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Need advice for AMD system build

olidude

New Member
Joined
Jan 8, 2006
Messages
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Location
Montreal, Canada
Processor P4 Prescott 3.0 @ 3.45
Motherboard Asus P4P800 SE
Cooling Asus Star Ice + 2 x 120mm case
Memory 2x512 KVR PC3200 Dual Ch. CL3 @ 2.5-3-3-7
Video Card(s) x850pro-16pp + volt @ 520/540 + Zalman VF700alcu
Storage 80G WD800BB-00FJA0 / 250G Maxtor 6B250R0
Display(s) 56" Toshiba DLP 720p HDTV
Case Antec SLK3000B
Audio Device(s) Audigy2 value
Power Supply Antec TP2.0 380W
Software custom XP pro
Hi guys,

I'm building my first AMD stystem for a friend and I have some good prices on these parts:

- CPU: Athlon64 3200+ skt939 ?Venice?

- MOBO: Asus A8N-SLI

- RAM: OCZ EL GOLD GX XTC 1 x 1G

- GPU: Connected 3D X800GTO vivo pci-e

- Case / PSU: Antec SLK3000B (comes with Antec Smart Power 400W)

- HD: Seagate 160G/7200rpm 8M cache SATA (U150)

- LG dual-layer 16x DVD writer



He has about 1000$ CAD (taxes included) to spend. I will be ocing this machine's cpu/gpu and will change the stock fan/hs if needed. The only thing he will be doing with this comp is a little multimedia and play BF2. I think this mobo will be good for future upgrades. Like I said, this will be my first AMD build so any advice is appreciated.

Do you guys think I'm on the right track?

TIA
 
An ATI Card with a sli motherboard isn't such a good ideia for upgrades, i will go to a Nvidia Card or a board with crossfire for future upgrades
 
I would look for an Opteron 144 or 146 with a good stepping if there are still any around. Also either go with a GTO2 or a 6600GT. With the GT he could later run SLI. With the GTO2 he could flash it to x850XT PE. Also with the RAM you'd be better off going with 2x512mb to get dual channel. Unless he soon plans on getting another 1gb stick.
 
pt said:
An ATI Card with a sli motherboard isn't such a good ideia for upgrades, i will go to a Nvidia Card or a board with crossfire for future upgrades
wtf8269 said:
I would look for an Opteron 144 or 146 with a good stepping if there are still any around. Also either go with a GTO2 or a 6600GT. With the GT he could later run SLI. With the GTO2 he could flash it to x850XT PE.

I just rechecked the price listings of my supplier and there's a Forsa 6600GT 256M for 150$ CAD (120$ USD free ship)!!! I think I'll go with that instead. The x800gto was a temporary solution anyways. For the moment he just wants to run bf2 smoothly @ 1024 x 768 with AA on a crt monitor. Eventualy, the upgrade will be 2 Nvidias.

Unfortunatly, the only Opterons left are the 142 and 148 and the Athlons faster than the 3200+ are just a little over buget. :ohwell:
Then again, with the money I'll save on the gpu (~35$), I'll be able to get a 3500+ for 50$ more than the 3200+. Do you think this would be a smart move?

___________________________________________

wtf8269 said:
Also with the RAM you'd be better off going with 2x512mb to get dual channel. Unless he soon plans on getting another 1gb stick.

Indeed, he will eventually get another 1 gig stick. This is just something to get him up and running until he gets more cash. :)




Thanks for you're fast response/advice guys.
 
What about a 6800?
 
pt said:
What about a 6800?

They only have the 6800GT ULTRA left in stock and it's 300$ CAD. No deal on that one.
 
Well looks like you're set then, only other thing I would check are the amperages on that PSU. I wouldn't bother with the 3500+, unless he doesn't want to overclock. Otherwise that 3200+ can easily exceed 3500+ speeds.
 
:rockout: just got an amd setup finished today ,so here goes , opteron 148 , msi k8n neo4 , 1 gig of geil dual ddr ram ,wd 200 gig sata drive , and an asus extreme ax 600xt [el cheapo card not sure of anything about it, open box sale , and an antec case soprano 2. plugged it all in and its up and running. oh ya xp pro sp2.i`ll let you know how things go . put this together retail for @750.00 bucks canadian . the opty i picked up for 270.00. all you can do is shop around and try and stay away from salesmen , they`ll try and sell you the most expensive crap they have,your best friends are the net and google, read all you can and go from there.i realize this is an old thread but hope it serves to answer somebodies question :cool:
 
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