Personal computing discussed

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nickspacek
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Alright, so an Aria, now which motherboard? ;D

Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:00 am

Trying to decide on a motherboard, looking for something sub-$100 CAD with decent features. S478, AGP, 800FSB, dual channel. I'm also trying to decide whether or not dual channel is worth it, anyone have anything to add. I haven't been able to find many benchmarks on it, one seemed to show that it only made a difference in synthetic, not in gaming. So yeah, anyone have any experience with that?

Thanks,
Nick Spacek

PS: I use NCIX.com for my Canadian shopping, if you have the spare time and feel like browsing Canadian prices. ;D
 
firewired

Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:42 pm

Go with a dual-channel setup if you can afford it. Current RAM prices are very good, so go for it. Get a matched pair, or a dual-channel kit.

As for a mainboard, if you are set on a socket-478 CPU, you could go with the ASUS P4P800-VM. If you hope to do any gaming whatsoever buy an AGP8X video card as the onboard Intel graphics are only good enough for day-to-day use. You can get the P4P800-VM for about $85 Cdn.

Before buying, compare the price of the above to the newer Socket-775 ASUS P5GD1-VM, which has the newer i915G chipset. It costs more, but the features it provides are more than worth the extra cost.

You might also want to consider an Athlon64 platform. I haven't seen a socket-939 mATX mainboard yet, but it might be worth waiting for one. The other option, if you can't wait, would be to go with a socket-754 like DFI's K8M800-MLVF, which goes for about $100.
 
jss21382
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Tue Dec 21, 2004 10:14 pm

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=12261&vpn=K8M800-MLVF%20&manufacture=DFI

That would be my choice for your situation...yeah it's not intel but an A64 setup will be about the best you'll get for gaming performance
 
nickspacek
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Wed Dec 22, 2004 7:39 am

Sorry, forgot to mention that I'm moving my current system into this. I already have a P4 2.4C, 2x512MB RAM, 2x40GB HDs, DVD-RW/+RW dual layer, and a 6600GT AGP. I've been looking at the P4P800-VM, it's probably what I'll end up with. I'm trying to keep this as low-cost as I can, which is why I'm not upgrading the processor at the same time, or else I'd probably go for the Athlon 64.

Thanks for the advice,
Nick Spacek
 
nickspacek
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Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:58 pm

Hey,
I've been looking at some more stuff, the P4R800-VM is newer I think, it comes with the ATI 9100 chipset. Seems otherwise the same as the P4P800, wait, I guess it doesn't have SATA. I don't have SATA drives but I suppose the option is nice...the board is about 30 dollars cheaper though. No overclocking I guess, does anyone know if the P4P800 has overclocking?
Anyways, that's it, this was sorta a bump as well I guess to get some more people to look. ;D

Thanks,
Nick Spacek
 
Giglamesh
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Sun Dec 26, 2004 2:52 am

i'm using aria and frankly said i regret it, considering it's quite restricting and a big headache. but, hey it's SFF+mATX so that's great.

anyways go a64 i recommend! if a64 gets hot in this box then i betcha a prescott will freakin burn your house down and your neighboors aswell. :lol: but if you really want that p4 make sure you get a good hsf... i'm using zalman 7000a-cu even though i have a64 and it works sooo nice. heat really is an issue with the aria... you might want to look into a couple ways to enhance your cooling.

beware of DFI's K8M800-MLV/F for the thermo-reader doesn't even exist :lol: I learned that the hard way, other than that it's a pretty sweet deal for the price.[/img]
AMD64 NewCastle 3000+ 2.0GHz, Samsung DDR3200 512MB, Radeon 9000 PRO 128MB, Maxtor DiamondMax 200G/16MB... Slowly building my system.
 
mstrmold
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Mon Dec 27, 2004 3:39 pm

Heatsink fan is one aspect, and the other is that the Aria (just like mid tower cases) benifit from positive airflow. To keep this box cool, you will need to make a few necessary mod's to the box. Prescott would be ill advised in this setup as I've read elsewhere 530's hitting 70c under load. Imagine what that does to the GPU temps on your graphics card as well as your other components.

I'll second the Zalman heatsink as the 120mm fan is quiet and will fit under the PSU for the Aria.

-E
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alphajim
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One word. Don't!

Thu Dec 30, 2004 11:14 pm

Assuming you're running something warmer than a 486 dx2, there is insufficient airflow in this case. Period. End of story.

The pwr supply overhangs half the cpu area, neatly blocking air flow to half the oem fan. bigger HSF's aren't even an option. I'm using a HSF designed for a 2u server, and I can barely keep it under 70c at idle. And thats using the "spare" slot fan AND an 80mm fan blowing down on the Northbridge/cpu.

