Which hardware?

[blah29]

Hello all,

I am planning a new PC based on the Athlon64 CPU, can you pleae give some advice as to which components should/should not be used?

CPU: AMD Athlon64 3200+ Socket 939
- Do all the 3200+ Socket 939 CPU's have the Winchester core, or should I check with the supplier?

Motherboard: Any suggestions?
- I was thinking about the Gigabyte GA-K8NS Ultra-939 but apparently people are having alot of trobule with this board? Any other stable suggestions?

RAM: Corsair 1024MB (2x 512MB) Value Select PC3200 DDR RAM
- I'm not really planning on overclocking, but will this RAM run stable?

HDD: Western Digital Raptor 36GB SATA 10,000RPM
- Enough room for Windows and a few installs, all "data" is kept on a file server.

Video Card: Sparkle GeForce 6600GT 128MB AGP

Any suggestions/comments would help alot.

Thank you!

 

[DaveSimmons]

Hmm, did WD ever come out with fast 36 GB raptors? Last I looked (months ago) the 36 GB ones were much slower than the 74 GB.

For motherboards, check thread #1.

 

[Mrvile]

CPU: There are two cores for the 939pin, Newcaslte and Winchester. The vender or supplier usually says which core it is, if not you should contact them. You'd definately want to use Winchester 90nm core instead of Newcastle, although the Winchesters are clocked 200mhz slower.

Motherboard: MSI Neo2 Platinum is one of the best boards for 939 right now, but it might not be as stable as you want it to be. If you want stable, I'd suggest Asus A8V Deluxe, Asus makes the stablest motherboards out there.

RAM: Yes the ram is fine. It's actually really good ram for the price (150 bucks)

HDD: I don't know much about hard drives, just that I would get a Seagate over a anything else. But I think Seagate 10ks and 15ks are SCSI.

Video Card: What games are you going to be playing? 6600GT is fine for non-intensive gaming (like Sims, Rollercoaster Tycoon, etc) but for shooting games you'd probably want 6800GT or X800Pro or up.

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: blah29

CPU: AMD Athlon64 3200+ Socket 939
- Do all the 3200+ Socket 939 CPU's have the Winchester core, or should I check with the supplier?

All socket 939 3200+ are Winchester cores.

 

[ssvegeta1010]

Get the 74 GB Raptor, may be more expensive but it has better performance.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

I'm loving my A8V Deluxe

 

[Gioron]

There are two cores for 939, but the 130nm cores that came out first only had speed grades starting at 3500+. The 90nm winchester cores that came out recently came in at the low end of the spectrum, at 3000+, 3200+, and 3500+. So the 3200+ if labeled correctly can only be a winchester. If its a 3500+ you have to double check, but anything else doesn't need it.

And I'd go with the 74Gb raptor. They improved the speed while doubling the capacity, and if you're going to spend the money for a raptor, might as well go for the best one.

 

[blah29]

Thank you for everyone's suggestions. What about in the way of CPU cooler/Power supply units?

Is the stock CPU cooler suppifient?

I have a 350w power supply already, considering there will only be 1 optical drive and 1 hard disk, would the 350w be sufficient, or better to get a more powerful unit?

 

[Icepick]

These are some great selections you've made so far. The stock cooling solution works very well for those who will not overclock.

As for the power supply, 350W is more than sufficient for the components you listed. Out of curiosity, which brand is it?

 

[Appledrop]

even for those who do overclock, the stock HS/FAN that comes with the a64 is ample. ( i am using it and my a64 is clocked at a 4000+

 

[Icepick]

Originally posted by: Azzy64
even for those who do overclock, the stock HS/FAN that comes with the a64 is ample. ( i am using it and my a64 is clocked at a 4000+

Hey Azzy, Which A64 are you using and with which motherboard? If you're having good luck then I might see how far I can get with stock cooling before migrating to a zalman.

 

[blah29]

Ok, thanks for all your replies again..

The 350w actually turned out to be 380w Antec TruePower (in the Antec Sonata case)

So the final system looks:

CPU: AMD Athlon64 3200+ (Winchester)
Cooler: Stock AMD CPU Cooler supplied
Motherboard: MSI K2N Neo2 Platinum
RAM: Corsair 1024MB (2x 512MB) Value Select PC3200 DDR RAM
HDD: Western Digital Raptor 36.6GB SATA 10,000RPM
Video Card: Either a GeForce 6600GT APG or a GeForce 6800GT AGP, which ever the budget allows
Case/PSU: Antec Sonata case, with 380w TruePower PSU
Optical: Pioneer A07 DVD Writer (already got it, otherwise would of chosen dual layer)

Thanks!