a few percent better now, 80% better in a year or so's time, they're dual core. The dual core setup for AMD is basically thus: 3800+: 2x3200 4200+: 2x3500 4400+: 2x3700 4600+: 2x3800 4800+: 2x4000 5000+: 2xFX-53 5200+/FX-60: 2xFX-55 FX-62: 2xFX-57 In general, avoid the FX-57s. While they may be the fastest now, the X2s will easily eclipse them in time.
well my computer will probably be outdated in less than a years time, even if i do buy all the new stuff, thats just how technology is. those few % are a TON more expensive. i would rather just buy the 1 3700 processor, and a great mobo for it (any suggestions?). the current mobo im looking at is the Micro-Star NFORCE4 SOCKET 939 ATHLON64FX ( K8N NEO4-F ) with the A64 3700+ processor how well will this combo perform?
OK, here r the almost final specs, i still need to know the cooling and power req. i need. ---------------------------------------------------- [bold]Case:[/bold] -N2XT trinity [bold]Processor:[/bold] -AMD Athalon 64 3700+ [bold]MoBo:[/bold] -Micro-Star NFORCE4 SOCKET 939 ATHLON64FX ( K8N NEO4-F ) [bold]HD:[/bold] -Western Digital WD caviar 250 GB [bold]Memory:[/bold] -CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) [bold]Video Card:[/bold] -SAPPHIRE 100130L-BL Radeon X800GTO2 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card [bold]Sound Card:[/bold] -motherboard sound [bold]Other Drives:[/bold] -Sony DRV-810A Internal Double/dual layer and dual format DVD burner -The dvd-rom i have now -A used floppy drive [bold]Modem/Network:[/bold] -fax-modem im using now (as we speak) -LinkSys Etherfast 10/100 Network Card [bold]Power[/bold] ??? the case comes with a 400 Watt power supply. will this be sufficiant? [bold]Cooling[/bold] ??? I don’t even know what I will need here. I want something that’s not going to wake up the house, yet isnt so silent its expensive. Im looking for a 35ish maximum decibel level here. My case comes with two 80mm fans, and has enough room for 2 more 120mm fans. -------------------------------------------------------- i'm almost there (to the point of buying everything), i appreciate all the help ive been getting from all of you!!
spring the extra $90.00 bucks for the 3800X2. I have one and everything is so much quicker. Besides It won't be outdated for at least a year. On the other hand the X800GTO2 is an awesome choice. I have the X800GTO and have been nothing but blown away by its performance. BTW everything else looks great to.
Unless you're a keen overclocker/BIOS Modder, stick to the cheaper X800GTO standard, the only difference is the ABILITY to unlock more pipelines. This voids the warranty anyhow, so really you're better off either going GTO or XL. Above all, NEVER use the PSU that comes with a case, they're generally severely underpowered, and about a third of all free-with-case PSUs will still be working two years after their purchase. Get something like a Tagan or Enermax PSU, and try if at all possible to go X2, you won't know what you've missed in a year's time otherwise.
ok by going X2 do i need a whole different motherboard? if i switch to the 3800X2, with the same motherboard, would it still work?? and which X800GTO would u recomend?
The X2 and A64 3700 are both socket 939, so you'd be able to use the same motherboard, but you might want to look at your case cooling, the X2s put out a fair bit more power (you've basically got two of which processor you have before, so you're putting out about 30% more heat). I've no great preference for X800GTOs, but in general get one that has all the features you're after, and has a large-ish fan, they're quieter.
Erm, just add a few quiet case fans, if your case has room for them. Make sure the case has lots of ventilation. I'd recommend a good brand PSU of AT LEAST 430W, preferably 480W.
awesome! thanks alot for your help, i'll have my final setup on here by this time tommorow, then hopefully i'll be ready to start ordering!
No problem, glad I could help. With case fans, I'd advise a maximum of about 28dBA. Doesn't matter if you don't mind a noisy PC, you can get cheap fans that are quieter than 28dBA and when you're above that level, at some point your PC WILL bug you about how noisy it is. With GPU fans it's unavoidable (so the HIS ICEQ range is good, since they use big quiet fans) but with case & CPU fans you can usually see the noise level down to a level of your liking. I think the X2 stock heatsink is pretty good, since it's a powerful CPU, and thus needs a good HS. On a side note, my PC has 8 fans in it...
To Dr. Luv: You are getting a great processor at a great price with that 3700+. I just purchase mine received mine among other components last wednesday. What are your purposes of your computer build. That will help you decide the best. For example: I know that I am not a gamer nor a video editing junky so having the fastest pc was not really a concern. Plus I have a budget that isn't all that large and I didn't want to spend more than $800 on my pc. So I decided that I wanted a motherboard that is very overclocking friendly and stable, so if I do so chose to overclock in the future I will have that opportunity. I made sure I got enough memory at dual channel capabilities and had decent latency speeds that is also overclockable. My memory modules are at CAS 3 settings but can get to 2.5-3-3-8 and still be stable. I got 2 gigabytes of memory. I have a very stable 250 gb SATA cache 8 harddrive from Western Digital. I have a stable ATX v.2.03 psu and I can always purchase another one when I get the chance. As I have stated many times before I am not a gamer and since my board has pretty good onboard video, I didn't feel the need to get a video card at this moment. But like everyone else I will and do plan to upgrade and add at later times and since my total cost of all my components came up to only 630.85 or so and that included shipping, I have the money to upgrade and add. Personally I don't understand those that spends thousands of dollars on a system that they know will want to completely replace in a year and half when all the new technological advances arive. For me I have been deciding on what I wanted for a year now and I finally narrowed it down and bought what I wanted. I would have felt foolish spending 1500 dollars on a system when I know that Intel is coming out with all types of incredible technological advances such as there upcoming onboard flash memory which will help load games and OS systems quicker, their new Harddrive technology which will also help shorten load times and increase the speeds of other applications along with there "conroe" cpu's that have lower voltage and wattage usuage and have better speeds plus some will have 4mb cache on the two total cores. AMD is finally supporting HD onboard sound and DDR-2. So much is on its way and I know that I am a techie fiend so why spend all that money when I will want to completely replace my system in a year's or even less time. That is just my take on it.
