Money and Mouth Time...

[Rubber Bullets]

OK, I've been thinking about this for a long time, today is payday and I'm going to go for it.

So one last ask, what do you think of the following setup?

Mobo Gigabyte K8NXP-9 nForce4 Ultra second one down
Graphics Leadtek GeForce 6800 GT 3rd item down. Takes 2 PCI slots but is quiter and cooler that other options

OR

Combo Gigabyte 3D1 - Dual GeForce 6600 GT 256MB DDR3 & K8NXP-SLI nForce4 SLi

CPU AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester

Memory GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit

HDD WD Raptor SATA 74Gb
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 200GB
+ 2x cables.

Power Supply Akasa Ultra Quiet 400W

Case Thermaltake Xaser Tsunami Black

DVD NEC DVD recorder ND-3520Ahttp://www.komplett.co.uk/k/ki.asp?sku=305762&cks=SPK

Cooler Gigabyte 3D Cooler Ultra GT

Windows XP Pro OEM

All in all about £1200. Slightly cheaper with mobo graphics combo, better performance with the 6800GT.

I know I need the SATA cables, but are there any others that I'll need to get? Also this is a brand new mobo I'm hoping that it'll allow me to boot off SATA drives straight off, I am not putting a floppy in and so would have problems if I had to put drivers on. Not that a cheap floppy drive just to do this would be difficult, just a pain.

Any thoughts at all, potential problems etc. This will be the first time i have ever built a PC from scratch, so I am a bit nervous TBH

Thanks in advance

RB

 

[TdC]

nice one RB, looks like some nice kit there

tbh I'd go for the combo and buy yourself a beer from the difference in price the pc is going to blow your mind performance-wise anyway, and I think you won't notice the difference at all. other components I can't really comment on, I'm far removed from the hardware scene these days

one thing though: when installing your cpu cooler (you say you've not built a pc before from scratch), you may have to apply more force to the cooler and underlying cpu/mobo than you think is right. make sure you apply pressure slowly and evenly, with the mobo on a flat, supportive surface (like the top of a desk, or table). I personally use a table, with the little spongy mat that somehow winds up in every mobo box as an underground to fitting cpu's, coolers and ram to a mobo. wear a wrist-strap or ground yourself on something like a radiator or the metal case of another computer (connected to the mains) before handling components, and you'll be just fine

good luck with your first build!

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks for the reply Tdc, I'll take all that on board.

BTW sorry for the double post, the thing timed out the first time, I can't seem to lock or delete it.

Would a kindly mod please remove it? Thanks

RB

 

[Jonty]

BTW sorry for the double post, the thing timed out the first time, I can't seem to lock or delete it.

Would a kindly mod please remove it? Thanks

Consider it done

Nice kit, there Should keep you busy for a while (I would hope so at that price, hehe).

Good luck with it all

Jonty

 

[Jonty]

Hi RB

I forgot to mention that you cannot have two Gigabyte 3D1 cards running in SLI, just in case you thought of having that kind of setup in the future. You still need a Gigabyte-recommended SLI motherboard, but this is to allow the two cores on the one card to share the work. That said, even one 3D1 card is pretty amazing, coming in at around or above the performance of a Radeon x850 XT PE or GeForce 6800 Ultra.

Of course you could always plump for two 'regular' 6800 SLI cards, say buy one 6800 GT/Ultra now and another later on, not that one isn't enough

You should also note that not every game or application may benefit from SLI as yet due to some compatibility notes. These are fairly minor, so I'm told, and can be improved in time through driver updates, BIOS updates and application patches. Apparently it shouldn't put people off using an SLI setup.

Kind Regards

Jonty ... who doesn't want to mention the 512MB graphics cards and dual-core CPUs on the horizon ... buy computing components both rocks and sucks, does it not?

Edit ~ Just to further confuse matters (and you probably should ignore this) but ASUS have developed a dual-core 6600GT card which may be able to run in SLI mode giving you a four core setup. However the emphasis is on may; the cards aren't yet available; they'll likely need a unique motherboard; and they'll still undoubtedly cost a bomb to purchase.

