Help Me build a new system with 2000 Dollars and the pile of hardware on my desk :)

[PerpetualBliss]

Help Me build a new system with 2000 Dollars and the pile of hardware on my desk

Help me build a system and get the biggest bang for my $. I am not a fanboy of any particular brand, I like what works well. I last built a system over two years ago and have added a few components since. I purchased an x2 4400 on a whim recently. I was really wanting to upgrade bad since I was in the habit of doing it every 12-18 months before. However things seemed to have slowed down a little in the advancement of overall speed and performance in the past two years.

I’ve got $2000 dollars and want to upgrade. I need your help and experience in building the best system around my current hardware and available funds.

If funds allow I would like a new case something cool and quiet.

I was looking at the Pc Power and cooling 850w SSI PSU do you think it would be overkill, I want plenty of power and stability. I had an issue with a Antec 550 truepower not long ago and had to pull a fan and a hard drive to have enough juice to boot properly.

I like to Overclock, and my Mushkin DDR PC3500 BH5’s will volt high. However, if new DDR is needed for the new system then so be it.

Though I like to overclock, I Like rock solid stability also. So if you know of a good bios and settings for your configuration let me know.

I like to digital paint in Photoshop, do DVD encoding, surf, and what should have been listed first “Game”.

I am not attached to the X2 4400+ and could sell it easily for more than I purchased.

I think I might need some more storage for DVD encoding and back up. However, Power comes first.

I currently have on hand the following hardware:


AMD X2 4400+
Zalman 7000cu
First edition Antec True control 550w PSU
4 x 512 Mushkin PC3500 BH5 @ 2-2-2-5
ATI X800XT PE (AGP)
2 x 74GB Raptors - SATA
2 x 36GB Raptors - SATA
80GB seagate SATA HDD
2 x 120GB WDJB1200 HDD - IDE
Lighton DVD-rom (color – beige)
Plextor 708 DVDR (color – beige)
Lighton CDR (color – beige)
Lian-li PC68 case
NEC FP2141SB 21" CRT (Black)
DELL 2405FPW 24" Wide Screen, 12ms LCD (Black)
Griffin Powermate
Altec Lansing 221 speakers (Black and silver)
Wacom intuos 6x8” drawing tablet
Microsoft internet keyboard (Black)
Intellimouse Explorer 3.0A (Silver and grey
Windows XP HOME


I could sell any of the above on ebay I am not attached to any of it. It’s just hardware to draw from for the new system.


And I can come up with a little more $ if necessary

I usually shop at NEWEGG.COM

Thanks Guys I am curious what you all will come up with!!!

 

[Webzta]

Not too upto date on amd, but base it around that x2, check the forums for the latest on cooling for that beast.

As for graphics, if you simply must have the best the 7800GTX is what you're after. The bh-5 should be good, i think it said you had 2gig of it, that' means you'll be able to disable the windows paging file and get a slight performance increase.


Looking breifly on the forums I've found this to be a decent combo..

CPU: X2 4400 (current)
Motherboard: DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR
Ram: 4x 512mb Bh-5 (current)
Graphics: 7800GTX (you can always get 2 if you want SLI)
PSU: OCZ Powerstream 520W

this is just my .02$ - hopefully someone with a clue about amd will come along and correct/fix the list and help you out!

Good luck!

-Webzta

 

[RAMMAN]

i couldnt agree with you more webzta.basing that rig around the x2 4400+ is a very wise move.great choice of psu and mobo too.however you left out his two 74gb raptors can be used in raid 0, his lcd monitor ROCKS!!! and he can use his current version of windows.also i think he would be better off getting 2x1gb sticks of ram with tightest timings available.and with all that excess parts and cash he has at his disposal he should have no problem getting two 7800gtx in sli .

 

[PerpetualBliss]

Webzta -

Ya, I was thinking the ATI X800XT PE (AGP) was going to have to be dumped for something compatible with a PCI-E board. The 7800GTX looks like the only way to
fly! Maybe I will get 2 of them in SLi. However, I want a solid SLI setup I have heard some SLI setups have had issues. Well one 7800 should push enough to run my 24" at high res.

You suggested the DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR can this board work with an X2 and SLI together?

520w PSU. Hmmm is that going to be enough power I have had my system buckle with less before?


RAMMAN-

Which 2x1gb sticks of ram with tightest timings available should I get and what MOBO would you put them in.

I have been reading that tight timings do not matter too much with the newer amd 64 memory controllers on the CPU. Sounds like bunk to me but hey its been a few months since I was into the hardware scène.

Thanks for the input guys!

 

[Vulcan]

520w PSU. Hmmm is that going to be enough power I have had my system buckle with less before?

A soldi 520w whould be enough. If you want to do SLI I would move up to a 600w though. Perhaps a Seasonic S12-600 (beware, some people have had issues using it with DFI bNF4 boards, however I have not.)

Also, definatly check out some other motherboards, the DFI is not for everyone. The EPoX SLi board is pretty nice as well as the the new eVGA/Jetway board (surprisingly it overclocks very very well.)

