finally: gonna upgrade my system. need some advices

[FuSs]

so far i gonna buy the following stuff.
would like to hear the opinion of our brainiacs.

what i keep:
Monitor Iiyama Vision Master Pro 454
Logitech Mouse & Keyboard
Soundcard Audigy 2 ZS
80 GB hard disk
DVD Drive
CD-Writer


what im almost sure about:
Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester
Asus A8N-SLI (Sound, G-LAN, FW, SATA RAID)
G.E.I.L. 1GB (2*512) DDR-400


what im unsure atm:
Graphics Card

GeForce 6600
GeFroce 6600 GT
GeForce 6800 LE (too bad you cant software open additional pipes in the pcie like on the agp version)

Tower

Thermaltake Shark Full Tower (VA7000SWA)
something cheaper

Power Supply Unit

is 400W enough or do i need 500W ?

CPU cooler

Thermaltake Silent Boost k8
Zalman 7700-Cu
NorthQ NQ-3312 Giant UFO (a big large isnt it ?)

[Vasquez]

id reccomens an ASUS AV8 3rd Eye for your mobo and suggest u try to get a bigger processor if u can afford it.

Xaser III Lanfire is an awesome case and great value for money.

6600GT is probably your best bet but you could save mnoey with a 9800 pro or XT.

400w will be enough

dont bother with a CPU cooler, buy a retail CPU and that will do fine unless ur overclocking.

[Hincey]

Just got the Abit AV8 mobo that Vas is talkin about and a Athlon AMD 3.5 with a gig of ram and i gotta say i'm really really impressed, still tweekin it but performance so far has been pretty good

[FuSs]

the abit av8 mobo doesnt have PCIe slots and i try to get an upgradable system.

[Veth]

Monitor Iiyama Vision Master Pro 454

i got this one, it's a good monitor. on high frequences a bit blurry at the edges but you get used to it. a warning: if i had to choose again i'd take a flatscreen monitor. this beast weights a hell and if you want to go to lans its a nightmare to carry it.

[Vasquez]

here's a Q:

i have an LG Studioworks 700s monitor. is it any good? the interface is ncie and i dont think there are any problems with it, but i wondered how it compares to other monitors...

[Fusion]

Monitor Iiyama Vision Master Pro 454

i got this one, it's a good monitor. on high frequences a bit blurry at the edges but you get used to it. a warning: if i had to choose again i'd take a flatscreen monitor. this beast weights a hell and if you want to go to lans its a nightmare to carry it.
what frequency are you running it at? mine is fine at 1600x1200@85hz

[Echor]

the abit av8 mobo doesnt have PCIe slots and i try to get an upgradable system.
The problem with trying to get an upgradeable system is always that specs are ever changing?
How many different cpu sockets have there been on the PCI boards? What is the best chipset for running this cpu A, or cpu B? its ever changing :(

The idea of future proofing is great, but for how long into the future is the question?

Even the PCI express standard (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/12/16/pci_express_doubled/) hasn't settled yet and will probably be something different again in the future, I'm sure it will be backwardly compatable with the previous generation of PCI express slots though.

Also you want to keep your existing sound card, isn't that a PCI card?

I see little wrong in your choice otherwise, just that your hopes for upgradeability might end sooner than you'd like.

As for power supply, look at what the motherboard maker recomends, then add a bit as a safety buffer. The new standards for power supplies (http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20041223/) means that there will be less difference in the lower cost supplies, as the output has much more stringent regulations that it must adhere to.

[FuSs]

with the system i picked so far i can at least upgrade to the following stuff

geforce 6800 ultra
or a second 6600 gt in SLI mode on the second pcie slot.
pci soundcard is no prob either cause this mobo has 2 pcie and some more pci slots.

socket 939 is at least good for Athlon 64 FX-55 (So939) which is also nice.

btw pcie cards are cheaper than the agp ones and the money i safe on the card i can spend on the mobo.

[Echor]

pci soundcard is no prob either cause this mobo has 2 pcie and some more pci slots.
Thats good news (I haven't checked specs on that board as you can probably guess)

[Ludicrouse]

dont bother with a CPU cooler, buy a retail CPU and that will do fine unless ur overclocking.


Agree with Vas here.... Dont buy a 3rd party cooler cuz that will void ya warranty :)

[Veth]

1280*960 @ 100hz

[Echor]

1280*960 @ 100hz
Doesn't that alter the shape of things on screen, either stretch or squeeze depending on which way around they are?

