Finally taking the A64 plunge have a few ????

B

Buckshot

Limp Gawd
Joined
Dec 15, 2002
Messages
215
So im finally upgrading from my Abit NF7-rev 2 & Athlon Xp-M 2500 that is runing at 2.5ghz and looking to step up in the world in performance. with that i give you my purchase list

1. Athlon 64X2 3800+
2. ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe
3. BFG 7800GTX
4. heat sink choice not sure yet. have used thermalright in the past but not sure what is the cream of the crop now.

i guess my biggest question would be. IS this the right mobo or is there a better choice. i have always been a Abit guy but it seems the Asus is quite popular. all the above from the egg will run about $1200 not bad. and hopefully i get a half decent OC out of the cpu.

I have a gig Mushkin 2-2-2 Black Special and a PC power and cooling Power supply 510-express along with a set of 36 gig raptors so im set for other components.

So AMD guys whats the word good choices or should i be looking at another configuration?

Thanks in advance,

Buck

P.S. it will be folding 24/7 on both cores if that helps any

 
for the mobo:
DFI for overclocking
EPoX for stock to mild clocking :p


stock heatsink should be enough.. it's pretty hardcore. everything else looks pretty good imo
 
DFI for features, AND overclocking.

They really do make a good board, and it is well supported too.

The only people on here that buy ASUS for any sort of OC'ing only seem to do so out of brand loyalty.

BTW, how much is that video card? I've seen them running $480, but even $500 would be better. Just on the math, $400 cpu + $180 mobo (if that), leaves $620 on the card. Not sure how much the BFG runs, but it isn't worth ~$50 over any $500 card. Not when that $50 could be spent on a better GPU cooler and still leave you money ahead.
 
Which DFI mobo? and how well are they setup compared to asus and abit? i will be needing good onboard audio also as im spoiled by the soundstorm on my current rig. :p

And that card was 559 @ the Egg cheaper would be better any hints where its cheaper i really only shop the egg but if i can save 50 bucks im down with that. Plus my newly aquired wife will not remove my man-hood as quickly if i lower the bill ;)

thanks for the help so far!!!

 
I've had great results with the a8n-sli dlx, until i went to 2gb ram (2x1gb sticks). I've read the premium fixes this problem tho. I still want to get the dfi board, but that will wait until after i get a 7800gtx, then I can use the asus & the 6600gt's sli'd as a hand-me down. :cool:
 
any other thoughts anyone?

And what model # for the DFI board?

thanks,

Buck
 
Well I guess your looking for the sli version of the DFI board because you choose an sli board before. That would be this one. The are lots of cards on the egg that are cheaper than $550. This is the cheapest one.
 
Yes, get the SLI-DR mentioned above if you want to go with DFI. And don't forget eVGA's 7800GTX. Lifetime warranty now to compliment their step-up program. Just a friendly reminder... ;)
 
DejaWiz said:
Yes, get the SLI-DR mentioned above if you want to go with DFI. And don't forget eVGA's 7800GTX. Lifetime warranty now to compliment their step-up program. Just a friendly reminder... ;)
Click to expand...
thanks for the heads up on eVGA i will give it a look it is $50 cheaper than the BFG so thats cool.


I forgot to ask in my first post will this be/feel like a major upgrade for me? since the new setup is slower by 500 mhz but is 64 bit and dual cpus. i know that in the video card department im going from the dark ages to star trek (9800XT to a 7800GTX :eek: ) so that should really help in BF2.

Thanks again,
Buck
 
i have abit's Fatal1ty A8n-SLI and it does well in overclocking, was able to push my cpu to 2.6, but backed down because of temps, would recommend but i have heard great things about the DFI lanparty NF4 Ultra D or something to that effect
 
May I recommend the MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI ? It has an onboard Soundblaster Audigy and all the other goodies you'll need. As far as overclocking, I can't comment on how the new BIOS update would affect your OC'ing on the X2, but I'm sure it wouldn't dissappoint.

You can go to the motherboard forum and read the thread regarding this mobo. That would probably give you the most information.

My second choice would be the DFI board recommended above. No personal experience but I've always read they're good for overclocking; good voltage options.

Going from a 9800XT to a 7800GTX should weild big performance gains. However, you'll probably notice it more using higher resolutions and using AA/AF. As far as the CPU goes, if you like to multi-task while playing games (ex. playing a game and listening to music) then you should notice big improvements. In multi-tasking enviroments it will show most of its performance gains.
 
i've had the a8n-sli deluxe since it first came out --i've got a rev 1.0mb

darned good overclocker- had a early winchester to 2.98g on air-

i also have a dfi-lanparty ultra d --it will overclock better if you have a poor core--although with a good core(CPU) the asus will clock about as high.

my best overclocks with the asus where with ssd-BH-5's with bios 1003.008beta

currently running a 3200venice @2.8g with ssd-g-skill-tccd's .running bios 1013-02 beta :cool:

as far as the DFI it is a good stable MB and a good OC'er--if i was going to buy a new MB-- i would probably either get the new asus or the new DFI-sli the older MB's have jumpers , sli-cards and a few issues the hopefully will be resolved in the new editions.

the DFI ultra D is a sort of old-school MB --so if you liked the old MB's with dip-switches and jumpers--then you'll like the ultra d-- (i like mine--but i like my asus just as much)
 
I would go for the 3700+ over the 3800+ you can increase your mhz with overclocking but not your cache.
 
fawkes, he is going for an x2, not regular a64. with that in mind, the 3800 would be best, since there is no 3700 x2 :p (here we see the greater confusion coming out with amd's numbering scheme)
 
ah didnt spot the x2 bit just saw the 3800+ bit. Another nice bit of confuseing speed rating.
 
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