Anything I need to change or should change before I order?

[Trash Man]

After a lot of reading up and asking a few questions on the forums I think I have found what I want. Just need a few people's opions on the choices.

Here goes,

CPU - XP3700+ SD I was looking at the XP3800+ V but I think I would rather have the 1mb cache and overclock the SD to 2.4, this should be easy right?

MB - Asus A8N SLI

GFX - Connect 3D X800 XL adding a second in a couple of months

PSU - OCZ Modstream 520w

Mem - Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2

HS - ThermalRight XP-120

Can anyone see any problems there? Or anything I would be better off swapping for something else?

Will the Asus MB overclock the SD to 2.4 ok? I know there are better overclocking MB's about, but it's not a massive oc so I am hoping it will be fine. Also is it just a case of upping the mutil still and then the FSB with ocing A64's? I have a XP1700+ still atm so I am lost when it comes to ocing A64's

Thanks for any help, it's needed.

[darrensen]

Yes that sounds fine, clocking to 2.4 wont be a problem at all. You could probably go to 2.8 on air if you really wanted?

One thing i will add, you may want to consider the DFI sli-d. They are very good for OC'ing and the BIOS is much more user friendly. I have heard the ASUS is a bit of a handful with all its features!! But still the ASUS is a great mobo.

The best price for the DFI is at dabs... heres the link -->

http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/comp...quicklinx=3M74

[YorkieBen]

the dfi board is a bit more buggy is it not? At least that is what I have heard.

You can't have 2 ati x800xls together in an sli board, you will need to wait for the Corssfire motherboards to come out along with special crossfire graphics cards.

The Asus will do that overclocking fine, its not the king of overclockers but still pretty good afaik. With that RAM you will need to use ram dividers as I dont think that RAM will go to really high clocks speeds.

The A64 multiplier is locked upwards so you cannot increase the multi, only decrease it. To overclock you need to boost the FSB/HTT but there are a few other things to take care of also. There are a bunch of good guides around, I cant remember where they are, hopefully someone else will be able to point you in the right direction.

[Dark Horse]

CPU
If you intend to overclock then almost all amd64s will hit at least 2500mhz, if not up to 2700mhz for the new venice cores. In this case it may be a waste of money buying a 3700+ when the overclock you will get compared to a 3200+ or 3000+ will be almost exactly the same.

check http://www.legionhardware.com/html/doc.php?id=429 for a venice 3200+ oc review

MB
The A8N sli is a good board, very solid not bad for overclocking. The dfi lanparty nf4 series are the current overclocking kings but are hard work to get them setup properly.

GFX
At the moment the x800xl is definately winning in the price/performance stakes but i'm not sure if it will support crossfire if you intend upgrade in a few months as its only the 6600gt and upwards in the nvidia series that support sli with the 6600 and others coming soon

PSU
The modstream series has a pretty good rep and is solid

Mem
Not sure if you really need 2gb unless you intend to do a lot of number crunching. It won't really get you any noticable performance increase over 1gb and will give you lower ram overclocks. If you want to stick with corsair the xms3200xl series is still tccd which is a ram chip that will overclock from pc3200 to pc4800 (200-->300mhz) in most systems with relatively low voltage and it isn't too costly at the moment

check for corsair statement about tccd
http://www.hexus.net/content/press_r...VfSUQ9MTczMw==

and then here for a xms3200xl review

http://www.insanetek.com/index.php?p...winxpc3200xl_1

g.skill are the current performance kings though so may be worth checking out. I'm not sure who stocks them in the uk, www.overclockers.co.uk does but not sure who else.

HS
the xp-120 has a good rep although the xp-90 is slightly better value its simply up to personal preference.

Overall looks like you've got the right idea, you could probably save yourself a lot of money though if you make some smart overclocking buys. Overclocking on the a8n sli is pretty easy these days so I think that would be the way to go.

Have you thought what case yet?

[YorkieBen]

the 3700, 3800 and 4000s generall clock higher than the 3000, 3200 and 3500 from what I have seen. Plus the extra cache etc.

[Dark Horse]

the 3700, 3800 and 4000s generall clock higher than the 3000, 3200 and 3500 from what I have seen. Plus the extra cache etc.

