Some help needed with a new rig.(noob thread)

[Dragex]

Hi all, im planning to get a new rig this november/december. Im kinda new with overclocking and all, but ive been reading and learning about it, I just ask for a little patience since I know some people get a little pissed off with the amount of noobs that come... but well, here we go.

Now, my only concern as of now is the motherboard, ive heard tons of diferent opinions about it (ASROCK), and that you cant manualy set the voltage. If this is the case, im looking for a DFI motherboard, ive heard all DFI socket 939 motherboards overclock the same? Thanks, and again, please be patient with me :) .

CASE: Coolermaster wavemaster

Motherboard: Asrock AGP/PCI-E / DFI board

Videocard: X1800XT 256

PSU: OCZ Modstream 450watt

CPU: AMD 3700+ San Diego

Sound Card: X-Fi Fatal1ty

Memory: Mushkin Redline (PC4000)

CPU "Fan": VapoChill Micro

Thanks.

[One_Hertz]

For the motherboard a dfi would definitely be a lot better and save you sooo much pain. It is definately worth paying a little more for.

For the vcard why not get the 512mb version? AFAIK its only 50 bucks more and will help out at high res. Of course if you are planning on using an LCD that has a max res of 1280*1024 then it doesnt really matter that much.

450 watt might be a bit too little and wont offer too much room for upgrades. There are models out there with a similar price that will have higher wattage. Look here for more info on psus :
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=56231

As for the cpu if you do not swap cpus every 6 months I'd suggest a 3800+ dual core since more and more games will utilize it quite soon (starting with F.E.A.R.) and windows just feels so much better.

Great Sound Card!

Decent memory.

For the cpu HSF I *highly* suggest that you do not get that stupid thing. A thermaltake Big Typhoon will do loads better and will be just as/ more quiet as the vapochill.

Hope that helped you.

[Dragex]

For the motherboard a dfi would definitely be a lot better and save you sooo much pain. It is definately worth paying a little more for.

For the vcard why not get the 512mb version? AFAIK its only 50 bucks more and will help out at high res. Of course if you are planning on using an LCD that has a max res of 1280*1024 then it doesnt really matter that much.

450 watt might be a bit too little and wont offer too much room for upgrades. There are models out there with a similar price that will have higher wattage. Look here for more info on psus :
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=56231

As for the cpu if you do not swap cpus every 6 months I'd suggest a 3800+ dual core since more and more games will utilize it quite soon (starting with F.E.A.R.) and windows just feels so much better.

Great Sound Card!

Decent memory.

For the cpu HSF I *highly* suggest that you do not get that stupid thing. A thermaltake Big Typhoon will do loads better and will be just as/ more quiet as the vapochill.

Hope that helped you.


Ok, which DFI do you recomend, I hear most "lanparty" models are the same board, but as they get higher in price they get fancy stuff.

Yep I have an lcd so I guess I dont need the 256 extra :) .

The thing is, with dual cores, I want to get something not so expensive right now, and wait till M2, and other stuff. But I dont know, I may as well pay a little more for it, im still not sure.

Yep, ive seen the price diference between the 450 watt PSU and the 520 version isnt too far away, im just looking so that I can get the best value and performance :p: . So the 450 wont be able to handle it? :stick:

That big typhoon, performs better than the vapochill? Im not too concerned about noise :D . And telling people you have a "phase change" cooler sounds cool :cool: .... but I prefer performance, so ill do a little search into that too.

Thanks for the reply, ill do a little more reasearch into the stuff you told me, thanks alot.

Thanks for the input, keep em comming please :) .


And sorry for my grammar , im not a native speaker.

[nn_step]

DFi isn't for the noobs..
Get a MSI PCI-E board, SLi or not your choice...

