[ZmaN]

Well, since my video card blew and all, I was thinking about a new computer in about 1 month or 2.  so heres what I need.  This time I have the community to help me with my second build....  I need to know the following:
What Are?

Good motherboard brands
best type of (SATA) hard drive
what cases you guys prefer
Good budget sound card (between 30-50 bucks)
The Processors you guys prefer (I'm lookin at AMD Athlon 64 3500+ and 3700+, Socket 939)
Best DVD Burner brands
What video cards u people use (juss out of curiosity... I'm gettin my good old X800GT!!!  )
A Good sized power supply
and anything else I may or should consider looking into...


Thanks sooo much for helpin me, ZmaN

[redsniper]

As someone on this board said "Asus boards are practically bulletproof." Seriously, Asus mobos are extremely stable you'd have to try to break it.

[Grey Wolf]

Motherboard Brand: MSI
SATA drive: I've been doing good with a 250GB Hitachi
Case: Antec, or Lian-li if you have the money
Budget Sound Card: Try finding an old Audigy or something. If you're running Windows and you have no plans of running Linux ever, the Audigy 2 Value is quite nice.
Processor: A64 3500+ (specifically the Venice core [revison E]) is nice, though you may want to look into the A64 X2 3800+ for future proofing)
DVD Burner: I've had good experiences with Lite-On
Video Card: MSI NX6800GT-TD256 (nVidia 6800GT, 256MB RAM, AGP 8x)
PSU: My Antec Truepower 430w is holding up nicely, though the Antec NeoPower 480w is really quite nice
Cooling: If you don't care about the warranty on your CPU (it's only valid with the stock cooling), then go for either a Thermalright or a Zalman. Also want to have at least 3 80mm fans or 2 120mm fans.

[IceFire]

ATI Radeon 9700Pro...serves me well.  Waiting to see what the next gen of ATI cards is in a month or two.

[Grey Wolf]

From the early indications, they don't seem to be that great. They're going for the limited run at high speeds over higher yields with better tech.

[IceFire]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf
From the early indications, they don't seem to be that great. They're going for the limited run at high speeds over higher yields with better tech.

I wasn't aware that much info had been released.  I'm sort of waiting to see what happens.

I'd really like to see ATI square up with nVidia again.  The 7X00 series has been a real kick in the pants and the 6X00 series was dead even if not a shade better.

[WMCoolmon]

Originally posted by ZmaN
Good motherboard brands
best type of (SATA) hard drive
what cases you guys prefer
Good budget sound card (between 30-50 bucks)
The Processors you guys prefer (I'm lookin at AMD Athlon 64 3500+ and 3700+, Socket 939)
Best DVD Burner brands
What video cards u people use (juss out of curiosity... I'm gettin my good old X800GT!!!  )
A Good sized power supply
and anything else I may or should consider looking into...

Well, what I have, which has worked well for a year or so, more or less:
MSI K8MM-ILSR (As it was the only mATX board for AMD64
250 GB Western Digital works
I've heard good things about Lian Li; but I like my SimpleMax 101.
Audigy 2 NX; 24-bit/96khz sound (although Linux doesn't really support it), and you don't have problems with noise from stuff inside the case. Still runs about $100 though.
AMD64 3000+ 754-pin, but get 939-pin
Never heard of anyone getting a DVD burner working that I know. I don't think anyone's tried the HP Lightscribe
GeForce 6600 GT
Mmm, I love my Athena AP-MP4ATX45 PSU.

[MatthewPapa]

My new comp: (I will have it in about 2 weeks)

4400+ AMD X2 @ 2.2GHz 2mb cache
2048 MB RAM
DFI board
XFX 7800 GT (450 mhz)

I cant wait, ive been saving for it for so long. Its gonna kick so much ass.

[CP5670]

Good motherboard brands
best type of (SATA) hard drive
what cases you guys prefer
Good budget sound card (between 30-50 bucks)
The Processors you guys prefer (I'm lookin at AMD Athlon 64 3500+ and 3700+, Socket 939)
Best DVD Burner brands
What video cards u people use (juss out of curiosity... I'm gettin my good old X800GT!!! )
A Good sized power supply
and anything else I may or should consider looking into...

In the order you listed...

I've always used Asus boards (A7M266, then A7N8X and now A8V deluxe), but they happened to be the optimal ones when I was buying; they are generally stable and reliable, but expensive and only average overclockers. I would say get a DFI board for maximum OC performance or an Epox board for great performance for a cheap price.

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 300GB. Performance is fairly close to a Raptor and has much higher capacity/price ratio.

