Building my first gaming pc, want to no how it is

[surferdude375]

Hey
Ive been asking around about different parts and i think i have found my dream machine. It will be used for heavy dreaming and freedback would be appriciated.

Video Card:
eVGA 256-P2-N515-AX Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16
Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3700 San Diego
Memory:
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWINX1024-3200XLPRO
Screen:
NU QL-711V 2-Tone 17" 8ms LCD
Motherboard:
DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard
Hard Drive:
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Case:
Aspire X-Dreamer II
Power Supply:
APEX AL-B500E ATX 500W Aluminum Power Supply Select 90-132VAC
DVD/CD:
Pioneer Black IDE DVD Burner Model DVR-610B
Floppy Drive:
SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive
Cooling Unit:
??? Could you tell me one for about 75usd
thanx

 

[Fuzz]

Looks like a very nice system. If you can afford an AMD X2 i would go ahead and get on of those.

 

[Praetor]

Processor:
AMD Athlon 64 3700 San Diego

I would personally avoid the San Diego simply due to the price vs performance delta compared to the 3500 Odds are you'll never really make use of the performance boost offered by the extra half-meg of cache

CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model TWINX1024-3200XLPRO

Not sure where you're getting your stuff but just comparing off say Newegg, you can get better memory for less
- OCz DDR500 CL2 [$185]
- Kingston HyperX DDR400 CL2 [$130]
- OCz EL Platinum Rev2 DDR400 CL2 [$150 after $18MIR]
Granted the premium is for the funky lights and stuff but i just posing some performance related suggestions

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

Absolutely solid motherboard however a few points worth mentioning:
- ASUS A8N32SLI DLX [$230] is a better performer
- DFI Lanparty NF4Ultra-D [$125] might be a better buy if you dont think you'll need SLI (which you probably wont)

DVD/CD:
Pioneer Black IDE DVD Burner Model DVR-610B

The Plextor PX740 is a significantly superior drive without a significantly superior price tag

??? Could you tell me one for about 75usd

- Arctic Cooling Freezer64 [$30]
- Thermaltake Big Typhoon [$65]
- Thermalright XP90 [$50] + Panaflo FBA09A24M1A [92mm, 48CFM, 38DB, $15]

 

[shupola]

Thermaltake Big Typhoon [$65]

i read a review of this in cpu magazine and it said it sells for $49. ill try to find it and post back. i suppose it is pretty good because it was on thier ultimate pc holday gift guide.

Edit: ok i found it for $45 but dont know anything about this merchant.
http://www.mwave.com/mwave/skusearch.hmx?SCriteria=BA21976&CartID=done&nextloc=

 

[34erd]

I highly recomend you go with the OCZ VX. I have it (thanks for sugesting it praetor), and it can do DDR500 2-2-2-5. Thats even without tweaking. Just if you get the ASUS board then you will need a DDR booster to get the volts in it.

 

[Praetor]

i read a review of this in cpu magazine and it said it sells for $49.

Yeah i bought it for $45CAD but i just use Newegg because its easy to link pictures and stuff and prices can only get lower so if i find newegg prices that work than often you can save even more money (which is always a good thing)

 

[surferdude375]

thank you that was very helpful
im going with
OCz DDR500 CL2 [$185]
Plextor PX740
Thermaltake Big Typhoon [$65]
Panaflo FBA09A24M1A [92mm, 48CFM, 38DB, $15]
I probably sound so stupid but what does sli stand for
once again thanx for all the help

 

[surferdude375]

and the processor
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor
(how is it, would you recomeend it)

 

[Praetor]

it can do DDR500 2-2-2-5. Thats even without tweaking.

Not true. To run DDR500 with those timings requires the vDimm to be jacked and for all intents and purposes that qualifies as 'tweaking'. And to jack the vDimm to those levels requires either the OCz DDR Booster [$30] or a mobo that supports the higher voltages (DFI, Sapphire, ASUS and some others have boards that hit those voltages)

Thermaltake Big Typhoon [$65]
Panaflo FBA09A24M1A [92mm, 48CFM, 38DB, $15]

Uh, when i listed the cooling devices, it's an "exclusive-or" meaning you dont need to buy more than one entry

and the processor
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor
(how is it, would you recomeend it)

1. I did reccomend it
2. I used one just a few months back for about a month or so after upgrading from my 3500 Newcastle [ADA3500DEP4AW] and its a solid processor all around. The point is, that with gaming, you're often going to be bottlenecked by the VC rather than the CPU which is why i went with 3500+7800GT instead of say 3800-6800GT or something like that

You may also want to have a look at Video Card 101

 

[34erd]

Not true. To run DDR500 with those timings requires the vDimm to be jacked and for all intents and purposes that qualifies as 'tweaking'. And to jack the vDimm to those levels requires either the OCz DDR Booster [$30] or a mobo that supports the higher voltages (DFI, Sapphire, ASUS and some others have boards that hit those voltages)

Wait... didnt I say that?

Just if you get the ASUS board then you will need a DDR booster to get the volts in it.

 

[Praetor]

Not true. To run DDR500 with those timings requires the vDimm to be jacked and for all intents and purposes that qualifies as 'tweaking'. And to jack the vDimm to those levels requires either the OCz DDR Booster [$30] or a mobo that supports the higher voltages (DFI, Sapphire, ASUS and some others have boards that hit those voltages)

Wait... didnt I say that?

Just if you get the ASUS board then you will need a DDR booster to get the volts in it.

Im aware of the comment about the ASUS board and the DDR Booster. See what i quoted you on originally .. you said

it can do DDR500 2-2-2-5. Thats even without tweaking.

Which is, for all intents and purposed, incorrect (or at least potentially misleading/ambigious/vague/etc)

 

[34erd]

Ok your right... what I meant to say was:
My particular batch of OCZ VX is cabable of doing DDR500 at 2-2-2-5 timings at 3.3 v, which is beyond the factory specs. This was achieved on the DFI Lanpart NF4 SLI-DR board. For this reason I recomend this RAM for that board. On other boards you may need to use a DDR booster made by OCZ to get enough voltage to the BH-5 chips for them to run at the recomended specs and beyond
lol umm...

 

[Praetor]

My particular batch of OCZ VX is cabable of doing DDR500 at 2-2-2-5 timings at 3.3 v, which is beyond the factory specs.

Your batch? For all intents and purposes, VX is VX and if OCz isnt distinguishing between revs (yet, we can only pray they dont get started on that) there shouldnt be anything substanttially different between modules of VX

On other boards you may need to use a DDR booster made by OCZ to get enough voltage to the BH-5 chips for them to run at the recomended specs and beyond

Uh....

OCZ VX is unique in being the only memory available that is rated at 2-2-2 timings at DDR500. The memory is based on Winbond memory chips, most likely CH5 die.

@surferdude375
Its also noted that you need active memory cooling to use VX/Redline properly (and not void warranties)

 

[34erd]

I give up.. praetor your too smart

 

[Praetor]

It's called Google

 

[surferdude375]

what is sli?

 

[Praetor]

Have a look at Video Card 101

 

[Fuzz]

Scalable Link Interface. This is a technology from Nvidia that allows 2 PCIE graphics cards in the same computer system to be linked, thus sharing the load of the image being created. Cards in SLI are linked via a small hardware bridge. This makes for some hugley powerful gaming systems.

 

[shupola]

It's called Google

yeah, and so is this vvv

Scalable Link Interface. This is a technology from Nvidia that allows 2 PCIE graphics cards in the same computer system to be linked, thus sharing the load of the image being created. Cards in SLI are linked via a small hardware bridge. This makes for some hugley powerful gaming systems.