Finalizing nForce4 Gaming System Config...

[apsd]

Hi,

I am building an AMD64 nForce4 PCIe system for a friend, and here is the soon-to-be-finalized configuration. Please rate it with the poll above... Any comments/suggestions are welcome.

Here are the parts:

http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/Wis...478489&WishListTitle=Tomas'%20Computer

Or:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ ClawHammer/Hammer 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3500ASBOX
Model #: ADA3500ASBOX

Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
Model #: LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR

Memory: OCZ Premier Value 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory Model OCZ4002048V3DC-K
Model #: OCZ4002048V3DC-K

Video Card: SAPPHIRE Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card
Model #: 100106

PSU: SEASONIC S12-430 ATX12V 430W Power Supply
Model #: S12-430

Case: ASPIRE X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Model #: ATXB8KLW-BK

Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B300S0 300GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive
Model #: 6B300S0

Optical Drive: NEC ND-3520A Black IDE DVD Burner
Model #: ND-3520A BK

Any changes I should make? Does it all look good? Two thumbs up?

 

[Gerbil333]

Are you sure that PSU will be enough?

 

[PrayForDeath]

Sounds great, but how much are you paying for the X850XT? I'd rather get an XL instead, similar performance and way cheaper. That's just me.
Good choice on the parts.
Oh by the way, the first link you provided doesn't show anything.

 

[apsd]

well.. I'm not doing SLI for sure...

That video card is pretty hungry thought, isn't it?

Hmmm...

I guess I'll bump it up to 480 or 500

 

[PrayForDeath]

Your PSU is more than enough for the system, especially that you're not going SLI. But if you got the money, then why not?

 

[apsd]

Are there any parts that can be improved and are still within the same reasonable price range?

btw - the video card costs 479

 

[shoRunner]

psu if fine. 2gb of ram is overkill for gaming, the winchester would give a better overclock.

 

[qbek]

IIRC, X850XT won't work in the SLI setup.

If you need to go with 2GB of memory I would have chosen Patriot sticks PDC2G3200LLK at monarch for better latencies.

 

[shoRunner]

it won't work with 2 in one board...but one will work just fine. though the OP will need to explain why he has an sli board with no sli card

 

[qbek]

Originally posted by: shoRunner
it won't work with 2 in one board...but one will work just fine. though the OP will need to explain why he has an sli board with no sli card

Thanks, that's what I had in mind.
X850XT + SLI = trade in the future (or waste of money).

 

[apsd]

The SLI board itself has good features. (even if you're not using SLI)

 

[NetDevil]

I`d go with a 3200+ Winchester/Venice, DFI Ultra-D(no need for sli, waste of money IMO), X800XL vid card. You really don`t need 2gb for gaming especially 1gig sticks have high latencies, go with 2x512 corsair c2pt or so. But if you don`t change your computer too often that memory is good.
With my rig you`ll save a lot of money that you can invest in a good lcd or something.

 

[apsd]

alright... i will all of your guy's suggestions and do a revisition (DFI Ultra-D, 1gb for sure), thanks for the recommendations everyone.

 

[wickedone]

One thing is there are onlys few Games you would be better off geting 2 gigs of ram for and one thatI can think of is Everquest if he plays that he can get by with 1 gig of ram I only have 512Mg of ram. But if you decide for 2 gigs of ram and he want to overclock he will need to get the New Venice core coming out next month and can preorder from Mornach, they can use four stick's of ram with out any penaltys so you could get Four stick's of 512mb of good overclocking ram. The 1gig sticks dont have the Low Latencies like NetDevil said. The New Venice Core 3500 is $287 and are supose to be but not realy proven yet realy good for overclocking.

 

[NetDevil]

4sticks=2T . That sucks.

 

[rise]

fwiw, dfi wants 480 minimum for the psu. don't the new venice allow 4 sticks at 1t?

 

[NetDevil]

No. The improvement is to run 4 sticks at 400mhz not at 333. The 2T will remain at venice too.

 

[shoRunner]

where did this 4 sticks come from, the OP's using 1gb sticks not 512.

 

[imported_burningrave101]

I would go with 1GB sticks of Corsair ValueSelect. A little tighter timings or overclocking the RAM isn't going to net you any real world performance and it will save you alot of money going with Value RAM because 1GB sticks can be had for $100. With an Athlon 64 all you really need to worry about overclocking the the raw CPU speed. HTT speed and memory speed have little to no impact.

I dont know how well the new Venice cores are going to overclock but you might consider one of them but otherwise i'd go with the Clawhammer 3500+ over the Winchester. The Winchester's have a weak memory controller and the Clawhammer's are supposedly retired 130nm FX-53's or FX-55's and most of them overclock pretty well. Mine will run a little over 2.6Ghz on 1.55v.

 

[Baked]

Stop buying a SLI mobo when you're gonna get an ATI video card, buy a NF4 Ultra or 6800 Ultra.

 

[ribbon13]

Originally posted by: burningrave101
I would go with 1GB sticks of Corsair ValueSelect. A little tighter timings or overclocking the RAM isn't going to net you any real world performance and it will save you alot of money going with Value RAM because 1GB sticks can be had for $100.

Terrible advice. The DFI Ultra and Corsair are known to not work together.

Get TwinMos RAM
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=20-218-062&depa=1