Going Green: Moving To A64 & Need Advice!

[SimGuy]

I've got $1600 CDN set aside for purchasing a CPU, RAM, motherboard & graphics card (everything else will be recycled from my current P4 2400C system in the sig except for a new ThermalRight SLK948 heatsink).

Now, I haven't built an A64 system yet and I need some guidance.

Here's what I've got ear-marked so far:

$689.00: Athlon 64 3700+ Clawhammer CG (thinking it will be good for at least 2500 MHz... maybe more)
$550.00: BFG 6800GT OC AGP8x

Would a 3400+ Clawhammer CG still be able to hit 2500 on air, or am I wishfully thinking (it's nearly 45% cheaper than the 3700+, running at $399 CDN...). I've heard rumors that AMD is speed binning the 3700's and that the 3400's & below Clawhammer CG's are having a tough time hitting even 2.4 reliably on air.

Now here's the tricky part. I have absolutely no idea what motherboard to choose and what memory to run in that system (I've heard of many memory compatability horror stories from S754 users and would prefer not to have to deal with it).

I've got 4 HDD's to run off this mobo (2 SATA, 2 IDE), so the motherboard of choice really needs to have at a minimum 2 SATA ports (RAID optional).

Overclocking features would be nice (good control over VDIMM/VCORE) as I will be trying to push this 3700+ as far as it will go on air.

NForce 3 Ultra or K8T800 Pro?

The system will be used 95% for gaming and 5% for DVD & MP3 content creation (once in a blue moon).

Any recommendations on motherboards? The DFI? What about the K8N-E Deluxe? K8N Neo? KV8 Pro? (I'd like to stick to Tier 1 mobo's from Asus or ABIT, but am open to ones from DFI & MSI)

What about RAM recommendations? BH-5 is out of the question (I won't pay that much for RAM). A single 512 MB DIMM is good to start with (will move to 1 GB later on). What about Crucial's Ballistix or Kingston's HyperX? Or go with tried & true Corsair XL? OCZ's 3500EB & 3700EB look like contenders as well. What about compatability? Additionally, is it worth moving up to PC3500-PC4000 memory on the S754 A64 platform and running memory 1:1 with the HTT?

Finally, what real-world difference am I going to be able to see between a DIMM module running at 2.5-3-3-7 versus 2-2-2-5/2-2-2-10 at the same clock speed on the A64 platform? Are timings THAT important that it will adversely affect performance, or are we talking a few percentage points in real-world applications?

Any help is greatly appreciated and will clear up a lot of questions that both myself and many others trying to make the leap into the world of A64 have!

 

[73h n00bc4nn0n]

I'm building an AMD Athlon 64 3000+ computer currently, so I might be able to help.

From what I hear the ASUS K8N-E Deluxe is a nightmare with RAM compatibility and some other issues. If you're into overclocking I'd look into the new DFI Lanparty, I've just pre-ordered that from gameve.com, but if you want a tier-one reliable motherboard I'd look at the ABit options, due to the fact DFI's support probably isn't the best in the world(Taiwan), you can also tell because the forms and CGI on their support section are out of date, combined with some bad grammar, and if there are any problems there's no way of knowing about them yet because they are new. So yeah, go with Abit unless you hear something bad about them.

For memory, I'd go with good ol' Corsair.

 

[mils128]

But guys remember there is a diffrence between 3000 board and 3700.

as for oyu question i would get the 3700+ because you prabaly can get better overclocks and it is socket 939 so it has morer upgradeability in the future. as for the mom i have no idea. good luck man

 

[aldamon]

But guys remember there is a diffrence between 3000 board and 3700.

as for oyu question i would get the 3700+ because you prabaly can get better overclocks and it is socket 939 so it has morer upgradeability in the future. as for the mom i have no idea. good luck man

The 3700+ is Socket 754.

I've heard rumors that AMD is speed binning the 3700's and that the 3400's & below Clawhammer CG's are having a tough time hitting even 2.4 reliably on air.

I believe the rumors. My 3200+ Claw gets to ~2450 on water and 1.8V. There HAS to be some speed binning going on. The 3700+ runs at 2.4 GHz on 1.5V. That's crazy. If you can afford it, go for the 3700+. Unless AMD pulls a mystery 754 CPU out of its hat, the 3700+ is the end of the line. Might as well enjoy the speed for as long as possible. You might want to wait a week or so though. There have been some articles on a possible price cut in the near future. Some believe this summer's price cut was a pre-emptive strike and AMD will not cut prices more. We'll see. I'd be pretty pissed if I bought a $500 CPU and it dropped $50 the next day.

 

[SimGuy]

Thanks for all the replies so far!

Okay. I managed to pick up an extra $500, so the 3700+ is in for sure now.

RAM wise... I think I'll go 1024 MB's of OCZ 3700EB. I've seen the best results at the tightest timings on those micron 5B-C chips utilized on the 3700EB over @ XS (using non VMODDED boards).

Board wise... unless I can really see Asus improve the K8N-E's OC'ing features, it looks like the DFI is THE board for OC'ers. There's a local distributor not 30 minutes from my place, so RMA'ing isn't a problem. I'd be worried about BIOS updates, but by the sounds of things DFI's head BIOS writer is Oskar Wu, former ABIT BIOS guru.

Aldamon: Price cuts eh? The local distributor of 3700+ CPU's can guaruntee me a ClawHammer CG stepping, so I think I'll just go pick one up now. Even if a price cut happens, it's a small price to pay to ensure a CG revision

Thanks again all! I know this new system will bitchslap my P4 2400C back to the dark ages

 

[aldamon]

Aldamon: Price cuts eh? The local distributor of 3700+ CPU's can guaruntee me a ClawHammer CG stepping, so I think I'll just go pick one up now. Even if a price cut happens, it's a small price to pay to ensure a CG revision

Um, that's because ALL 3700+ are Clawhammer CGs. Not too hard to guarantee that

 

[Odie812]

I was eyeing a 3700 processor as well until I bought a 6800 Ultra. Basically these things are the creme de creme... clawhammer, 1MB L2 cache and stock 2.4ghz. 2.6ghz on air is where these things tend to go. It was with one of these processors that OPPAINTER broke the A64 record... he got it over 3ghz with the DFI Lanparty UT. Here is a cool thread at xtremesystems where they talk about the 3700 a little bit. I guess it doesn't matter since you're definitely buying it, but if anything, it will just make you feel really good about your purchase Good luck! I smell a monster in the works with this chip and your OCZ EB, heh...

Sincerely,

Odie

 

[SimGuy]

Um, that's because ALL 3700+ are Clawhammer CGs. Not too hard to guarantee that

Didn't know that

Guess I'll hold out until the last moment and then purchase the chip. If they are all CG's, there's no point in dropping $700 large on a CPU when 3 weeks away when I buy the motherboard & RAM the CPU is down to $600 or $650

@ Odie: I read that entire thread (and it's what's got me so pumped about that DFI board!) A few guys over @ XS on SLK948 & Tornado cooling have managed to get their 3700's up to 2700 MHz or so with a moderate voltage bump (1.7V). The 3700's look like monsters and I can't wait!!!

Seeing this rip it's way through Doom 3 will be a little taste of heaven (with RAM @ 245, 3-3-2-7-1T to boot) - (image courtesy of milan03 @ XS.org)!

 

[Grov]

Heheheh.

Do you guys thing this is a good deal:

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=62374

3400+ Clawhammer? with the 1Mb L2. If it's the CG which hear o/c well should i get it, or are all clawhammers that revision???