 

[Ardrias]

Seeing as you've gone for a quiet PSU, I can only recommend you change the fans that come with the case (I've got the same case!) for something... well... quiet. The ones that come with the case are not at all quiet, and the side fan is just horrible. It's also 90mm instead of standard 92mm so you cant just change it.
Can recommend a couple of Papst if you run them on 5v. Or perhaps Nexus, or even Adda.

Are you planning on overclocking? If not, I'd replace the cpu cooler with a Zalman.

 

[poisono]

That build selection seems pritty nice keep in mind if you do wish to go SLi any time soon that the driver compatability is not very good at the moment and they still need a lot of work. Id keep away from SLi for another 4/5 months imo. As much as SLi is a good idea ive decided to keep my distance till I can see the need. GeiL is becoming one of the top brands for Gamers and in my opinion it deserves it, its cheap and the timeing's you can get on it are amazingly good.

Hope all goes well on the build as much as people say Static is a myth, ive lost my first bored due to static, only a couple of weeks ago it was a Abit KG7 Raid Socket A for my brother felt kinda guilty so replaced it with a DFI NForce 2 Ultra 400, that made him smile Raptor is going to be the boot and main program drive im guessing, very good plan a lot of people are going Raptor for booting with a 200gig S-ATA drive, S-ATA drives im finding or more reliable and or very cheap

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Thanks for all the input guys.

I'm not too bothered about the SLI option, the main reason for buying that 3DI is that it is cheaper with roughly the same performance.

Of course down the line it would give me the option of whacking in 2 6800GT's when they get cheap

The downsaie of the SLI board is that there are only 2 PCI slots, and as I already have a soundcard and a video editting card that'll take those 2 I'm limiting my options in the future. Given the number of outputs already on the mobo that may not be a problem, I just don't like the idea of completely limiting myself.

Can recommend a couple of Papst if you run them on 5v. Or perhaps Nexus, or even Adda.

Are you planning on overclocking? If not, I'd replace the cpu cooler with a Zalman.

Ardrias, I was originally thinking of the Zalman Flower, but wasn't sure it would fit, the Gigabyte has an auxillary board which attaches at the top. I assumed the Gigabyte cooler was bound to fit. Also I had read that the fans were quite quiet so I'm grateful to you for your input on that as well.

I have decided not to go down teh O/Cing route, this should be fast enough for me a stock speeds.

Jonty, if you always wait for the next thing you'll never buy at all

Yes the Raptor is main boot drive, with 200Gb for storage, again should last me a good while.

Oh and I once fried a CPU with static, so I'll be taking every precaution I can.

RB

 

[Tom]

Get more RAM. You'll need it. Also, ditto the suggestion about case fans.

The motherboard will come with the SATA cables (hopefully), although you may have to purchase some MOLEX - SATA power adaptors.

 

[Danya]

1GB ram should be plenty, though video editing was mentioned so you may want to go for more. Note, if you run 4 modules on an A64 board you will only be able to run them at DDR333 speeds not DDR400 due to a limitation in the A64 memory controller.

I have the K8NXP-SLI board so I can answer some of the questions about it (should also apply to the ultra mostly).

SATA - it comes with 8 SATA data cables. Power, you'll need to buy a PSU with sata power connectors built in, adapters, or get HDDs which take a molex (unsure if raptors do).

CPU mounting force - non-issue in a S939 board as they no longer require a strong arm and a screwdriver to fit, you just put the HSF on and move a lever, it takes seconds and is incredibly easy to do. It's pretty hard to break a 939 chip anyway since they added the heatspreader (I've had enough force on mine to bow the mobo back against the case without damaging anything).

SLi stability - is fine at the moment, you're a bit limited in driver choice (you basically have to use the latest or sli just doesn't work) but other than that no issues really. Some of the leaked drivers have iffy SLi support, but if you stick to the nvidia official stuff it works fine. NB: I have SLi so this isn't just conjecture from people too scared to adopt it, unlike many comments here.

The board has onboard sound so you could maybe ditch your soundcard (depending on how flash it is). Also note that while running SLi you only have one PCI-e 2x slot available. In normal mode there are 2 PCI-e 2x slots. Not sure what you'd need other than the video editing card, a lot of stuff is moving to USB now.

