New PC (Critique please)

[beavereater]

OK, fried BIOS has made me decide to replace more than one part of my PC. Here's what I have now...

Current PC:

CPU Speed: Athlon XP2200+
Harddrive space: 30GB IBM, 300GB External Maxtor
RAM Memory: 768 MB
Video Card: ATI 9600 Pro 256MB
Motherboard: Epox Ep-8RDA+ (Fried BIOS)
CD-ROM: Plextor x32
DVD-ROM: Plextor External PX-716UF
CD Writer: Plextor x32
DVD Writer: Plextor External PX-716UF

What I will buy (Unless you convince me otherwise)

CPU Speed: Athlon 64 3200+ (2GHz、L2 512KB、Socket 939)

Harddrive space: 80GB Maxtor

RAM Memory: DDR SDRAM PC3200 1GB
Video Card: GigaByte GeForce 6600 GV-NX66256DP

Motherboard: GigaByte GA-K8N PRO-SLI


I chose the AMD because I like AMD. This was the best value/quality I could find here in Japan.
The HHD is cheap (About 50 dollars) and I'll obviously keep the 30GB
The RAM is 1GB because it comes cheaper that way. I'm hoping that I chose the right kind of RAM for my motherboard.
The card I chose is SLI so I can get another one in the future for gaming purposes. Not too sure about cards these days, but this one came up as good value/quality. It's fanless, which is my only concern. But from reviews it doesn't seem to cause that much trouble.

If anyone has any better ideas, I'm open to suggestions. My PC needs are mostly gaming needs. I also do graphic work, but almost no encoding anymore.

[yoda313]

Why are you switching from ati to nvidia?? Any reasons??

Also you can do way better than an 80gb harddrive if you check the rebates.

[b1tchm4gn3t]

FWIW-I had 2 80 GIG Maxtors fail in less than 2 years.

[beavereater]

Why are you switching from ati to nvidia?? Any reasons??

Also you can do way better than an 80gb harddrive if you check the rebates.

Rebates are almost non-existant in Japan. As for the switch from Ati, I believe (and correct me if I7m wrong) that the SLI techonolgy only works with Nvidia cards.

[rallynavvie]

SLI is nVidia, but there will be an ATi equivalent available someday, if it isn't out already.

If the fanless card gives you trouble Zalman makes a great cooler for the 6600GT.

Otherwise everthing there will make for a great gaming rig. The 6600GT is a great value card, though the 6800 is coming down in price now that the 7800 is available. However add another 6600GT and you should be seeing better performance than a single 7800.

[redwudz]

That setup is similar to what I'm running in my profiled computer. Nvidia is a good setup with the AMD. I didn't need SLI so I went with just a PCI-E video card. The ATI vid card was fanless. It ran hotter than anything else in the computer. I put in a PCI card fan and that solved my problem.

I'm running all SATA hard drives. They are about the same price as PATA and it frees up your PATA IDE bus for other drives. They generally run cooler and use less power than the PATA equivalent. They are 80Gb because I got them for about $50US each.

With the AMD 64 and the SATA drives, the computer runs cool and quiet. The CPU with the included fan is a good deal, it extends the warranty considerably. And it is fairly quiet.

Get a good power supply. SLI MBs use a lot of power. I would go at least a 450W PS of good quality. I run a 480W with 4 HDs, CD, DVD burner, DVD ROM, ZIP and a floppy.

I think you will be happy with that system.

[beavereater]

Cool...my PS is already 450. Not sure what brand though. It's loud...that's what I don't like about it. I have a "pretty" fan made by Gigabyte because I have a clear side panel to show off my insides. I'd like to keep that fan on, but just out of curiosity, what does your AMD64 temp look like (Tempurature wise) with the stock fan?

[Faustus]

Looks pretty good. But be careful, count the number of pins on the power connector on the pic of that mobo. Alot of A64 board require different PSUs then we've used in the past.

[redwudz]

My A64 CPU runs about 26C at idle and gets up to 30C max on a long encode. The CPU fan runs around 2600-2700RPM. The MB reports the case temp at 30C. As mentioned the vid card is the only thing that puts out any real heat. The factory CPU cooler also supports 'Cool and Quiet' which controls the fan speed.

The Gigabyte MB came with a plug in the motherboard ATX power connector to block off the extra pins so you can use the regular 20 pin ATX connector safely. If you have a PS with a 24 pin connector, you remove the plug. Or you can get a 20 to 24 pin adapter.

Make sure your PS has the small 4 pin connector for CPU power. I believe they are standard on PSs for P4 CPUs. Some of the SLI cards have a separate power connector, but any adapter, if needed, is probably supplied by the SLI card manufacturer.

[beavereater]

Looks pretty good. But be careful, count the number of pins on the power connector on the pic of that mobo. Alot of A64 board require different PSUs then we've used in the past.

My A64 CPU runs about 26C at idle and gets up to 30C max on a long encode. The CPU fan runs around 2600-2700RPM. The MB reports the case temp at 30C. As mentioned the vid card is the only thing that puts out any real heat. The factory CPU cooler also supports 'Cool and Quiet' which controls the fan speed.

The Gigabyte MB came with a plug in the motherboard ATX power connector to block off the extra pins so you can use the regular 20 pin ATX connector safely. If you have a PS with a 24 pin connector, you remove the plug. Or you can get a 20 to 24 pin adapter.

Make sure your PS has the small 4 pin connector for CPU power. I believe they are standard on PSs for P4 CPUs. Some of the SLI cards have a separate power connector, but any adapter, if needed, is probably supplied by the SLI card manufacturer.

Damn this is all so confusing...I'm gonna be spending my entire day off doing research on how to put together this thing before I even buy it. I wish it were as simple as plug it in!!

[Faustus]

I'd listen to redwudz on that one. He sounds alot of knowledgeable about it. I just know a friend of mines brother ordered a computer and had to send the PSU back. Sounds like maybe they made it so the old works work from waht redwudz said. Good news.

[redwudz]

I ordered a 20pin to 24pin ATX adapter with the MB because Gigabyte never mentioned the ATX socket plug or showed it in the pictures of the MB. The adapter ended up coming in handy to extend the PS ATX cable to better route it in my tower case. The extra 4 ATX pins are duplicates of other pins to allow more power apparently. They do this for server MB applications to make sure the ATX socket doesn't overheat and cause problems. Just extra server type precautions.

Even with all the drives, fans and PCI cards I have, no power problems.

The little circuit board by the CPU is the CPU power regulator that feeds off the small four pin power P4 type connector. Just about every new PS have those. This isolates the CPU from PS fluctuations on the other leads.

It's not complicated. You really can 'Just plug it in'.

[Faustus]

Good to know and noted. Heck I should order one of those adapters to keep around "just in case"