 16X Dual Layer DVD±RW ReWriter (Black)
Samsung SC-152AEBB 52x CD-ROM (Black)
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 7.1 THX - Retail
Antec NeoPower 480W PSU
Coolermaster Wave Master - Black (No PSU)
Logitech MX510 Performance Optical Mouse
Microsoft Windows XP Professional OEM
Networking bits:
D-Link AirPlus XtremeG DI-624 Wireless Router
D-Link AirPlus XtremeG DWL-G520+ Enhanced 2.4GHz Wireless PCI Adapter
D-Link AirPlus XtremeG DWL-G650+ Enhanced 2.4GHz Wireless CardBus Adapter
You buy a top-of-the-line G5.
Tyla wrote:
> no over bloated retail pricing here.
Maybe not then.
;^)
Tyla wrote:
> no over bloated retail pricing here.
Maybe not then.
;^)
How cheaply can you get that win xp pro for tyla?
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