Suggest an Upgrade

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:05 am

I am looking to upgrade my computer. I am going to take the old parts and have my brother toss me some money to buy some so he can give a computer to my niece for school.

Here is my computer:

-AMD 2400+XP Slot A
-Asus A7V8X MB
-1 Gig of DDR RAM (Can anyone tell me how to find out the speed of the RAM, I don't remember)
-SB Audigy 2
-2-200 Gig PATA WD HDs in RAID 0
-160 Gig PATA WD HD
-ATI 9800Pro 128MB
-DVD LightScribe

What I am looking to get is:

An MB for an AMD CPU with SLI using Serial ATA (preferably Asus or Abit, but am open to other brands)
A nVidia GPU
An AMD CPU

My budget: about 600 (Well, I would actually like to get 2 -200 or better SATA HDs for RAID 0 and put the 2 200 Gig in M/S as movie/images storage, but that would be seperate from the 600)

I personally like to buy from NewEgg or Zipzoomfly.

This would enable me to put the CPU, MB and GPU toward my 8 year old Niece's computer. She doesn't need the horsepower, but it would more than enough for her use. If my RAM isn't up to snuff, I'll keep it with her computer.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:15 am

ECS KN1 SLI mobo ~125
3200+ venice ~150
1gb value ram ~75
6800GS ~200

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:23 am

Newegg usually does some decent bundles.....lets see what we can do.

AMD 3700+ .........$233
DFI NF4 Infinity....$122
XFX7800GT..........$309

You can save a little money and go with a smaller processor, like a 3200 or 3500, but the 3700 is probably the best single core processotr you can get with the FX tax. The mobo is a difficult issue. I like ASUS for their stability, but I also think they are generally poor overclockers, mainly because of voltage limitations. I won't recommend an ABIT component until the company sorts out their financial issues.... not that they are bad products, but a warranty dies with the company, and ABIT has been having lots of issues. The DFI Infinity is a good board for the money, ask GVBlake and Killswitch, I believe both of them are using those boards and I think they like them.
As for the video card, Get a single 7800GT for right now, and you can always add a second later on. The difference between one high end and two low end cards is not very big, and later when you have the money you can add a second. I recommend XFX because I have had a great experience using their cards, and they come with a pretty sweet gaming bundle to boot.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:25 am

Yves has a great lst if you want to come in under your budget for other parts. The ECS KN1 Extreme board is a solid choice. The one i reviewed here awhile back is in a forum members system and he has really enjoyed it a lot.
The 3200+ Venice is a very good processor, and extremely cheap.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:40 am

I think between the two of us there are some good options, I would have suggested the DFI were it not for the SLI request. I also think the 7800GT is a better buy, but its also $100 more than the 6800GS is makeing some real noise right now. So either way, both are decent systems. If you dont require SLI then go for the DFI with the 7800GT. Just remember that your going to want a good PSU for this system, figure a solid 400w at min.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:20 am

The DFI Infinity is an SLI board, like the LANParty, they built the entire line for exactly this scenario.
I know the 7800GT is about $100 more, but I was thinking he could settle for one card right now, and add a second later. The 7800 is going to be a good card for a year or two, while the 6800 is nowhere near it in performance.
As far as the PSU, if you play your cards right, and look on Newegg, there are some pretty good case/PSU combos to be had....Yves is 100% right that the PSU is important in an SLI system.

Kerii · Post by **Kerii** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 2:43 am

I'll nominate the 7800GT as well, but as mentioned above, your PSU might not be up to snuff for such a beast. If you're not much into hardcore overclocking and enthusiast options, Gigabyte forgoes some of the more advanced features and offers a much lower price premium, and they have exceptional build quality (Rubycon capacitors anyone?

).

[$155] Athlon 64 3200+ Venice
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... de=80701-5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103535

[$85] Gigabyte GA-K8N-SLI or [$105] Gigabyte GA-K8N Pro-SLI
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128306
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813128301

[$300] 7800GT - Brand of your choice, though I'd go with eVGA/XFX/BFG if possible.