 

[PerpetualBliss]

Were I am stuck right now is in getting a solid Mobo and PSU. I want rock solid stability for encoding hours on end and the ability to take my 4400+ to 2.6-2.8ghz

 

[rseven]

I also vote for the 4400 X2. I would pair it with the DFI NF4 Ultra D, (the Epox is a nice choice as well) and the the Nvidia 7800. I am not a big SLI fan as I think two 7800 would be a waste. I would get 2x1gig of ram either Ballistix or OCZ. Any leftover parts you can send to me.

 

[darksparkz]

Well, you have your current system and still have $2000 to spend to upgrade it? Wow, then you can go pretty high.

As for the PSU, I'd go for the PCP&C 510, it should work fine even for 2x 7800GTX in SLI. Considering your high budget and so many parts, you might want to stick to OCZ or PCP&C brands.

I'd also recommend two 7800GTXs in SLI for your budget, if you don't OC too often for vid cards, then two eVGA 7800GTX KO Edition's in SLI would run like a monster, fastest pre-OC cards available right now.

The most solid motherboard and probably one of the best performing ones would be the ASUS A8N SLI Preminium, it's been known to be rock solid and also grabs top scores in benchmarks and such. But then, the only disadvantage about it is that I've heard it doesn't OC well. It has lower vdimms and vcores then the DFI and some other boards, so it may be a bit hard.

On the other hand, the Abit AN8 SLI Fatality is probably something I would recommend. Since your budget is at $2000, that board is a great choice for high end users. It almost always is the top in performance benchmarks and reviews. It also comes with great accessories, like onboard cooling fans and such. It can also OC to speeds nearly on par with the DFI, also a great stable board, more stable then the DFI.

Just look for the tighest timing 2x1GB set you can find. I would probably recommend the OCZ Platinum 2x1GB set at newegg for about $250?.

 

[johan851]

If it were me, I would skip the SLI and get a pair of 2405FPW's. The whole computing experience is much nicer with two monitors...once you get two, you'll never go back.

With that kind of cash, you could even come up with a storage solution beyond the Raptors. A couple of 15K RPM SCSI drives in RAID 0 would provide some pretty amazing performance, both for game loading times and general desktop usage. The 120gb drives could be used in a RAID 1 setup for storage purposes. You could also sell those and get a pair of higher capacity drives.

 

[Webzta]

If you do get new ram, keep hold of that bh-5 if money isn't an issue .. as it's pretty rare now.

Raid would be good, few scsi would make it run nice.

Out of interest what are you planning on using to cool this thing ?

-Webzta

 

[RobP4P]

Water cooling (asetek, swiftech) ~300
7800GTX of your choice ~500
ASUS A8N SLI premium ~180
Fortron 550W PS ~ 130
2xMaxtor 300GB ~250
existing 74GB raptors, monitors, memory, case....ebay the rest

total: ~ 1360

careful shopping would leave room in the budget for a second 7800GTX or a 15k SCSI or a PCP&P 850

 

[darksparkz]

Water cooling (asetek, swiftech) ~300
7800GTX of your choice ~500
ASUS A8N SLI premium ~180
Fortron 550W PS ~ 130
2xMaxtor 300GB ~250
existing 74GB raptors, monitors, memory, case....ebay the rest

total: ~ 1360

careful shopping would leave room in the budget for a second 7800GTX or a 15k SCSI or a PCP&P 850

I don't think a AX500-A is enough for all those things. Raptors, two HDDs, and maybe even two 7800GTXs...I say the Forton may barely be enough. I'd probably get the OCZ Powerstream 520W or 600W, maybe the PCP&C 510...the 850 would be way overkill.

 

[-CsA-TAZ]

Were I am stuck right now is in getting a solid Mobo and PSU. I want rock solid stability for encoding hours on end and the ability to take my 4400+ to 2.6-2.8ghz

If encoding is what you do most and game is not what you do most then you should go for a Intel P4 as this will give you the most power, only gamers and die hard overclockers go for Amd!

What u need to understand is that encoding requires a good cpu
And that’s what you get with a P4 D EE 3.8 GHz which = 2x 3.8 GHz
AMD = 4800+ = 2x 2.4 GHz but still better for game than the above!

See the link below to get comparisons between cpus tried and tested!

http://www23.tomshardware.com/index.html?modelx=33&model1=62&model2=18&chart=21

 

[rseven]

If encoding is what you do most and game is not what you do most then you should go for a Intel P4 as this will give you the most power, only gamers and die hard overclockers go for Amd!

What u need to understand is that encoding requires a good cpu
And that’s what you get with a P4 D EE 3.8 GHz which = 2x 3.8 GHz
AMD = 4800+ = 2x 2.4 GHz but still better for game than the above!

See the link below to get comparisons between cpus tried and tested!

http://www23.tomshardware.com/index.html?modelx=33&model1=62&model2=18&chart=21

to the forum.
That link was some very old testing, like early last year. Your statement that AMD is only good for games and die hard overclockers is a bit silly in the day of the X2 which can compete with any Intel cpu. I know you are new around here, but please don't start out with provacative posts. (Hehe, wait a few weeks, will ya)

 

[Edien]

The pentium 4 D EE sometimes beats the 4800+ in encoding.. by a few seconds if at all. If I am correct the benchmarks on that site are for single core? There is a lot more to a dual core than just shoving an extra core on a piece of silicon and getting 2x the performance (in most single threaded case the dual core is slightly slower). Looking at old benchmarks showing that the sinle core pentium 4 EE beats old all of the older single core athlons doesn't show anything.