New system.

Decided its time to move on to bigger and faster things
So just trying to get a second oppinion and ask a question or two.

Here is the current "shopping" list:
Total $ avaliable to spend $600

MB -- ABIT NF7-S NFORCE2 MAINBOARD V 2.0 - $117

CPU -- AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ BARTON RETAIL - $95

RAM -- Corsair TWINX XMS3200 Dual Channel 512MB DDR 400MHz (2 X 256) -- $170

CASE -- Chieftec Blue Dragon Aluminum Mid-Tower Case + 80mm Top Blow-hole. -- $103

HSF Cooling -- SLK800 + <insert fan here>

CASE Fans -- Suggestions?

MISC -- Rounded IDE/floppy Cables, AS III Thermal grease,<insert any misc junk here>



Looking for comments, suggestions,flmaes, ect...

btw, will the PSU have all the needed connectors to hook up all the case-fans? or should i add some splitter or whatever they are called to the MISC section?

Change the motherboard to a abit NF7-s and you should be ok also for a case I would say that the cheiftec style cases are the most liked. I would say something like a slk800 or 900 and a good cfm 80mm fan for your hsf combo.

awsome, from the looks of it i will be doing alot of business with GameVE.com

You could go with the Chenming style case...or get something that is original if you want.

For cooling, I would go for an SLK800 or SLK900 with a good fan that pushes upwards of 50CFM.

well i jus D/L .mp3 recordings of Delta's and Tornados at work....all i have to say is WATERCOOLING !!!

at this point my budget is about $500-600 so if i cant find a decently quiet air cooling will head the watercooling way... even tho the idea of have in-door pluming in my comp is scary lol

Go with an SLK800 or 900 and a low-RPM 80mm fan. I've got an SK6+ (which performs quite a bit worse than the SLK800) and it keeps the processor in my sig under 50C at load. Just make sure you have good airflow through the case.

As for cases, that's really your preference. I tend to swing towards Antec cases.

I wouldn't go watercooling until you get a little more comfortable with the idea, and do some reseach on it. There is a lot of stuff that plays into watercooling, and it will be a lot to just dive into it.


P.S. You planning to fold with that new rig? http://foldingathome.stanford.edu It is a good stress test, and will give you a warm fuzzy feeling for helping people .

folding? ....course



...bump...keep the info coming

us guys

Us guys from the watercooling section would like to welcome you to the dark....errr light side. Watercooling rocks. Once you never have to hear fans again you will be the happiest guy alive. It's not for everyone. But I believe for many people, they are just likely to have a fan break as they are to have their WC setup leak on their system if the proper precautions are taken. Even then some people have had leaks and their system still runs fine after a little time cleaning it up . Whatever is convenient to you tho. And yes the Tornado will make you want to cry when you go to bed at night...even on it's lowest setting I used to want to cry also .

I guess I'm a weirdo because the sound of fans does not bother me in the least. I used to have a huge honkin fan in my old 1600+ rig that was like 45-50db and I couldn't sleep without the computer on once I got used to it. As for cases, I love my Antec Lanboy. With all the parts in it, it weighs as much as a normal mid tower case weighs empty. Plus it's got a case window and a very nice power supply (with a built in blue fan light). I'm still working on modding my case out but so far I have one of the bit 2 by 2 inch AMD Athlon XP stickers on the front door, a little case stick of Athlon XP inside the door below my power button, the antec badge on the front of the case, the blue light built into the power supply fan, and an 80mm Blue LED exhaust fan in the back of my case. It looks nice. I wanna get a window applique, fangrills, cold cathodes (bubble lights mmmmm) and a kewl case badge that insinuates overclocking (Kentucky Fried Processor mmmmm). It's gonna be NICE! Personally I never was a fan of Abit boards. My saying has always been "Abit of Crap" hehe. I"m a gigabyte and Asus man. The new DFI LanParty boards are looking like they're gonna be nice as well. (OH and have you guys seen the new Epox board with the KT600!!! Chipset? STILL no dual channel DDR from VIA though!!! GRRR)

I guess I'm a weirdo because the sound of fans does not bother me in the least

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You haven't heard a 92mm Vantec tornado have you?

I wouldn't go watercooling until you get a little more comfortable with the idea, and do some reseach on it. There is a lot of stuff that plays into watercooling, and it will be a lot to just dive into it.

Click to expand...

Excellent advice. Read up a lot. You probably should start off your rig with air cooling, and then upgrade to water if it so pleases you.

I never was a fan of Abit boards. My saying has always been "Abit of Crap"

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Why? Have you ever used an Abit board?

Ditto to everything that Imacrzyprsn said.

I guess it's because I used to own an Abit board way back in the day and it died on me promptly without reason (this was before I started overclocking). That's really all that I have against them. I've heard good things from other people, but it just isn't my company of choice. I"m sort of Biased I guess you could say. heh

Do not get me wrong, watercooling can be a lot of fun and a pretty sweet project. I am just suggesting that you learn a lot about it before you delve into it. You can head over to the watercooling forum and ask all the questions that your heart desires over there. If you want to wait and learn all you can about watercooling and then get it for this rig then by all means go ahead, if you want to go with air cooling before you upgrade to water that is a good choice too. Just dont go and buy a kit because it will be a waste of money. If you have any questions feel free to PM me...I am still a newb to watercooling, but I may be able to help.

Altec, you have many words of wisdom (except for your words on the clock speeds of Athlon XP's Lol just kidding). I agree with you on this. It is always wise to investigate something before you dump a lot of money into it.

well since im new to OCing in general, i think i'll start with air cooling until i have enough knowlage to take the OCing to the next lvl...the watercooling lvl

im not buying anything yet, cause my next paycheck isnt until the 18th hehe, so i got about 2 weeks to figure out what i want

I think that would be your best beat being as there isn't as much stuff to f*** up with air compared to water. I can no suggest this enough be sure to have a good power supply so that you get stable rail's. Also make sure you get all the thing's needed AS3, wet and dry sandpaper for lapping, AS epoxy if you think you need it, for about 600$ I can even put together a cpu,mobo, ram vcard, case and powersupply and this is what I would get.

1 Motherboard
abit NF7-s
epox 8rda3+, 8rga, 8rda
asus A7N8X

2 CPU
2500 barton
2100 tbred (B)
1700 tbred (B) 1.5 vcore

3 ram
Twinmos
buffalo
Hyperx
Cosair

4 Cpu cooling
Sk7
slk800
slk900

5 power around 400+
antec
sparkle

6 vcard
geforce 4200, 4600
ati 9500 NP, 9700

7 case
Only 1 I like the chefitec\antec design