so ye old faithful is finally being retired (well actually passed down to my little brother) and im getting myself a new rig. This is what ive put together thus far.. any advice/suggestions:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Processor "SAN DIEGO" Socket 939

DFI LanParty UT eXpert NF4 SLI-DR S939 nf4 Dual PCI-Express x16 SLI Dual GbLAN SATA II Raid

OCZ PC4000 Gold GX XTC 2GB Kit (2 x 1024Mb) DDR500 CL3-4-3-8

Pioneer DVR-110D - x16 DVDRW Dual Layer

XFX 450Mhz Nvidia GeForce 7800GT Extreme OC 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Card

4 * Seagate Barracuda 250GB 7200.8 SATA 150MBYTE/SEC 8mb Cache with NCQ

Antec Plusview II Mid-Tower ATX Front USB/IEEE1394/Audio

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W ATX Power Supply - ATX2.0 24Pin SATA PCI-Express Connector/s

Hopefully ordering this tomorrow so ill have it before xmas =)

$?

Hi guys just letting yalll know i am getting a kick ass new PC. my e-penis is now 2 inches longer.

more like your belt size right tiny?

any advice/suggestions

Looks pretty sweet to me, although I'd check out the Antec P180 Case - tops the lot IMHO.

Thanks hunter...

Do you guys actually know it is hunter or just taking stabs in the dark untill you get a positive result?

tiny - your an idiot.

seven - mmm the P180 does look nice.. i like the 120mm fans everywhere but im stretching the budget as it is to get all the features im after so the extra $100 is starting to push things =\

ill see what my bank balance rests at when i order. cheers.

edit: price totals to $2560 or so. i thought that was pretty good.

last edited by Strik3r at 10:28:41 15/Dec/05

Are you intending to overclock? If not, that RAM is overkill.

Also, you could save a lot of money by buying a 'lesser' 7800GT. All 7800 series cards are made by the same manufacturer and simply rebadged. Price Point Computers based in Bris have an InnoVISION 7800GT for $497.70. Bargain!

I got the p180 case the other week with my new comp and it fookin looks nice, but it doesnt goto the toilet for me so just get whatever case.

pfft, my penis is still larger than yours, drop some more money on it and try again =P

hmm checks e-penis...*thinks.."mines doing ok too!"

I reckon you need a bigger POWER SUPPLY.

j/k :P

I agree with orbitor...

PC4000 / DDR500 is server ram. Athlons have the memory controller on the CPU not on the chipset, and they only support up to PC3200. So unless you are planning to overclock...

Also, I would think long and hard about the San Diego processor. The only two significant differences between it and the equivalent Venice processor (that is the 3500+) are
- SD 1024KB L2cache vs V 512KB L2cache
- SD cores are the premium athlon line vs V are the regular athlon line (ie $50 more)

As regards performance, consider these reviews:
found that the san diego was only faster on CPU intensive tasks (ones that require little or no other hardware) such as compilation. Critically, on games, they were virtually identical.

tom's hardware found that performance of the san diego (Athlon 64 4000+) was equal to the equivalent venice (Athlon 64 3800+) on Doom 3, Unreal and Far Cry, while on Wolfenstein, it was actually marginally WORSE. In various multimedia applications (encoding etc) and a range of applications, like CPU intensive rendering etc, the two cores come out the same. The only thing toms found to really split them was that the san diego consumes significantly more power and makes lots more heat.

This guy reckons that the performance difference between even a 3700+ san diego(2.2GHz) and a 3200+ venice(2.0GHz) is not really noticable, and says that unless you have a specific need for a 1MB cache, then the san diego is not worth it.

The only thing that can be said in the san diego's favour is that it is identical to the FX series core, but whether that means anything?

Finally, unless you plan to actually use SLI (that is two interlinked video cards) then make sure that the SLI board is not actually more expensive than the NF4 ultra based board.

These have been my tips


Brought to you by my brain


(For what it's worth)

:)

last edited by hUON at 16:15:21 15/Dec/05

See now have u got all the nerds excited they cannot wait to talk about computers.

needs more things with dual in it

haha tiny, burnt

thanks for the reply huon.

My PC is used for a LOT of different things and im pretty keen on the extra cache (i do audio/video editing & algorithm development).

Plus i do believe the results on the 3200/3500 venice vs 3700 sd vary depending on which reviews you read. I read a review which put the 3700 slightly ahead on most tests, and another which put it slightly behind. So i figure its pretty much going to be the same as a venice running @ the same clock speed + have the ability to do the encoding n stuff a bit better, so for me the extra $50 is probably worth having for the non-gaming activities i do on the PC.

i intentionally chose that ram.. im aiming for a 250mhz FSB (10.5 or 11 multiplier if i can pull it) running the ram in sync mode.

and as far as the mobo goes.. im not getting SLI atm but its a possibility for the future, the board is $90 more expensive, but it has a couple of other improvements over the ultra aside from just SLI..

ill have a think about it all but yea, i placed the order today so unless i change my mind by tomorrow i think ill pay for it and keep fingers crossed :)

cheers =)



last edited by Strik3r at 20:51:16 15/Dec/05

as if cs players do algorithum development

It's an algorithum that works out if its wise to move behind a new crate.

it's an algorithm to put your e-penis in another player's bum, so the setup should work fine.

believe it or not, CS players do have lives other than CS ^-^

currently working at NICTA as a researcher developing algorithms for CSP's.. sooo ill leave the anal penetration entirely to you infi.

Sif you wouldn't put a bigger turbo on it and a huge front mount intercooler on it and up the booost!!!

Oh yea dont forget the blowoff and all!!!!

Fully sic mate!!!!