Just bought this computer and waiting for the peices in the mail right now. Video card: Albatron nVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, TV-Out/DVI, 8X AGP, Model "6800GT" Processor and MOBO combo: GigaByte K8NSC Retail Box mboard - With CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3500 90nm Rev. E 939 Pin & Heatsink & Fan - 5 PCI - 8x AGP - Gigabit Lan - Audio - 8 USB 2.0 - IDE & SATA RAM(+specs): OCZ EL Platinum Revision 2 Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 RAM Specifications: Manufacturer: OCZ Technology Speed: DDR400(PC3200) Type: 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Error Checking: Non-ECC Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered Cas Latency: 2-2-2-5 (((YOWZA!))) Support Voltage: 2.75V Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit Manufacturer Warranty: Lifetime 250 gig hard drive. Some 16X DVD +- R drive. couldnt get a normal non burning drive.. no mo' mula... Nice n' sexy 100% clear see-thru acrylic case to show off the goods.. still need a network adapter for my cable connection - 10 bucks maybe less no prob. borrowing my friends power supply until i get my own. Ok now gimme your feedback! 1. Am i forgeting anything essential, scrictly speaking about the case inside and out, not the monitor or speakers or Mouse + Keyboard. 2. What exactly can i expect out of this baby in terms of performance, how long before she's out of date and will my gaming feel euphoric!?!?!? 3. Has anyone heard anything about any of the parts im buying that I may need to know? Like defects or anything? 4. I spent close to 1000 bucks on this thing did I spend too much? I bought my parts through newegg and pricewatch. I compared prices through the 2 sites i figured I'd be getting the best products for the lowest prices, did i mess up somehow? 5. and last but not least, how does this Sexy beast sound, should i be as excited as i am? or should I pull myslef out of fairy land and realize this computer aint so fantastic... I feel I'm expecting too much out of this. AM I!???
OH! almost forgot, the power supply im borrowing is a good one, 450 watt true power, that wont fry anything... would it? dont know the brand...
1. Does the case come with cooling fans? i don't see any on your list. and don't you need a floppy drive? or did i misst that? *is a tired guy right now* 2. computers become out of date in a few months, but that one should be able to do all or at least most of your games for a couple years and still look pretty darn good. 3. can't think of any. 4. computers stuff is expensive. i think your price sounds about right. 5. i couldn't tell ya. you can't really know what to expect until it's put together. oh, and what kind of heatsink is on your processor. let me warn you: stock hsf's from the manufacturer rarely (if ever) cut it. you might consider tossing on something like the Thermaltake Venus 12.
Thats a nice little setup there, but i hate to be the bearer of bad news there is a known problem between NF3/6800 setup which can cause stuttering/freezing in games, there is a utility avalible http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=951 that can help with this, there is no fix for it at the moment, this doesn't happen to everyone but it is a problem an alternative is to return the mobo/graphics card & get the NF4 mobo & PCI-E card or return the card & get a X850 or simillar .....
Saying that I had an NF3 mobo and a 6800 Ultra. Very rarely did I have a problem with any game. Just make sure your Nforce and Forceware drivers are up to date and hopefully all will be well. As an example I think I had one game freeze about every 2 or 3 months. Which could've been anything really, probably overheating as I'd be playing until all hours! Let us know how you get on.
Saying that I had an NF3 mobo and a 6800 Ultra. Very rarely did I have a problem with any game. Just make sure your Nforce and Forceware drivers are up to date and hopefully all will be well. As an example I think I had one game freeze about every 2 or 3 months. Which could've been anything really, probably overheating as I'd be playing until all hours! Let us know how you get on.
Well, now a new HSF is on my list. I forgot to mention that i didnt have the case fans yet but that I would definitly have them before I was finished. Im going to go with Dan's advice and stick with my hardware, Ill just update the drivers bigtime. This is probably because of my extreme impatience mixed with years of waiting for a computer of this magnitude. I cant wait to return the mobo or grafix card. I love the card too much anyways.. and the mobo+proccesor was a nice cheap combo. However i am now frightened. I thought I couldnt sleep before, but now... well im going to be very tired the first day of school.
Are you planning on overclocking? Look into it... you can probably get that 3500 up to 2.7ghz+, then it will fly. I Don't know what chips are in that RAM, so I don't know how far it will go- RAM performance doesn't mean much with A64 anyway.
For the AMD64 you can't go wrong with either one of the Thermalright XP range of HSF or an Artic cooling freezer HSF
My athlon 64 3400+ is overclocked to 2.53 ghz, and I can go higher, of course, but 2.53 ghz with my 4500RPM HSF and I can run Prime 95 torture test with no errors for 12 hours. Longer, but I quit the program. Anything over 2.53 ghz, and the test fails after about 2 hours.
ok prehaps you are expecting too much, only because your getting all worked up over it though. there is really nothing wrong with that setup i can think of. there will still be some games that you wont be able to fully max out (im talking 6xaa, 16xaf, 1600x1200) withut a bit of a fps drop and i personally would have gone for a pci-e card and board plus 2gb of ram
If youre looking to oc a typical psu wont cut it, get a thermatake psu, or even antec, i used to have a antec psu for 2 years(now in another comp) and it's still running great,
I may overclock later, but If I do I would get a water cooling system to make sure nothing fries. As for my memory its pretty much the best performing ram i found; its built for overclocking and its 3200 2-2-2-5. So Im not worried about ram i know that a few games like battlefeild 2 take up 1.5 gigs of ram for max res. etc. If i ever have a NEED to play that game and any others Ill just throw in another gig and ill be fine. my mobo can support 4 gigs i think so no prob. How much money am I going to need to spend on a new HSF to feel secure, and if i get a water cooling system will i even need a new HSF? If i dont OC until i get the water cooling system will the stock HSF work fine for me? AHHRRG!
if you hold off overclocking untill you get your watercooling then the standard hsf will be fine. amd even guarantee the cpu for 3 years as long as you do not overclock and are using their supplied hsf
