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Is All Of This Compatable? Will It Be Able To Handle Any Game?

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zephed5751

New Member
Joined
May 19, 2005
I want to know if anything with this set-up i'm planning to buy is incompatible or if i could get something better.

The budget I was thinking of is around 1200 dollars.

Here it is:

Motherboard- DFI LANPARTY UT nF4 SLI-DR Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $179.00

Video Card- MSI NX6600GT-TD128E Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 PCI-Express x16 Video Card - Retail $178.00

Case- THERMALTAKE Tsunami VA3000BWA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $99.99 (doesn't come with power supply)

Internal Hard Drive- HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 0A31637 160GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA II Hard Drive - OEM $93.50

Processor- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BIBOX - Retail $190.00

Memory- G.SKILL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model F1-3200BWU2-1GBGH - Retail $182.45

Sound Card- CREATIVE Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS GAMER Limited Edition 70SB035000013 8 (7.1) Channels PCI Interface Sound Card - Retail
Model #: 70SB035000013 $103.99

Speakers- MidiLand MX-5 90W 5.1 Speaker - Retail
Model #: MX-5 $82.50

Power Supply- Rosewill RP500 ATX 500W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: RP500 $49.99

Thats it. The total is like 8 bucks over 1200. I guess I could go a little higher... but not by much.

Please tell me what you think. Any suggestions will help.
 
Dont get the Rosewill psu it nothing but a paper weight. Get something that is on DFI's approved PSU list: Antec, Fortron, Sparkel, OCZ. I would also spend the extra $10 on the 3200+ venice as your more likly to hit 2.7ghz with it rather than the 2.4-2.5ghz on the winchester.
 
i would advise dropping the soundcard and using onboard sound. will be fine unless you're wanting to get into sound editing or something like that.

take the savings, dump it into a nicer psu (maybe a fortron 530w for ~$90).

spend ~$10 more on the processor and get a 3200+ Venice, will OC much higher than the winnie.

memory looks alright, i'm no memory buff but i know the ocz 2x512mb el platinum revision 2 is supposed to OC greatly.

everything else looks fine, will run games perfectly fine! good luck!
 
^^I wouldn't go that far. It has it's uses. However, there are many games that aren't even coded to really utilize the sound card. HL2 being one of them. It is mainly coded to use the processor for sound, and valve has even reported that having a nice sound card really won't take that much load off the processor.

I do agree, however, that with that budget it would be prudent to stick with onboard sound. I doubt you'll notice a difference.
 
Just get something brand name, Sony, LG, NEC... you always end up paying more for a cheaper one, i.e. when your buying DVD+R and it does not handle as much media, your left with a spool of blank disks you cant burn.
 
NEC ND-3520A Black IDE DVD Burner - OEM

Cache: 2M
CD-R: 48X
CD-ROM Access Time: 120ms
CD-RW: 24X
Data Transfer Rate: CD: 48x CAV (max7200 kByte/s), DVD: 16x CAV (max 22000 kBytes)
DVD+R: 16X
DVD+RW: 8X
DVD-R: 16X
DVD-ROM Access Time: 140ms
DVD-RW: 6X

Model #: ND-3520A BK
Item #: N82E16827152035

In Stock $48.99

Something like that?
 
Make sure you get a power supply that is ATX 2.0 compatible. These have a 24 pin main power connector and extra 4 pin 12V rail as opposed to the original ATX PSU's which have a 20 pin connector.

I checked your mobo's info here:
http://www.dfi.com.tw/Product/xx_pr....jsp?PRODUCT_ID=3449&CATEGORY_TYPE=LP&SITE=US

Look under I/O Connectors section and you will see that it lists 24-pin power connector and 4-pin 12V power connector under that. I didn't check on your proposed PSU to see what it is, but you will want to make sure you're getting something that's ATX 2.0.
 
zephed5751 said:
NEC ND-3520A Black IDE DVD Burner - OEM

Cache: 2M
CD-R: 48X
CD-ROM Access Time: 120ms
CD-RW: 24X
Data Transfer Rate: CD: 48x CAV (max7200 kByte/s), DVD: 16x CAV (max 22000 kBytes)
DVD+R: 16X
DVD+RW: 8X
DVD-R: 16X
DVD-ROM Access Time: 140ms
DVD-RW: 6X

Model #: ND-3520A BK
Item #: N82E16827152035

In Stock $48.99

Something like that?

I've seen these mentioned by several people here on the forums. They seem to be pretty popular, though I don't have any personal experience. Try doing a search of threads to see what you can find.
 
dump the winnie and get a 3000+ venice for 150$ via newegg.

also if you want to get a better overclock, get some DDR500. Id go with PDP Patriot or PQI for cheap DDR500. I am at school and newegg is blocked under porn 0.o...
 
My Two Cents Worth

To answer your first question yes what you selected is compatible.
To address your second question(could I get something better) here are
my Recommendations several the same as above plus a little more:
1)Drop the Sound card the on-board sound is excellent and use the money for other improvements.
2)Take infinitevalence's recommendation and upgrade the Power Supply to one of the DFI recommended ATX2 compitable ps's(a little research on the PS forum will led you to your specific choice).
3)Take YoMatta's advice and upgrade to the Venice core.A online trip to Newegg or ZipzoomFly will save a little here.
4)Take infinitevalence's advice and go with a good brand name burnner of your choice.
5)Prior to selecting the Hatichi HD (it is a excellent choice-I have several)read these reviews that compare the Hatachi/Segate/Raptorand Maxtor Drives:
http://www.storagereview.com/articles/200410/200410087B300S0-2_3.html
http://techreport.com/reviews/2005q1/seagate-7200.8/index,
After review of these reviews and lurking on the Storage Forum, you may want to move into the new generation or HD's if you don't the Hatachi is a solid and strong choice.
 
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Product Description Price
FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A Power SuppliesView Pic FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX500-A ATX12V 500W Power Supply - Retail

Dual +12V: Yes
Efficiency: > 70%
Fans: 1
Hold-up Time: 16.6ms min.
Input Current: 10A @ 115V, 5A @ 230V
Input Frequency Range: 47 - 63Hz
Input Voltage: 115/230 V
Output: +3.3V@30A, +5V@28A, +12V1@15A, +12V2@15A, [email protected], [email protected]
Over Voltage Protection: +5V: 6.5V, +3.3V: 4.6V, +12V: 15.5V
PFC: Passive

Model #: AX500-A
Item #: N82E16817104934

In Stock

$91.00 Does that look good
 
I say drop the SLI board. You would be happier saving the money now, making money from your 6600GT when you upgrade, and buying an as-of-yet un-released card that is probably better than 2 sli 6600GT's.
 
dropping that board will only save you a little bit, but if you arent going to use sli, then i wouldnt get it. make sure to flash the firmware on that dvd drive to disable the riplock and burn at faster speeds.
 
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