What do you think?

[Geoff]

I am thinking about building a new computer system sometime soon, tell me what you think of these parts:

EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra
Aspire X-CRUISE Black Steel ATX Mid-Tower Case
Samsung 16x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer DVD Burner
250GB Hitachi 7200RPM SATA II Hard Drive
OCZ 1GB DDR400 PC-3200
ViewSonic Black 17" LCD Screen 12ms response
Aspire Black ATX 520Watt Power Supply
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1Ghz FSB
Sound Blaster Audigy 2zs
PNY GeForce 6800GT 256MB PCI-E

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
Thermaltake VENUS 12 80mm Ball CPU Fan/Heatsink
3x MASSCOOL 80mm fans

Total price including shipping is: $1427

If you know of some parts that would be better, please let me know.

 

[ripken2004]

get a better mobo, it doesnt look like u want to overclock so get an asus board
otherwise it looks good

 

[apj101]

I am thinking about building a new computer system sometime soon

How soon is soon, if soon mean it the next month the ok, but if it means in 6 months that different

it doesnt look like u want to overclock

what gives you that impression, that EP-9NPA has good oc features

so get an asus board

is the implication there that asus board dont oc very well. Coz thats just silly

otherwise your setup is good geoff

 

[Geoff]

i read some reviews for some asus boards, and they say they dont overclock well, and that features are locked so if you overclock, the sata drivers dont work or somrething (this is what happens to my ASRock motherboard). Anyway, since i got my liscense last week, i've had many expenses, so my plan was to buy a part when i get money (ex. case one week, power supply next, ect). I did think about how prices and new parts will be cheaper, so i would buy the cpu, video card and monitor last.

 

[apj101]

so i would buy the cpu, video card and monitor last.

Probably the best idea (unless you wait so long that you're into M2 land)

and they say they dont overclock well, and that features are locked so if you overclock, the sata drivers dont work or somrething

any links to this? The sata will run from the the pci clock which will be locked regardless of overclocking.
I would like to read those links those if you can find them

Read this oc101 section and see how many asus boards are there
http://www.computerforum.com/showpost.php?p=106903&postcount=4

 

[Geoff]

Well, i know from experience that when i overclocked my computer, it wouldnt load, and i had a SATA hard drive, and i replaced it with an IDE hard drive, overclocked it,m and it worked fine.

Add when i buy a motherboard, i am looking for one that can support athlon 64 and athlon FX and/or Athlon X2.

 

[apj101]

Add when i buy a motherboard, i am looking for one that can support athlon 64 and athlon FX and/or Athlon X2.

asus a8n support all of them and is a good ocing board, and supports sli

 

[Geoff]

thanks, i'll look at that when im trying to decide on a motherboard.

 

[Praetor]

Aspire X-CRUISE Black Steel ATX Mid-Tower Case

You may want a better PSU

OCZ 1GB DDR400 PC-3200

OCz makes a lot of PC3200 memory, which is it

Aspire Black ATX 520Watt Power Supply

Got a link on this?

is the implication there that asus board dont oc very well. Coz thats just silly

Actually its not silly. Their K8 boards arent what their K7 and P4 boards are like

Read this oc101 section and see how many asus boards are there
http://www.computerforum.com/showpo...903&postcount=4

Actually if you read it ... none for K8s.

asus a8n support all of them and is a good ocing board, and supports sli

Good but not because of anything ASUS has done but because of the flexibility of the nForce4

 

[Geoff]

To clear some things up, this is the case that im buying.

And this is the psu that im buying.

And what do you mean by the type of ram? its what i said it was, an OCZ 1GB PC3200 184 Stick.

 

[apj101]

Actually its not silly. Their K8 boards arent what their K7 and P4 boards are like

true but its still silly to imply asus boards arnt good oc'er. Which is what he said by saying get an asus board if you dont want to oc. True in the case of the amd k8 in question but silly if suggested universally

Actually if you read it ... none for K8s.

again i just meant there are good asus oc'ing boards

I dont think asus board for the k8 can be said to be bad oc'ers, just not top of the class, and certainly not bottom. Mostly due to nf4 but thats not the point

And this is the psu that im buying.

its quite good,has good 35A on 12v rail. Hold up time is not too good though

 

[Praetor]

again i just meant there are good asus oc'ing boards

I dont think asus board for the k8 can be said to be bad oc'ers, just not top of the class, and certainly not bottom. Mostly due to nf4 but thats not the point

True but compared to both other makes of the same class as well as their Intel/K7 boards, ASUS really dropped off on their K8 setups ... in either case, we both understand what both of us are trying to convey