1ST Build $2500 Budget, Thoughts????

[Chincock]

Sup guys,
Been reading for months, great forum! Bout to jump in, want a bada** BF2 rig that I will eventually OC, but focused on the build 1st. Here's were I am leaning and would love any feedback. . .

Abit Fatal1ty AN8-SLI
AMD 4000+
OCZ 2x 1GB PC4000 Plt. Rev2???
EVGA OCd 7800GTX (490/1300)
WD 74G Raptor
Zalman 9500
TT Tsunami Dream Case
Seasonic S12-600 PSU
Based on Newegg, should come in around 2100, Ram is my big hang up, know I need 2G's but not enough reviews out there! Please advise. THX!

[[XC] leviathan18]

dfi sli dr
amd 4200 or 4400
ocz 2gig or Crucial 2gb or Gskill 2gb
evga bfg or xfx Oc 7800gtx or perhaps look for 2 7800gt
TT big typhoon is better than zalman 9500
case well is your taste i preffer lianli 1200b + or pc65b
pc power and cooling 510w sli is better than any 500 ~ 600w psu out there

[Chincock]

Thanks man, lots of DFI fans out there, not confident as a noob tho.

[SaFrOuT]

if u mean by 4000+ the SanDeigo then for sure get the 3800+ dual core or get the 3700+ SD and put the dif in money in a better mobo or anything else
get the OCZ PC4000 3-3-2-8 kit which i think it is the bets now for 307$
also get the TT BigTyphoon and forget about this silly 9500

and for me i would get 2x 120GB SATA HDD in RAID0 than a single Raptor

[Rukee]

Hey, I got your new rig for sale in post 12 of this thread. (http://www.bleedinedge.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14299) It`s a dual core X2 4600 with 2gigs OCZ and 2-7800 GTX Extreme cards, runs BF2 at full detail and resolution with maxx AA-AF filtering at averaging about 100fps.

[Chincock]

Man I have read great things about the 4k sandy, I realize a couple of years out there will be games dev'd for dual core, just not into it now, not really multitasking, enough of that @ the office, LOL. Thx for the ram note and TT, checking it out, can't wait much longer, dying to pull the trigger!!!

[[XC] leviathan18]

well i insist dual core is the future why not be ready for it now???

fear is coming with dual core support
unreal engine too

and the new nvidia drivers boosting the dual core power gives some nice boost in games it worth the money you can bue 3800x2 4200x2

[A Scream]

go dual core. You need 2 gig of ram so, you must be running apps, or photoediting or something other than just games.

The dfi sli dr, period.

[Chincock]

ThX, Lev18, looking into it, Mad Props on the TT Big Ty, found a great link comparing to the Zalman 9500 and others for anyone interested. .
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/display/4-cool-comp.html
thanks guys!

[[XC] leviathan18]

some recomendations about the TT big typhoon

with stock fan perfoms excelent and pretty silent (almost no noise) but you can try a better fan.

lap the base to have a smoother finish

use some artic silver 5

i was looking @ newegg for kits of 2gigs for my self so check this out too

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227210
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146578
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820227219

[Serra]

I suggest saving money on the raptor and investing it on something else. Not that the raptors are bad, but the gains with them are so minimal that the money you save could almost certainly be spent on improving something else. Search the threads and you'll find a link to a site that compared about 20+ hard drives, and you'll see that Seagates with NCQ are going about as fast.

~ Serra

[Mr. Manka]

y not get the best of both worlds and buy a dual core opteron

[Chincock]

Thanks guys, I was planning on replacing the TT stock fan w an adjustable 120, mobo supports speed control, I have also heard a similar response on the Raptor elsewhere, checking it out now, THX to everyone. On the 1GB sticks it seems no one has been able to get DDR500 running @ 1T. Bios issue from what I have read??? Anyone have any ideas??

[SaFrOuT]

will replacing the fan differ that much since the fin are Al based and extra air flow won't differ a lot

[Chincock]

I really want the led look, should be quiet @ 1300rpm, yes, but the mobo can also control the rpm based on cpu temp, TT makes a silent 120cm w/ LED and adjustable above 1300 rpm if you need it, hehe!

[Serra]

On the 1GB sticks it seems no one has been able to get DDR500 running @ 1T. Bios issue from what I have read??? Anyone have any ideas??

