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$3000 Is MY limit SUPER RIG

Post Date: 2008-03-07

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UPGRADEABILITY View Drop Down
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  Quote UPGRADEABILITY Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: $3000 Is MY limit SUPER RIG
    Posted: 07 Mar 2008 at 1:45pm
OK I need to build a new comp to replace my 3200+ Single core AMD with an AGP 1950pro graphics 2.5 gig ram machine.   My Budget is 3000 (limit of my card hehe)  I have this build ready to go but feel I need a few TECH GURU's here to at least skim it a bit and tell me if anything is needing to be changed.
 
Case: Digital Storm 850Si (Silver Anodized Aluminum Finish)
Power Supply: 1000W Thermaltake (Dual SLI Compatible) **CLEARANCE PRICE**
Processor: AMD Athlon X2 6400+ 3.2GHz (Dual Core) (2 MB Cache) (Black Edition)
Motherboard: Asus M3A32-MVP Deluxe (AMD 790FX Chipset) (Supports CrossFire)
Memory: 8GB DDR2 Corsair at 800MHz XMS2 (Dual Channel) (Extreme-Performance)
Floppy / Card: Digital Media Card Reader (Black)
Hard Drive 1: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Hard Drive 2: 320GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Raid Option: Setup hard drive 1 and 2 in a Raid 0 Stripe (Read and Write Performance Boost)
Hard Drive 3: 160GB Western Digital (16MB Cache) (7200 RPM) (SATA)
Optical Drive 1: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x)
Optical Drive 2: DVD±R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 20x / CD-Writer 48x) (LightScribe Edition)
Network Card: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 1GB (PCI-Express)
TV Tuner: - No Thanks
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi FPS Fatal1ty Champion (Includes Front I/O Unit)
Physics Card: Ageia PhysX P1 128MB
Cooling: Air Cooled Stage 3 WindTunnel (Copper Heatpipe Heatsink & Zalman Case Fans)
Case Lighting: Blizzard Internal Lighting (Red Edition) (Cold Cathode Tubes)
Round Cables: Enhanced Interior Air Flow (Optical Drive & Floppy Cables (Red Cables)
User Manual: Personalized Platinum Digital Storm Binder (Includes Paperwork/Benchmarks/CDs/Manuals)
Overclock Processor: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my processor
Overclock Video Card: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Overclock Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Tweak Windows: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium (64-Bit Edition) (For Enthusiasts)
Restore Kit: Digital Storm Specialized Recovery System (DVD Image Based)
Protection: - No Thanks
Office: - No Thanks
Benchmarking: - No Thanks
Pre-Install Game: - No Thanks
LCD Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: Microsoft Multimedia Desktop 2.0 (Multimedia Keyboard + Optical Wheel Mouse)
Mouse: - No Thanks my keyboard comes with a mouse
Warranty: 3 Year Platinum Care Extended Parts & Labor Warranty
Support: Lifetime Toll-Free Platinum Care Technical Support

Few things you should know about some choices.
 
PhysX Card Because NVIDIA Just pushed it to their 8800 series and up----(COULD BE VIABLE IN THE FUTURE future proofing here  and i have 5 games that has it supported so why not it fits the budget)
 
The dual core because after looking at the cpu charts and that I dant do ANY movie editing just games I cant stand RTS games so the few games that take advantage of the quad function of 9600core is pointless to me....I am waiting for the 9950b3 stepping or higher when I just plug in that cpu with artic jelly hehe.
 
The crossfire X is where it is for now better stable drivers I PLAY AT NATIVE 1400/1050 on my ASUS LS201 20" monitor so the X2 is fine with a future purchase of another hence the power supply of overkill now.
 
AMD slightly slower now but with the INTEL Skull and future socket in Q4 and amd AM2+ socket being used MUCH longer Upgradeability for the next 5years is here.
 
I hope this build is good Thx for all feedback guys Getting my Card out and ready to see this beast in action.  Purchase is planned for BEFORE THE LAUNCH OF Age Of Conan 
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SunfighterLC View Drop Down
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  Quote SunfighterLC Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 07 Mar 2008 at 4:11pm
Unless your opening a file that is about 5 million lines long, you wont ever need 8GB ram. 4GB of faster ram would be better. Rest looks okay, since youve explained some of your choices. Namely the Physics card..which i hate haha.
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Tyler Lowe View Drop Down
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  Quote Tyler Lowe Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Mar 2008 at 12:29am
Not sure about the "guru" bit, but I have some observations.

The cold hard fact, is that right now, AMD is just a poor buy. Obviously, it's your decision to make, but truth be known, the newest AMD processors cannot compete with Intel's CPU's from a generation ago. I am sure you know all of this already, but I hope you also consider that there is no guarantee that AMD will be using the same socket 3 years from now. The HD3870x2 is a beast, and two will be even more so. It would be a shame to bottleneck their performance with a slower CPU.

I am not going to try any further to talk you out of the selection. You have pointed out the potential advantages to going with AMD,  I'm just pointing out some of the potential short comings before you shell out $3k.

The only other item I would question is the sound card. The Fatality card offers no real performance gain over the X-Fi. The frequency response is the same, both have a built in APU. If you don't need the additional input options on the Fatality version, I question it's value over the "run of the mill $100 audio card".
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Mysty View Drop Down
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  Quote Mysty Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Mar 2008 at 12:21pm
Well I have to Agree on the Intel over the AMD; personally I love AMD; and I really dislike Intel's Business Ethics; I havent used intel since AMD first came out; BUT as far as what AMD is putting out now; its just not meeting the expectations.  It really killed me to choose Intel; but all the research I did; and the comparisons; Intel is the Top Dog right now as far as processors go.  Im really rooting for AMD to pull thru at some point; but for now Intel is definately the way to go.
 
As far as why I chose the Fatal1ty is the Front I/O; I like being able to put my mic and headset in the front; It was always a PIA with my XiFi xtreme gamer; I was constantly pulling headset wires in and out from the back of my Rig. 
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EdH63 View Drop Down
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  Quote EdH63 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 08 Mar 2008 at 12:27pm
Originally posted by Mysty

Well I have to Agree on the Intel over the AMD; personally I love AMD; and I really dislike Intel's Business Ethics; I havent used intel since AMD first came out; BUT as far as what AMD is putting out now; its just not meeting the expectations.  It really killed me to choose Intel; but all the research I did; and the comparisons; Intel is the Top Dog right now as far as processors go.  Im really rooting for AMD to pull thru at some point; but for now Intel is definately the way to go.
 
As far as why I chose the Fatal1ty is the Front I/O; I like being able to put my mic and headset in the front; It was always a PIA with my XiFi xtreme gamer; I was constantly pulling headset wires in and out from the back of my Rig. 


That's why I got the Fatal1ty, too.  And far as brand loyalty goes, that's a characteristic of a follower.  Glad to hear you wanting to lead the pack!

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