What to do?

[muffin]

I just don't know what to do! I'm looking at a provisional budget of £600 for computer parts. I'd love to keep under £500, but I'm not sure...

I was going to get an EPoX mobo, kempez' RAM and a 3000+ Winchester, but my budget has grown and I'm thinking bigger.

Want an A64 CPU, mobo, RAM and graphics card. Currently looking at a 3000+ Winnie still and an XP90 for cooling, but the other parts are unsure;

Asus A8N SLI

Crucial Ballistix PC4000 512MB

Leadtek Winfast PX6800GT

Comes to £591.33 with shipping. Anyone got any other ideas?

 

[FarFarAway]

Well I reckon you should get a BFG 6800GT PCI-E Card there (don't worry about RMA - BFG take it straight back direct.

Get the Crucial modules (2 x 512mb I do hope) cause my Crucial modules have been excellent for me all the time I've had them - mine run at lower then the stock timing for Ballistix (2.5-2-2-8) so the Ballistyx will be the nuts!

Get a DFI board DFI Lanparty nF4 SLi-D

And you'll be sorted!

 

[|3ourne]

DFI Sli NF4 UT Motherboard if you can do without the buttload of useless shit that comes with it . Memory ballistix is good . Cpu ...... I would say with Venice just about the enter mainstream retail market , hold on for it . All the lastest winchesters , especially the 3000+ are speed binned and have a really tough time getting over 2.4 ghz with any amount of volts. Get an XP120 + panaflo or sanyo denki 120 mm fan , youll be much thankful for the silence and better cooling . Video card , I am using an X800XL and really like it . I dont know if your an "nvidia only" person but the X800XL gives my 6800 GT @ Ultra speeds a run for its money if you overclock the X800XL. Connect3d ( UK company ) has some X800XL cards out for a nice price , like $284 right now on Newegg.

 

[muffin]

DFI NF4 are far too expensive.

You can't get an XP120 for shit in the UK right now.

The idea behind the 6800GT is SLI, ie. another card in a few months maybe. Thinking upgradability :stickpoke

 

[NickS]

I'd go for that 6800GT in SLI, too, because of the upgradability factor. As for mobos, why not a Giga-Byte SLI or a MSI SLI? You dont have to get the LOADED versions, god.

Why not a refurb?

 

[muffin]

I'd go for that 6800GT in SLI, too, because of the upgradability factor. As for mobos, why not a Giga-Byte SLI or a MSI SLI? You dont have to get the LOADED versions, god.

Why not a refurb?

The Asus is supposed to be a good board. Plus I like the black PCB

 

[|3ourne]

asus has serious problems running a command rate of 1T over about 250 mhz. Forums are lit up with dissatisfied Asus SLI setup users. And the dfi i am talking about is the UT version , not the full blown SLI version. Here in US it sells for about the same as the Asus ur getting.

And DFI and MSI both have black pcbs. As for upgradeability , remember the two cards need to have the same bios and hardware ( basically memory ) and video card manufacturers always keep changing the memory on their cards based on their cost of production .

 

[muffin]

asus has serious problems running a command rate of 1T over about 250 mhz. Forums are lit up with dissatisfied Asus SLI setup users. And the dfi i am talking about is the UT version , not the full blown SLI version. Here in US it sells for about the same as the Asus ur getting.

And DFI and MSI both have black pcbs. As for upgradeability , remember the two cards need to have the same bios and hardware ( basically memory ) and video card manufacturers always keep changing the memory on their cards based on their cost of production .

Over here all the DFI boards are expensive. Upgradability, I may not even go SLI. Hell, I'm pricing up 754 as well

I'll take a look at the Asus stuff, any specific links?

 

[muffin]

Hows this then?

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D

Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester

Thermalright XP-90

Sapphire Radeon X800 XL

Crucial PC3200 Ballistix (2x512MB)

left of brain :argue: right of brain

 

[FragTek]

Stay as far away from that Asus board as possible... It's a SHITTY overclocker. Go with the DFI if you want SLI!

If you're still contemplating nVidia cards definately check out the Leadtek 6800's they overclock like motherfuckers and have some insane stock cooling... I miss mine

 

[|3ourne]

Hows this then?

DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 Ultra-D

Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester

Thermalright XP-90

Sapphire Radeon X800 XL

Crucial PC3200 Ballistix (2x512MB)

left of brain :argue: right of brain

looks a whole lot better . BTW ur brain is exactly like mine . Mine wont even let me sleep if i get excited over a new configuration in my mind. Then i just lie there in bed running stuff thru my mind , till i convince myself to get up and start researching .

BTW instead of a 3000+ winnie the 3000+ venice sounds a whole lot better. Like I said the current CBBID and LBBID Winchesters coming out dont overclock worth shit. Its a different case if you have a 2.7 ghz winnie hidden somewhere but if not then i STRONGLY recommend waiting for Venice.

 

[FarFarAway]

I agree wioth the Venice part. Hell if my PC hadn't had packed in then a Venice would have been Nestled in my system right now!

