Urgent recommendation needed

[TooNice]

Hi. First sorry if this post is rushed i am using a public phone - 1 quid 15min.

Came back from my holiday to find my PC almost dead.

Basically, it would boot, but switch off as windows boots.Oddly, the fan will still spin, except the one from the mobo - even though the ,obo light is still on.

anyway, this give me an excuse to renew some component.

right now i am on your standard barton 2500 build. i am looking for

- new mobo a64 939 compatible
- new gfx card - must have at least one dvi and one analog or 2 dvi
- new cpu - opteron maybe
- cpu cooler - must be quiet
- i have some pc3200 ram - i assume those are re-usable?

i need to order tommorrow - and the deliv need to be quick as i have no back up pc - monday ideally. id like best bang for buck rather than bleeding edge. so please keep this in mind.

cheers

[Noni]

Whats your budget?

If you want dual core-

-ASUS A8N SLI PREMIUM

-AMD 3800X2

-NVIDIA 7800GT, or 6800GS - OR - ATI 1800XT for £270, or ATI x800gto2 (unlocks to a x850XT)

-Zalman 9500 or SCYTHE NINJA with a 120mm fan.

PC3200 is reusable yes .

[YorkieBen]

depnds what you want it for - do you want high res gaming etc?

if you are on a tight budget try this:

Asus A8N5X PCI-E S939 £55.38

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=273371

256Mb ScanFX PCI-E 6800GS SLi Extreme Edition £139.23

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=322310

AMD Athlon 64 3200 32/64Bit CPU S939 "Venice" 90nm OEM (Opterons are very hard to get hold of, the Venices overclock pretty well if that is what you want)

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=164955

Gigabyte GH PDU21-MF G Power, Omnidirection, 4xheatpipe, BlueLED, SolidCopper (supposed to be excellent)

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=212686



Total £340.

If you want dual core get the X2 3800+, the motherboard chipset fan on the Asus isnt apparently super quiet, if you want a quieter pc you could get the Asrock 939DUAL-SATA2, it is cheap and pretty solid by all accounts.
http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/Produ...oductID=291356

also what psu do you have? It may need replacing.

[TooNice]

Thanks. I am pretty sure that the fault doesn't lie to the PSU. Or if it is, then the mobo has -something- to do with it being damaged, as it could be the 2nd time a not-too-bad PSU breaks down: my current PSU is a Enermax Noisetaker 600W, and my previous an Antec Trueblue 430W. I am pretty sure that both are capable considering that my system is only a 2500+ and a Radeon 9700 Pro, although I did have 4 internal HD at one point (still shouldn't be pushing the Noisetaker).

I have a 24" Monitor (the popular Dell), so it doesn't hurt to have a somewhat decent GFX card, although I am not willing to pay £400 for a GFX card.

80% of the current bleeding edge would be perfect - and I'd rather keep the mobo/CPU/GFX cost within £500-600 (with some flexibility).

[Madafwo]

How about £293 for a graphics card?

For that much you could get the Scan 7800GTX which should provide you with whatever you want. You could also throw in an OEM Althon 64 3500+, an Asus A8N-E motherboard and the Gigabyte cooler, all comes in at a little over £500, all in stock too.

If you wanted to spend a little more on the CPU you could go for the 3700+ San Diego or the Asus A8N-SLI motherboard all of that should be available within the upper limit of your budget.

[RavenNight]

Another vote for the 3700+ San Diego, great chip, as for coolers the Zalman CNPS9500LED is almost silent at full tilt and silent not far off that.

[TooNice]

I must admit that I am tempted to stretch my GFX budget.
Is the Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800XT a better card than the Scan 7800GTX?

I've decided to go with the Zalman CNPS9500LED for sure.

In terms of the mobo, is there a reason to go for an Asus, as opposed to the DFI? (I remember those being highly acclaimed at one stage).

And what are the differences between the A8N-E, A8N-SLI and A8N32-SLI? I know the first one doesn't support SLI, but is that all? considering the big price difference between the A8N-E and the A8N-SLI, I am tempted to skip the later if that is the sole difference.

