I need a new PC and would appreciate your thoughts!

[GingerNinja.net]

Despite being a 30 year old gamer and geek, I've only ever taken an existing PC down to its basic components and reassembled it into a new case. I thought it was about time I replaced my current rig and do it by building it myself. Ooooo!

Current Rig:
AMD Athlon XP 1700+
Asus A7N266-E nForce MoBo
2 x 512MB PC 2100
MSI GeForce FX600 TD-256
2 x 80GB Hitachi Deskstar 7k250 in RAID 0 on PCI EIDE Controller
Plextor CD-RW 40/12/40A
Generic DVD-Rom

Obviously, I need an upgrade and I am focusing on "bang per buck" with a max budget of £1000 (£300 or so of which I am spending on a Super LANBoy with a custom paint job, colour matched keyboard and 480W TAGAN or ANTEC PSU).

In case you are wondering, I am a gamer who also dabbles in web/image design and that is the reason for going AMD 64:

Proposed Rig:
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (or 3800+ or FX-53 if they drop significantly or I can afford at the time!)
Asus A8V Deluxe WiFi (revision 2)
2 x 512MB PC3200 Crucial CT6464Z40B
XFX GeForce 6800 GT 256Mb
2 x 160Gb Hitachi Deskstar 7K250 SATA (For RAID 0)

He's got me by the opticals!
I am very tempted to get an Asus DRW-0804P to replace my DVD-ROM as I don't really plan on copying DVD's but burning them, sure! If I do that I will either keep my Plextor or sell it on E-Bay and get a DVD-ROM/CD-RW combo drive - thoughts on this would be appreciated as that equates to an extra £150 atleast out of my budget.

Drive a Hard bargain (ouch)
I am also planning on also moving across my 2 x 80GB 7K250's and running them in RAID 1 for my user data section. I will probably get 2 SATA to EIDE cables to keep things tidy, although I can only find a "converter" on Maplin's and these are £25 a piece. OUCH! Would it be cheaper in the long run to sell these (they are only 4 months old!) and buy SATA equivilents? Any thoughts on this would (again) be appreciated.

In Conclusion....
Does anyone have any thoughts on whether this is a decent spec? Also, I assume that I will need a decent CPU heatsink & fan. Does the Akasa AK-855 fit on S939?

[ed^chigliak]

NF7-S comes bundled with a single IDE to SATA convertor. I have one that I'm not using and I'm sure alot of other folks around here do also.

[GingerNinja.net]

Originally Posted by ed^chigliak

NF7-S comes bundled with a single IDE to SATA convertor. I have one that I'm not using and I'm sure alot of other folks around here do also.

Thanks Ed! If you or any of the other lovely people who read my little post have convertors that you don't need and would like to sell (or donate!) to me, please PM me and we'll discuss

[GingerNinja.net]

OK - slight update. Folllowing much trawling around the forums here and asking you lovely peeps lots of questions, I've been able to tweak things a bit in my proposed rig:

Motherboard & CPU:
Either:
- S939 Asus A8V Deluxe (revision 2)
- S939 AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (or 3800+ or FX-53 if the price drops!)
or
- S754 MSI K8N Neo Platinum (I would have gone for the Albatron K8X800 Pro II but it only has 2 SATA ports!)
- S754 AMD Athlon 64 ClawHammer ??????

Memory:
Either (in order of expense!):
- 2*512MB PC3200 Crucial CT6464Z40B (Boring but reliable?)
or
- 2*512MB Corsair TwinX Pro PC4000 Matched Pair with Activity LEDs (greater scope for overclocking or is that not needed?)
or
- 2*512MB Corsair TwinX-XL PC3200XLPT (Super fast 5-2-2-2 low latency)

Graphics:
Galaxy Glacier GeForce 6800 GT 256Mb with Arctic Cooler Rev 4

Storage:
Don't know. See my other post for the ongoing discussion on "RAID or not to RAID?"


That was a lie, wasn't it? I haven't come to a decision at all - I've gone bloody multiple choice!

HELPPP!

[Purple]

Cant help you with your decision really - i would always go for the most expensive (within the reasonable limits of sanity) as i have a weird complex about getting what you pay for.

but looky looky
PC World Component Centre - Discount!
be quick though offer expires tonight / tomoz

[BUFF]

Make your mind up quick & get the 25% discount at PCWComponents - that will make a big difference to the cost of a 3500+, 6800GT & 1Gb good RAM.

