Building a fast pc

[IBM]

Finally, after being forced to work off a laptop for far too long, I've got the cash together to build my dream machine (cue spontaneous drooling).

I know you've probably heard it all before, but I've got an idea what I'm going for, I just need wiser heads than mine to advise on a couple of points.

Here's the spec as it stands.

Processor - AMD Athlon FX51
Motherboard - Asus SK8N
Hard Drive 1 - 2 X 74.2 Western Digital WD740GD S-ATA 8MB/10,000 in RAID 0
Hard Drive 2 - 250GB Western Digital 7200RPM
Graphics Card - : 256Mb ATI Radeon 9800 XT
PSU - Nexus NX-4000 Real Silent 400W PSU
Optical - 1 x CDRW/DVD & 1 x Multiformat DVD writer.

Now comes the questions.

1) Dilemma - Should I buy the FX51? Love the idea, but that's a lot of money for a processor.
2) Anyone know of a better motherboard than the SK8N. Heard that it's fair at best, wondering if there was much of an alternative out or about to be released.
3) Any problems/alternatives to that hard drive 1 choice?
4) 9800 XT. Worth the money?
5) Lastly, you'll notice there's no RAM up on the list. That's where I run out of inspiration. I've been looking at either Kingston 2 X KRX3200K2/1G or 2 X Corsair TWINX1024RE-3200LL. Can anyone advise on which is a better set?

Anything I've forgotten, apart from taking out a mortgage on my soul to pay for it all? If anyone can think of something let me know.

Many, many thanks

Ibm

[luke313]

Nice spec

If I were you I'd wait for a couple of months (Spring 04) as AMD are releasing a 939-pin FX which takes normal non-ecc ram (The 940-pin FX requires ECC ram- you knew that didn't you?). If you went for that motherboard you would be limited to the older processors in the future (ie, the range out now only).

There should also be new graphics cards from ATi and Nvidia around that time aswell, so the 9800xt will not be as expensive (Not that it seems to be a problem for you ) or you could go for one of the new cards.

Assuming you were going for the 940-pin FX then, aslong as the ram is ECC (Error correcting-something) then you should be ok. Most people favour Corsair as it overclocks further but you will most likely be limited by the processor for overclocking.

I don't notice a monitor on that list, have you already got one?

Hope that helps,
Luke.

PS. Welcome to the forums

[Craig]

HOLY ****

One nice piece of kit you have there
With the ram id go for Kingston, and the only one problem with FX51's is that they *might* be changing the slot type come the new year, so you might have a problem if you ever want to change the motherboard, thats why id push towards a standard Athlon 64 3200, but if youve got the money, GO GET IT! I wish i was that rich

Cr4iG

[IBM]

luke313 -- I'd read up about the upcoming pin change on the next FX-5x model, which is one of the hesitations I have about going down that road, and the whole ECC thing is a pain in the backside, but a geek's gotta do...Anyway, if I'm upgrading my processor to something faster anytime in the future, what's an extra £150 for a new motherboard on top of whatever chip I go for is going to cost? 'Hey, there's the new FX-53, just gotta have it. Only £1252 per thousand unit to retailers? Wow, what a bargain...' LOL
Anyways, I've held on for over a month now letting my money burn holes through my legs, and I just can't take it anymore (no, no Scotty jokes please). If you hang around waiting for the next best thing to arrive, you never buy anything.
My monitor is a Iiyama 514 22". Was going flat screen, but couldn't justify the extra grand.
And thanks for the welcome, glad to be here.

Cr4ig -- Holy **** is right. Just the reaction I wanted, very gratifying. As far as pin/slot type change, you came at it from an opposite direction to luke313, and make a very valid point. Hoping that someone will come out with a better motherboard for the FX51 before they change the pin arrangement, and then that will have to do me. You pay your money, you make your choice. Thanks for the advice though.

[Swafe]

lol, nice kit

but if you wait for a 940 then u gotta buy EEC ram that costs a bomb more (and not sure if they do top class speed memory for it 2700 is the highest ive ever found)

mind you could get a future proof fx53 machine :|

[IBM]

Yeah, getting hold of that European Economic Community ram is a killer....hehe...

Can ECC RAM only go as high as 2700? I've seen Corsair running at 3200...Do you mean something else? Brand new to the whole RAM issue, know nothing about latency etc.

[Rod911]

Sounds like you do have money to burn, but I was just wondering, what would you mainly use this system for?

ECC RAM are being made up to PC3200 specs.

[fondie]

just happened to stumble upon this which explains it all quite nicely :-

http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushki...serTemplate/27

and here are some fine RAM modules for you :-

http://www.mushkin.com/epages/Mushki...ct/View/991127

what i'd buy anyway.

[Swafe]

ah looks like theyve started makin pc3200 EEC now, but still not nothing better like pc3500 etc

pc3200 eec in a large size will burn a hole in your wallet, pocket and probably half way thru your leg

[IBM]

Rod911 -- oh, I don't know, mostly Word, browsing the net. Stuff like that. My internet was really slow with the dial up on my laptop, so I'm hoping this rig will speed it up. What do you think?

[IBM]

hehe

[IBM]

Rod911 - Sorry, couldn't resist. Let's see, I'll be doing a lot of digital video capture and encoding, playing around on 3D Studio Max...what else....oh yeah, playing every single game ever released with the settings maxed out LOL. It's got to be done....

[Planetside]

big Q what spec rig you got naw

[unrealrocks]

IMO I don't think the FX CPUs are worth it, I'd save a little and get a decent Athlon64 (3200XP), get some proper RAM (doesn't have to be registered). If you hang on till feb then you can get the next gen GFX card and AMDs latest Athlon64, it's most prob more powerful than the FX anyways and ahellava lot cheaper

[IBM]

I've been working off a laptop for the last 18 months. It's a lovely machine, but I'm in need of a desktop....The laptop's a Sony GRX 316MP. 16" screen (1600x1200), 1.6 P4, and it was 512Mb RAM before the seat got loose and it's only running 256 *grrrr*. Was a 20GB HD 'till it died, so replaced it with 40. It's been fine for Web Dev and basic image editing, but now it's time for a different beast altogether.

[IBM]

Unreal -- thanks for that, first person to suggest an alternative instead of just drooling - only joking guys. Since you made the suggestion I'm going to have to pump you for more info.

Working around a Athlon64 3200, what would you (or anyone else) suggest for motherboard and RAM, looking at max performance instead of price?
I was thinking of going for the 9800 Pro instead of XT, save the money and go for an upgrade in 6 months, but as you may have noticed, saving money not so high on the priorities at the moment (how beautiful is it to be able to say that ).

Is the Athlon64 pin set going to be a supported product (next model carrying the same number of pins)? Thought that the pin number was going to change for both current models within the next two releases (Fx-53 for the FX and 3400/3600 for the Athlon64). Plus, after buying this system, it's not likely that I'm going to upgrade the processor any time soon....