The Official PC building thread!

sorry for multible posts, u know how u think u said all u need then something pops into your head later. Thought amybe the full specs from my computer would help other answer my questions.
cpu- amd 64 3200
hdd- random 160g 8mb buffer 7200rpm
optcial 1- off brand dvd +-w/rw
optical 2- 48x cd rom
3.5 inch- media card reader
MOBO- dunno, all i know is that it is a 939 socket with built in 128mb x200 or x300 vpu. and has 4 ram slots. built in ethernet and stuff. on board sound....
Ram- 2x256
psu- 300w w/ 80mm fan
cooling- rear 120mm fan
399 bucks! i thought it was a good deal since cyberpower sells a similar comp for near 600 bucks
oh and for some reason(like anyone has dial up anymore) it has a pci card for 56k modem lol.

 

sorry to post yet again lol, jsut wanted to thank you for the info and new link. it says i need a 267 at 80%(dont know what the 80%) means.
but since it says With the card, 267 do u think the stock 300 will work? or should i buy a 350 or 400

 

kewl ty

 

Oh, and above all if you're replacing a PSU, buy an expensive, high quality one. I'm adjusting my sig now to only include stuff that wasn't toasted by my balls PSU.

 

HI im getin my new PC a AMD X2 4400+ with a DFI LanParty UT NF4 Ultra-D and 7800GXT EX but i dont no wat ram to get i want 2GB but wat one..
OCZ Platinum PC3200 EL DC DDR 2Gb Kit (2x1024MB) 400MHz 2-3-2-5 PC-3200 http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_el_ddr_pc_3200_d...
or
MUSHKIN XP Samsung UCCC PC4000 2GB Kit (2x1024Mb) 2048Mb XP4000 3-4-3-8 eXtreme Performance
http://mushkin.com/doc/products/memory_detail.asp?ID=239
or wat else is there..
this PC is for gamin..

 

Are you planning on overclocking that 4400 X2?

 

just wen im playin games.. to a (+300 MHz) = 2500 MHz thats better then a 4800+
just lookin for good coolin..
i dont trust water coolin anymore after it killed my other PC.. lol..
NOT HAPPY

 

Ouch, I wondered if anybody had ever had that problem with water cooling...

Still my rejection of it didn't succeed in keeping my PC alive....
Q-tec's now another copmpany on my 'never to buy from' list...

 

Your selection of memory is far more limited if you're buying 1mb sticks, you'd be better off, performance wise buying 512mb sticks. And for DFI boards you need to get it right, they are notoriously tricky about which ram. In fact, if you haven't already, go to dfi-street.com and check out the forums, this site is just for DFI boards and has a couple of DFI representitives to help with the really hard questions. But you don't need to wait on them there are long threads with discussions on the ram needs for DFI boards. Many tens of thousands of posts just on DFI boards and their requirements.

I'm just starting on a AMD64x2 project and ordered the DDR600 sticks from Patriot they are Samsung TCCD's (like many of the good stuff) and are inexpensive. Other good brands of DDR600 memory at newegg are the G.Skill and OCZ. If you have any desire to overclock then you need fast memory. If you're not after some serious overclocking then the DFI board is overkill and more difficult to get right than the ASUS model, but the ASUS board is extremely limited for overclockers.

Also the DFI boards are POWER hungry especially with SLI cards, if you don't have a strong power supply you may have problems, again check out DFI-Street for suggestions. I went with the new OCZ Powerstream SLI 520watt, this thing weighs a ton, and is beautiful to boot. Also DFI boards REQUIRE the 24 bit power connector, this is a DFI manufacturer's requirement, not a mere suggestion.

 

With any thought of overclocking, buying the 4400+ X2 would be an example of the hugest noob mistake in computer hardware.

The 4800+ and 4400+ consist of two Toledo cores, the others, 4600 3800 4200, consist of two manchester cores. The Manchester cores have a lower transistor count than toledo and will clock fathoms better, and will not generate the kind of heat the toledo cores will.