[$60] Antec TruePower 380W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817103927

Total comes to a little over $600 shipping included.

You could also go for the eVGA 7800GT and SLI motherboard bundle for $380.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130238
http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDe ... 728&ps=ho4

If you want to check your RAM without opening up the case, you can try CPU-Z and check the memory frequency.

Based on the Asus A7V8X's specs though, it's likely to be PC2700 which would run just fine on a newer PC3200 motherboard.

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 8:47 am

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/207/1/

That is my case with the 400W PSU.

I am a pretty HC OCer, but only with a HSF and not a waterblock.

Thanks, I'll spend more time reviewing the info after work today. I really appreciate this guys.

LVCapo · Post by **LVCapo** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 9:51 am

Thats a great case. I'm using the exact same one and love it. anything you need, just ask. there are a lot of very good and very smart people here to help

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 12:34 pm

Thanks for the outstanding help. I really appreciate that this forum doesn't have 3/4s of the posts in a thread like this saying, "j00 suck n0ob!!!!!!11111" LOL!!!!1111.

Thanks for the software tip to find the speed of the RAM.

I definately want an SLI board, and am looking at that 3700+ CPU.

Will the 400W PSU be good for the system when I toss in a second card in 4-6 months?

Also, which is the better deal/card?

eVGA
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130247

XFX
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150108

It seems that all the 7800GTs come with COD2, so the gaming bundle doesn't matter much. (Not that COD2 is bad or anything)

Post by **Apoptosis** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 1:06 pm

Well the $20 rebate on the eVGA card ends today, so if you're getting one jump on it. Zipzoomfly has it in stock with COD2 for $299.99

Are all the cards coming with COD2 still? I'm not sure as on zipzoomfly it says that offer was good till Oct 31st... Might want to check into it.

infinitevalence · Post by **infinitevalence** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:14 pm

400w might be abit low for SLI. I have to say that the reality of SLI is its a waste of $$ i think your much better off geting a single 7800 series. I would not bother running dual 6800GS's even though they are at a great price point. but back to PSU... I would say that a 400w QUALITY power supply would be your min. I would look for a 450w Antec, Fortron, OCZ, Emacs, Zippy, Enermax, Thermaltake.

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 4:22 pm

I am getting the 7800, but I mean for later.....

Grrr.......ZZF is out of stock. I'd pay the extra 20 bucks for COD2. Anyone know where I can get it for 300 from a legit company?

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Wed Nov 30, 2005 9:37 pm

Seems the only Infinity board that has RAID is this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813136162

I'd like one that has SLI and RAID, and the others seems to have better FSB. Also, I'd like a board that has both PATA and SATA (SATA for my Primary drives and PATA for my mass storage drives.)

Which should I get.

Also, which is the better Socket? 754 or 939? Which has the longest upgrade life?

EDIT: I found the answer 939 is the one I want.

Kerii · Post by **Kerii** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 7:12 am

Tim Burton wrote:Thanks for the software tip to find the speed of the RAM.

I definately want an SLI board, and am looking at that 3700+ CPU.

Will the 400W PSU be good for the system when I toss in a second card in 4-6 months?

I think it should fare decently. There was a review of the 7800GT SLI's power consumption on AnandTech a while ago.

Their test system:
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum/SLI motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 FX-55 Processor
1 GB OCZ 2:2:2:6 DDR400 RAM
Seagate 7200.7 120 GB Hard Drive
OCZ 600 W PowerStream Power Supply
2x 7800GT (reference cards I assume)

And the total system load maxed out at 316W, so I guess it's "adequate".

Now that I think of it, you might need something in the 500W area if you plan on stuffing a lot of extra HDs into your case, I forgot to factor in those, lol.

Tim Burton · Post by **Tim Burton** » Thu Dec 01, 2005 9:48 am

Ok, I'll update when I get the second GPU.

Any suggestions on a MB with RAID, SLI and SATA? Seems the Infinity board doesn't have those three options. I really would like RAID 0.