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smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:47 am

Hi guys. This is going to shock Mr Lickety but I've been given permission to buy a new computer.

I'm going with an Opteron 165, there seems to be a few on the aussie sites still. Does anyone have anything to say against this?

Also, what mobo is best to go with? I looked briefly at the DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra but I don't think I will ever need dual graphics... is there anything similar that might be a little cheaper, yet still allow some decent overclocking and stability?

Next are video cards... I haven't kept up-to-date with these, but I'll be upgrading from a 9500Pro, and I'll be going PCI express. What is the best mid-range card at the moment? I'll go and hit the reviews in a sec.

Also RAM. I'm a budget kind of guy so do you think the Corsair Value select ram is good value still or would it be worthwhile to put a bit of extra money into it to get some RAM with faster timings?

Any advice will be very helpful.

Cheers,
Owen.

computron9000 · Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:52 am

How much do you have to spend on the video card? 6600GT or 7800GT range? EVGA 7800GT 470/1100 is $300

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:03 am

Yeah the 7800GT is looking like a good performer that will last a while.

http://www.i-tech.com.au/products/5780_ ... _256MB.asp

Keep in mind my monopoly money is upside down... This card is the cheapest 7800GT I can find online.

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:09 am

This is what I'm looking at so far:

AMD Opteron 165 Dual Core, Socket 939, HT2000 MT/s, 2MB L2 Cache, E6 Stepping, Boxed [Category] $519.00 $519.00
Antec Sonata II Mini Tower Case Piano Black, SmartPower 2.0 450W PSU, 9 Drive Bays [Category] $189.00 $189.00
Corsair VALUE SELECT 1GB (2 x 512MB Kit) PC-3200 (400MHz) C2.5 DDRAM [Category] $145.00 $290.00
DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra [Category] $219.00 $219.00
Western Digital WD3000JB CAVIAR SE 300GB 7200RPM 8MB ATA100 [Category] $219.00 $219.00
XpertVision NVIDIA GeForce 7800GT 256MB DDR3, SLI Ready, Dual DVI, VIVO, PCIE [Category] $519.00 $519.00
Freight Charge (Free Delivery for orders over $1,300) $0.00
Total Price Incl. GST $1,955.00

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 6:24 am

To give you an idea, I'm upgrading from an Epox 8rda+, mobile barton running at 2.3GHz, 1GB RAM, and a couple of hard drives. (and the 9500Pro mentioned above.)

I do a lot of photo processing and some game playing, so I think it will be a good upgrade that should last a long while.

Vrock · Wed Jan 11, 2006 7:25 am

smakkythecamel wrote:
To give you an idea, I'm upgrading from an Epox 8rda+, mobile barton running at 2.3GHz, 1GB RAM, and a couple of hard drives. (and the 9500Pro mentioned above.)

I do a lot of photo processing and some game playing, so I think it will be a good upgrade that should last a long while.

If not for the video card, I would encourage you to hold out for Socket AM2 and upgrade in about 6 months.

vdreadz · Wed Jan 11, 2006 7:37 am

Vrock wrote:
smakkythecamel wrote:
To give you an idea, I'm upgrading from an Epox 8rda+, mobile barton running at 2.3GHz, 1GB RAM, and a couple of hard drives. (and the 9500Pro mentioned above.)

I do a lot of photo processing and some game playing, so I think it will be a good upgrade that should last a long while.

If not for the video card, I would encourage you to hold out for Socket AM2 and upgrade in about 6 months.

I agree but that's if you could wait :roll:

....

LicketySplit · Wed Jan 11, 2006 8:49 am

Damn...the Camel just found water :lol:

wOOt. Should make a very nice rig for you smakey..took more than a bit of arm twisting eh :wink:

Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:02 am

LicketySplit wrote:
Damn...the Camel just found water wOOt. Should make a very nice rig for you smakey..took more than a bit of arm twisting eh

We just need to buy enough to finally twist himself to get one himself.

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:39 pm

Vrock wrote:
If not for the video card, I would encourage you to hold out for Socket AM2 and upgrade in about 6 months.

I didn't even know about the new socket... but I don't think I can wait. I've pretty much got a buyer for my current PC now, and if the new system will be anything like my current system then I won't be upgrading it for a few years anyway, in which case it's likely a new mobo/cpu/ram combo will do nicely.

Thanks for letting me know though mate.

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:13 pm

What are the thoughts on the DFI NF4 Ultra Infinity? It's a bit cheaper...

derFunkenstein · Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:22 pm

DFI makes some pretty solid boards, IMO. I've had two, one nForce 3 and one nForce 2

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:33 pm

Another Q... has anyone heard of XFX graphics cards?

http://www.nintek.com.au/x/scripts/prod ... oduct=4567

Here they are bundled with the ultra infinity... also comes with 3 games (2 of which I own already though).

edit: just found this review: http://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardw ... gt/11.html Looks good!

