Building a new Machine 08/2005

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Pako

Pako

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Should have the parts on Tuesday:

Intel D915PBLL Board
-Onboard 24-bit 192k audio AC3 and Optical as well as analog out.
-SATA RAID 10 supported (4 drives total )
-DDR2 Dual Channel Supported
-Firewire and USB standard.
-PCI-Express
-1 IDE Channel

MSI (ATI Chipset) 850XT
-PCI Express format
-256mb
-Really friggin' Fast

P4 660 Chipset
-3.6ghz
-64 bit supported
-800mhz FSB
-L2 2mb cache

Other components
-DVD Dual Layer Burner
-1GB DDR2 533 Ram CL3.0
-2x 74gb WD SATA 10K Raptor Drives (system)
-2x 120 WD SATA 7200 drives (storage)
-Antec Case with TruePower 450w PS


Please, if you see something that is completely out of whack, please let me know before I buy the parts. I'm hoping for some series frame rates with the machine. Look out BF2, here I come... ;)
 
Gahh! I jumped when I read the first line!!!

I would go with AMD rather than Intel. But that's just my preference.
 
I've been a die hard P4 customer since the beginning. According to my research, this chip is comparable to AMD's FX-59. The AMD did score higher bechmarks for V-Games, but everything else the P4 660 outperformed the AMD. What MOBO and AMD chip and RAM would you suggest if I went the AMD route?
 
If you can afford it get an FX Chip, although they are very expensive. If not get a high end Athlon64 such as 3500+ or higher.

I use an Asus K8 board that works extremly well, but doesnt have SATA Raid support, there must be some that do though. Then whatever RAM you feel like. it's pretty universall, there are tons of different RAM you could get.
 
Pako
I've been a die hard P4 customer since the beginning. According to my research, this chip is comparable to AMD's FX-59. The AMD did score higher bechmarks for V-Games, but everything else the P4 660 outperformed the AMD. What MOBO and AMD chip and RAM would you suggest if I went the AMD route?
Click to expand...

Asus A8N-SLI Premium - Can't beat an nForce chipset,

And get a 6800Ultra instead of the 850X.. Have you heard the amount of NOISE they can produce ?... They're worse than 9800XT and those were BAD... And when things get slow you can always put in one more 6800Ultra.. Apparently ATIs Crossfire SLI solution isn't really ready for primetime...

FX-57 of course... Should be a tad cheaper (and run cooler) than the P4...

And a set of 2 x 512Mb of the latest GeIL CL 1.5 DDR - I have the old CL 2.5s and they Rock !...
 
Thanks for the info guys.

Flerbizky,

Are you running SLI? How's it working out for ya? Not running it, but are you planning to? Heard any Pros/Cons to the SLI like game compatibility, ease of switching back and forth, ect.....?
 
Pako
Thanks for the info guys.

Flerbizky,

Are you running SLI? How's it working out for ya? Not running it, but are you planning to? Heard any Pros/Cons to the SLI like game compatibility, ease of switching back and forth, ect.....?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I bought my current rig less than 2 months before the first 6800GT in their PCI-E counterparts hit the market... So no..

From what benchmarks I've read (Toms, Anand, Firingsquad, HardOCP), there doesn't seem to be any problems switching SLI mode on and off. Haven't heard of any games either that had problems running in SLI mode...

Wish I had a SLI board and a couple of 7800GTXs :sick:
 
Flerbizky
Unfortunately I bought my current rig less than 2 months before the first 6800GT in their PCI-E counterparts hit the market... So no..

From what benchmarks I've read (Toms, Anand, Firingsquad, HardOCP), there doesn't seem to be any problems switching SLI mode on and off. Haven't heard of any games either that had problems running in SLI mode...

Wish I had a SLI board and a couple of 7800GTXs :sick:
Click to expand...

:nervous:

That would be extremely sick. $1000 just in graphics... Well, what I'll probably do is build it as is, and sell it to my nephew and see where SLI and Crossfire is at that time, and maybe XP 64-bit will have better driver support to jump on that whole bandwagon. Thanks for the input.
 