I ask that as the normal (recomended in the manual) resolution is 1280x1024

[FuSs]

ok here is what im going for:

174,54 € Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester boxed
121,50 € Asus A8N-SLI (Sound, G-LAN, FW, SATA RAID)
75,00 € 512MB DDRRAM 400 Kingston Hyper X PC3200 CL2
75,00 € 512MB DDRRAM 400 Kingston Hyper X PC3200 CL2
129,00 € Thermaltake Shark Silver
71,90 € PSU Thermaltake Butterfly 480W
178,87 € Leadtek 128MB PX 6600 GT TDH Extr. PCI-E
825,81 €


the cpu tray version is 60 cent cheaper so i think i can as well take the boxed one.
if it isnt enough cooling i can as well order a silent boost k8 for 20,50 €.


Questions:
is kingston memory ok ?
would prefer the gainward 6600gt but cant it order there and somewhere else its 209€ or 249€ for the Goes Like Hell version.
dont think i wanna pay that much.
you think the MSI 6600 Gt does its job ?


EDIT: msi card replaced with the leadtek extreme edition at lower cost ;)

[Vasquez]

in my experience MSI suck.

kingston rock for RAM.

[NTT]

U have to way up the differentces between how much faster the card is and if its only a few extra fps is it really worth paying the extra money ??

MSI i have no problem with them i had a MSI MB ,worked fine for me.

Graphic cards are mostly all the same when u look at one 6600gt all the others will pratically be the same the only difference being is a different colour and a differnt heatsink and fan.+ software bundles.

SLI i have heard that there having problems with linking up different boards in sli mode. E.G.... 1 msi 6600gt and 1 asus 6600gt .

Nvidia original idear was that u can put any make of 6600 board with another but ppl are having problems with that(but no problem with the same make )

[Budmonkey]

Useful link that might help you decide on the gfx card m8 http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2295&p=20
courtesy of Mandella :)
*edit* FYI i bought the leadtek and would recommend it.

[Fusion]

1280*960 @ 100hz
Doesn't that alter the shape of things on screen, either stretch or squeeze depending on which way around they are?

I ask that as the normal (recomended in the manual) resolution is 1280x1024 No, thats the correct resolution for a CRT screen as it is a 4:3 ratio like 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and 1600x1200.

I'm not entirely sure why TFTs are often at 1280x1024...


@ TheDisturbed: Try runnning at 85hz, it might improve the situation.

[FuSs]

Useful link that might help you decide on the gfx card m8 http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2295&p=20
courtesy of Mandella :)
*edit* FYI i bought the leadtek and would recommend it.

thanks for the hint.
can only order the extreme edition with 1,6 ns memory but its cheaper than the msi :D

[FuSs]

dont bother with a CPU cooler, buy a retail CPU and that will do fine unless ur overclocking.


Agree with Vas here.... Dont buy a 3rd party cooler cuz that will void ya warranty :)


allways thought the boxed coolers suck bad ass...
too hot, too loud, too sucky

[Adelheit]

allways thought the boxed coolers suck bad ass...
too hot, too loud, too sucky

I went with the Boxed version of the 3200+, no problem whatsoever. Noise level is ok.

Oh, and i would never ever but a CRT again... had a very good Ilyama 450pro, but even that doenst compare to my el-cheapo ALDI(tm) display. My advise on LCDs is: forget about all ms, and candela and contrast stuff.. just go and play around with one. Then you'll see which one is ok for you and which ones are too slow or have an otherwise "unpleasant" picture.

Anyway, pretty nice machine that your building there ... i promise, Planetside is never gonna be the same with decent fps :D

[Echor]

1280*960 @ 100hz
Doesn't that alter the shape of things on screen, either stretch or squeeze depending on which way around they are?

I ask that as the normal (recomended in the manual) resolution is 1280x1024 No, thats the correct resolution for a CRT screen as it is a 4:3 ratio like 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, and 1600x1200.

I'm not entirely sure why TFTs are often at 1280x1024...


@ TheDisturbed: Try runnning at 85hz, it might improve the situation.

/me slaps himself about with a wet kipper, and reminds himself that he really does know about aspect ratios, but didn't apply logic because he read the manual :(
Yep, you are 100% correct, although why they recommend a 5:4 aspect ratio in the manual is still odd

[FuSs]

pc ordered and some parts are allready here.
hope the rest comes within the next week.

my brother got his new 6800 gt ultra and i had the joy to play PS on his pc for a bit.
fucking hell that was amazing.
no stutter, no warping, just plain kick ass arse kicking
seemed like people moved in slow motion without the instant warps about 5m all the time.
killed people with 3 or 4 jackhammer shots allmost all the time instead of my current 5-8 shots i need.

damn i cant wait :eek: