Which system is better?

GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
edited June 2004 in Hardware
I'm about to have to replace my motherboard in my primary rig. Since that would cost a bit anyway, I figured I might go the Socket 754 route while I'm doing work on the PC anyway. However, I can't afford too much when it comes to A64 stuff (I just spent all my money and more on an A64 notebook).

Which system would be better:
AMD 64 2800+ on K8T800 (non-pro) chipset motherboard
Barton @ 2.2GHz on nForce-2 chipset (dual channel RAM)

All other components in the system would be the same.

Comments

  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    The Barton.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    Thanks - looks like all I need to buy is a motherboard then.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2004
    the PC Perspective (formerly AMDMB.com) has the A64 2800+ and the AXP3200+ running neck and neck in most apps.

    GamePC however has the A64 2800+ 5-10% ahead of the AXP 3200+

    I think Thrax is right, your best bet is to keep the CPU you already have. Switch to a ALX800 and 2.3ghz should (easily) attainable. Maybe also cut in a blowhole at the top of the case.

    BTW, Why are you updating the mobo?

    (Also NF2 chipsets/mobos with Gigabit Ethernet and Firewall are coming)
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    I'm replacing the motherboard because my NB fan on the NF7-S died, and I really want to switch back to the dual LAN, 4 rear USB ports, and passive NB cooling of the Asus A7N8X series (if I'm going to stay with Socket A).

    The thing is, I won't be OC'ing above 2.2 GHz, most likely, because I want to run my fans in silent mode off the fan headers on my Antec True430, and I definitely can't do that with the ALX800 and still get good cooling. I definitely don't go above 200FSB in most circumstances, because the RAM I've got is Kingston HyperX PC3200, and I can't afford to switch to PC3500/3700/4000 at this time.

    So are you saying that the A64 2800+ would perform better than what I've got if I'm OC'd to 2.2?
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    GHoosdum wrote:
    I'm replacing the motherboard because my NB fan on the NF7-S died, and I really want to switch back to the dual LAN, 4 rear USB ports, and passive NB cooling of the Asus A7N8X series (if I'm going to stay with Socket A).

    The thing is, I won't be OC'ing above 2.2 GHz, most likely, because I want to run my fans in silent mode off the fan headers on my Antec True430, and I definitely can't do that with the ALX800 and still get good cooling. I definitely don't go above 200FSB in most circumstances, because the RAM I've got is Kingston HyperX PC3200, and I can't afford to switch to PC3500/3700/4000 at this time.

    So are you saying that the A64 2800+ would perform better than what I've got if I'm OC'd to 2.2?

    Why not save some $$$ and simply replace the NB fan or put a Zallman H/S on it??? If you need a fan, I could put one in the mail for you as I have a few laying around that have never been used. I also have a couple of USB 2.0 rear slot here too.

    As for switching to A64 I am personally waiting for socket 939 to get straightened out and the next gen of PCI-X cards to accompany it.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2004
    GHoosdum wrote:
    I'm replacing the motherboard because my NB fan on the NF7-S died, and I really want to switch back to the dual LAN, 4 rear USB ports, and passive NB cooling of the Asus A7N8X series (if I'm going to stay with Socket A).

    The thing is, I won't be OC'ing above 2.2 GHz, most likely, because I want to run my fans in silent mode off the fan headers on my Antec True430, and I definitely can't do that with the ALX800 and still get good cooling. I definitely don't go above 200FSB in most circumstances, because the RAM I've got is Kingston HyperX PC3200, and I can't afford to switch to PC3500/3700/4000 at this time.

    So are you saying that the A64 2800+ would perform better than what I've got if I'm OC'd to 2.2?

    Depending on the application the A64 2800+ is 0-10% faster than the AXP3200+ (2.2ghz) which means you wont notice any performance differences so just keep what you got.

    Also I'm running a Zalman fanless NB on my K7D Master-L and I recommend that as a NB replacement for your NF7-S v2. Also using the Fan you already have in your sig (the 53cfm one) the ALX800 (& some Artic Ceramique or Artic Silver 5) will give you 2.3ghz (200 x 11.5 @ v1.65) or 2.4ghz (200 x 12 @ v1.65-1.80) easily, without any noise increase (check my sig).

    Plus your HyperX PC3200 is good for a 10-20mhz bump in FSB Speed.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    What I'm gunning for is a noise decrease though - I'm trying to run the 53CFM Mechatronics on the 'fan only' line on the Antec PSU, which really makes it nearly silent, but it probably only does 30-35 CFM at that noise level.

    Is the ALX800 really better than the SLK-900A I'm using now?

    I've got the Zalman ZM-NB47J sitting around somewhere, but I'm wary to try it again, because I put it on my other NF7-S board and I must have done something wrong because it wouldn't boot any more no matter what I did. I put the normal HSF back on the NB of that board and the fan header shorted out, so I had to RMA it...
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2004
    On My MSI K7D Master the little plastic tabs didn't fit so I just used some little thin bolts and nuts (along with the little red insulator circle pads) coming up from the bottom of the mobo. No problems here.

    There's no fan on the Zalman so how did the NB fan pins short out?