I also wouldn't worry too much about the 1T difference. Check out this thread for a good review of various memory modules at various timings:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=75724

By the look of it, the difference is so small that if you want 2x 1024mb sticks, I say go for it despite not being able to hit 1T and never give it a second thought.

~ Serra

[clayton]

If you still got some cash left from your current plan, try this nice soundcard:
http://www.bluegears.com/soundcard_xmystique.html

[Chincock]

Serra thx, good read, clayton i'll prob go w/ the stock 7.1 until I udate my speakers, definately looking at the Zalman 5.1 surrond headset, still searching for the 20+ HDD reveiw?! Thanks for all the feedback!

[charlie]

Vapochill LS w/Lian Li case $1100
Athlon 64 Opteron 146 $220
DFI Ultra-D $130
7800GT $370
2gB MUSHKIN DDR $300
OCZ 520W PSU $140
Audigy2 ZS 7.1 $70
160gB SATA HDD $110

[Theo404]

What he said ^^^

[perkam]

My suggestion:

Decent Watercooling Kit $400
AMD 4x00 X2
DFI SLI-DR
Dual 7800GTs
2GB Gskill DDR
PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC ATX12V 510W Power Supply
Audigy
Raptors

Links to where you can buy them for the lowest possible prices coming soon.

Perkam

[Theo404]

Decent Watercooling Kit

Bip3/Bix2
TDX/G4
Maze4 GPU
Aquaxtreme 50Z
Clearflex
DD Fillport
Assorted fittings

[perkam]

System for Under $2500

http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/19-103-546-01.jpg AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Dual Core Processor - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103546) - $526
http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/13-136-151-02.jpg DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813136151) - $189
http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/14-122-230-02.jpg Leadtek WinFast PX7800GTX TDH myVIVO Extreme Video Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814122230) - $514
http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/20-220-040-02.jpg Patriot 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820220040) - $244
http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/17-711-001-01.jpg OCZ OCZ600ADJ-SLI PowerStream ATX2.0/EPS SLi w/Adjustable Power Rails & LED 600W PS (http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=100663) - $181
http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/29-102-188-01.jpg Creative X-Fi Sound Blaster X-Fi XtremeMusic Sound Card - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102188) - $126
http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/22-144-701-01.jpg Western Digital Caviar SE16 250GB 3.5" SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822144701) - $130
http://images10.newegg.com/ProductImageCompressAll125/11-112-040-09.jpg Lian Li PC-65B Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811112040) - $125

That comes to: $2035.00

Which should leave you ample cash for tax to kick in and still have enough for a very good w/c kit :)

Perkam

[nn_step]

Ok Chin:banana::banana::banana::banana: since this is your first build lets try to avoid anyover kills here, and not throw you too deep into it..

The Abit Fatal1ty AN8-SLI, isn't what I would suggest.. A MSI Neo4 SLi should work better
The AMD 4000+ is a good gaming chip but we should start you off with Dual Cores to begin your training with out any reside from the last generation
The OCZ 2x 1GB PC4000 Plt. Rev2 could work but some Crucial Ballistix would go farther
The EVGA OCd 7800GTX (490/1300), I like but BFG is more reputable
The WD 74G Raptor isn't going to help alot unless you raid0 it.. get a Seagate SATA 200Gb should do it and be cheaper
The Zalman 9500 should work
The TT Tsunami Dream Case, what ever floats your boat
The Seasonic S12-600 PSU isn't as future proof as possible get the PCP&C 850 SSI, should last you through a couple hundred builds..
and shop around.. Infact the next person to suggest buying everything from Newegg, I will egg your house and your car...

[perkam]

Hmmm...I might just use the format of my post a few posts above for my update to the "What to Buy Guide"...

Perkam

[Master X]

Just wondering dont most DFI motherboards die pretty quick or most of them are defective.

[mtx]

Just wondering dont most DFI motherboards die pretty quick or most of them are defective.
Why would you say that?

[nn_step]

Just wondering dont most DFI motherboards die pretty quick or most of them are defective.
no that is Abit and Asrock..

[fareastgq]

Just wondering dont most DFI motherboards die pretty quick or most of them are defective.

Hahahah, no, I've never rma'd a dfi personally. If i was building a stock rig, I would go for dfi or asus, if I was building and oc'ing rig, I wouldn't go with anything but dfi at the moment.