Help please with new system...

For the last few days I've been toiling over making hardware choices for my new rig. It's going pretty well except when it comes to chosing a motherboard, so I was hoping you guys might give me some feedback and help a poor girl out?

Here's what I'm looking at so far:

Motherboard:
Abit AN8 Fatal1ty SLI -OR- DFI Lanparty nF4 SLI-DR

CPU:
AMD Athlon 3700+ (San Diego core)

RAM:
OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Gold -OR- Mushkin Blue Line Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 (Both are supposedly made with the new BH5 chips)

GPU:
eVGA GeForce 6800GT 256Mb PCI-E ($299 Amazon and can be OCed to Ultra speeds)
Also had my eye on a Radeon X850XT PE 256Mb PCI-E ($349 is a good price, but I can't use the SLI function of my boards in the future with this one)

PSU:
Antec TruePower 2.0 550W

HSF:
Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu LED/CNPS7700-Cu, or Thermaltake XP-90/Big Typhoon (or maybe just waiting for the Zalman CPNS9500 LED and using stock cooling for the meantime?)


OK, so I'm sure you'll say they are all fine choices, but what do I want to do with them right? Well, I'm relatively new to OCing, so I'm definitely going to take it slow and like everything I do in life I'll do a TON of research about it before doing something stupid. I don't plan on pushing any of this as far as it can go, but rather would like a modest OC (then again modest to me, may be more than average to some) while running a 100% rock-solid stable system. In a motherboard I want a great bios with great support and updates (doesn't everyone?). I really like the idea of Abit's uGuru, although it may not work well in the real world, where you can preset configurations and change them at will inside of Windows (don't really need to be OC'ing my system when I'm just surfing around)- does the DFI board have anything like this? Or is the uGuru chip/software a POS and just something that sounds neat on paper?

As for CPU, I've heard good things about the San Diego cores, but most people seem to be using the 3000+/3200+ Venice cores- is there any reason for this other than price? I can get a 3700+ SD for less than $300 or a 3000+/3200+ Venice for around $200. For me the price difference is mariginal really, but which performs better (with a halfway decent OC) is the real quesion.

The only other things about my new system I am not 100% sure about is my choice of RAM, GPU and my HSF. I know the new BH5 chips should OC relatively well while keeping their tight timings, so I think they should be a decent choice (while I go want to run them at some faster speeds I still would like to be able to keep 2-2-2-6). Keep in mind I am going to be spending MY money on the RAM (as opposed to my rther large Amazon gift certificate), so I have to be somewhat conservative. The OCZ will end up being about $125 AR +shipping and the Mushkin $108 +shipping (I'm thinking OCZ might be the better choice because of their excellent reputation for support). For an HSF I want something that cools well (DUH!) and looks good at the same time (remember I am a female, lol). The Zalman CNPS7000B-Cu LED really seems to fit that bill, but hey I'm a Texan and if bigger is better, than the CNPS7700-Cu should be my choice (but no cool looking LED fan)? But I have also heard excellent things about the Thermalright XP-90 and Big Typhoon...all things equal (or if they all seem to cool about the same), I'm liking the way the Zalman's look.

As for my video card, the reason I'm looking at the 6800GT is because I can get it for $299 and I've seen alot of people OCing them to Ultra speeds and beyond (with sufficient cooling of course). However that Radeon X850XT PE at $349 ain't bad either. But to be honest, both of those sure are alot of money and I could drop down to a 6600GT for about $175, could buy an identical one later for maybe even less (but then again with SLI you don't get 2x the persormance so maybe just dropping $300 now would be better?).

Well, I'm starting to ramble, so if some of you have some feedback for me I certainly would appreciate it- thanks!

Whoa thats a lot of typing lol.

But I recently had pretty much the same questions as you. For the mobo go with the Abit because the DFI is supposed to be for hardcore ocers from what i've read.

The reason you see people with the 3200 venice is because they overclock really well (from what ive heard again) and they cost less. But if you dont plan to oc a lot the 3700 may be a better choice.

The GPU is a good choice in my opinion and like you said you could get another one later on.

For your PSU people have told me that a Fortron is a pretty good beginners so shoot for the Fortron 500 or 520 (?) W.

For the heatsink the XP-90 is als supposed to be good from what Ive read and been told. If you dont mind the weight and have the money you may want to get the XP-90C (copper).

Once again these are just my opinions from what I have been told and what I have read, I probably dont know much more than you.

By the way,

Thanks for the welcome and advice FlakMonkey...one question I do have for you is have you heard the 3700+ San Diego doesn't OC well? Or is it just that the 3200+ is less expensive and OC's just as well? As far as other things go...

In the last few days I've been looking around and reading more and for a motherboard have also been eyeing the Abit AN8 SLI since its about a full $70 less than the 2 other boards. Sure wish DFI had an SLI board for around that price...

Also saw that a new video card came out the day of my post- the GeForce 788GT and at only another $100 over the 6800GT its looking pretty attractive (although I started out only planning to spend about $200-$250 on my GPU so how I've gotten all the way up to $400 scares me a bit).

As for the PSU I'm also looking at the OCZ Powerstream 520W or ModStream 520W. Anyone know if either or both of these have dual PCI-E connectors?

Another question I have is about my RAM choices. I really can't spend more than $150 on 1Gb, but would like something OCable with nice timings. I've read the OCZ EL DDR PC-3200 Dual Channel Gold has OCZ's EVP (Extended Voltage Protection) on it so you cannot feed more than 3.0v to it. If this is the case, then I won't be able to get anyone near the most out of those chips. Anyway have any other ideas?

Any help I can get I'd greatly appreciate it- I won't really be upgrading this PC much for about 2 years, so I need to make it count- thanks!

Here's your other post: http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=405616

I spend my time typing a long response and this is what I get?!?! lol, kidding

Anyways, I'll try to answer the rest of your questions.

It's not that the 3700+ doesn't OC well, but both the 3200+ and 3700+ max out at about 2.7ghz on air cooling. But, if you use something extreme like phase change cooling, then you'll be able to notice the clock differences in speeds between the 3200+ and 3700+. Which translates to, that the 3700+ has more OCing "potential", but can only be maxed with extreme cooling. So that's why most people go for the 3200+, since majority uses air cooling, why not get a chip that'll top out at the same speed as a 3700+ but for a cheaper price.

But, another difference is that the 3700+ would be easier to OC then the 3200+. It's also because the 3700+ has a 12x multiplier, and the 3200+ has a 11x multipler...it's not a big difference, but it can help.

If you MUST have SLI, the Abit one isn't a bad choice, but I haven't heard much about their motherboards other then their fatality line.

Go for the Powerstream over the Modstream, Modstream is bad, everyones had bad experiences with it. I know the OCZ Powerstream 520W has one PCIe adapter, but I didn't check for the second one, I'll check later on and come back to you.

The OCZ Technology 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM Dual Channel Platinum Revision 2 Enhanced Latency Series Memory Kit is the most popular choice among people here, but it starts at $169.

If you really can't go over $150, the OCZ Technology Gold Series 1GB PC3200 DDR DIMM Memory Kit is $137 and it's pretty good too.

If you're new to OCing, you might want the Abit over the DFI. The DFI has lots of settings and may be too complicated for a new user. The Abit will still give you nice clocks. For the heatsink I would get the xp90c, but if it's possible, get the xp120.
Welcome.