Pako
Should have the parts on Tuesday:

-SATA RAID 10 supported (4 drives total )

Please, if you see something that is completely out of whack, please let me know before I buy the parts. I'm hoping for some series frame rates with the machine. Look out BF2, here I come... ;)
Click to expand...

I'm assuming this is a typo. You need a minimum of six drives to do RAID 10 (it being a mirrored RAID 5 array, which needs a minimum of 3 drives).

Also, I don't know of anyone who really needs RAID 10. It's so utterly wasteful, and really doesn't offer anything more than RAID 5 on four disks with 2x hot spares.

I'm figuring it's RAID 0+1 that the board supports. This would be a mirrored RAID 0 stripe set. Actually, come to think of it, I always thought a stripe set with no parity was actually RAID 3. Oh, goodness... back to the books.
 
Yeah, the first time I heard I was like, "What are you talking about?". It was later explained that when they say Raid 10 in terms of selling/marketing a product, they are actually talking about Raid 1 and Raid 0, meaning that is supports Mirror, Striped, or mirror striped arrays. I'm glad I'm not the only one that was taken for a "What the heck are you talking about?". :)
 
Awesome system. How much is it coming out to?

I'll put up specs for my bro's graphics machine when I get around to buying parts (*hopefully* this weekend if he gives me the money to get them)
 
I'd definitley get an AMD processor if your rig is going to be designed around gaming.

I'd also definitley get rid of the Intel mobo. My current PC originally had an intel board, and when I tried to upgrade my graphics card to a Radeon 9700np (from a craptacular 7000), it somehow fried the AGP slot, rendering the entire mobo useless. Intel builds good processors, but their motherboards are not nearly as good. I'd suggest getting an Asus board.
 
Flerbizky
And get a 6800Ultra instead of the 850X.. Have you heard the amount of NOISE they can produce ?... They're worse than 9800XT and those were BAD... And when things get slow you can always put in one more 6800Ultra.. Apparently ATIs Crossfire SLI solution isn't really ready for primetime....
Click to expand...
Really? I have a Radeon X850XT and it doesn't seem that loud to me...
 
DQuaN
Gahh! I jumped when I read the first line!!!

I would go with AMD rather than Intel. But that's just my preference.
Click to expand...
Your not the only one in here who has jumped the Intel ship to board the AMD ship. I have jumped the Intel ship to join the AMD ship aswell.
 
I was never on the Intel ship in the first place...

Anyway SLI is amazing, with my 2 GeForce 6800Ultras I can get well into 150fps in some of the most advanced games. Switching between single and SLI is easy and some games (eg FS2004) do it for you with a minimum of fuss.

But if you dont go SLI stick with the X850, the fan can prove noisy on some versions but it is overall a better card.
 
Shannon
Really? I have a Radeon X850XT and it doesn't seem that loud to me...
Click to expand...
You also have a bunch of fans spinning at max speed ;)

My x800XL is one damn loud mofo. Luckily ATITool lets me tune the speed down to 40% of max when the card is idle. Otherwise it's *almost* as noisy as my northbridge was.
 
Flame-returns
I was never on the Intel ship in the first place...

Anyway SLI is amazing, with my 2 GeForce 6800Ultras I can get well into 150fps in some of the most advanced games. Switching between single and SLI is easy and some games (eg FS2004) do it for you with a minimum of fuss.

But if you dont go SLI stick with the X850, the fan can prove noisy on some versions but it is overall a better card.
Click to expand...

What games are you getting 150 FPS, and at what settings (resolution, FSAA, ect....) What MOBO are you running?

Thanks.
 
everything looks fine, i would switch out your current motherboard.
Get this instead.
Motherboard: Asus P5ND2-SLI Deluxe nForce4 SLI Intel Edition

The board is SLI but you can still just do single video cards. Also where are you getting you parts from? I prefer Zip Zoom Fly because they are pretty cheap and everything they have comes with free 2nd day air shipping. Also another tip, Dont skimp out on cooling.
 
xAkirax2004
Pako, I strongly reccomend Any mobo that uses the 925X Intel Chipset. Such as the one that Intel makes itself.
Click to expand...