I just don't see the point in a pricey stylish case that you end up cutting on just so you won't cook your cpu.

amd xp 2600+/msi km4m-v
 
mstrmold
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Sun Jan 02, 2005 4:44 pm

Welcome to the forums!

Sorry to hear you are running that high, but I have an A64 3400+ running with the Zalman 7000Cu. Idle is 49c and load temps are at 60c which is in line with a mid tower case. Bigger doesn't necessarly mean taller for CPU coolers. Yes, it required the added fan, but I've also build a Nforce2 box with a 2500+ for my daughter using the Aria and it runs fine as well. No mods to the box, but it does have a low end Video card.

-E
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alphajim
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better, but still toasty

Mon Jan 03, 2005 2:25 am

Don't the amd64's include the cool'n'quiet bits, to throttle down at idle? I also seem to remember that the 64's in general weren't as power hungry as the Barton cores. I've also got 2@160g+ DVD+-rw which add a little to the heat load in the case.

What MB did you use for your daughter's system? What temps does it run?

I finally broke down, and got some Arctec Silver 5, and "broke it in" according to their web site. I probably got 3c cooler improvement out of that. I bought a Vantec "Stealth" 80mm fan, cut a 3" hole in the side of the case near the cpu, screwed the fan to the case and plugged the fan into the case fan jack. With that blowing into the case, I'm idling at around 58c. Interestingly, a FreeBSD kernel build (pretty cpu intensive) will only add about 4c to the idle figure. Assuming the cpu temp sensor on the MB reads 8-10c of what the actual on-die temps are, I'm probably ok (just toasty). It only cost me an extra $20 and a 3"x3"x1" square wart on the side of the case. (and a lifetime supply of AS-5)

Intersting that the uATX spec doesn't say where the cpu needs to be, but does specify board clearences. The Aria power supply just meets the spec (if you discount the hang over the connectors), and the MSI KM4M-V mobo's cpu placement makes matter's worse. I still argue that the case (as I got it) has poor airflow routing and insufficient volume. The shuttle XPC I built my daughter is cooler, quieter, and a narrower footprint
 
mstrmold
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Tue Jan 04, 2005 12:18 am

Cool and quiet? Yes, but do I use it? No way. My temps as posted are at full throttle and not with C&Q enabled.

The motherboard in my daughter's case is the Chaintech Nforce2Ultra m-ATX 7NIL1-Summit board.

Good to see a better control on temps. I wish the venting was still a bit better on the Aria, but overall its a nice box for its size.

-E
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Shocker
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Tue Jan 11, 2005 4:50 pm

I think the Aria is a great chassis with a great powersupply. I do agree that there should be some mods done for better cooling. I use the Aria with the following:

3.2 EE
2gb XMS ProXL
MSI GM2865
Fortissimo
6800 GT
200gb WD SATA
MSI DVD SATA

The system is cooled with a GlobalWin Silent Stream water cooling unit. Very compact and quite reliable. I just need to top off the water every week. I cut a 80mm hole on each side panel. The 80mm radiator uses a draw thru 80mm medium speed fan. The other side has a medium speed Zalman that also draws into the chassis and across the memory area. I use the slot fan and rely on the 120mm ps fan to remove the air. I have a negative pressure system (about 80cfm in and 100 out) not including the draw from the front of the chassis.

As you can see, my chassis is pretty full and I see 51 degrees C at full load. About 40-42C just working and about 36C at idle. 25C is the interior chassis temp at full load. Ambient temp in my room is about 21C.

The system is a bit noisier than I would like with the 2 extra fans and the open holes in the sides, but it is not bad. I do not overclock the processor.

The EE is based on the Gallatin core, and it runs a bit hotter than a Prescott and a bunch hotter than a Northwood.

It has a great powersupply. 300w with 18a on the main. More than some 450w. Powers my GT with no problems.

Shocker
 
NeXus^
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Wed Jan 19, 2005 11:45 pm

I just bought an Antec Aria case yesterday, and by the way the manual says the fan bracket for sitting about the CPU's heatsink says it only supports up to 92mm fans and reccomends using 8cm fans instead, but doesn't say why.

Also, for my case I will be disasembling a SFF box which was inside an Aopen H340D Slimline black case, as that Aopen which had a P.O.S 200watt powersupply, not upgradable and had to underclock the CPU alot for it to run it stably (which not underclocked would be a XP2500+ cpu and Albatron KM18G nforce2 chipset with 2x Corsair 256meg sticks).

Love the way this case dissasembles, the top and side panels come off seperately, I was expecting the whole top and sides to be one piece that lifts off :D
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