I like the Cooler Master Centurion 5 (what I have) and Stacker cases. Great cases overall especially for the prices, aside from CM's embarrassing engrish on the boxes. Cases are really a subjective thing though. Just get whatever looks good to you and has at least one 120mm fan port.

Audigy 2 value OEM. I have one - it was $47 back in February - and it has all of the features of the more expensive models except for the extra stuff (firewire, remote control, external header box). Only the OEM ones have an internal pin header for front ports on them.

I would say get a Venice 3200 or X2 3800 and overclock it. The 3700 is kind of right between them, but the 3200 overclocks just as well and the extra cache on the 3700 isn't really worth the additional $100 or so in most cases. The 3000 is about as good too, but the 9 multiplier may in some cases slightly limit you.

The BenQ DW1640 seems to be the top one at the moment. I have the older 1620 model and it works great, both as a reader and a writer.

I have a BFG 6800GT. It has a pathetic custom heatsink, but overclocks well nonetheless. Fantastic in older games, but limited to 1280x960 without AA in most newer ones. I guess it has after all been over a year since I got it. I want something better to drive this monitor, but I don't think it's worth upgrading just yet since that would mean also mean a motherboard change just for PCIE and I won't have a lot of time for heavy gaming until the winter anyway.

I have a OCZ Modstream 520W and it's excellent. The OCZ Powerstream 520W has come down in price though and may be a slightly better buy overall. Enermax also makes great PSUs that have beefy 12V rails too; last I checked, there was a 465W one on Newegg that looked very good for its price.

As for the poll, nvidia for the reasons I gave in your other thread. Only a slight preference though.

From the early indications, they don't seem to be that great. They're going for the limited run at high speeds over higher yields with better tech.

Check this out: http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=2647&s=1

I wonder how much money those 10 fully enabled ones will fetch...

[WMCoolmon]

While we're on the subject, can someone explain what exactly "dual core" is? Is it like having two CPUs as the same speed as the listed speed? (eg an AMD64 X2 3500 would be like having a dual-processor AMD64 3500)

Also, is it a good idea to invest to pay more for dual-core processors, and what is the benefit over dual processor support?

[StratComm]

AFAIK, Dual Core is the next big marketing ploy more than anything else.  The fundamental difference between dual core and dual processor is that there is better inter-processor communication in the instances where it's actually used, but I haven't seen any specs on how the cache size has been impacted by splitting the chip.

EDIT: actually, it's a rather good way of increasing production yield too.  If one core has a defect, they just turn it off and ship the chip as a single core.

[CP5670]

I don't think that makes any difference. The performance is basically the same as two CPUs with that speed. Each core has its own cache (basically equal to the cache on the equivalent single core), although they both share the memory.

As for whether a dual core is worth it or not, I think it really depends on what you will use it for and how long you will be keeping it. Games right now don't benefit from them at all and probably won't for at least another year. If you tend to run a lot of programs at the same time though then they can make a big difference. Many people who have them say that Windows feels quicker and more responsive, although it's hard to say if that's really the case or they just have too much junk running in the background. Also, 3D rendering and mathematical computation programs can take full advantage of them, so if you use things like that a lot then they are  basically a no brainer.

I personally wouldn't get one at this point though. Doesn't justify the price premium over an equivalent single core to me and I upgrade about once a year anyway.

[phatosealpha]

Dual Core = two Processor cores on a single package.

AMDs dual core processor ratings are not equivalent to single core.  An X2 3800+ for instance, is essentially two single core venice 3200+s.  The 4800+ is two San Diego 4000+s on one die.

Aside from the better communication (well, in AMD's case, Intel is still using the old FSB) the big difference is motherboard selection.  Dual CPU mobo's are almost always server board, which just aren't set up for home use.

AMD dual cores each have thier own dedicated caches.  How much depends on the exact model - some have 512kb per core, others have 1mb.

Last I checked, games that use dual cores are pretty far in between.  Doom 3, iirc, is multithreaded, and FEAR is going to be.  Don't know about the rest.

I'm fairly certain there are a number of multithreaded encoders around for the video people.



For the original Question:

DFI or MSI motherboards.  DFI is top dog for nForce 4 overclocking.  If you're not gonna overclock, go cheap.

I've got an NEC-3520 and I think it's grand.  The 3540s are dirt cheap too now.

If you're going to overclock, either get the 3700+ or a 3000/3200+.  The 3500+ is not a great deal.

My vid card is an AGP XFX 6800GT.  Bought it partly because it was the best performer in my price range when I bought it, and partly because it's not made by ATi.

My PSU is an antec true 480.  Hasn't given me any trouble.  Hear good things about Seasonic and PC Power and Cooling too.