Other than being more expensive, what real advantages are there going with the 925x chipset, unless I go with the Dual Core processors (are they only 955 Chipset?). Paying $1000+ just for the processor is out of my budget for this machine, but is going to a 925x going to be that much better? What's your take on it?
 
there are actually Dual core CPUs out there that are like $180. Yess the 955 Chipsets support Dual Core. You dont haft o get a dual core but say in 3 years down the road when your system is outdated you can get a Pentium Extreme Edition for pretty cheap and still be good. I would recomend getting the SLI board tho because you can also upgrade to SLI later down the road also. The SLI board also supports all the Pentium D processors as well.
 
Pako
What games are you getting 150 FPS, and at what settings (resolution, FSAA, ect....) What MOBO are you running?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I get well into 130 in Farcry and get well over 120fps in Unreal Tournament (but I think thats because of the card itself not its config), I get just over 100fps in Doom3. I get well over 170 in Battlefield Vietnam and just over 110fps in Half life 2

FS004 is not compatible with SLI :nervous: but the ultra is a capable card on its own :)

All readings are taken at 1024x768 with eveything at full in the most resource consuming settings in the game.

My motherboard is an Asus A8NSLI Deluxe.
 
emad
You also have a bunch of fans spinning at max speed ;)

My x800XL is one damn loud mofo. Luckily ATITool lets me tune the speed down to 40% of max when the card is idle. Otherwise it's *almost* as noisy as my northbridge was.
Click to expand...
I guess I'm just not as picky as some people when it comes to noise. :indiff:
 
Well got all the components as listed with the following additions:

2x WD Raptor 10,000 rpm 74gb SATA Raid 0 (system disk) 148GB Total
2x WD 7,200 rpm 120gb SATA Raid 0 (extra Storage) 240GB Total

I did end up with the 660 Intel Chipset, 2mb Cache. It's a solid machine, but will look at a AMD setup probably this fall when this system gets handed down.

:cheers:

BTW, I can now play Battlefield 2 at 1600x1200 res, 6x FSAA, and all quality settings maxed out in the game and on the driver settings. Not sure FPS, but there is no lag once the game gets going and it looks great. What is weird, however, is after a map first loads, there's lag for just a little bit (20 seconds or so) the all the lag goes away. I attribute that to the 2mb cache and processing management perhaps.
 
Pako
BTW, I can now play Battlefield 2 at 1600x1200 res, 6x FSAA, and all quality settings maxed out in the game and on the driver settings. Not sure FPS, but there is no lag once the game gets going and it looks great. What is weird, however, is after a map first loads, there's lag for just a little bit (20 seconds or so) the all the lag goes away. I attribute that to the 2mb cache and processing management perhaps.
Click to expand...
Impressive setup man - check how it handles Rome: Total War. In the higher levels, it's possible to have 2000 fully 3d troops on screen at any time :D
 
I'll see if I can borrow a copy just to try it out....

:cheers:
 
Pako
I'll see if I can borrow a copy just to try it out....

:cheers:
Click to expand...
It's a great game if you're into strategy. It's not *quite* as visually stunning as Warhammer: Dawn of War, but the sheer numbers of accurately modelled troops you see in a grassy, hilly, wooded, or even city environment is just incredible 👍

The expansion pack (whenever it comes out) will take the graphics further by offering nighttime lighting - which means torches and seeing the nighttime effects of a flaming fireball being launched from a catapult into a stone wall :D
 
emad
It's a great game if you're into strategy. It's not *quite* as visually stunning as Warhammer: Dawn of War, but the sheer numbers of accurately modelled troops you see in a grassy, hilly, wooded, or even city environment is just incredible 👍

The expansion pack (whenever it comes out) will take the graphics further by offering nighttime lighting - which means torches and seeing the nighttime effects of a flaming fireball being launched from a catapult into a stone wall :D
Click to expand...

That sounds pretty cool....fireballs, and at night..... :D
 
Yeah, I'd love to see Rome Total War on a machine like your's Pako. It looks good on my Dad's ATI X600, what about yours. :D
 

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