The X1800XT 256 should be fine
the OCZ Modstream 450watt I don't think will cut it, get a PCP&C 510 or an Antec 480+ PSU
The AMD 3700+ San Diego Sounds good
as for the X-Fi Fatal1ty, over priced and you wont notice a huge difference... get a Z2
The Mushkin Redline (PC4000) is acceptable
The VapoChill Micro wont take you all the way...See cooling for the current best

[Ugly n Grey]

Hey man, welcome.... you are definitely on the right track, but the new ATI chipset boards come out in a few days and may be better than the NF4's so hang on a bit, DFI is relasing an ATI chipset board this week.

The vapochill sounds nice, might want to check the air cooling section for advice though...

As far as a chip, may I suggest an Opteron 939 which seem to be clocking very high for the price?

and that PSU HAS to go, check out the PSU thread for recommendations, for OCZ their 520 W Powerstream is very solid.

Ram is a matter of taste, I prefer low voltage TCCD modules and their are a lot of discussion in xtreme bandwidth forums about all types though!

[Dragex]

Hey man, welcome.... you are definitely on the right track, but the new ATI chipset boards come out in a few days and may be better than the NF4's so hang on a bit, DFI is relasing an ATI chipset board this week.

The vapochill sounds nice, might want to check the air cooling section for advice though...

As far as a chip, may I suggest an Opteron 939 which seem to be clocking very high for the price?

and that PSU HAS to go, check out the PSU thread for recommendations, for OCZ their 520 W Powerstream is very solid.

Ram is a matter of taste, I prefer low voltage TCCD modules and their are a lot of discussion in xtreme bandwidth forums about all types though!

http://www.paguito.com/cgi-local/SoftCart.exe/online-store/scstore/p-PDIX0758.html?L+scstore+nvgq6088ffe846e8+112897128 1 ;)

Ok, ill do a bit more search and look into all of your posts. Ive read already about the typhoon, sounds good. Im going to look at the opterons, im mainly into gaming, but ill take a look at them. Im a noob, but I have built systems before, so, "not-so" noob hehe. Probaby an ultra-noob compared to some guys over here though.

[pcboarder]

Perosnally i would say dont get the dfi board becuase they run real hot. It has some nice features but i would say get asus A8n

[Dragex]

DFi isn't for the noobs..
Get a MSI PCI-E board, SLi or not your choice...

The X1800XT 256 should be fine
the OCZ Modstream 450watt I don't think will cut it, get a PCP&C 510 or an Antec 480+ PSU
The AMD 3700+ San Diego Sounds good
as for the X-Fi Fatal1ty, over priced and you wont notice a huge difference... get a Z2
The Mushkin Redline (PC4000) is acceptable
The VapoChill Micro wont take you all the way...See cooling for the current best
Woah what are you using to cool the X2? That is one sweet overclock. :slobber:

[Dragex]

Btw, will I have problems when installing the "bigtyphoon" on the DFI board? Like do I need a backplate or something? Thanks.

Oh, and ive decided on this:

Antec P180 (this case is SWEET) 130

DFI Ultra-D 130
(this may change if another Crossfire board comes before)

X1800XT 256 500

OCZ Powerstream 140

AMD X2 3800+ 350

X-Fi (music version) 125

Mushkin Redline 175

Big Typhoon 50


Total 1600

Anything else you guys may want to add etc, to make it even more kick ass? :banana:

Do you guys know if the v-1 from thermalright works with the x1800 series?

And I dont know if I should stick to my "old" HDD which is still on IDE interface or change to the new SATA ones... (ie. Raptor 36GB)


Thanks again :p: .

[[XC] leviathan18]

i think the v1 should work but not 100% sure...

the TT big typhoon is your best choice

that mobo kick ass dont even think about asus and the a8n....

that cpu is the best you can get right now imo

x1800xt mmm dunno why dont get a 7800gtx

for the chipset if you want you can get the vantec iceberg 4 it perfom better than stock chipset fan and is more silent...

[nn_step]

Woah what are you using to cool the X2? That is one sweet overclock. :slobber:
a zalmann 7700cu but my Vcore is just 1.55v for that..