ming

I'm 90% certain that I will build my 64-bit machine after my exams finish at the end of this month. I have two specifications in mind at the moment, which are:

Mobo: MSI Neo2 Platinum £88.05 (dabs.com)
CPU: AMD Athlon64 3000+ £95.00 (dabs.com)
RAM: Corsair 1024-3200XLPro £172.64 (dabs.com)
GPU: Leadtek 6800GT 256mb £234.94 (OCUK)
HDD: WD 160GB 1600JB £56.54 (dabs.com)
DVDRW: LiteOn 1693S £34.66 (OCUK)
Total: £681.83

OR

CPU: AMD Athlon64 3500+ San Diego £174.61 (dabs.com)
RAM: Corsair 1024-3200C2Pro £112.76 (dabs.com)
Total: £701.56

I was hoping to keep below the £650 mark but OCUK seems to have withdrawn the graphics card that I wanted to get originally which was about £40 cheaper.

What do you guys think of the specs?

EDIT: I have downgraded the original plans which was to get MSI Neo4 Plat (NF4 board) and PCI-e GPU because read several articles stating that the GPU itself based on PCI-e consume more than 70W of power. Something that I'm not too comfortable with.

EDIT2: After looking at some of the suggestions I've revised the configuration for one last time (hopefully). Here it is:
Mobo: MSI Neo2 £88.05 (dabs)
CPU: AMD64 3500+ (san diego) £174.61 (dabs)
RAM: Geil Value 2x512 £70.44 (OCUK)
GPU: ASUS 6800GE 256mb £257.16 (dabs)
DVD: Liteon 1673S £35.02 (dabs)
HDD: WD160GB 1600JB £56.54 (dabs)
Total: £681.82

---

Kush

what do i think? i think its a nice machine, and im glad its an amd

---

ming

It'll only be an AMD until Pentium M becomes mainstream with prices matching that of the Athlons.
Was also hoping for any suggestions on the specs (if you have any).

---

LordOfLA

Pentium M isnt 64 bit and is inferior to the athlon64 you would be unwise to choose it over the amd consequently.

Your best option is to go with the first spec but use the 3500+ instead.

---

ming

Wish I could. That was my original plan before I postponed the upgrade just before xmas. the revised configurations stands as they are. it's either 3000+ with a higher spec memory or higher spec cpu with lower spec memory. I'm already over the budget of £650 because OCUK isn't selling the Graphics card that I originally wanted so I don't want it to go any higher.

---

ming

How does ATI X800 XL compare with NV6800GT?

---

canadian_divx

performance they are around the same from what i have seen at work, the only problem with ait is that they are HOT cards. they make a lot oh heat in the system. and also they cant do sli. personaly i would go with a 6800 gt. great card. a little cheaper too.

ming

Seems to me that ATI is slightly cheaper, but I'll probably stick to NV from all the comments I've heard about ATI cards. thanx

---

LordOfLA

If you play mainly direct3d games gowith ati, if you play mainly opengl games go with nvidia, if you play a mix of both go with nvidia. Keep an eye on how ati are doing with their opengl drivers though, however at the moment they're not so great.

As for ram you can pick up a Geil value twinpack or crucial value twinpack for substaintially less using identical ram chips as those more expensive sticks. so you can save yourself money but still get quality parts (as it happens I'm choosing between those two to boost my ram to 1.5 gb at the moment)

---

Aprox

Also the Nvidia supports DirectX 9c (shader model 3.0) The Ati (as far as I know) is only DirectX 9b

lad_in_brum

What about the 3000 venice from ocuk, I think its only a couple of quid more and is meant to be better.

As LordofLA said I would prob save some money on the memory and perhaps send a little extra on the processor. I have got the same mobo, and have gone for the 3200 venice prcessor from OCUK and have gone for the 1gid corsair value ram from okuk (it got good reviews in the Ghz magazine). I should be putting it together this weekend so I can give you some first impressions etc if you want?

ming

GPU mainly for CS: Source, but not really any other FPS games.

Not sure what you mean by better here, but dabs is £10 cheaper for the same spec processor, and even cheaper on the venice and san diego processors. However, I'm a bit concerned about the support for the newer processors as the manufacturer's website does not indicate that the mobo supports them.

The only thing I've found cheaper in OCUK is the RAM, but only by around £8 for the XL pair.
I'll look into the value memories, but how do they perform compared to the one's I've mentioned? Also, I'd like to get one with the heat spreaders.

Edit: just looked at Geil at OCUK, kinda interested in the higher performance memories to be honest. what do you think of this: http://www.geil.com.tw/portal/product_400_t_dc.php
It's about £35 cheaper than the corsair one, but not sure about the timing and CAS, and what difference I will notice between the two.

---

lad_in_brum

I think the venice chip is meant to give better performance than the winchester chip (and run cooler i think) but I think the main advantage is if you are going to 'overclock', the venice chip is meant to have more potential.

The lower the Cas rating the faster the memort, the forums on ocuk have some good info on whats good and whats not etc, also have a look here http://xtremesystems.org/forums/index.php?

Nb this is only info that I have read and is not from personal experience etc

lancer

Ming, First off i would try and buy ALL your parts from the same place, mainly for returns and also the cost of shipping from multiple places can put a lot of cost into a machine. I think dabs on the whole is pretty cheap, also try insight.com then select the british page.

I search for the 6800t on the site and this was the lowest:

http://uk.insight.com/apps/productpr..._id=XFXOA03X9U
277 pounds incl vat.

and dabs has loads for about 250 pounds incl vat, god where are you looking?

If its a toss up between the cpu and the mem, by the better cpu to start, you can always upgrade more easerly to better mem latter, but you have to replace the cpu if you want that updated.

---

ming

Well, it a 99% certainty that I'll be getting most of the stuff from dabs, then I can apply for finance too.

Since you're suggesting to look at dabs for the Graphics card too, which brand is more reliable there because they don't sell Leadtek and seem pretty expensive for same spec cards than OCUK.

---

NetRyder

Good thread, and thanks to everyone who's replying. I was planning to create something like this in the near future when I'm ready to build my A64 4000+ machine with the parts I got from MS.

---

Jewelzz

If anyone would like to build (and buy) me one, I'd gladly take it

---

lancer

Ming i would absolutely go with gigabyte really solid quality. i've also heard aopen isn't too bad, but just go with gigabyte and you cant go wrong.

http://www.dabs.com/uk/Search2/resul...e=6800gt+256mb

---

NetRyder

How are the MSI motherboards in terms of build quality? I've never had one, so I don't know. I've been thinking of either MSI or ASUS. My old PIII desktop at home runs on an ASUS board and it's been rock solid for 5+ years now. I need something like that for the new machine...something that will last for a very long time.

---

Kush

msi hold up pretty well ive heard

---