Hey guys... Just wondering what everyones opinion on this system is??.. anything that you would upgrade on it??? Price wise is it competitive (price is in CDN)??

Thanks

Intel Pentium 4 3.2EGHz New LGA775 CPU
with Intel Hyper-Threading Technology
Genuine Intel D915GAVL PCI-EX Mainboard
OCZ 1GB (2x512MB) Dual Channel Premier DDR400 with heat spreader
WD 200GB Serial-ATA 7200rpm 8mb cache Hard Drive
ATI Radeon X600-XT 256MB PCI- EXPRESS
with Dual Display, DVI & TV-OUT VIDEO CARD
LG DVD Writer 16X16X DVD+/-RW Drive (4163)
On-Board High Definition Audio 8-channel Sound
OG 2.1 Sub-Woofer Speakers System
Intel 10/100 Network Card on-board
NIKAO Black+Silver Tower Case Front- USB with 350W Power Supply
Microsoft Optical Wheel Mouse &
Microsoft Multimedia Internet Keyboard
1.44MB Floppy Drive Drive

total = $1189

 

Not bad, the only thing I would change is the hard drive; I'd get a 34gig WD raptor and use the 200gig as a slave. Also look at www.tomshardware.com , they did a test on DDR2 memory and PDP patriot scored really high and is a lot cheaper then OCZ.

 

speakerd

take advantage of that 8 channel sound card... get 5:1 or better....

btw what kind of monitor do you have planned??

 

right now i have logitech z560's already... pretty good speaker set up i think..

as for monitor.. not to sure... was gonna get that afterwards... probably thinking of a 19" LCD...

thanks for the help guys... keep the tips coming if you have any more

 

wow great setup, and nice price. makes me want to upgrade mine!!

The only thing I notice is, that your video card may be a "bottleneck" to the rest of your system. I did a little more investigation at Tom's Hardware, and honestly I think it would be good to invest just a little more, to get a better video card. Check the following bargraphs - the difference becomes very apparent when you run a power-horse game such as Doom 3....

I suggest something in the top 10 of this list... if you can, get one of the Radeon X800 series. If not, the X700 is almost there as well. Geforce 6800 is very good too.

 

Personally, I wouldn't buy a ATI card.

Nvidia allows a much better upgrade path. Buy a 6800Ultra. Then in a year when you think it's slow buy *another* 6800ultra (for a ton less $$ by then) and join them together /w a included cable and run them in SLI mode. It comes close to doubling the speed of the 6800 ultra.

Basically what happens is you install both PCI-X cards, Connect them together internally via a small included cable. And both cards work as one! 2 GPUS! 2x speed.

Can't do that on ATI cards. So in a year you can spend another $100-200 and double your GFX speed.

All in all, the Nvidia is faster when comparing FPS to a large group of games. Both cards shine on specific games.

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have you looked at a AMD64 processor? way more bang for your buck. The only processor that competes speed wise that intel makes is the EE edition of the P4. "Extreme Edition". Compare prices/speed and you'll see the AMD64 is the one you want. Just make sure you get a socket 939 AMD64. It has dual core memory controllers. Not to mention they are on the CPU... (FAST!) intel doesn't even have a CPU out yet /w the memory controller on the CPU.

Sounds like you'll have a great system whatever it is you choose

 

why do the SLI modes not do much better (sometimes worse) than the normal cards? at least, per the bar graphs. SLI means its running 2 video cards right?

I want to upgrade my mobo... that AMD64 sounds tempting..

 

they get real good gains, not sure what you have read. might have been the early beta drivers/tests of sli.

Ya, just make sure to get a socket 939 AMD64 so you can upgrade later on.

 

Some games work better than others with SLI. It's still nice to have the flexibility of adding another card down the road.

 

All 3d apps will see a performance boost. It's not a function of the game/application... One card essentially renders 1/2 of the screen, and the other card does the other 1/2... some might have bigger gains than others based on what their doing, but thats about it.

Check it out...

http://www.hardocp.com/image.html?im...ZfMV8xX2wuZ2lm

 

if you're building a gaming machine, an athlon64 on a nforce4 sli mobo is the way to go. period.

 

Must be new computer week.

Here's my set-up:

A8V-E Deluxe A64 Socket 739 Mobo
Athlon 64 3500+
1GB Kingston DDR PC-3200
Seagate 160GB SATA
NX 6600GT 128MB DDR3 PCI express
450W Antec Dual Fan power supply
DVD SONY -+ RW 16X
Sony 16X DVD ROM
Audigy 2ZS
Logitech MX500 mouse

$1249

Hopefully I am doing okay here. Sony DVD-ROM may be fun for "back-ups"

 

With that setup, why are you using a VIA Chipset? Get the A8N-SLI Deluxe instead. Then you can upgrade to a second "NX 6600GT 128MB DDR3 PCI express" down the line for better frame rates. You go VIA and your locked into 1 card.


As for the others and SLI In general, keep in mind that an Athlon64 on an nForce based motherboard is currently the ONLY solution offering this. So if you want a P4 for the multimedia angle or have a hard on for the VIA 890 chipset, then your not getting SLI.


As for the Original Poster, Make sure that DVD Burner does Dual Layer +R. There is no reason NOT to get a burner with that feature these days besides maybe the builder has excess inventory to get rid of. We're talking Dollars in price difference.
The rest of the machine looks good for an overall good machine. If your gonna be doing alot of gaming them you should look into a diff video card, different HD and according to the other reply, different ram.

Oh and screw the 36GB Raptor. The 74GB model WITH Command Queue Tagging has been out for a while now.


My next machine will be:
A8N-SLI Deluxe
3500/3800 depending on price.
2 x 74GB Raptors in RAID0
1GB of PC3200 Corsaid XMS Dual Channel Kit
And still debating on an X800 or a 6800 for the video. (I know X800 wont SLI but I dont game enough to care)
Optical, LCD, Speakers, etc will all be carried over from my existing rig.

I would prolly buy the A8N Deluxe without SLI if fuckin Asus offered it.

Also debating on building a new server. Either an A8N Deluxe non SLI like I want for my desktop so they match, or a Dual Xeon for the extra horsepower for VMWare.

 

if your hell bent on a pentium... you also may want to do some reasearch on overclocking... pentiums are gonna always run 3d applications slower than an amd... so if you can squeeze some more speed out of them, SAFELY, go for it...

you gotta make sure your mobo can handle overclocking, and you may want to have an extra fan in there cause it will make more heat...

http://techreport.com/reviews/2004q4...k/index.x?pg=1

 

damn, if you're not gonna do any gaming with that setup, what ARE you gonna do with it?!??!?!? is it for business or something.. graphics...