Although the extra overclock, maybe 100-200mhz and the increased cache will get you that little bit more a performance but at twice the price for a processor.

I'm a student so i'm probably budget biassed so if you've got the money go for a san diego, if not stick with the venice and with either you'll be happy.

[Trash Man]

Some nice and helpful replys there

Shame about the 2 800 xl's, what gfx cards can I have in sli, only ati please if I cant go with the 2 ati's I might just spend a bit extra now and get a 850.

I wanted the 2gb of RAM because I mainly play WOW and other MMORPG so 2gb is a great help.

As for the case, I will be using the one I have atm, a chieftec scorpio with a 120mm blowhole on the side over the gfx and cpu and a 92mm bloehole on the top. So it's a big case and very good for cooling.

[Dark Horse]

at the moment you can only run sli on motherboards where the chipset is made by the manufacturer of the graphics cards ie 2 nvidia cards only on nvidia nf4.

Ati haven't realeased any radeon xpress boards that support crossfire (name for ati version of sli) and so you won't be able to use ati sli for a while yet, maybe 6 months?

I think at some point soon there will be some sort of fix that will allow you to run sli on non-related chipsets but thats just hearsay.

[darrensen]

the dfi board is a bit more buggy is it not? At least that is what I have heard.

You can't have 2 ati x800xls together in an sli board, you will need to wait for the Corssfire motherboards to come out along with special crossfire graphics cards.

The Asus will do that overclocking fine, its not the king of overclockers but still pretty good afaik. With that RAM you will need to use ram dividers as I dont think that RAM will go to really high clocks speeds.

The A64 multiplier is locked upwards so you cannot increase the multi, only decrease it. To overclock you need to boost the FSB/HTT but there are a few other things to take care of also. There are a bunch of good guides around, I cant remember where they are, hopefully someone else will be able to point you in the right direction.

Seems to be a very mixed view on these mobos. I have to agree, the Asus is solid and oc's well, only advantage of getting the DFI is it clocks further but you need to fiddle around with a lot of setting to get the best out of it.

[YorkieBen]

thing about getting a cheaper slower venice and overclocking is that an overclock is never guarenteed. there was someone on the forum yesterday whose venice hardly oc'ed

A san diego can get to 2.8 afaik.

with the ATIs you canot 'do' sli and never will be able to on a SLI motherboard, only a crossfire motherboard. Get a X850XT. The HIS X850XTs are pre-overclocked to PE levels anyway

[sawyen]

thing about getting a cheaper slower venice and overclocking is that an overclock is never guarenteed. there was someone on the forum yesterday whose venice hardly oc'ed

Don't think thats really the case.. I'm sure there were certain problems with his mobo tweaking to begin with... I'm sure if he'd sorted that out, it'll be alright.

I tried 2 venice till date.. both clocked pretty well.. I'm not so sure about 2.8GHz... but 3000+ i tested breached 2.6Ghz at rock-cum-prime stability on Gigabyte 3D Cooler Ultra. (The only thing holding me back was the K8T800 295MHz HTT ceiling)... My own 3500+ also managed to breach (11x260) 2.86Ghz at 15 hours prime stress test. I'll be damned if his DFI NForce4 wouldnt go further...

[darrensen]

The DFI has a great forum, loads of people there woukd help you with the clocking if you arnt a pro.

I would go with the DFI, i did loads of research into both mobo's and the DFi seems to come out top. With the added bonus if i do require help then i can go to the DFI Forums.

[Dark Horse]

with the ATIs you canot 'do' sli and never will be able to on a SLI motherboard, only a crossfire motherboard.

Sorry but the technology is compatible and the only limitations on it actually happening as whether nvidia would allow ati to do it and vice versa. Nvidia are working on sli for via chipsets at the moment but i doubt the ati/nvidia mix will come soon...

http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=24045
for non-nvidia chipset with sli

http://techreport.com/etc/2005q2/ati...e/index.x?pg=2
at the bottom of the page in that link

"Interestingly, you won't be locked into an ATI chipset if you want to run CrossFire. ATI will allow CrossFire to work with Intel chipsets, and is also in talks with NVIDIA to get CrossFire to cooperate with the nForce platform. Compatibility with VIA chipsets isn't a priority for ATI, although it may be more likely than a cross-compatibility agreement with NVIDIA. "