temped at getting an amd...

tempted at getting an amd...

i am not sure if this is the appropriate place to post this, but since this is the amd section, i figured it'd work...

after being an true intel fan for a long time, i have really put some serious thought into getting an amd system. yes that is right, i am going amd. i have priced out some stuff at newegg and here is the results:
http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=402049

i want some feedback because i really don't know amd stuff that well...


just as side notes, the video card is for my webserver and the 2 different cache drives are so i will have 2 of each since i have 1 of the 8 mb and one of the 2 mb currently.

i plan on running a raid 0 array with the 2 wd 80 gb 8mb cache drives using my raid card that i currently have.

*edit: crap! i misspelled tempted in the subject... lol*

are you planning on overclocking, or leaving it stock?

Great stuff.

For overclocking it would be Abit nForce2 mobo
+
Heatsink: all copper Thermalright SK-7
http://www.svcompucycle.com/thersk7socco.html
or
SLK-800(U)
http://www.case-mod.com/store/produ...70&PHPSESSID=933f9f2221f62429b1f73928d8b408ec

any 80x25mm will do with SK-7 but choice is
http://www.svc.com/thersmarcasf.html

http://www.arcticsilver.com/arctic_alumina_instructions.htm
http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique_instructions.htm

-Incantation- said:

are you planning on overclocking, or leaving it stock?

Click to expand...

for the time, this system will be at stock. i really can't afford any instability at all cause need my main rig for school...

i might want to consider a 3rd party hsf just to have lower temps and to keep the noise down if possible...

oh yeah, btw, i will be using my geforce4 ti 4400 in this system...

The SK7 would be an excellent option for a heatsink. Pair it up with a low-noise 80mm fan, and you should be good to go, in silence. I would suggest this memory, because even if you're not overclocking, you can always easily change it to CAS2 for superior performance. Also consider the $27 300W Fortron with a 120mm fan if you don't need the blue led. It is more than enough to power even a heavily overclocked system, stock is nothing for it. Good luck, and welcome to the "good" side !

Gigabyte mobo... bad... buy Abit or Asus or Epox.

Yes... sk7... good.

Overclock... easy.... set fsb to 200... all is happy... run prime overnight. All is happy.

need... sleep...

I assume the system is for non-game (your video card), 24/7 stable, and is a computing intensive work horse.

I assume you are not chasing the last 100-300 MHz which is not necessary for most applications
- the SK7 + low noise fan (would be very quiet)
- twinMOS 512 MB x 2 PC3200 (set FSB 200 or better, w/ tight timing 5-2-2-2 or 6-2-2-2)
- Barton 2500+ is good for less power dissipation (cooler) to deliver same system performance due to bigger L2 cache and lower MHz (cf to a 1700+)

You have two different types of HD in your list. One thing one may overlook is getting a pair of identical hard drive (e.g. WD 80 GB 8 MB, maks sure it is the 8 MB cache version), or even bigger ones since recently HD price dropped a lot. Run the two identical HD's in RAID0, as your chosen motherboard supports parallel IDE RAID. Running in RAID0 would be more noticeable in speed gain in many daily applications (shorter load time, large file applications, paging, ...) than achieved by just pushing overclocking performance gain (such as CPU from 2.0 GHz to 2.4 GHz, FSB from 200 to 220). Even if you change motherboard to ABIT NF7-S and it does not support parallel IDE RAID, you can get a $20 RAID card (e.g. silicon image) or use the on board serial RAID by adding a parallel to serial interface.

He explains himself in his first post in regards to the videocard and hard disks. And yeah, nf7-s doesnt have ata raid, only sata.

Lithan said:

He explains himself in his first post in regards to the videocard and hard disks. And yeah, nf7-s doesnt have ata raid, only sata.

Click to expand...

Sorry, I did not read the original post carefully, missed that part.

As for NF7-S, it comes w/ one parallel to serial converter, and needs one more to use the SATA for RAID.

mbentley said:

to try to make this less confusing, here is the configuration i am going to use for my main rig (the AMD system):


i am using my old monitors and sound setup. if i don't like the case, i will use my old chieftec dragon and give my web server that case...

