Reasonable High-End System?
I've been scouting around to put together the highest end system I can for a reasonable price. Here is what I've come up with on the 4 core components i'm focusing on:
CPU: AMD Opteron Denmark core 170 (purchased 4/2- $398 wi S&H)
Motherboard: Did NOT get the MSI K8N Diamond
but the ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe (purchased 4/3- $189 wi S&H)
Memory: 2x1GB OCZ PC3200 Platinum (purchased 3/24- $160 wi S&H)
Video Card: ATI X1900 AIW (purchased 4/2- $365 wi S&H)
Following in footsteps of Mr. primesuspect, I'm taking advantage of a mature technology that is starting to have pre-obselescent bargains. I thought it would also give this community a chance to see this combination in action. You should be aware that I am NOT ever planning on dual video cards.
This will be my first PCIe AMD64 experience. I'm planning to OC BOTH the CPU and video card- and both look very promising to acheive near-premium technology for a reasonable $. I MAY push the limit on the CPU, but I'll be more conservative on the video since I don't plan to update the HSF or unnecessarily risk it. In either case, I plan to back off for best power efficiency (stock voltages) and stability.
Unlike Mr. primesuspect, I do not have NEAR the same amount of time I can dedicate to this forum, but I'll try to be responsive as possible.
As mentioned- the memory is a done deal- but I'd appreciate any feedback about the rest of it.
Thanks all.
CPU: AMD Opteron Denmark core 170 (purchased 4/2- $398 wi S&H)
Motherboard: Did NOT get the MSI K8N Diamond
but the ASUS A8R32-MVP Deluxe (purchased 4/3- $189 wi S&H)
Memory: 2x1GB OCZ PC3200 Platinum (purchased 3/24- $160 wi S&H)
Video Card: ATI X1900 AIW (purchased 4/2- $365 wi S&H)
Following in footsteps of Mr. primesuspect, I'm taking advantage of a mature technology that is starting to have pre-obselescent bargains. I thought it would also give this community a chance to see this combination in action. You should be aware that I am NOT ever planning on dual video cards.
This will be my first PCIe AMD64 experience. I'm planning to OC BOTH the CPU and video card- and both look very promising to acheive near-premium technology for a reasonable $. I MAY push the limit on the CPU, but I'll be more conservative on the video since I don't plan to update the HSF or unnecessarily risk it. In either case, I plan to back off for best power efficiency (stock voltages) and stability.
Unlike Mr. primesuspect, I do not have NEAR the same amount of time I can dedicate to this forum, but I'll try to be responsive as possible.
As mentioned- the memory is a done deal- but I'd appreciate any feedback about the rest of it.
Thanks all.
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Comments
This one I assume
I'm also seriously considering the RD580 board- but it's got to sink about another $20 before I'll look at it. The one you've got looks great. I've heard good stuff about DFI too- but I'm not sure how it fares as a general purpose/easy to use board.
I'm about as general purpose a user as you will find.
o I fold.
o I do some professional work- occassionally intensive computations that would bring any PC to its knees.
o I game somewhat.
o Others in my family use it too.
o Home stuff
o Amateur video editting- sports mostly.
It's a BUSY PC so I thought this would be a good balance and stable too. FYI- I plan on using my 74GB Raptor (boot) and 400GB Caviar as my drives.
Again, thanks
A8R32-MVP Deluxe
LanParty UT CFX3200
Also ...pay special attention to the power connectors on the board you choose to match it up to your psu. The Dfi boards (the cfx and expert) have been coming with this 8-pin connector such as this one. The Asus board has the standard 4-pin and the molex connector is eliminated. You can see from the pics on the links above.
Forget about acutally using the crossfire (or sli) for that matter ...most people get these boards for their raw performance. The rest is lagniappe.
Besides ...perhaps the extra slot may come in handy someday soon with the near realease of PPU cards.
Lagniappe is/are (pick one):
1) an expression meaning great joy
2) a Cajun word meaning utter excrement
3) a special layered pasta dish, baked by Cajuns in remote bayou locations
It loses a little in the translation?
I came up with the following:
- ASUS A8R-MVP Socket 939 ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 CrossFire ($95.99)
- HIS Hightech HX85XTQ256-3TOEN IceQ II Radeon X850XT 256MB GDDR3 ($247.00)
- Thermaltake W0101RU ATX 12V 2.0 Version 550W Power Supply ($94.99)
- AMD Opteron 170 Denmark 1GHz HT Socket 939 Dual Core Processor ($394.00)
- Thermaltake Big Typhoon CL-P0114 120mm Cooling Fan with Heatsink ($54.99)
- Memory???
TOTAL $886.97I've read that you can get PC4000 and that leaves more room to overclock? Is that true?
Its two 512 meg sticks. Im looking to get between 120-130 for them. They are in tip top shape and look awesome
Also ...consider the superflower ttgi 550 psu.
for ram consider 2gb ...will come in handy when vista rolls around especially.