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:43 pm

Sorry for all the questions fellas... the Opteron 165, is the E6 stepping any good.. whatever that means?

Dyn0mutt · Wed Jan 11, 2006 3:59 pm

Yes XFX Make decent cards a few people i know have them ans they seem solid

LicketySplit · Wed Jan 11, 2006 5:32 pm

smakkythecamel wrote:
Sorry for all the questions fellas... the Opteron 165, is the E6 stepping any good.. whatever that means?

Yup..thats the latest one. The xfx cards are good ones as well.

Mr. Bamboo Head · Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:05 pm

the evga 7800 gt co is better

only $20 approx. more. should easily hit 510/1.15 and at acceptable temps. and if you dont plan on overclocking (heaven forbid), its still got a big stock jump on the xfx.
how does the xfx oc btw? i didnt see a mention of it in the review (couse i just skimmed...)

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:24 pm

Okay... more questions...

Another online shop has a different variety of products, so can I get some opinions on the following please?

ABIT KN8-SLI motherboard: http://pricepoint.com.au/shop/product_i ... ts_id=2649

and

XpertVision GF 7800GT: http://pricepoint.com.au/shop/product_i ... ts_id=2029

LicketySplit · Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:45 pm

Are you stuck with combo deals? The abit board is great..as well as the card. You cant get seperate deals? Sorry mate..but you guys get the hose job over there..and it sucks

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 9:48 pm

Yeah I can seperate them and pay a little bit more... need to take my time and do more research.

LicketySplit · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:00 pm

Thats what most geeks do man..save your bucks for the "better" things in life. Yeah.....right :wink:

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:01 pm

Now the challenge is to find something significant to buy my wife so she can't use this as ammunition in the future

Wajo · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:05 pm

from your post it looks as if you're getting 4 x 512 MB DIMMs... you should really go with 2 x 1 GB if thats the case... i dont know about opterons, but athlons usually have to run at 2T if you have 4 dimms installed (earlier athlons ran the memory at 333 mhz)...

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:11 pm

Yep, I've adjusted that in my updated lists. Thanks for pointing that out though. I'm getting the Corsair twinx 2 x 1024MB 2-4-4-6 (or something like that)

Joeg_7 · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:12 pm

Definitely go with the DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra D. It has memory multipliers that the infinity and all other non DFI boards lack and that is huge when it comes to overclocking. In fact my proc has a 9x multiplier just like the 165 and to get my proc to run at 2.4 with my memory staying at pc3200 I'm using one of those multipliers. I wish other mobo makers would start offering all the memory dividers that DFI's better boards do. Until they do I'm sticking with DFI.

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:15 pm

Thanks Joeg, that's interesting to know. I assumed that they would have that in there.

I will look more into that tonight.

Cheers,
Owen.

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:28 pm

How is the audio on the DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra D? I've never heard of the Karajan thing before.

http://www.nintek.com.au/x/scripts/prod ... oduct=1400

cappa84 · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:35 pm

Hey man, I'm in NSW (about 30mins from Sydney CBD) too.

I used http://www.staticice.com.au, these are best prices I could find. I'd recommened taking them to your local PC shop and seeing if they can either match or beat them.

AMD Opteron 165 Dual Core - $469

Antec Sonata II w/SmartPower 2.0 450W PSU - $179

Corsair VALUE SELECT 1GB (2 x 512MB Kit) PC-3200 (400MHz) C2.5 DDRAM - $124

DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra D Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra - $202

Western Digital WD3000JB CAVIAR SE 300GB 7200RPM 8MB ATA100 - $195

XpertVision NVIDIA GeForce 7800GT 256MB DDR3, SLI Ready, Dual DVI, VIVO, PCIE - $486

TOTAL = $1655

$300 saving!

smakkythecamel · Wed Jan 11, 2006 10:44 pm

Thanks for checking that out for me. I'd want another 1GB of ram... also on the other site it says the DFI mobos require minimum 480W power supply. Will 450 do? I have a 480 thermaltake in the one I'm selling, I was just going to switch it with the antec that comes with the case.

Joeg_7 · Wed Jan 11, 2006 11:04 pm

smakkythecamel wrote:
How is the audio on the DFI Lanparty UT nF4 Ultra D? I've never heard of the Karajan thing before.

http://www.nintek.com.au/x/scripts/prod ... oduct=1400

The audio probably isn't that good but with that kind of a setup you should think about getting a seperate sound card. Also use the 450w psu that comes with the case cause I'm guessing the thermaltake you have doesn't have a 24pin mobo connector. I can't say for certain but I've heard plenty of people using psu's with less than 480w with the Ultra-D and being fine. Having a 480w+ psu might help overclocks though.

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