Recomendation: First TIME AMD buyer...

[dr5op3rdud3]

I plan on building my first PC ever, and since this seems to be where all the Advance PC users come, I just want to see if my wish list is okay...

Antec 1080 w/Antec TruePower 430
EPOX 8RDA+
1700+ tBred
SK7 w/Thermaltake Smart Fan II
512 Corsair XMS (NON-silver) cas2 3200
80gig 7200rpm SE WD HD
ATI 9500pro
4 case Fans (2 blowing out two blowing in) (will get another later)
Arctic Silver III

$698.84 w/o HD

Does this seem okay? Will this be adeq cooling, i plan on overclocking but just to hit > 1900mHz...

And finaly, will round Cables really be necessary to hit 2000mHz?

Thanks for any reply

[SteveI]

Welcome.
Most of your choices are very good.
A few changes I would make include:

Memory, I think the Samsung 3200 is CAS3. Very bad. If you want extreme, CorsairXMS3200 are rated for Cas2.. Keep an eye out, there are a few others, but the price is steep atm.

Video, I personally love my brand new radeon8500LE.. Make sure you look at GPU/Mem speeds. There are different grades. Make sure you get 250/250. Usually, memory will be 4ns for the 250mhz. If you can find faster (3.6ns), that would be even better.

Rounded cables could help your airflow a bit. If you are concerned, take a very close look at your case... get a sense of how long the cables have to be, and buy the correct length. All my rounded cables are 36inches. They all tangle up at the bottom, and it's annoying. If I felt like wasting money, I'd go and buy some 12inch cables.

[dr5op3rdud3]

CAS3?
Im not really sure how you can tell this, but i assumed it was Ram timeing? Because the one im looking at it says 2.5? Or am i just lost, and have no clue wat im talking about?

Im really on a budget, and damnit, this will be pushing it wid my limit. Ill have to wait alittle longer before I buy then. Bluddy hell

[Daniel ~]

There is CAS 3, CAS 2.5, CAS 2.0 going from slowest to fastest, worst to best (From an overclockers point of view).

The major thing with RAM is the extent you can overclock it, CAS 2 does much better than 3 or 2.5. If your going to be overclocking this is a MAJOR consideration.

Always go with the best parts you can afford. If you can salvage a few things from your current setup until you can afford getting better parts then this is usually well worth the wait. Good luck!

[dr5op3rdud3]

BAH, nevermind I think im going to just get ONE stick of 512 corsair memory for now. Once i get alittle more money ill get another stick of 512, so the upgrade will seem so much better.

Do you think this is a good idea? After thinking about it, id rather not have two sticks and have to sacrifice one stick of memory everytime i want to upgrade. Do you think this is a good choice?

[mookydooky]

Originally posted by dr5op3rdud3
BAH, nevermind I think im going to just get ONE stick of 512 corsair memory for now. Once i get alittle more money ill get another stick of 512, so the upgrade will seem so much better.

Do you think this is a good idea? After thinking about it, id rather not have two sticks and have to sacrifice one stick of memory everytime i want to upgrade. Do you think this is a good choice?

I would get one stick. Makes upgrading easier. I personally don't get 256 sticks anymore. 3 of them and you fill the mobo...

[mookydooky]

One more thing. If you're going to get an 8RDA+, perhaps you would be better off getting something like Corsair XMS 3200 CAS2. You're getting a super high performance board and you're slowing it down with lower quality memory.

[dr5op3rdud3]

Yeah i plan on getting the corsair xms 3200, but the problem is the fact i wont be able to take advantage of the dual ddr that they have for the nForce2 boards.

Good choice yeah?

[mookydooky]

If you look at this,, you'll see that there's not much of a performance increase using 2 sticks in dual DDR config. Most of the performance increase comes from the chipset itself which is, from the looks of it, phenomenal.

As for your choice, I approve. I'm getting one myself.

[dr5op3rdud3]

your approval is sort of reassuring, thanks.

im just now hopeing (after reading some more about the 1700) ill be able to get 2400+ specs...

[SteveI]

Originally posted by dr5op3rdud3
your approval is sort of reassuring, thanks.

im just now hopeing (after reading some more about the 1700) ill be able to get 2400+ specs...

Hey,... wadabout me??? I mentioned the corsairs first.
Also, you can blow away the performance of someone running a 2400+ @stock. The key to performance is memory... Better memory performance comes at the fastest memory timings at the highest attainable FSB. Remember, the 2400+ is for 133mhz FSB. Most overclockers have been running well over 166mhz for ages... It's about time AMD and Intel finally realized.

With the components you're looking at getting, you can probably join the elite running over 200mhz fsb if you choose.

The best known secret to successful overclocking is knowledge. The second is picking the right parts. Looks like your headed in the right direction.

[dr5op3rdud3]

i must have been drunk, thinking of going wid asuk

[Izdaari]

Sounds great, very similar in fact to a system I'm working on.

The big holdup keeping me from completing the project is that I can't find any good online vendors that have that EPoX board in stock.

[dr5op3rdud3]

OKay i just fineshed building my first system heh, couldnt wait, so I just used Arctic Alumina. From the reviews, its only a 1-2 degree differnce, so thats all fine and dandy...

Only problem is i cant run it at 10*200 I can only run it at 9.5*200 but even then my cpu temps are in the 40's well according to USDM...

Im using the c10 bios...

How high is too high? Time wise?
I set my memory voltage to 2.77, is that too high? and my cpu at 1.85.. any suggestions?

[Holst]

2.77 is fine as is 1.85v

It sounds like you need better cooling to get more than 1900mhz (nice OC for a 1700 anyway)

Can you please remove the advert for Censuspc.com from your sig its against forum rules, you can post about Census here
http://www.aoaforums.com/forum/forum...e=1000&x=8&y=4

[dr5op3rdud3]

Sure no problem, didnt know that

how high should my cpu be? Right now its at 38 and during heavy loads its goes into the 40's....:?

[Ol'Pal Gary]

I'd compare the ATI card with a NVidia GEForce4 Ti4200 for price to performance// [my leadtec has 8X 128 ram & VIVO

I have very close to your choices now & am very happy..
My 1080 styled Chieftec case is ALUMINUM & i used rounded cables to help with cooling airflow , & looks [have glass door] You see my epox - chieftec setup on Epox Motherboard forum here at AOA... Has Pictures !!

OL'PAL GARY


Thought i'd post the like to see my built system
Help Keep 8rda+ Run'n Cooler !!!

After reading my post, found your the fella wanted to sell me his AMG 1080... NO way Jose !! Me Likes my ALUMINUM Chieftec..
Good Luck to Ya on your build !!!!

[dr5op3rdud3]

O no, i wasn't trying to sell my case to you, it was just i knew a place that had a really good deal for it. I got it for under a 100 and the PS alone is that price..

I wouldn't compare the 9500pro to a 4200, i think the 9500pro is alil more future proof...

After looking at your photo's I'm thinking I'm going to have to clean up my case...

... my Smart Fan 2 died today bloody fin's break tooo easily.. o wells its quieter wid the YS Tech fan anyways.. now ill have to pick me up one more

RIP SF2