-aspire
I see that you, csimon, have the ATI board and the 7800... do you see any problems with cross branding?
Unless you go with the high end ati cards you're better off with one of the mid-range nvidia cards speed wise generally speaking.
eVga also has a hella good warranty policy!
Thanks VERY much for the thoughts and discussion. Based on input from here and even in other threads, I did come to a decision-
The ASUS A8R32-MVP (Tech Report Review)
But NOT for all the reasons you might be thinking. Since this is going to be my main machine and main folder...
THIS (Power Consumption)
... is what finally pushed me over the edge. Otherwise I'd be taking the SLI Premium- which BTW is a VERY nice board. But power efficiency is a big issue for me (especially long term as I pay for kids in college, yadda, yadda). I also can't complain about having an external SATA port and 8 USB ports ... I think it is well worth the extra $20-30. However, the only thing that may change things- DFI may release the CFX3200 in time and its IPO looks like about $200 US
On the memory issue, Q, I decided on the OCZ 2x1GB 3200 Platinums because I am thinking of using a divider (recommended in another thread) to see how far I can go without going much past stock voltages (that power issue again- plus heat. I live in the Southwest). Yeah, I hope to share my fun in the sun and see where this baby can take us (this could be fun!), but for the long-term, I'm after the biggest bang for my watt- and not necessarily my $ (though this isn't looking bad for that either). I'm thinking like 4/3 and then push the HT. I think this could be fun
And you all helped! Thanks!
Still debating over the proc hoping prices will change soon. Don't know if a multiplier is worth $100 or 200MHz (X2) is worth $60. Grrrr.
Yep. Those are them (see my link post #1). And that deal is getting sweeter by the day
Here's a link
Here are my selections... which would you choose?
OCZ Gold Revision 2 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 500 (PC 4000) Dual Channel Kit $133.41 AR
or
Crucial Technology Ballistix 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 500 (PC 4000) Dual Channel Kit $125.00
both are CAS 2.5 but the the crucial timing is 2.5-4-4-8 and the OCZ timing 2.5-3-3-8. I assume lower numbers are better...
You know, a nice article on what all these number mean would be nice. I've tried to read up on the timings but nothing I've read really gives a straight forward description of what is good and what is not so good.
QCH: lower timing values are always better so long as you are comparing the same speed. I.e. PC3200 with 2-2-2-5 is faster than PC3200 with 3-3-3-8 timings. It gets more confusing when comparing PC4000 at higher timings than PC3200 at tighter ones. PC3200 at 2-3-2-5 is likely faster than PC4000 at 3-4-4-8 IMO.
With A64's, memory performance depends a lot on the CPU's clock frequency as well. The integrated memory controller runs at the same speed as the CPU, so a 3GHz A64 will have better performing memory than a 2.4GHz A64 (assuming the same sticks).
You are giving me some write-up ideas
This is my understanding (it's been a while, but I'll give it a go)-
Memory timings are there to tell you how long it takes to access memory.
The time it takes to do so is often called the delay or latency.
Picture memory as a matrix or spreadsheet with rows and columns and you are looking for a single spot at a specific row and column
Call the time it takes to get to the right row tRP
Call the time it takes to go from row lookup mode to column lookup mode tRCD
Call the time it takes to get to the right column tCL (aka CAS)
When you see something like 2-2-2, it means that
tCL = 2 tics of the clock
tRCD = 2 tics of the clock
tRP = 2 tics of the clock
For a total of 6 tics of the clock to get that memory? Unfortunately it's not THAT simple. However, it does help describe key elements of access timing and provides a simplistic approach that can help with understanding.
IF all the memory you want is in the same row (for example), then you can operate in what is called a PAGE (sort of like burst) mode and not have to do row lookup (tRP) and mode change (tRCD) all the time- just keep going to the right column (tCL). This makes for MUCH faster operation. If your memory operations are more random, then much more time is added when you must change rows and do all the operations.
This Article explains it in more technical detail.
The last number (tRAS) is something I'm not entirely sure of, but I think Mac could correct or clarify this. This is what I've picked up on the web. I look at it as the minimum number of tics that the Row Address Select (RAS) must be held to make a complete and stable memory access.
Still, each number defines how long it takes to do a particular operation of a memory access. The effect can be partial or cumulative depending an what's involved. The smaller one number is, the faster the memory is in that aspect and if ALL the numbers are smaller than another memory's, the memory is faster across the board. Because CAS (Column Address Strobe or Select) can be the most active signal, it generally has the most effect. That's why the term is used so much.
EDIT: Sorry for all the editting- had a lot of interruptions and mistakes to fix.
Hope this helps!
The best thing about the ocz besides the tighter timings is that you get tech support right here at short-media ...from Mac! Ask him what he'd recommend.