I'm an nvidia man so I think its not worth buying an X800XL as you loose sm 3.0 and some other quality benefits whilst gaining some speed....only after OC'ing mind. I would go for a 6800GT - its worth the extra....take it from me!

 

[JN]

How about a 4.5ghz P4? I'm selling my rig

 

[FarFarAway]

How about a 4.5ghz P4? I'm selling my rig

Are you selling the watercooling with it XMS?

 

[|3ourne]

I agree wioth the Venice part. Hell if my PC hadn't had packed in then a Venice would have been Nestled in my system right now!

I'm an nvidia man so I think its not worth buying an X800XL as you loose sm 3.0 and some other quality benefits whilst gaining some speed....only after OC'ing mind. I would go for a 6800GT - its worth the extra....take it from me!

depends on the person's requirements mate. I needed one for a LAN case and i only play CS 1.6 and Source on LAN so the radeon card serves me well. And its a better bang for money .

but like i said before , its upto the personal preference . Performance wise both cards are nearly the same . The X800XL lags behind the 6800GT in benchies but often with less than 5 fps. Thats something I dont see myself paying 50+ dollars more . Im all about the best bang for the buck..... i only splurge when it comes to RAM coz for some reason me loves good quality memory :yumyum:

 

[FarFarAway]

depends on the person's requirements mate. I needed one for a LAN case and i only play CS 1.6 and Source on LAN so the radeon card serves me well. And its a better bang for money .

but like i said before , its upto the personal preference . Performance wise both cards are nearly the same . The X800XL lags behind the 6800GT in benchies but often with less than 5 fps. Thats something I dont see myself paying 50+ dollars more . Im all about the best bang for the buck..... i only splurge when it comes to RAM coz for some reason me loves good quality memory :yumyum:

I see your point but I wasn't talking about FPS. I was talking about quality. With the new architecture and Sm 3.0, the 6800 series have much better quality of display, as well as FPS. T

Its also been proved that 6 series can sustain higher res settings easier.

I see your point on the memory, but if you're a gamer, then Graphics cards should also be one of the things you're investing in!

 

[|3ourne]

not necessarily , the 6800 series own Opengl like nobody's business but come Direct3d and filtering turn on , the radeons excel . As for quality and SM 3.0 support , which game other than Far Cry right now supports SM 3.0 officially ? I know for a fact that any game that i play right now other than Far Cry doesnt use SM 3.0 . And Far Cry wasnt coded exclusively in SM 3.0 . They added that with a patch. There is NO remarkable difference between SM 2.0 and 3.0 in terms of picture quality. The SM 3.0 suits Nvidia's architecture better and allow the cards to use a feature which would otherwise be left useless.

Ohh and btw ...... I also DO own a 6800 GT , so u cant say I am biased towards ATI .

I loved my GT to death while i used it but its AGP so right now its just lying here not doing nething . Looking for a buyer so can put good use of it and NOT abuse it . Its volt Modded as well and comes with NV Silencer 5 installed . ( with a dedicated rail from the psu , the higher I clocked it with coolbits was 440/1150 from stock 350/1000 ) .

 

[FarFarAway]

not necessarily , the 6800 series own Opengl like nobody's business but come Direct3d and filtering turn on , the radeons excel . As for quality and SM 3.0 support , which game other than Far Cry right now supports SM 3.0 officially ? I know for a fact that any game that i play right now other than Far Cry doesnt use SM 3.0 . And Far Cry wasnt coded exclusively in SM 3.0 . They added that with a patch. There is NO remarkable difference between SM 2.0 and 3.0 in terms of picture quality. The SM 3.0 suits Nvidia's architecture better and allow the cards to use a feature which would otherwise be left useless.

Ohh and btw ...... I also DO own a 6800 GT , so u cant say I am biased towards ATI .

I loved my GT to death while i used it but its AGP so right now its just lying here not doing nething . Looking for a buyer so can put good use of it and NOT abuse it . Its volt Modded as well and comes with NV Silencer 5 installed . ( with a dedicated rail from the psu , the higher I clocked it with coolbits was 440/1150 from stock 350/1000 ) .

Well yes I agree partly about sm 3.0support but check all the reviews from anywhere (HardOC is a good place) and all say that the 6800GT rocks. I'm not against ATI, but nvidia's 6 series have set the bar higher :worship:

 

[JN]

Are you selling the watercooling with it XMS?

i'm selling the waterblock, and some tubing but not anything else.

 

[FragTek]

looks a whole lot better . BTW ur brain is exactly like mine . Mine wont even let me sleep if i get excited over a new configuration in my mind. Then i just lie there in bed running stuff thru my mind , till i convince myself to get up and start researching .

BTW instead of a 3000+ winnie the 3000+ venice sounds a whole lot better. Like I said the current CBBID and LBBID Winchesters coming out dont overclock worth shit. Its a different case if you have a 2.7 ghz winnie hidden somewhere but if not then i STRONGLY recommend waiting for Venice.

I agree... any Winnie you buy now will be a fuckin shitbomb early '05 CBBID... That's what I got as a replacement for my late '04 CBBFD