[RavenNight]

AS far as I know Asus tend to have better features and support but DFI is better for overclocking and looks. I've been really impressed with my Asus. I think the Deluxe may have more features like Dual LAN and more RAid options etc.

From the latest Tom's GFX test I'd say that the 7800GTX would be the way to go.

[Madafwo]

I must admit that I am tempted to stretch my GFX budget.
Is the Sapphire ATI Radeon X1800XT a better card than the Scan 7800GTX?

I'm not the man to ask about that, but I can vouch for the 7800GTX being a top card in any form, whether it be Scan's OEM or any other manufactuers cards. There is a 512MB X1800XT on overclockers.co.uk for £276 which is a bargain, and to be honest would beat the 256MB 7800GTX into a pulp.

In terms of the mobo, is there a reason to go for an Asus, as opposed to the DFI? (I remember those being highly acclaimed at one stage).

If you want to overclock then DFI is the way to go, but from what I have heard they can be a bit unreliable, but if overclocking is your bag then go DFI. If not then stick with Asus or any other brand.

And what are the differences between the A8N-E, A8N-SLI and A8N32-SLI? I know the first one doesn't support SLI, but is that all? considering the big price difference between the A8N-E and the A8N-SLI, I am tempted to skip the later if that is the sole difference.

If you know for sure you wont add a second GFX card then go for the A8N-E if you are going Asus, I only suggest them as they have proven to me that they are reliable boards, and to many other so it seems.

Between the A8N-E and A8N-SLI there doesn't seem to be any difference at all except the obvious SLI. The A8N32-SLI has the option to run SLI with 16 PCI-E lanes for each card, giving 32 in total, but also has more SATA ports, offers Raid 5, dual gigabit LAN and is silent as it has no chipset fan.

[TooNice]

Well, I went ahead with the X1800XT for £277.53. I hope that it is not too far behind the X1900, especially in terms of features and IQ.

So thats my graphic needs sorted.

Now for motherboard, I don't need SLI since I am not using an Nvidia card. But I am wondering if there are any "premium" (good overclockers/low noise) mobotherboard that is not SLI. What is the purpose of 16 PCI-E lanes for each card BTW?

[Hans Voralberg]

For bragging rights. Or "future proof". Get the DFI Ultra-D, as premium as it can get

[TooNice]

Then again... How future proof is the 939 with the M2 in the horizon

Come to think of it, since I don't have some super premium RAM right now (Twinmos PC3200 w/t Winbond), I guess that my overclocking will probably be limited somewhat.

How many more SATA slots does the A8N32-SLI provide? It doesn't hurt to have more of those.

Edit: Also, what are the differences between the Zalman CNPS-9500 and the FS-C77? Both are priced very similarly.

[RavenNight]

The A8n-Sli Deluxe and A8n-32 both have 8 SATA ports. The Zalman CNPS9500 is newer and has a better design.

[TooNice]

Umm, whats the view on the ASUS A8R-MVP? Might make more sense than the A8N-E/A8n-sli for me. The A8n-32 is a bit costly for me, although I've not ruled out the A8n-sli Premium.

[BUFF]

Umm, whats the view on the ASUS A8R-MVP?

It's got problems
e.g. http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...readid=1775880
http://www.ocworkbench.com/ocwb/ulti...pic/44/91.html

[TooNice]

Thanks. Too bad, it looked good on paper (for the cost)... and even on Anandtech's review.

But looking at the Anandtech forum, it seems that the Asus Sli-Premium also has its shares of... pickyness. Although the impression I've got here seems more positive (and it is also recommended by Firingsquad in one of their latest system build guide).

I haven't looked much at the Asus a8n-32 since it is kinda costly...At the moment, I am leaning towards the non SLI DFI. Although at it is in the same price range as the more feature rich and quieter Sli-Premium.

Guh, I would've thought that with the amount of time the 939 has been around, that there would be very good all round boards.

I have one more question. I had a look at the DFI board at PC World (hoping to see one for £50, but didn't happen), and it is said to support 4 monitors. Now the board I looked at was non SLI, so does it mean that the feature works without SLI? How about two different mobo? I have a 3rd monitor in my flat, and happen to have the deskspace. Can I grab a cheap PCI-E card to run the 3rd monitor?