Click to expand...

alright i'm going to edit your list for you.

• case - Bow Technology Tool less Server Tower Case Model S-6000
• psu - Fortron FSP350-60PN Aurora Series 350W ATX12V Power Supply with 120mm LED Fan - Retail
• mobo - Abit NF7-S revision 2, nForce2 Ultra400 chipset for Socket A ATX motherboard
• processor - AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL
• Thermalright SLK7 or SLK 800. for the money they're the best choice period.
• ram - twinmos PC3700 256MB goto www.memoryx.com was like $80 for 256MB
• video card - leadtek geforce4 ti 4400 (already have)
• hard drives - 2 x 80 GB wd 80 gb caviar se (8 mb cache) in raid0 (already have 1 of the 2 drives)
• optical drives - liteon cd-rw (already have)
  generic 52x cd-rom (already have)
• raid controller - silicon image u133 (already have)

so basically aside from the mobo and memory you're looking good to me. for a good deal on the motherboard try www.excaliberpc.com if you get it there DO get the BIOS recovery kit. you prolly won't need it but if your board does break exacliber will be easier to deal with if you end up having to. also, i think www.gameve.com ro www.SVC.com will guarantee the revision 2.

the memory i suggested is optional but it's always had good results on AMD boards and it's pretty well priced considering the results people get and how much it costs. i have OCZ PC3500 and i wish i had gone with the twinmos.

the motherboard is a must. if you don't get that board get the Epox 8RDA. they're the two most solid boards for stability as well as overclocking. the latest revision of the Asus A7N8X is pretty good too but the other two would still be my first choices.

if you change your mind and decide

Make sure the power supply has the 4 pin 12 V connector for the motherbaord (either your current choice GA-7N400-L or Abit NF7-S has the 4 pin 12 V connector). I looked at your link to the PSU from newegg and even Fortran and could not confirm such.

hitechjb1 said:

Make sure the power supply has the 4 pin 12 V connector for the motherbaord (either your current choice GA-7N400-L or Abit NF7-S has the 4 pin 12 V connector). I looked at your link to the PSU from newegg and even Fortran and could not confirm such.

Click to expand...

if you are talking about the 2x2 power connector, if it is an atx power supply that is p4 ready, it will have one.

The Fortron has the 12v auxillary connector.

Agreed with everything but this:

ram - twinmos PC3700 256MB goto www.memoryx.com was like $80 for 256MB

Click to expand...

There's no reason at all to go for the PC3700, even if you are heavily overclocking. The PC3200 is good up to 230mhz DC, CL2.

Gautam said:

The Fortron has the 12v auxillary connector.

Agreed with everything but this:

There's no reason at all to go for the PC3700, even if you are heavily overclocking. The PC3200 is good up to 230mhz DC, CL2.

Click to expand...

i don't think that i am going to go with anything faster than pc3200... if i do overclock, it will never be that much. i am starting off with a stock system and it will probably be like that for some decent amount of time. i suppose i probably should look for a different motherboard that allows MHz increments though... i definitely want a board that runs dual channel ddr with pc3200. i don't need sata, only regular ide (not even raid cause i have a raid card). i don't necessarily need onboard anything actually. i have a sound card, my wireless network card, & video card so i am pretty set there...

I'd suggest an Abit NF7 non S in your situation. It doesn't have much of the on-board goodies that other boards offer, yet delivers overclockability second to none.

I would probably get the Abit NF7-S or Asus A7N8X instead of the gigabyte.

For cooling I would get an SK7 with either a generic 30cfm fan or for true silence a Panaflo L1A

Gautam said:

I'd suggest an Abit NF7 non S in your situation. It doesn't have much of the on-board goodies that other boards offer, yet delivers overclockability second to none.

Click to expand...

the only thing that i see lacking in this board is the lack of dual channel ddr support. do you think there would be much of a decrease in speed if i got the non-dual channel board? i am planning on running 2 x 512 MB...

The NF7 has dual channel support, as does every nForce motherboard on the planet. Dual channel does not deliver nearly the same increase in performance in AMD-based systems as it does in Intels(around a 5-9% increase in effective bandwidth), but still gives a healthy boost here and there.