To Dr. Luv: You are getting a great processor at a great price with that 3700+. I just purchase mine received mine among other components last wednesday. What are your purposes of your computer build. That will help you decide the best. For example: I know that I am not a gamer nor a video editing junky so having the fastest pc was not really a concern. Plus I have a budget that isn't all that large and I didn't want to spend more than $800 on my pc. So I decided that I wanted a motherboard that is very overclocking friendly and stable, so if I do so chose to overclock in the future I will have that opportunity. I made sure I got enough memory at dual channel capabilities and had decent latency speeds that is also overclockable. My memory modules are at CAS 3 settings but can get to 2.5-3-3-8 and still be stable. I got 2 gigabytes of memory. I have a very stable 250 gb SATA cache 8 harddrive from Western Digital. I have a stable ATX v.2.03 psu and I can always purchase another one when I get the chance. As I have stated many times before I am not a gamer and since my board has pretty good onboard video, I didn't feel the need to get a video card at this moment. But like everyone else I will and do plan to upgrade and add at later times and since my total cost of all my components came up to only 630.85 or so and that included shipping, I have the money to upgrade and add. Personally I don't understand those that spends thousands of dollars on a system that they know will want to completely replace in a year and half when all the new technological advances arive. For me I have been deciding on what I wanted for a year now and I finally narrowed it down and bought what I wanted. I would have felt foolish spending 1500 dollars on a system when I know that Intel is coming out with all types of incredible technological advances such as there upcoming onboard flash memory which will help load games and OS systems quicker, their new Harddrive technology which will also help shorten load times and increase the speeds of other applications along with there "conroe" cpu's that have lower voltage and wattage usuage and have better speeds plus some will have 4mb cache on the two total cores. AMD is finally supporting HD onboard sound and DDR-2. So much is on its way and I know that I am a techie fiend so why spend all that money when I will want to completely replace my system in a year's or even less time. That is just my take on it.
my main purpose is gameing, and not having to upgrade for at least 3 years in order to play the newest games. i would rather buy a kickass computer instead of a next gen. console, and use the computer for everything from music to photoshop to the best gaming i can get. im looking at college in a year, and a very nice computer would probably be the best thing i would want to own . plus the whole experience of building a computer. if it does end up being way overbudget, i will probably just sell it to a friend and get even more money than it cost to build. right now i have about $500 in my bank account, and in about 2 months i should have enough to build a $1k computer. i dont want to buy cheep components, because in less than a year new games wont be playable on that computer, and then i'll have to upgrade, and then it will of cost me even more. i see yourpoint of the dual core processor thing, and thats why i was so persistant about buyinng a 2700+. but for only $82 more im told im getting one hell of a processor. i will probably buy everything else before i buy the video card, and then spend the additional $150. i was origionally spending $850, it is now up to about $1000, but if i leave out the video card, i will be back down around $850... so i figure it will be worth it. a computer is an investment, you buy what you get. i would rather buy quality parts and a high quality computer than the lower quality ones, and not be sorry in the end. as for ocing, hopefully with this setup that wount be necissary for quite some time.
It's a good plan. Basically what I'd say is don't rely on overclocking to ensure you'll get what you want out of the PC. You may end up not getting much then want to upgrade. As you say, stick to quality parts and you'll come out a winner.I'm currently browsing through prices for this that and the other, except I'm looking at a bit over £1000, rather than a bit under $1000, so quite a lot more PC. But then again I'm going for an almuminium NZXT case, neons, UV components, and an absolutely ass-kicking CPU and GPU, mainly because I want to actually be able to play any game I so choose for at least a year, to some degree. The way things are progressing at the moment, that seems a bit ambitious. It won't be long before the current elite are dinosaurs, mainly to keep up with PC game producers' lust for power. You don't see any better graphics today on games that want 2.5Ghz CPUs as older ones that asked for 1Ghz. I really don't see how many current games top the older Unreal 2 engine...
well tech advances are unbelievable nowadays, and its impossible to be future proof. i might just hold off on the whole pc think till i have some real money to work with, at least i came out with the info that building a quality pc that will last is expensive . ive just turned 17 so i suppose i have time in my life to save my goal of building a computer for a later date. well thanks for all your help, sorry i wont be using it, but it was fun to "build" a computer on here with u guys! i'll use alot of the info on here when i do decide to pursue this dream of mine later on (could b this summer ).
The way I see it, there's little point holding back because you'll always end up with something out of date soon after. The only reason to wait is to save up more, to make it last longer.
Actually I shopped for a graphics card for like 3 weeks, I ended up getting hooked on the X800GTO 2, until I found out that the price has gone up on them since they aren't being made anymore, and you can get an X850 XT which is a slightly better card, for less. I just bought it from newegg for 160. It takes up 2 slots, but that is the ONLY bad thing I've heard about it, of yeah and one VGA and one DVI instead of DUAL DVI, but seriously? I won't be buying a new moniter for a while, and when I do, I won't buy 2! Check the X850 XT out. I'm waiting on it now (bought it yesterday), but when I get it, I'll post some benchmarks.