    In any event here one the new Gigabit NF2 mobos I said was coming: Abit NF7-S2G

    I dunno about that "No NB Heatsink" thing though....

    For Low(er) CFM fans I think the ALX800 is better than the SLK800/900.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    The NB fan header shorted out when I reconnected the original fan. The board just plain didn't boot with the Zalman.

    I'll pick up an ALX800 and run a comparison against the SLK-900A.

    //edit: The ALX800 is on sale here for $9.99 plus $5 flat rate shipping.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2004
    :thumbup
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    That's really weird about your board not booting with the Zallman on the NB. When I first got my NF7-S last April the first thing I did was installed the Zallman I ordered with the board. Never was a problem.

    Have you tried to see where the PSU "fan" lead increases power in relation to your case temp? If it is not environmentally sensitive enough or kicks up the speed at too high a temp it could be a problem. I know on my brother's system with a True 480 the case gets slightly warm betore the fins kick up.

    The ALX-800 is better for low RPM fans due to being made of aluminum and as such disapates its heat much easier. The copper SLK series needs the higher airflow to cool it as it retains heat much more so than aluminum. So based on that I would say it would certainly be worth a shot. For what you are doing I find the Thermaltake CL-P0025 "SilentTower" very interesting. (I can't beleive I actually like a Thermaltake product.) It has a copper base and aluminum fins so it would in essence be good to carry the heat away and disperse it via the aluminum. Since the fan doesn't blow the hot air toward the board and CPU it should also be better to evacuate the warm air from the case.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    Oh, goat, how could you say Thermaltake?! ;)

    I'm willing to bet that I did something wrong in the installation of that HS on the board and that's why it wouldn't boot. Since I don't know what I did wrong, though, I don't want to do it wrong again and possibly render another board useless.

    My PSU fan leads increase speed at too high a temp, I think. I don't know if it's adjstable, though - at any rate, I was unable to maintain a 2.3GHz OC when my fans were plugged in to the 'fan only' leads - I had to drop back to 2.2.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    I can't remember what case you have that in. Is the Mech fan on your SLK really the loudest thing? Can you mod the fan config at all?

    Oh yes me bad saying "Thermaltake" or woeven worse suggesting it. :eek2:
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    GHoosdum wrote:
    My PSU fan leads increase speed at too high a temp, I think. I don't know if it's adjstable, though - at any rate, I was unable to maintain a 2.3GHz OC when my fans were plugged in to the 'fan only' leads - I had to drop back to 2.2.

    We tried the same thing on my brother's with his SLK-900A and it didn't like it either. That's why I thought I would mention it. I'm truely not sure the ALX would be enogh of a difference to make it work. You could just build a bong and get just a CPU block as that wouldn't be very costly. (just a thought)
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    The case I'm running it in is an Antec Sonata, with an Antec 430W TruePower PSU. When I have the CPU fan on a normal molex and the rear case fan on a 'fan only' header, then yes, the 53CFM Mechatronics is the loudest thing. On my girlfriend's PC in an Antec SLK1600 case with Antec 380W TruePower and both case fans and CPU fan on the 'fan only' connectors, the fan on the Radeon 9600XT is the loudest thing in the case. The mobo is an Asus A7N8X-deluxe, so there is no NB fan on it. On that system, I have the Mechatronics CPU fan on a Thermalright AX-7, for the dissipation reasons you stated above. The AX-7 works very well with a low-cfm fan on it. The CPU (XP3200+ at stock) hasn't gotten above 44C at full load. I'm looking to do something similar in my own PC.

    I'm still wary of going to a wc setup at this point, though.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited June 2004
    Ah you mean one of these???? :) They are actually quiet good in a push pull configuration. I got one because of its universal fitting plate.
  • GHoosdumGHoosdum Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    Good thing it is universal-fit... if it clipped to the socket, it would probably yank the socket right off your board!
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited June 2004
    GHoosdum wrote:
    Good thing it is universal-fit... if it clipped to the socket, it would probably yank the socket right off your board!


    I know, the thing is huge, it only just fits the width of my Lian Li case.
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2004
    Thanks for posting thatr pic. So it does have the potintial to blow the air directly into the rear exhaust fan of the case.

    I used to be wary of W/C too but finally got over it. One of the scarries things was the first time I powered up after the install. All you need to do is to test it for leaks for 24 hrs prior to power-up. It probably took me a week to get the nerve to leave it run 24/7 and now I don't even think about it.
  • JimboraeJimborae Newbury, Berks, UK New
    edited June 2004
    mtgoat wrote:
    Thanks for posting thatr pic. So it does have the potintial to blow the air directly into the rear exhaust fan of the case.


    Yep, thats how it works out in my case. does it quite well too. Case & core temps quite low. Core around 40c full load.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited June 2004
    mtgoat wrote:
    I used to be wary of W/C too but finally got over it. One of the scarries things was the first time I powered up after the install. All you need to do is to test it for leaks for 24 hrs prior to power-up. It probably took me a week to get the nerve to leave it run 24/7 and now I don't even think about it.

    Ditto! I killed a K7D Master because I didn't fully leak test. But after that no worries. Mine WC system ran 24/7 for 3 months running FAH
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