[chrismorris730]

First off I was wondering if you guys could give me an objective assessment of this rig (as i know a lot of people are either all out AMD or Intel or ATI or nVidia. I want a non-biased opinion please, and this includes vista vs. xp debates. I'm building for the future 5-7 years and i know XP won't be around that much longer. :D). This will probably be the one that i upgrade upon etc. for the next few years.

Case: RAIDMAX SMILODON ATX-612WB Black SECC STEEL ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail

MoBo: MSI K9A2 CF-F AM2+/AM2 AMD 790X ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

GPU: 2 x SAPPHIRE 100225L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail

PSU: mushkin 550150 ATX12V 650W Power Supply - Retail

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ Windsor 3.2GHz Socket AM2 125W Dual-Core Processor Model ADX6400CZWOF - Retail

RAM: OCZ Gold 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2G8004GK - Retail

HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250310AS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM

Monitor: Hanns·G HG-216DPB Black 21.6" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail

Mouse: Logitech MX518 2-Tone 8 Buttons 1 x Wheel USB + PS/2 Wired Optical Gaming-Grade Mouse - Retail

OS: Microsoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Ultimate for System Builders Single Pack DVD - OEM

CPU fan: ZALMAN 9500A 92mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail

I will be playing an xbox360 off the monitor in HDMI and running the sound through the line-in on the mobo, so this requires a few extra cables (oh and i'm buying the 360 as well.) I also have CoD4 for the PC thrown in the cart. when it's all said and done it will cost 2252.38 after shipping.


My next question is installing everything. I know how to put the computer together (i've taken apart and reassembled scores of them.) but i've never actually built one from the ground up and installed windows and "flashed the BIOS" (whatever that means...). since this build is going to be happening in the very near future (within the month) i need to know as soon as possible. Any advice, pointers, tips, etc. will be welcome.


Thanks in advance!

[Carbon]

Objective opinion is this:

1. Going with AMD is silly
2. That board does not have two full PCI-E x16 lanes so Crossfire is a waste (if it wasnt already)
3. 4GB is not going to be supported unless you run x64 Windows.

I can't recommend anything in that build save the monitor. Read the guide for suggestions.

[link590o]

i'm with carbon on that one. although i'd prefer to elaborate.

first off...amd versus intel is an obvious choice at this stage. intel all the way because their products plainly and simply outperform almost anything that amd can put out. the core2duo series is just a fantastic set of chips. not going with one of them is stupid because for one thing AMD is leaving the 64x 2 series behind completely as we speak. very soon they won't even support them anymore. so even from that standpoint it's obvious what to choose.

second. the motherboard. it's not bad if you want an AMD chip, but horrid for everything else.

from there, it doesn't look that bad really. you did a lot of other things right. for instance, the 4 gigs of ram, and the power supply, and hard drive. but there's room for tons of improvement.

take it from me. i wanted to do a build very similar to yours a short time ago. i showed the details to my father because he worked in the computer business for years and years. and he pretty much slapped me in the face and said GO INTEL.


you need a different case, a motherboard that supports pci-e 2.0 16x for both slots, holds up to at least 8 gigs of RAM and has support for ddr3. carbon put a very nice one in his sticky. it's a 219 dollar asus board. it's very expensive, but it's an amazing board.

if i were you, i'd futz around with the design so you can put in that motherboard, get an E8400 intel processor, those ATI graphics cards you wanted, and an Antec 900 case. from there, the build might resemble more of a true powerhouse.

as for putting it together, that's an entirely different issue. it's not really all that hard.

you screw down the motherboard into the case with the screws that come with it, and then hook up all the various power cords and reset wires into the slots labeled on the motherboard. you'll see sockets with letters and numbers as a kind of code. the wires themselves are also labeled, and the manual will tell you where to plug what in.


once you've got all your parts hooked up, and plugged into a power strip, turn on the machine and it automatically "flashes the bios". basically, what that means is the motherboard receives power, and the programming that was built into it detects all the parts in it and gives you a very basic graphical interface to use. and from there you pop in the windows disc and it'll instruct you further.

with any luck, all your parts will be recognized and you're good to go.]

just one question...where in all of this is your dvd drive? you'll need one to even read the install disc.

