Help me design a system

[Mortanis]

Here's the deal. It's time to build a new computer. I don't want to upgrade my existing system, as I have plans for it, so it's start from scratch.

It's been a while since i've been in the loop of whats hot for computers. So, I'll need a bit of help.

I'm an AMD fanboy, so i'd like to stick with that. What's a good Motherboard/processor that isn't quite top of the line (dont feel like shelling out 400$ for a processor, but 250-300 wouldn't be bad), good video card, ram, etc.

What all would you recommend?

Thanks.

[Ducker]

I'd go with the 1700+ T-bred, Abit NF7, Corsair ram, Nvidia G-Force 4 vid card. Be a good & cheep rig.

[c627627]

Bla...


Originally posted by c627627

If you want to spend $ for a killer rig, there are many options to choose from, including Intel.
If you want the cheapest replacement for what you have, Intel is not even close to an option.

1. CPU: Best cheapest overclocker 1700+ T-bred B $44-$65
Newegg.com has them for $44 but sometimes they send you a T-Bred A, sometimes a T-Bred B, are you a gambling man?
Other places have 1700+ T-Bred B guaranteed but it's more than $20 extra.

How can you tell which one's which? Codes:
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00173/

Cheapest guaranteed T-Bred B? $49 free shipping
http://www.gameve.com/store/gameve_viewitem.asp?idproduct=267

2. Heatsink: all copper Thermalright $10-$15 SK6+ or $20-$30 SK-7, shipping extra.
Saw this on a hot deals forum:

http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=21_22&products_id=350

You will not find a better value than $14.99 SK-7, look no further.

3. Don't forget a fan, nothing too loud, but pretty much any 80x25mm will do with SK-7.
http://www.svc.com/thersmarcasf.html
Look for directions on how to apply thermal paste (it comes with sk-7) but this is a good one:
http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_alumina_instructions.htm

4. Mobo:
Increasing the FSB changes the speed of the whole motherboard and everything connected to it unless the mobo has a PCI lock.
The following nForce2 boards have a confirmed PCI lock:
Epox, Abit, Asus, Chaintech, Soltek

It is unclear whether Leadtek nForce2 has a PCI lock.
Newer MSI nforce2 Ultra 400 mobos do have have a PCI lock, but older MSI nForce2s may not.

Best is Abit
http://www.excaliberpc.com/product_info.php?cPath=181_220&products_id=867
but cheapest nForce2 used to be 8RDA+ it's $83 here:
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduct.asp?DEPA=&submit=Go&description=8rda+

I would also look into Soltek, + check this out
http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=10384
and this
http://www.overclockers.com/tips00427/

5. Memory: Best is twinmos/ch-5 winbond pc3200
http://www.memoryx.net/gn256pc3200.html
It will allow you to go to 220 FSB which is more important than MHz.

Why? Here’s why:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=176698

6. Case cooling: make sure you have those case fans blowing in from the front and out from the back.

7. Do not spend less than $32 on a power supply (exclamation point):
http://www.newegg.com/app/Viewproduct.asp?DEPA=1&submit=manufactory&catalog=58&manufactory=1919&description=&srchFor=FSP350-60BN

The number of Watts don’t mean s**t, brands do.
Power Supply Unit can take out all your other components.
Many PSU manufacturers list specs that do not reflect true capabilities of their products so all info on the PSU label doesn't mean much except for the brand, just look for the brand: Fortron Source Power (FSP)/Sparkle (SPI), Antec, Enlight, Herolchi, PC Power and Cooling, TTGI, Vantec.

