My Custom Build (Listed)

[Mateusv]

After much deliberation and research I have a compiled list of components for my new custom gaming PC which
I would like to get some feedback on, if that's not too much trouble. I am open to recommendations and
alternatives, please speak your mind!

MOTHERBOARD: Asus A8N-SLI Premium
CPU: Not sure yet! But considering... AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+
GRAPHICS CARD: XFX Geforce 7900GT 256MB GDDR-3 PCI-E
HARD DISK DRIVE: Maxtor 6V300F0 DiamondMax 10 300GB 7200RPM SATA II 16MB Cache
2nd HARD DISK DRIVE: SAME AS ABOVE
MEMORY: Not found yet, but easy enough to find
MONITOR: Samsung SM913N 19" TFT 8ms

The motherboard is DDR memory type, does this mean it supports DDR2?
I haven't looked into POWER SUPPLY UNITS, CASES, COOLING or CABLING really, but they aren't components that need the big decisions.


Please reply back if you think this list is;
- Too expensive for what can be achvied with cheaper components
- A very high-end PC, definitly worth building!
- Your own opinion

AND WHY!

[Tiger4Ruler]

..well got the same motherboard and I´m pretty content with it,
sorry can´t answer the ddr2 question though, maybe have a look
at asus page about the specs and supported ddr there...

XFX is ok as grfx card I guess, I have two 7900GT SLI from asus.

If you have two identically hdd drives consider putting them in a raid 0,
it´s said to boost performance about 20%..

Don´t know about the cpu as my hardware retailer suggested a 4200 x2,
instead of a single 3800

k my two cents

[64705]

My reccommendation is to wait for Conroe. That's what I'm doing.

Skt 939 isn't DDR2 compatible btw. Just DDR. Skt AM2 is DDR2 compatible though.

[Mateusv]

I've only just heard about AM2, what are the benefits of it?

Oh and Conroe... You might aswell tell me to wait for Vista aswell!

[Mateusv]

Originally posted by Tiger4Ruler@May 27 2006, 08:58 PM
Don´t know about the cpu as my hardware retailer suggested a 4200 x2,
instead of a single 3800

The 3800 isn't single... It's dual core.

[CpTn_lAw]

Hey, it's cool to open a topic on this, i'm planning to build a pc these hollidays (july, august) the specs would be very similar to yours
AMD X2 4200+, 2Go ddr400 DC cl 2.5 corsair Geforce 7900gt maxtor maxline III 300Go no screen as i already have one

[interman]

Mateusv:
Regarding RAM you can't really go wrong with Corsair, OCZ, G.Skill, and Mushkin.

Case: Lian Li or Coolermaster.

Powersupply: I like my Hiper 580 watt, but Fortron and Seatronic also have some great ones.

AM2 should improve performance a little bit, but the chipsets (one for sli and one for crossfire) are at their first revisions, so I'm waiting until fall-ish for my move to that platform. Intel does have some juicy new hardware too, but I'm loyal to amd.

CpTn_lAw:
That ram doesn't sound awesome, but it may work just fine.

[64705]

Originally posted by Mateusv@May 27 2006, 11:35 PM
I've only just heard about AM2, what are the benefits of it?

Oh and Conroe... You might aswell tell me to wait for Vista aswell!

The benefits of AM2 is minimal for now, I wouldn't worry about it. It has a new memory controller, meaning it uses DDR2 RAM, which offers higher speeds. The performance between Socket 939 and socket AM2 is VERY small at the moment.

Intel Conroe CPUs are coming out in roughly 8 weeks time (late July). Early benchmarks show them in front of even AMD FX60 CPUs! Conroe CPUs will be at a good price as well, and highly overclockable due to the new 65nm formfactor.

To summarise, if you don't want to wait to see what Conroe is like, then go ahead with your socket 939 purchase. You have my blessing

[CpTn_lAw]

Interman, i dont have 330 euros per Go of ram, so, the corsair 2x 1Go ddr400 at 2.5-4-4-7 is the best for the price i spend in it. I will have 1400 euros to build my pc so, i can't take the more expensive.

[Choupolo]

I think I'm going to wait till the end of the year to build mine, to see what Conroe/AM2 chips can do. By then I think they'll have come down in price a bit too. Apparently since manufacturers are going to have to start making tonnes of DDR2 for these new motherboards, the price of RAM will have come down by then too.

I'm considering getting a widescreen monitor too. 5:4 just doesn't cut it these days with movies/Xbox 360 etc. and more and more PC games are being made for widescreen too. Probably going to go for this one from Viewsonic: VX2025 It's almost double in price compared to your Samsung, but it has some great reviews in terms of image quality. (Didn't Cow get one of these recently?)

Also if you're considering an X2 3800 level of cpu, you might want to check this out: Tom's Hardware OCs the P4 D 805 2.66G to 4.1G on air! Once OCd it seems to even outperform the FX chips, with a saving of about £500-600! :Oo: Not sure about the feature-sets though (64-bit, cache etc).