(Btw I have a brand new, unopened MSI K8N Neo Platinum sitting here if you decide on 754 & wanted to make me an offer?)

[mike_w]

For RAM, you might want to consider 2x512mb Corsair Value Select. It's from Corsair, so should be pretty reliable, along with a lifetime warranty, and for Value RAM it's not too bad. It's CAS (2.5) is better than Crucial's (3.0) as well.

For the graphics card, I would stick with the nVidia. Although the X800 and 6800 are pretty close in the benchmarks so far, the 6800 has Shader Model 3.0, which just pushes it ahead for me. Of course, they're both so stupidly fast that you can't really go wrong with either of them.

I would choose a Socket 939 Athlon 64 over a Socket 754 since 939 is supposed to stay AMDs main socket for quite a while, whereas Socket 754 is destined to become the budget socket, limiting the upgradability.

[mr_anderson187]

ive gota sata converter pata thingy here, if u still need one, gimme a pm and well talk business

[GingerNinja.net]

Originally Posted by Purple

Cant help you with your decision really - i would always go for the most expensive (within the reasonable limits of sanity) as i have a weird complex about getting what you pay for.

but looky looky
PC World Component Centre - Discount!
be quick though offer expires tonight / tomoz

OMG! Now then. Just been browsing and putting Excel through it's paces (all prices exclu VAT!!!).

Not only can I now get the XFX (instead of the Galaxy) for a fantastic £50 less, I can also either go for:

- 3500+ and save £45 on the normal cost of the processor
or
- 3800+ and save £80 on the standard cost of the processor
or
- FX-53 and save £105 on the standard cost of the processor

If, instead of looking at those savings I compare them against my normal cost of a 3500+, my upgrade cost is:
3500 to 3800 = £135.64
3500 to FX-53 = £219.84 (extra £84.20)

Hmmm - just melted my brain, but I think that means that the money I save more or less equals the cost of the upgrade.

Nomal Price 3500+ = £203
PCW Price 3800+ = £293
------------------------
PCW Upgrade Cost = £90
Normal Upgrade Cost = £171
===================
Total Savings = £81

YES! That makes sense - at 25% off, I can upgrade at 50% of the upgrade difference.

[GingerNinja.net]

Well, I did it!

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ = £344.92 inc. VAT
XFX GeForce 6800 GT 256Mb inc DOOM 3 = £222.71 inc VAT
Samsung SM 352N DVD-ROM/CD-RW Combo = £24.58 inc VAT
Total inc. Delivery = £597.71

I wonder who will be the first to call me a fool for going with the 3800+?
I could have shaved £140 off of that price by going for the 3500+, but I figured I deserved a treat of a bloody fast processor.

And I am pretty certain I am going for the Corsair TwinX-XL Pro memory (2-2-2-5) which I hadn't previously considered, but I prefer over the Platinum purely on color!

[BUFF]

Originally Posted by GingerNinja.net

I wonder who will be the first to call me a fool for going with the 3800+?

Me, me -you're a fool, 3500+'s have been overclocking nicely
Seriously though enjoy your system.

[GingerNinja.net]

Originally Posted by BUFF

Me, me -you're a fool, 3500+'s have been overclocking nicely
Seriously though enjoy your system.

Seriously - have I wasted my money? Should I have stuck with the 3500+??
I believe I should be able to contact them to change the order.....

[BUFF]

Originally Posted by GingerNinja.net

Seriously - have I wasted my money? Should I have stuck with the 3500+??

I'm sure that you will be very happy with your 3800+ & I understand that you can probably get a slight overclock out of that too (given decent cooling etc.).

[GingerNinja.net]

Originally Posted by BUFF

I'm sure that you will be very happy with your 3800+ & I understand that you can probably get a slight overclock out of that too (given decent cooling etc.).

But you still think it would have been better to go with the 3500+ and OC like crazy? Thanks for being honest!
Wouldn't mind OC'ing it at some point....

[BUFF]

I've just recently bought a 3700+ (admittedly s/h but still a few £) so we must both be crazy

[Punto]

It all comes down to money mate, you're going to get an extra bit of performance out of the 3700+ compared to the 3500+ but with the difference in percentage overclockability between the two the performance increase won't be worth anywhere near the extra money. That's all in my opinion, end of the day your system's gonna be nicer than nice so don't worry about it.

I personally think u shoulda saved the cash tho