[chrismorris730]

that's included under the "other stuff that i didn't think was necessary to list" department. i actually have two drives included in this setup.

alright i'll take the extra monetary hit to make it better, since i don't want to have to build another one for a good 5 years at least

[chrismorris730]

@ carbon:
I have a 64 bit OS


and also I can't find an Intel board with 2 PCI 2.0 slots and DDR3 support that's NOT an x38. I can barely find a board that's not X38 that has 2 PCI 2.0 slots. and newegg isn't telling me if the slots run both in 16x mode or not...

[chrismorris730]

Why would i need a different case? this one seems fine, has good ventilation and the motherboard tray and the expansion slots are all on the same panel on the case so everything comes off in one unit. I thought about the antec 900 but i'm not sure about it.

lets put it this way: convince me :D

i changed my CPU to The intel E6750 after a reccomendation from a friend
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16819115029

and i changed the board to the ASUS P5N-SLI board that has 2 PCI-e slots running 16x in SLI
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16813131073

[alex]

Hi Chris.

I've built 4 pc's into an Antec 900 and it really is a superb case, if a bit bling for me with the blue led fans although these are easily replaced. It can fit a 8800ultra without blocking airflow from the 2 intake fans and the exhaust 120mm and 200mm help to provide a very efficient cooling loop. The 200mm, due to it's size, is also whisper quiet even at peak rpm.

The only slight downside to the 900, in my opinion, is the fan power cables; they're connected via a 4 pin molex meaning you have to daisy chain them with your psu's power cables (or buy 3pin-4pin converters) making cable management a nightmare. But it can be done.

Other than that, for the money, it's a genuinely superb case.

If I remember correctly (shout up if I'm wrong anyone) Pci-e 2 is only available on X38, 780 and the 790 chipsets. But it isn't a strict necessity as yet because the benefits it offers (primarily double the wattage provided by the port over 1.0 and double the bandwidth should the motherboard in question have the necessary amount of pci-e lanes) can't be fully utilised by current gpu technology.

I'd stay away from the E6750; an E8400 can be had for the same money and it'll require less juice to run, will have higher overclocking headroom due to the 45nm architecture, and is faster at stock and supports a faster fsb which also improves communications speeds to the rest of the components.

The 3870 you've chosen is in no way a bad card it's just that at it's pricepoint it comes into the realm of the 8800GT, 512mb version. This is the much better card. It's also about the only gpu worth buying at the moment as the GTS, GTX and Ultra don't offer much in the way of a performance boost considering the price hike.

It's also pointless going for a higher spec'd card due to the resolution of the monitor quoted. The GT excels at this resolution.

Forget the P5N, as it's the 650 sli chipset and it's a dog of a chipset. A mangy, 3-legged dog come to that.

If you're definate about a sli chipset you really want to be looking 680 or 780 (780 only really offers pci-e 2.0 support over 680).

If you're not interested in sli then there's really no point in going for a chipset optimised for it. I'd be looking at P35.

Bin the Zalman hsf for the cpu and get an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 pro. Better; lighter, and cheaper. And much better performance. It's also quieter too.

So yeah, bin the AMD 6400. It's not a bad chip (roughly comparable to a E6850) but it runs hot, likes it's electricity and better (Intel) cpu's can be had.

Lastly, the primary item in a build that ensure's good future proofing is the motherboard. Anything else, on that basis, is secondary. So you might be wise going X38/780 anyway. Just a thought.

[Carbon]

I would go for the P35 and dump SLI to be honest. It's just not cost-efficient at this stage, when a 8800GT can pretty much run anything. There is a board I linked in the guide on the second page that is a P35 with 4 x16 PCI-E slots (but it's only DDR3) :p

[chrismorris730]

Alright i've decided to go with this board: GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail

and the E8400.

The way i figure it in the next few years if i want to go SLI it'll be about 700 dollars because i can keep my processor and everything else...i'll just have to get a new motherboard and another video card.

[samjohnson]

Originally Posted by Carbon

I would go for the P35 and dump SLI to be honest. It's just not cost-efficient at this stage, when a 8800GT can pretty much run anything. There is a board I linked in the guide on the second page that is a P35 with 4 x16 PCI-E slots (but it's only DDR3) :p

Well my 7600GT can run pretty much everygame out there, but not for long.
Anyway, going with AMD isn't silly, as they are very good cpu's. But everybody is right Intel is far better in performance. You don't need to change your case if you don't want to. If you like it keep it. Looks like you will have a very nice build when your done. Should deffinetly last you five years with out upgrading.
As link590o said, it is not hard to put together. If you have taken a bunch apart then you will have no problem putting it together.