 

[Catsby]

Catsby has seen (but cannot remeber the link) a report at either tomshardware or hardocp where increasing the memory from 1gig to 2 gig under win XP actually reduced the fps of the games they benchmarked.
Catsby wouldn't be too terrified of it, as the reduction was only 1 or 2 fps, but interesting to him none the less.

 

[Rubber Bullets]

Video editing is a bit of a non-issue, I have a Pinnacle DV500 card, but rarely use it TBH. As the old PC is not going too far - it'll be networked and used by my other half - if the card is not compatible it'll be OK with me I can always use the old PC. If it does work so much the better.

I currently have 1.5Gb in this old XP2000+ machine, and didn't notice much improvement when I fitted it. I'll stick with 1Gb ATM and think about upgrading to 2x1Gb if it's a problem. With all the other money I'm spending I'd rather not shell out for that upfront. Especialy with what Catsby said in mind.

My sound card was pretty flash when I got it, a Hercules Game Theatre XP. The onboard sound may well be better, but I like my breakout box, and it'll mean that I don't have to redo all the wiring. It also gives me my headphone and mic sockets as well as line in for when I get round to converting all my old vinyl to mp3 (only 3 years I've been saying that!). Again if it works with no problems I'll keep it, if it doesn't it'll go, but cards with breakouts are still pretty expensive.and te

As far as the power for the SATA drives the power supply seems to have enough for 2, but the raptor drives appear to use a non standard connection cable so I'll buy at least one of them.

Once again thanks for all the help and input guys

RB

 

[wyrd_fish]

the WD caviars have both molex and sata power connectors

 

[Cask]

<hijack>
My turn to spend large amounts of money. I'm opting for a more budget system than RB because I don't really need the extra power for the games that I play right now. Might regret using OcUK having seen the recent posts but what the hell gonna risk it.

Mostly looking for cheaper prices if anyone has seen any. I guess if I was really going budget I could ditch the case and use my Sonata but I really don't like this dust bucket. Anyone know how good the tsunami is regarding dust accumulation??
</hijack>


AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8 GHz Socket 939 ................ £100.00 ....... Komplett
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 CPU Cooler .................. £22.27 ........ OcUK
DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D ........................... £105.69 ....... OcUK
GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Ultra Platinum CAS2 ......... £135.07 ....... OcUK
Leadtek WinFast GeForce PCX6600 GT 128MB DDR3 ......... £135.07 ....... OcUK
Thermaltake Tsunami Aluminium Silver Case - No PSU .... £69.00 ........ Komplett
NEC DVD recorder ND-3520A IDE Silver .................. £39.90 ........ Komplett
Antec SL400PGB Power Supply ........................... £52.01 ........ Komplett
................................................. Total £659.01

 

[Cask]

FFS can't edit. Stayed up till 3am trying to scrooge some more pounds back, then I added the shipping cost and it's more expensive. Really would like to save on shipping by using only 2 companies but I want the Tsunami, I want the Patriot RAM, I want the Leadtek 6600GT, I want the Arctic Cooling Freezer and I can't find any 2 companies that sell all four items.

Fuckit off to bed.

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8 GHz Socket 939 ................ £100.00 ....... Komplett
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 CPU Cooler .................. £22.27 ........ OcUK
MSI K8N NEO4 Platinum Mainboard S939 nForce4 .......... £102.00 ....... Komplett
Patriot Dual Channel 1GB PC3200 DDR ................... £118.23 ....... Tekheads
Leadtek WinFast GeForce PCX6600 GT 128MB DDR3 ......... £135.07 ....... OcUK
Thermaltake Tsunami Aluminium Silver Case - No PSU .... £69.00 ........ Komplett
NEC DVD recorder ND-3520A IDE Silver .................. £39.90 ........ Komplett
Antec SL400PGB Power Supply ........................... £52.01 ........ Komplett
Shipping Cost ......................................... £26.71
................................................. Total £665.19

 

[Cask]

Actually that's bollocks I could get most of the stuff from Tekheads and OcUK but I'd save money by most of the stuff from Komplett as it's cheaper. Only thing that's annoying me is that if I order the Leadtek 6600GT and the Arctic Cooling Freezer from OcUK in the same order the only delivery method that's available to me is via Amtrak.