8. Here's what's up:
http://www.pbase.com/image/17079307/original


:thup:

_____________________
2100+ AIUHB 0248
256MB Crucial PC2100 + 2x 256MB Kingston (Hynix chip) PC2100 @ 6 3 3 2
[152] FSB x 15 = 2280 MHz @ 1.8 Vcore with memory frequency at 100% [152] @ 2.77 Vdimm
37(min) C to 46(max) C Winter
42(min) C to 50(max) C Summer
Epox 8RDA+
Thermalright SK-7 with variable speed 80x25mm YS-Tech FD1281259B-2F
BFG GeForce4 Ti4200 8X 128MB; Antec SX-835II case ; 350W Antec SmartPower SL350
Five 80x25mm Ultra Quiet 18CFM Case Fans (NMB C3110KL-04W-B19)



Don't do anything stupid like upgrade from GeForce3 Ti to GeForce FX 5200.

Here's why:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=196482

[Mortanis]

I'm looking for just under state of the art. My current rig is better than that. :)

I guess i can just shell out for a geforce fx 5900, a gig of corsair ram, and then just find a good motherboard and processor. I'm not really looking to overclock.

Thanks all!

[c627627]

umf... :o

I see.

Short answer: Don't upgrade yet.

You have a 2800+ T-Bred, you can go to a 2500+ Barton, but for how much of an overclocking gain?

$14.99 hetsink not good enough 4U?
Here's something better:
http://www.case-mod.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=21_22&products_id=570&PHPSESSID=933f9f2221f62429b1f73928d8b408ec

There was at least one good suggestion in that post and that was the RAM which would blow away the PC2100.
It's better than corsair.

Wait, wait... what :eek:

Originally posted by Mortanis
I'm not really looking to overclock.

:bang head...

OK. OK. A guy with ASUS nForce2 and a 2800+ T-Bred B wants to upgrade... that'll teach me to read sigs... oy :rolleyes:

[Mortanis]

I'm looking to upgrade mostly because that boards unstable. I can't change the multiplier or frequency by even a fraction without the computer failing on POST. Rather frustrating.

Maybe i'll just toss a Geforce FX 5900 in there, put another 512 megs of ram in there, and call it good. *shrug*

[Ducker]

Get the Abit NF7-S, that'll solve that instability issue. ;)

[Mortanis]

See, here's the deal.

my last motherboard/processor was a Asus something or other with a 1600+.

i maked off the L1 bridges, used rear window defogger fixer, and long story short, fried the mobo and chip.

Got a new mobo and chip, did the same thing. Including frying it.

So i got the A7N8x Deluxe and the 2400+. Was told it was unlocked by default, didn't need to do any bridging. Well, i can't do anything in the bios without it failing to POST next reboot. Can't overclock it a single MHZ.

That ticks me off something royally.

So, i guess i'll go with the ram/video card option, unless anyone knows how to fix my not able to overclock issues. When i got the board, no one could help me fix it here, so i'm not too hopeful. =/

[c627627]

Your questiones can be answered.

You were misunderstood because this is the kind of stuff we deal with here: We take $44 T-Bred B's to 3000+ speeds with no problems wahatsoever and for very little $. This involves cheap but specific cooling and cheap but specific mobos like the nForce2.

First of all you have an expensive 2800+ T-Bred B.
This CPU is the highest 2800+ Thoroughbred core to be manufactured. This means there is very little room for overclocking. You see the Thoroughbed core comes in ranges from like 1700+ to 2800+.

The idea is to buy a low to mid range CPU and overclock it to a little over it's high range. It is for a reason that you see most overclocks being in the range of 2800+ to 3200+.

Now as for Barton core, the highest core is probably yet to be released ad it will probably be 3400+ or a 3600+ as things stand now.
This is why we talked about "upgrading" to Barton 2500+.

You make no mention of an extremely important part of the system: The power supply.
Remember a 350W no name Power supply can be a death sentence for a power hungry system. 350W Brand name supply may be adequate.

You make no mention of heatsinks. Are you overclocking a hot 2800+ Thoroughbred with a retail heatsink?

PC2100 RAM cannot be taken to a high FSB if it is running 100% in sync with the FSB. We're talking 150's.

The RAM provided in the second post can easily hit 220 FSB on PCI locked nForce2's with Thoroughbred B + copper cooling.


It may be an excellent idea to read something like this:
http://forum.oc-forums.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=207088
before doing modifications (mods) to your system.