The only difference your seeing is 512KB per core of cache, but clocking the CPU 200MHz on the X2 yields more performance than the extra cache would. Your best off getting the 4200+ and clocking it higher than you would clock the 4400+, you'll save money and gain performance.

This is just some professional advice, brought out to me by tomshardware. The site will have the transitor count and alot more info.

This post should be very fundamental to anyone claiming to be an overclocker or advanced computer users. (You know, when surveys ask you how you rate your computer knowlege, and you go for the top one, lol, I guess it is relative to the consumer group taking the survey etc.)

 

Agreed that the 4400x2 is not the best choice for overclocking, for the reason you stated and because there have been reported "issues" with the memory controllers and those 1mb L2 caches when overclocked. The 3800 runs at a cool 2MHz and is routinely overclocked on DFI boards to 2.6 or higher depending on your cooling. And at $350 the 3800X2 cpu is a bargain, and isn't that part of overclocking's appeal, to make that econobox run like a scalded cat. I should be able to surpass the stock 4800X2 for half a grand less. Then we'll see how much time it saves on those DVDRebuilder/CCE encodes for backup purposes, CCE is supposed to be dual threaded.

 

Hi,
I was just here asking about power supplies. I havent upgraded my power supply yet. but was wondering how i could make my computer run faster, i dont oc, cause i dont know how and dont want to burn out my comp casue i messed up. I have recently aqquired a emachines t6212, has amd 3200+ 512mb ram 160g hdd, a mobo with ati on board 128 graphix(i know there aint many of those so maybe just saying that will help)and a cd rom. wondering if buying
Ultra Dual Channel 1024MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory ( 2 x 512MB) - Premium Wood Box from tigerdirect.com would make it run faster.
or if anyone could give me info on how to overclock my cpu,and memory would be great. im not looking to spend alot of money but want to make my computer run the best for gaming. ty for any help.

 

also am i allowed to put my email on here for one post so some one could email me info? i read somehting on here about how someon got in trouble for something like that jsut want to know ahead of time.

 

so just put better ram in... ok thats kewl should i use duel channel or buy in dividual sticks and no i dont have a agp slot just a pci-16x express

 

I'm not sure how well the 3800 will stack up against the 4800, even overclocked. It'd definitely have to go higher than 2.4GHz, because at the same clock rate the toledo core can get more work done, if you have both threads tied up and 100% CPU usage. The 4800 has more cache to work with too.

Let me know if you can get the 3800+ up to 2.6GHz and what kind of cooling was needed. I tend to run a two hour, dual thread, 100% CPU capacity test to check for stability.

Some people will say a ten minute one works, but I tend to leave my computer buzzing at full capacity for hours working with two dvd drives and multiple encoding programs to different formats etc.

Eventually it'll level off at a certain temp, but it can take along time for parts of the cooling system to start to lose their battle and build up heat. Many people have clocked their CPUs high, tested them for a half hour, feeling stability, then played MMORPGs for hours and fry components, get a auto shutdown on overheat set up.

If you can't tell, I'm slightly eerie of a 30% overclock on the X2.

 

It will likely be a week or two before I finish my build, got most all of the important parts except a floppy drive (needed to install raid drivers) and my cooler coming from Amazon. There are lots of threads on X2 overclocking on the various OC forums on the net, and the greatest gains come from the 3800. The 1mb cache chips are almost impossible to overclock. Check out this thread.

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?s=a251a644f68af90f9b9f65f045775454&t=73800

It's all about overclocking the various X2 AMD chips, lots of info. Many of these guys are posting 2.8 & 2.9 prime stable MHz numbers.

 

i was wondering if anyone knew about opteron and amd. i'm wondering what differences there were between having something like opteron with more than one cpu on a mobo and just actually having a dual processor? is there anything like opteron with capability of multiple cpu's with a possible 393-pin sockets? what's the best combination?