As I would actually like to recieve this order I'd rather have Special Delivery (Tekheads do SD, Komplett do Parcelforce which is ok) but the only way I can do that is seperating the orders and paying two delivery charges which sucks. Gonna call them tomorrow to confirm that... I mean today... uhh

 

[.Wilier.]

Instead of buying the Tsunami, why not buy a Cavalier

 

[Cask]

Don't think I can wait 5 days, I'd explode.

 

[.Wilier.]

Don't think I can wait 5 days, I'd explode.

So make me a decent offer

 

[Cask]

You can't make me!

I like the top mounted ports on the tsunami a lot, and I'm quite fixated on it now and won't be happy if I change. Will probably regret it later when the PSU doesn't fit but

 

[Clown]

I like the quiet of the Sonata. Or the Black Quiet Edition one.
If I didn't have watercooling anyway.

 

[TdC]

So make me a decent offer

how about posting to your pal in the netherlands? bet it costs lots though

 

[Rubber Bullets]

I like the top mounted ports on the tsunami a lot, and I'm quite fixated on it now and won't be happy if I change. Will probably regret it later when the PSU doesn't fit but

The case is here now, and I do like the way it looks. The PSU isn't here yet so I don't know if it fits or not!

My only worry so far is the hundreds of tiny plugs that need to find the right home on the mobo. I assume that the mobo instructions will help with this! It all looks a bit too much like knitting for my liking

Cask, I bet that with a little light overclocking on yer chip that you'll barely notice any real life difference between our 2 specs. I am just too easily swayed by dubious claims

RB

 

[Jonty]

how about posting to your pal in the netherlands? bet it costs lots though

About 42GBP/61EUR, very roughly, to get it there in 2 days via Parcel Force

Kind Regards

 

[TdC]

cheers jonts that makes it not worth my while then

 

[Jonty]

cheers jonts that makes it not worth my while then

When I win the lottery I'll post you one, hehe

Kind Regards

 

[TdC]

if I win the lottery you can post it to my tropical island

 

[Jonty]

if I win the lottery you can post it to my tropical island

hehe, if you win the lottery surely you can buy your own case and send me one whilst you're at it? teeheehee

Getting mildly back on topic, don't worry RB, having the bits laid out in front of you can often seem more daunting than it really is. Just make sure you have you're electrostatic free workstation to hand when you're building your system (... hehe, that's what Shuttle make reference to in their XPC manuals of old ).

Kind Regards

 

[Cask]

All ordered now. Already regret getting the thermal compound because I don't really need it, and sad that I had to ditch the leadtek because everywhere was out of stock. Added a bunch of peripherals that I don't need either and a new HD during a moment of insanity.

Bleh, need to lie down.


AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 1.8 GHz Socket 939 ................ £100.00 ....... Komplett
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 CPU Cooler .................. £22.27 ........ OcUK
MSI K8N NEO4 Platinum Mainboard S939 nForce4 .......... £102.00 ....... Komplett
Patriot Dual Channel 1GB PC3200 DDR ................... £118.23 ....... Tekheads
XFX GeForce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express ............ £130.10 ....... Tekheads
Thermaltake Tsunami Aluminium Silver Case - No PSU .... £69.00 ........ Komplett
NEC DVD recorder ND-3520A IDE Silver .................. £39.90 ........ Komplett
Antec SL400PGB Power Supply ........................... £52.01 ........ Komplett
Logitech MX510 Optical Mouse, USB, PS/2 ............... £29.00 ........ Komplett
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB S-ATA 8MB cache ......... £42.01 ........ Komplett
Microsoft Digital Media Pro Keyboard - OEM ............ £12.87 ........ OcUK
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound ...................... £5.01 ......... Komplett
......................................... Shipping Cost £23.06
................................................. Total £745.46

 

[TdC]

*jealous*