Computer rig for comments.

# 1 12-08-2004 , 05:14 PM

Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2002

Location: Toronto, Canada

Posts: 74

Hey all.
I've had my compter now for 4yrs and It's time to replace it with a new one. All my previous computers have all been Pentium chipped but I'm leaning towards the AMD chip. I've got a rig together and would like comments. The main things I need commented on are the mobo, processor and video card.

Processor:
AMD64 3000 2.0Ghz 512K 400fsb
Motherboard:
K8N-E Deluxe nForce3 250Gb AMD64 Socket754 6xSATA Dual RAID AI Audio
Ram:
OCZ4001024PDC-K 2x512M PC3200 Premier Kit 2.5-3-3-7
Hardrive:
Caviar SE 200G 7200rpm SATA 8M cache
Video Card:
Radeon 9800 Pro 128M
DVD writer:
GSA 4120B 12X/8X Dual Layer DVD/RW
Sound Card:
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

The case is still to come.

All of the above will cost around $1400 Canadian.

Is the 64 bit chip and serial hard drive worth getting?
Also, should I wait for PCI express to become more mainstream before I get this machine?

Thing is that work is giving me $1000 towards a new computer for home and I don't want to pass up the opportunity.

Thanks.

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# 2 12-08-2004 , 05:48 PM

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Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: Yorkshire, UK

Posts: 392

The first thing that I can think of is the Socket version your going for 754. I would reccomend you get the 939 version instead as this features dual channel memory were as the 754 does not.

The Serial hard drive is very much worth getting. Again if you can use them in RAID comfiguration as this will help performance even more. For a further performance gain you may want to consider the Western Digital Raptor 10k SATA 74Gb drives in RAID, these will challange high end SCSI harddrives.

The OCZ memory is amongst the best there is, but make sure your MB supports dual channel (939) and doesn't need ECC memory (940).

I have no experience with the ATI cards but I hear good things about them, but if you r spending this much look at the newer x800 series for top notch home series card performance.

PCI-x at the moment doesn't offer any real increase in performance, no doubt that will come as the technology becomes more widespread. That is unless you use graphics cards with the SLI feature. Basically that allows you to use 2 graphics card at once, similar idea to dual cpu's.

In my opinion 64bit is the way to go if your spending top dollar on a new system. As this offers excellent performance now, and offers the best degree of future performance increases you can get for minimal extra outlay.

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# 3 12-08-2004 , 08:36 PM

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Join Date: Jun 2002

Location: Toronto, Canada

Posts: 74

Point taken on the mobo.

I spoke to a friend of a friend of mine who works for a computer shop assembling machines. He mentioned that there hasn't been one AMD64 machine that doesn't run hot. A few have overheated on him as well. He also mentioned that the fan is extremely loud.

The Radeon 9800 Pro is already $300. The x800 will start at $575!! Ouch! user added image

I need a decent video card that will make using Maya less painless than my 7000 series Radeon.

Thanks for the comments. This will help as I investigate components for my new beast.

user added image

Unfortunately. Money is not "no object" for me.

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# 4 12-08-2004 , 09:07 PM

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Join Date: Jun 2003

Location: Yorkshire, UK

Posts: 392

Your friend raise a very good point amd64's do run very hot, however that doesn't have to mean noisy. There a numerous good heatsinks which with the correct fan will be very quiet. The ThermalRight SLK-948U is a very good heatsink combine it with a Papst or Panaflo 92mm <35db fan and your harddrives will be noisier.

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# 5 13-08-2004 , 08:45 AM

Registered User
Join Date: Jul 2003

Posts: 1,257

it looks like my rig but with a better mobo, dvd burner, and worse processor and ram:
Mine is
AMD64 3200+ 2.0Ghz 1024K 200fsb (oced to 220fsb->2200Mhz)
2x512M PC3200 2.5-3-3-5

My ati is a Hercules 9800AIW SE (212€) wich accepted mutating with the Omega drivers to pro, and then was overclocked with the radlinker to very close the specs of a XT(i had to lower the avobe XT specs beacuse depending on ambient temperature it would show artifacts or not user added image

)

It costed me 1000€ some months ago... (mobo soundacrd, no screen, mouse nor keyboard) im very happy with it... very stable and fast as hell... just that the dvdburner made my XP cd explode when reinstalling it... so take care of those monsters that go so fast that break cds...

It runs hot but i have it more overcharged than a Turbo ford T anyways... user added image

oh and yes... as lone said my sata HDD makes more noise than my articooling...

Last edited by dragonfx; 13-08-2004 at 08:53 AM.

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# 6 16-08-2004 , 01:22 PM

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Join Date: May 2004

Posts: 233

I think Lonepig did a mistake about the PCI-X thing.

PCI-X is like PCI: slots for periferal cards, not video card. Unless I am mistaken, there is no possibility for sli card there.

The new standard for video card will be PCI Express which has nothing to do with PCI-X. I dont know which one came first but its causing such a confusion that the idiot who picked the naming of this standard should be fired...

You didnt say what was the intended use of the computer so I will guess its 3D and will shut my mouth about getting a mac user added image

.

If you want big performance gain, think about the Raptors HD. As it has been pointed out, putting these in RAID will improve performance of diskbound operation by a huge factor and general operation by more than what any PCU upgrade could do. You dont have to get the 2 drives right now, just getting one now and be on the look out for another when you feel the need.

Finaly, look for the highest FSB you can, this is the bottleneck of most operation that arent diskbound.

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Computer rig for comments.

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