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Purchasing a A64 system soon

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SteveLord

Member
Joined
Jan 19, 2005
Stuck deployed here in Gtmo Bay, Cuba until April when my tour is over. Im ready to upgrade to the Athlon64 series and it looks like with the Winchester core, now is a good time.

Of course, I want to jump into overclocking and need the best hardware to start it off. Debating whether to go with the 3000+ or the 3200+. Also, it seems the ASUS A8V looks like the best board out. I've always liked ASUS anyway.

Id like recommendations on the cpu, motherboard, most compatible ram and a top quality cpu fan.

Thanks for helping out the newbies. =)

Infantry!
 
CPU: 3200+. Some of the 3000+ motherboards clock well, but the 3200+ comes with a 10x multiplier.

MOBO: Will this be an AGP or PCI-E system? I say this because this can greatly affect the motherboard choices available to you. And the Asus A8V is a great board for stock speeds, but don't expect high 1:1 HTT clocks with it. If you're looking at a nice s939 AGP board, the infamous K8N Neo2 or EpoX 9NDA3+ are some good bets.


MEMORY: TCCD for you. There are other choices, but TCCD will be very compatible and overclockable (provided you have some good parts). My nod would go for some choices such as G. Skill PC 4400, OCZ El Platinum Rev. 2, Patriot PC 3200 with XBL Technology, Corsair PC 3200XL Rev 1.2, and Geil Ultra-X.

HSF: Thermalright products would be the best in this category. If possible, you should look at a Thermalright XP-120, which supports 120mm fans. If the XP-120 is too big, then an XP-90 (92mm fan support) hsf should be appropriate.

deception``
 
My father tried a 3200 and the Neo2 Plat...and had terrible luck overclocking it. I think he was using Corsair XMS 4400 ram. Forget the rest of the details.

I have a 9800pro AGP right now and when I get back Ill need to upgrade to whatever kind of AGP card ATI can offer me. The X800XL looks great, but is PCI-Ex.

also, what is TCCD?
 
What PSU did your father use? PSU can make all the difference between a crazy OC and not being able to even go 100MHz above stock.

Regarding video cards. Rad9800, compared to the newer cards is pretty slow. I would just ebay it and go directly with PCIe. The x800XL is a good choice as its the same as the x800XT (16 pipes) just clocked somewhat lower.

TCCD is a type of RAM IC. TCCD is currently the best low latency clocking RAM in production, which also doesn't require a lot of voltage to get to high speeds. For an A64 system, as high HTT speeds are a necessity, getting high end RAM is important, especially when you look hard enough, you can get these at pretty decent prices.
 
He used an Enermax 450w i think. I know they are one of the top 3 along with Antec and PC Power and Cooling.

I've read great things about Antec's Neo 480. I have an Antec 465w back at home.
 
SteveLord said:
My father tried a 3200 and the Neo2 Plat...and had terrible luck overclocking it.
He wasnt the only one. My Neo2 was also a real piece of ****. Have you thought about Epox 9NDAJ+

To be prefectally honest S939 motherboards are slim pickings. They all pretty well suck just in different ways.
 
As for memory another fantastic option is Mushkin. They may not be flashy but their customer support blows the other out of the water. Plus they clock like a speed demon. They are just as good as Gskill
 
I guess the Nforce3 wasnt too good. What about the Nforce4? Is it still too early to determine whether its good or not. Would be nice if it was as good as the developed nforce2 chipsets.
 
SteveLord said:
I guess the Nforce3 wasnt too good. What about the Nforce4? Is it still too early to determine whether its good or not. Would be nice if it was as good as the developed nforce2 chipsets.
Nforce4 is excaptionaly good only problem its PCI-E only.
 
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