Budget A-64 system

[rainman14624]

I'm starting to put together components for my first Athlon 64 system. Need to do it as economically as possible without limiting myself to performance achievable with an XP system. Already have two sticks of 256MB Crucial PC3200, 360W Chieftec PS, Antec case and 120GB Maxtor HD. I need help on choosing mobo and processor. Money is fairly tight. May do some moderate overclocking, dependent on cooling. BTW, I've got two 8RDA3Is and an 8RDA+. The one I'm building will replace an ancient 800Mz Dell.
Thanks,
Rainman

[jnansley]

What's your 12V rating? That's been suspected as a culprit for many A64 problems, overclocked or not.

Since this IS the Epox forum, I'd say you can't go wrong with an 8KDA3J (try to get a later revision) and the cheapest S754 chip you can find.

That is, if you're just wanting to replace the Dell with an A64 (any A64), at rock-bottom price.

You can also get an 8RDA3I and a Sempron REALLY cheap, if you need something to squeak by with.

Above that, it gets a little murky - do a buy a NF3 S939 board or do I wait for the NF4 boards and upgrade my video card at the same time? Do I care enough about x86-64 to consider a Sempron? How much cache do I want? In these situations, part of "cheap" is "how much upgrading do I want to do in the next year?"

[Ads1]

if its any help i got an ASUS k8v/gd for £55 paired with an AMD 64 2800+ 754 and fan for another £80 total £135, X2 for USD $270 minus a bit because its cheaper in the US, i think 2800+ is about $130

[GrahamGarside]

the cheapest A64 is the 2800+ Socket 754 $115.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...103-450&depa=1
I've recomended the OEM chip as the stock cooler isn't great

the EPoX EP-8KDA3J is a very inexpesive nForce3-250Gb based board which will do well for overclocking $69.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...123-219&depa=1

So thats $184 in total but you will need a cooler.

[jnansley]

Er, yes, I was in the middle of typing that, thank you

[cadaveca]

I have a k8v-x and 3000+ for sale here in the classifieds...190 US shipped.

[rainman14624]

Thanks for the responses, guys.
I was leaning toward GrahamGarside's recommendations. Any tips on choice of CPU coolers?
Thanks,
Rainman
BTW, PSU is new, so I don't know what the 12V line looks like. I've got several others - Antec 300W, Enlight 420W that I can try if I run into trouble.

[Daniel ~]

Moved throed to facilitate rresponses.

[danrok]

Originally Posted by rainman14624

Any tips on choice of CPU coolers?

I've found that the AMD retail cooler does work nicely. But, I haven't tried any others!

[cadaveca]

I'm using a gigabyte 3d-cooler-pro..full load i hit 43c

[danrok]

Originally Posted by cadaveca

I'm using a gigabyte 3d-cooler-pro..full load i hit 43c

Have you made any comparisons to the AMD one?

[GrahamGarside]

well my number one suggestion is the thermalright xp-120 (compatable with the board i recomended) but this is pricey at $64.99 especially with a fan added in
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...109-118&depa=0

The ZALMAN CNPS7000B-Cu is a good, quiet cooler but it costs $47.99 which you may consider a bit pricey But i recomend it quite highly
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...118-113&depa=0

The ZALMAN CNPS7000B-AlCu is a bit cheaper but nearly as good at $36.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...118-112&depa=0

[Ads1]

thanks for those recommendations i may look into buying one of those myself

[cadaveca]

Originally Posted by Danrok

Have you made any comparisons to the AMD one?

8c lower load temps...the gigabyte cooler simply has a lower delta...the idle temps are 33 for the gigabyte cooler, and 34 for retail heatsink. The room temp is 27c. Northbridge temps hit 33 with the stock cooler, and 27 with the gigabyte. Retail cooler is quieter...but not by much. PWM temp 41 @ load with the gigabyte, 47-49 with stock.


ALso consider the 7700 and 7700alcu...120mm fans over the 90 of the 7000 series.

[danrok]

I've seem some tests that suggest the Zalman alu/cu performs close to the cu version. So, the alu/cu looks like a good buy.

[GrahamGarside]

the 7700's are very good a comparrison between the 7000's and 7700's can be found here
http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041213/index.html

they're about the same volume but are better at cooling

[jnansley]

You just missed this deal:

http://www.svcompucycle.com/thermalright-slk-948u.html

But this is a decent price assuming you were planning on spending $40+ to begin with:

http://www.svcompucycle.com/xp-90-21.html

I'm going to go with Danrok on this one - "budget" should be sufficed with the retail AMD cooler.

[rainman14624]

I'm leaning more toward the retail A64 each day because of the extended warranty and the heatsink/fan. I'll just probably leave it at stock settings to minimize the heat. It'll be so much faster than the old Dell, I'm sure my family will be extremely happy.
Thanks,
Rainman

[GrahamGarside]

if you don't mind the noise the stock cooler will be ok, my newcastle 3400+ still overclocks to 2.6ghz with the stock cooler but it gets into the 60's temp wise and is quite loud
for an extra $20 you could have the ZALMAN CNPS7000B-AlCu which is a much better cooler

[chile]

you can't go wrong with thermalright.....but for mild oc's, i hear good things about the zalman's....