Sound Card....y'know, somehow I suspect getting a card that's really a signifigant improvement over on-board for $50 is gonna be tricky, though the Audigy 2 value above sounds like it might be.

[StratComm]

The only reason I bring up cache is because it is, by far, the largest element on a processor die.  As large as the processor itself, if not larger.  (The last two or three years have really only seen Moore's law go toward making them bigger.)  So while duplicating the processor on-chip makes sense, I don't think doubling the area available for cache is necessarily a given and so the relative cache of each core will probably shrink when compared to a single-core processor made with the same technology.

For future-proofing though, it's probably a good idea to at least look at dual processors in some form or fashion.  Sure, not many things now run multithreaded, but that's going to start changing fairly soon.

[Grey Wolf]

Originally posted by IceFire

I wasn't aware that much info had been released.  I'm sort of waiting to see what happens.

I'd really like to see ATI square up with nVidia again.  The 7X00 series has been a real kick in the pants and the 6X00 series was dead even if not a shade better.

Originally posted by CP5670

Check this out: http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=2647&s=1

I wonder how much money those 10 fully enabled ones will fetch...

Everything I've seen basically says the VR-Zone thing is wrong, or possibly just a bit too optimistic. Everything out there is saying this is basically going to be a very high frequency 16 pipeline part, as opposed to the earlier rumours of it being a 24 pipeline card. Possibly could have been lowered to 16 due to horrible yields, but I doubt it if it had 32 built in.

[CP5670]

Sound Card....y'know, somehow I suspect getting a card that's really a signifigant improvement over on-board for $50 is gonna be tricky, though the Audigy 2 value above sounds like it might be.

The card sounds ten times better the onboard ALC850 crap to me and has much lower CPU utilization, one of the best purchases I have made, but I think you need headphones or high end speakers to really tell the difference. The only problem I have with it is that the internal front port connector is designed for Dell cases and the pins are too short for the pin headers on a standard case. They normally just fall out, but I have taped them in place and it works fine.

Some of the NF4 motherboards have custom audio chips though, which are reportedly quite a bit better than the standard ALC850. The MSI one in particular has a very good one, although the board itself is apparently buggy and unreliable.

The only reason I bring up cache is because it is, by far, the largest element on a processor die. As large as the processor itself, if not larger. (The last two or three years have really only seen Moore's law go toward making them bigger.) So while duplicating the processor on-chip makes sense, I don't think doubling the area available for cache is necessarily a given and so the relative cache of each core will probably shrink when compared to a single-core processor made with the same technology.

The cache sizes have stayed the same, at the moment at least. I think the only CPU right now with a decreased cache (per core) over the comparable single core version is the Pentium EE 840, with 2x 1MB instead of 2MB, but it's a total ripoff anyway.

Everything I've seen basically says the VR-Zone thing is wrong, or possibly just a bit too optimistic. Everything out there is saying this is basically going to be a very high frequency 16 pipeline part, as opposed to the earlier rumours of it being a 24 pipeline card. Possibly could have been lowered to 16 due to horrible yields, but I doubt it if it had 32 built in.

That's what I have been hearing too actually, but these 10 chips may be from their original manufacturing runs. There have been reports of several retapes, so they may have just cut down on the design at some point.

By the way, I suppose you have heard all the talk of "extreme" pipes. What exactly does that mean?

[WMCoolmon]

Thanks guys. I've wondered, for a while, but the wikipedia and such are a bit vague about such things.

[Sandwich]

One thing that impressed me to no end about the Gigabyte motherboard I have at work is that the integrated sound card ports were monitored by a sensor of some sort. Whenever you plug or unplug something, a dialog box would pop up showing all the audio ports, indicating which one you just plugged something into, and providing you with a pull-down menu where you could choose what you wanted that port to be: front L/R, rear L/R, sub+center, etc. Really nifty.

[WMCoolmon]

Reminds me of something you didn't mention - RAM.

My friend has a dual-channel Gigabyte motherboard, and found that 1x512 chip and 2x256 sticks wouldn't work; he only saw 768 MB of memory, no matter what he did.

The solution was to switch the 512 for two more 256 MB sticks. Something you might want to keep in mind for expandability purposes.

[Turnsky]

Originally posted by WMCoolmon
Reminds me of something you didn't mention - RAM.

My friend has a dual-channel Gigabyte motherboard, and found that 1x512 chip and 2x256 sticks wouldn't work; he only saw 768 MB of memory, no matter what he did.

The solution was to switch the 512 for two more 256 MB sticks. Something you might want to keep in mind for expandability purposes.

best to use twin sticks of ram, and leave the other slot open (varies from board to board which slot you leave unoccupied)..