pretty decent 2k build, help on picking case and PSU decissions (1 Viewer)

[Serius]

cpu: amd oPTERON 146 SOCKET 939 -- 240$
MOBO: DFi Lanparty nF4 Ultra D -- 200$
RAM: 2GB Corsair TwinX 3200C2 --400$
GFX: XFX GeForce 7800GT EE --600$
HDD: dunno, probably 2x a decent 250GB HDD-- about 250$?

Case: now if this pc will only need a 450w PSU, i will probably get this case: Antec Sonata II[175$] cause it comes bundled with a SmartPower 2.0 450w

if not i might get either the Antec Plusview II[ has a nice window and comes with a decent fan this is a real good option of the psu with the sonata is no good] or possibly the Coolmaster Ammo[neither comes with psu] and a separate psu that will be good for my needs.[ both around 120$]


so that comes in at around 1800, 1900 bucks meaning i have a bit of money left over for some fans and incidentals

so what do you all reckon? iam real tantative with this and i will probably have to get most of the parts sent down from sydney[or just go computer fair if they have what i need] but yeah should be good

 

[pete_mate]

i can do much better on those prices

256MB 7800GT VIVO Leadtek / Leadtek Extreme = 445 / 510

256MB 7800GT VIVO Forsa / MSI / GIGABYTE = 425 /445 /530

dont have XFX but leadtek extreme shits on that anyways


and why the hell the old chip? an A64 is better isn't it?

i can do an a64 3500 for $300

 

[Templar]

and why the hell the old chip? an A64 is better isn't it?

i can do an a64 3500 for $300

Opterons are more reliable than Athlons and overclock much better. The difference between the 146's 2.0GHz and 3500+'s 2.2GHz could easily be made up by overclocking (seeing he's getting a DFI board).

 

[Serius]

yeah i thought about the a 64 3500+ Venice because its also good at overclocking, but i think the opteron will provide a bit more stability, still on the table though. Possibly the opteron 148,cause its pretty much the same shit but a bit better.

i thought about the forsa but it seems kind of...well drab, i feel that the GFX whilst still being the same core, is a more professional card, it looks better, its built with better parts and corners arent cut, it pretty much looks like it belongs in a moded machine, where as the forsa looks like it belongs hidden behind a beige box

leadtek extreme however... i never thought of that, what do you have to show its better? any decent benchmarks? i dont see how there can be that much variance between the cores, maybe i should just go the forsa instead of wasting money on a pretty card.

I am thinking i might have to go water cooling to get the clockspeeds i want without the added noise, i just dont know that much about a) watercooling b) overclocking[ methinks its time to rejoin overclockers.com]

ive seen water coolers for cpu's, any point[if they even exist] getting watercooling for the Graphicsa card?

 

[Templar]

Don't get Venice core if possible, get San Diego. They overclock better, although still not as good as Opterons.

For the video card, you can actually get a 7900GT for roughly the same price if you shop around, which provides superior performance. Both XFX and Leadtek are overclocked to the same frequency for the 7800GT, so I don't see how there would be any difference. And yes, pretty cards are almost useless unless you like to show off, plus you can only see the back of the PCB anyway, the fan would be hidden from view.

With Opterons you should be able to hit 2.6GHz on air, 2.8, 2.9 if you're lucky. There is no need for watercooling with Opterons unless you do something really extreme.

I don't believe there's much point in getting water cooling for video cards at your level. You can opt for the conventional GPU waterblock that will connect to your watercooling system, but to be able to cool a CPU and GPU would require a proper system as opposed to those <$200 kits around. That would probably be inappropriate and a waste for someone like you. Thermaltake does have a standalone GPU cooler but it takes up 2 PCI slots, and I believe it's more of a novelty than anything that would provide serious cooling.

 

[Serius]

hmm iam starting to get confused by CPUs... with the opteron i know its supposed to be a server processor and so more stable, hence you can clock it higher, but most of the AMD processors seem to be, well... alot lower clock speeds then the pentiums, but the AMD's also seem to be alot cheaper like i would only be paying say 300 bucks for a 2.2 proccessor i could bring up to 2.6, with intel i would be paying like 600 bucks for a 3.2[ and i dont know how well they clock, but judging from my cpu - not that well]

maybe i should just make my comp a bit more expensive and get a more up to date cpu?[seen as the one i got now is a 2.2 running at 2.4]

am i missing something here? its hard to find an AMD processor that hits 3GHZ, where as intels[also considered more stable] hit it with ease for a little bit more.

I was sorta gonna make this computer my experiment of sorts into overclocking, but i dunno...

edit: found this

Intel Pentium 4 570J Prescott 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Processor Model BX80547PG3800EJ - Retail

64 bit Support: No
Hyper-Threading Support: Yes
L1 Cache: 12KB+16KB
L2 Cache: 1MB
Multi-Core: Single-Core
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3
Operating Frequency: 3.8GHz
Process Type: 90 nm
Series: Pentium 4
Voltage: 1.525/1.53V

$621

AMD also seems to have alot more duel core processers, but this isnt reallt that useful with todays games