New Comp

am thinking about buying a new comp with these specs, any feedback would be appreciated. Mainly gaming & all round comp .

AMD Athlon64 3800 CPU*
-1GB DDR 400 Ram
-200GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
-Asus A8N32-SLI-Deluxe Mainboard*
-2x Nvidia 6600GT 128mb Graphics Cards (Running in SLI)*
-16x Dual Layer Multi Format LG DVD Burner
-Midi Tower with Front Side USB
-ThermalTake 460W Power Supply*
-12 Months Parts and Labour Warranty
Software supplied:
-Nero Burning Rom OEM
-PowerDVD 5

$1949Inc GST, Installation and Testing

 

btw thats aussie money-)

 

Looks great!! Is this going to be a Dell, or Gateway, or are you having it built by a third party in the "Land Down Under?" Either way, it looks like you'll have yourself one nice machine that will last you for awhile. Good Luck!!!!!

 

I don't think 2 6600gts will be anything on par to 1 7800. You could save so money that way too.

 

Maybe consider a Thermaltake Case as well and a heatsink/CPU fan combo from them as well. GameDudes will make you something pretty serious if you want, Springwood, QLD.

 

Hi Guys, Thanks for your input. Checked out a few things & have come up with the new improved

-AMD Athlon64 3800 CPU
-2GB DDR 400 Ram
-200GB SATA Hard Disk Drive
-Asus A8N32-SLI-Deluxe Mainboard
-Gigabyte Nvidia 7800GT 256mb Graphics Card
-16x Dual Layer Multi Format LG DVD Burner
-ThermalTake Black Shark Case and 400w PSU
-12 Months Parts and Labour Warranty
Software supplied:
-Windows XP Home OEM
-Nero Burning Rom OEM
-PowerDVD 5

$2600Inc GST, Installation and Testing

As i said thats aussie $, Bit more than i wanted but? What concerns me is the other posts around about duel cpu? & also is the 400w psu..Any thoughts would be great, is there much difference between alliminuem & metal? just because i love the look of the viper cases:

 

The motherboard runs hot as hell, try to get a case with a side door fan. Power supply is anemic, even the Asus manual reccomends at least 450w for a light configuration. I reccomend 550w. What you are looking to build is similiar to what I did:

AMD 64 X2 4400+
2gb PC3200 Corsair XMS
200gb SATA II HD
Asus A8N32-SLI Deluxe
XFX OC 7800GTX VIVO
16x HP dvd740 DL Lightscribe DVD burner
TT Armor VA8000BNS case
Antec 550w PSU

CPU idles at ~36-38c w/ cnq enabled.
Motherboard at 43-45c.

No joke. Passive cooling heats up fast, and their heatpipe system doesn't get rid of it good enough. I called them, and they said its fine up to 60c though...

I've never seen it go above 48c though.

 

In regards to dual core CPUs, what is your concern?

It helps a ton w/ multitasking, and DVD Shrink encoding is a beautiful thing under a dual core CPU.

As for games, some are starting to be devoloped that will be multithreaded.

Or look at it this way, you can do a CPU intensive task on one core, and switch the game to another core. Point in case, I just did a backup while my friend was playing NFSMW. Switched the backup to one core, and the game to another. Never skipped a beat or lagged.

 

Ok thanks Adrynalyne, will make sure cooling is premium & will go for the 550w psu So what your saying the cpu is a no brainer. Go the double if you can afford it? I was trying to keep my price range down but this comp is getting expensive-) Still you get what you pay for..Everything else look ok?

 

Looks ok to me

If you can't afford a dual core cpu, don't sweat it. Its not like you are going to lose 50% performance. Probably closer to 5-10%. They are nicer though, and you will notice a difference in performance when multitasking.

Have you thought about going with an Asus A8N-SLI to control costs?

The A8N32-SLI is nice, but it comes at a serious premium. I got it because of the 8 phase power design and the dual 16x PCIe slots. The poor passive cooling ticks me off though.

Newegg gives a 71 dollar difference between the two (USD).

 

Hi again mate, yeh did look at that board but heard some good things on this one. Didain`t know about the heat problem though, the more i look the worse i get im just about ready to buy a ready made gaming comp, this one is getting up in price & before im finished it will be about $3000 aussie? not really sure which way to go.. Not to worry thanks for your help.

 

At least with a built system you should get a 1 year warranty, just specify the parts and specs you want and ensure the work is guarenteed!

 

Personally, I think you are better off waiting.

New CPU sockets are being released about mid-year.

Not much point, in my opinion, buying a CPU when a new form factor is close to release.

AMD should be releasing the M2 with support for DDR2 (and Intel will have a new socket), and Vista won't be far behind it.


As far as the warranty bit, you get a better warranty building it yourself.

You have manufacturers warrantly, which is 1-5 yrs on the hardware you buy!

If you buy an OEM, they can replace the faulty part with a refurbished one. No thanks!

 

I'm still using a HP Pavilion 504n, but If all you do is burn CDs then a cheap HP is perfect.