whatcha think guys?

Discussions about AMD Processors and overclocking. Need help with that new AMD CPU or not sure which one to buy? Like to void your warranty? This is the place for you! Please keep the topic on Processors only!
Post Reply
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

whatcha think guys?

Post by grunt »

heres my system that should be arriving shortly in the mail piece by piece....
abit nf7-s (rev 2 like Ive read here) $90.00
3200+ cpu $201.00
1gig pc 3500 xms (platinum, cuz im gangsta lol) $175.00 (hopefully, ebay)
asus 9600xt $185.00
Thermaltake Xaser III (V1000D) $90.00
raptor 40gig hd $98.00

As youve seen by my posts here im a noob so gimme ur oppinion if u care to, also any and all advice is welcome as to configuration of the settings... Im putting this together up in Virginia while im at school (longbow transition).

oh, reason I put this post here is because I for some reason wanna tweak it so lemme know any ideas..
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Post by Apoptosis »

Grunt,

Best Buy has the ATI 9800 Pro 128mb Video card for $250 minus a $50 mail in rebate...

Linky

Meaning final cost would be $200 and a better card for gaming and performance.

I'd also buy a brand new retail Barton 2500+ from a good online retailer like below:

Zipzoomfly has one for $80

Crank the FSB up to 200MHz and you have a 3200+ for only $80
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

darn, too late on the cpu but Ill take ur advice on the ati card, thanks
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Post by Apoptosis »

grunt wrote:longbow transition
The army chopper?
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

yeah thats the one, i work with the weapons/avionics systems...

As for my system, the bid didnt go through with the ram so ur oppinion is needed, im just gonna go with 512mb. Cant really decide whats gonna be best but Ive been looking at the hyperX and xms stuff. I just got back from best buy and picked up that 9800 pro (thanks for the help). As for a power supply Im totally lost, the only thing I *think* I know is that I want at least 350 and it needs 2 fans on the power supply... Ur thoughts?
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Post by Apoptosis »

as for a PSU it depends on what you are looking for. You might want to look for on that has SATA power connectors on it already so you can skip the adapters in your case. Antec and Enermax are a couple solid companies to look at. You also have SilenX that make a great 400W PSU that puts out less than 14dBa if you are looking to make a silent rig.
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

well everything is all put together with the ram being pc 4000 (1gb hyperX) and the hd is a 80gig seagate... Majorly annoyed since I cant seem to get the thing to boot up faster then a snail, Im sure its a driver problem but I have no conflicts and am totally lost....
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Post by Apoptosis »

How many seconds does it take to boot?
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

50sec exactly. from the time i hit the power button till its completely loaded in XP. I did this test with a downloadable version of 3dmark2001se and scored 16,6something. Not really sure how good that is, my system runs around 32 and cpu around 48.
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Post by Apoptosis »

the temps and 3dmark score seem to be okay. Sure you have the BIOS set correctly? Turn off the Floppy if you don't have one. Disable the virus scan. Enable fast boot. Turn off the splash screen if the bios has one... I could go on for days...
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

i dont have a floppy which is probably why I can update the bios (as far as I know. Will go get one tonight on my break at school. Then Ill get the latest bios and flash it. Then Ill take out the floppy like you just mentioned.

PS, the longbow is awesome lol... Cool stuff we are learning
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Post by Apoptosis »

Do a BIOS update and then load the "optimized defaults" After that is all loaded go through it and turn off everything in the BIOS that you don't need. Such as the virus scanner, Floppy Drive, and so on. Also 99% of all BIOS's first check to see if it should boot off the floppy. This might be why your system is hanging. Be sure to remove Floppy from the boot order. If you never boot off CD just set #1 to HDD. This speeds up the boot process a bunch on any PC.
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

will the bios update make a difference in detecting the cpu? Reason I ask is when I select the optimized in the bios it goes to 2500+ on the cpu. There is no other way to update the bios other then with a floppy is there?
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

what timings on my fbs/dram should I use? AGP frequency is at 66%, can i get higher?
User avatar
Apoptosis
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 33941
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2003 8:45 pm
Location: St. Louis, Missouri
Contact:

Post by Apoptosis »

Some boards allow you to update the BIOS over the net... I've seen a BIOS chips die durning the process though. Use a floppy just to be on the safe side!

Here is a great link on how to update your BIOS:
http://www.abit-usa.com/downloads/bioshelp.php

As for your AGP concern... It's not set at 66%... It's set at 66MHz, which is default and where you want it to be!
grunt
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 393
Joined: Tue Jan 20, 2004 10:16 am
Location: Savannah, Ga

Post by grunt »

good deal, thx
Post Reply