Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (More info?)

I'm thinking about Building a new system from scratch.


If money was no object (I wish), but speed,reliability and support were;
What would you recommend.
Also, what is the best type of memory to buy?

I'm beginning with a wish list.

Motherboard
Memory
Video Card
It appears the best is not always the dearest.

Then I'll consider peripherals

What will I be running on it? Anything and everything from games, surfing,
applications...the usual things.
TIA

Mickey

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (More info?)

Mickey Mouse wrote:
> I'm thinking about Building a new system from scratch.
>
>
> If money was no object (I wish), but speed,reliability and support
> were; What would you recommend.

For support, speed, and reliability, I'd go for a fully optioned Sun W2100z
http://www.sun.com/servers/entry/v40z/index.jsp
Sets you back around $18K list price, but you can probably get it for less.
If you want to make it yourself, you can do that as well. Now, what are your
actual limits pricewise?

[...]

And in future, don't multipost.

--
Michael Brown
www.emboss.co.nz : OOS/RSI software and more
Add michael@ to emboss.co.nz ---+--- My inbox is always open

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (More info?)

Mickey Mouse Wrote:
> I'm thinking about Building a new system from scratch.
>
>
> If money was no object (I wish), but speed,reliability and support
> were;
> What would you recommend.
> Also, what is the best type of memory to buy?
>
> I'm beginning with a wish list.
>
> Motherboard
> Memory
> Video Card
> It appears the best is not always the dearest.
>
> Then I'll consider peripherals
>
> What will I be running on it? Anything and everything from games,
> surfing,
> applications...the usual things.
> TIA
>
> Mickey

Nothing like starting with a clean slate! I was able to build a nice
system for around $1,000. Consider MSI for components, they have some
great options, bundled software, and a program that you can install
which queries their website for driver updates. You can even flash the
motherboard BIOS from Windows! What I bought...

Motherboard: MSI K8N NEO4 Platinum/SLI - supports AMD64 processors.
Do you need SLI (the ability to run matched video cards to a single
monitor for improved graphics performance)? No, you don't NEED it, but
it's a nice feature, and the board also comes with SATA inputs, 2 LAN
ports, standard and optical audio, 10 USB ports (four onboard and
connectors to add 6 more), and onboard Soundblaster Live!24bit sound.
I don't think you'll find another board an integrated Soundblaster
chip. You can turn it off from the BIOS too if you ever want to
upgrade. I'm not an overclocker, but I understand that MSI is very
overclocking friendly.

Memory: Matched Corsair Extreme Low Latency 512MB. Yes, get 1GB RAM!

Processor: AMD64 3200+ running at ~2.0GHz. Don't worry about the
2.0GHz number with AMD, their processors have features that make them
perform well above an Intel processor of the same speed. Plus, this
processor will be able to run a 64-bit operating system if you want to
install one.

Video Card: MSI again. NX6600GT. Great well built card and you won't
spend an arm and a leg. The 6800 is the top of the line, but the 6600
is a great card with great value. You can put another in later and run
them both in SLI to almost double your video power. This is an Nvidia
card by the way. ATI doesn't support SLI (for now at least). By the
way, this is a PCI-Express card which is faster than AGP 8x.

HDD: get a SATA drive, you'll really notice the speed difference over
an ATA or Ultra-ATA. A SATA at 150 is discernably faster than an ATA
at 100. The board I suggested supports SATA up to 300 (which will hit
the market in the near future). It's a hell of a lot cheaper than SCSI
too. I got a Maxtor 120GB for around $100.00. You can do a RAID config
with matched HDD if you want to. Also, the SATA cables are about 5x
thinner than the ATA cables, taking up less room in your case.

Power Supply: Antec NeoPower 480W. MAKE SURE YOU GET THE RIGHT POWER
SUPPLY FOR YOUR BOARD! My board, and many other new boards, require a
24-pin power connector. Most power supplies on the market are only
20-pin. 24-pin run over $100.00, so that's an easy way to discern if
you're on the right track The NeoPower is nice in that you can plug
in your case fans and it will monitor their speed for you. It also has
connectors on the power supply that allow you to disconnect unneeded
cables so you don't have as much of a rat nest of unused cables.

Case: Antec Lanboy. Good value. Front USB.

Good luck with your build!

I bought most of my stuff from zipzoomfly.com and they offer free
second day air and have very good prices.


--
legacy_programmer

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.overclocking (More info?)

FYI, I tried a single and dual (in SLI mode) PNY 6600GT. I returned
them for an ATI X800XL.

The PNY cards didn't play well with my ATI HDTV Wonder. I also found
them noisy, and, subjectively speaking, I think the ATI card has better
video quality with my ViewSonic P95f, and is significantly more quiet.
Although its frame rate isn't as fast as the two 6600GT's with either
Doom3 or 3DMark 2005, again subjectively, the video looks smoother and
'clearer'/'better' to me.

My only current issue is when I change high-definition channels, I get
choppy sound, which I can solve by restarting the ATI DTV application.
I have the latest sound drivers from MSI for the onboard Creative Labs
Live! 24 chip.

--George