Good AM2 sys build? comments pls!

[Trip1]

Hello,

This is the first time ever that im building a system from parts, so please bear with me. I just want to make sure that A) the parts i've picked are compatible and i won't run into any problems, B) the parts i've picked are good for what im looking to do with my system and finally C) the parts i've picked have the best possible priceerformance ratio. I will be going to university in the fall(Comp. ENG for those interested..) and the more money i can save on this system the better.

I'm definetly a multi-tasker(well as much as i can on my current setup heh), i do web design occasionally(photoshop/GIMP), encoding/ripping dvd will be done often enough and of course gaming(not THAT often, especially so once UNI starts!). Overclocking will be done although im certainly no "guru" and much research will be needed before i commence that.

Any comments are of course appreciated and welcomed. If theres a part on this list that shouldn't be, or a better one that i'm missing, i want to hear about it.

My current build is very old, Barton 2500+ running on an A7N8X deluxe rev.2.0. Prices are listed in CAD$.
Some questions i have: the 5000+ is it overkill for what im trying to do? What about the RAM(i thought it had some decent timings for pc26400)

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Windsor 2.6GHZ 2X512KB 89W 90NM OEM $379.98

Zalman CNPS9500 AM2 Heatsink Fan AM2/S939/S940/S754 92MM Fan 1350-2600RPM 18-27.5DBA W/ Green LED $72.92

Mushkin XP2 PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL 4-4-3-10 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit $348.04

ASUS M2N-E ATX AM2 Nforce 570 Ultra PCI-E16 PCI-E4 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard $121.90

EVGA E-GEFORCE 7600 GT KO 580MHZ 256MB 128BIT 1.5GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card $195.04

Antec P180 ATX Advanced Mid Tower Aluminum Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS W/ USB & Audio Ports $141.42

Open Box/Refurbished Enermax All In One EG565P-VE Fma ATX12V V2.0 20/24PIN 535W 2FAN SLI Ready Power Supply $89.93

Shipping & Handling: $71.58
Shipping Insurance: $41.92
Subtotal: $1,510.71
GST(6%): $90.64
YOUR TOTAL: $1,601.35
CAD

If i could shave somehow ~200 bucks off that, which component should be sacrificed?
Thanks again your help is appreciated.. i hope this is the right forum for this.

 

[rhansen5_99]

Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1000BWS Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail
for 80$ USD newegg will strip a good 60$ off

 

[Trip1]

Thermaltake SOPRANO VB1000BWS Black Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail
for 80$ USD newegg will strip a good 60$ off

Bleh, unfortunately newegg doesn't ship to canada, however the case is $40 cheaper than the P180 from NCIX. I'll think about it... i may be too attached to the P180, however.

Thanks for your input.
I am concerned mostly about the three main parts, cpu/ram/mobo, as well as my video card. Of course all other comments are welcome tho =)

 

[unclewebb]

If you live in Canada, NCIX is a great company to deal with. I've never had a problem after countless orders and they often times deliver stuff to my place, 600 miles away, in under 24 hours using Purolator.

If you're not afraid to do a little overclocking, the Athlon X2 4200+ is a good way to save some money. NCIX has them for $229 CDN during their sale. They are also listed in Calgary at the OEM Depot for $209 CDN www.oemdepot.com

NCIX is really good at price matching items so check that out with them. With this new dual core pricing from AMD the 4200 X2 is looking like a good bang for the buck processor.

For overclocking I would set the HTT/FSB up from 200 to about 250 MHz. Use the DDR667 memory divider with these settings and that will allow your memory to run at ~393 MHz which is perfect. DDR2-800 runs default at 400 MHz. This quick tweak will have your budget system outperforming an Athlon 5000. You might need to add +0.1 volts to the CPU for full Prime stability but that's it. The AM2 chips are easy to overclock. I recently built a single core AM2 Athlon 3200 and went from 2000 MHz to 2809 MHz and it was Prime stable for 24 hours.

Your memory is a great choice but you might be able to save some money here as well. The benchmarks I've seen so far are not showing a lot of performance difference between low end DDR2 memory and really expensive memory on the new AM2 systems. I'm a fan of OCZ and NCIX has Gold EL or Gold XTC PC2-6400 on for about $195 to $215 after rebates or if you want the good stuff get the Platinum PC2-6400 which is on sale this weekend until Tuesday for $249 CDN.

The Zalman cooler is nice but you might want to start out with the boxed AMD cooler. If you need to upgrade later you always can but the AMD OEM might be fine for your system.

You don't have to spend a fortune these days to build a really good computer. Send me a PM if you buy a bunch of parts and need some help getting the most out of them.

 

[Trip1]

I'm certainly not afraid to overclock a little bit, and i think ill take your advise regarding the cpu/ram

Now for the ram should i stick with PC26400 or should i go with 5400? Would i notice a big performance diff? I just re-read your reply, the memory part, and it looks like you suggest buying pc26400 ram and running it at DDR667. If i understand correctly, your saying that memory with really tight timings such as the mushkin ram ive listed(4-4-3-10) vs say some

OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit
really won't make much of a difference. This is a huge price difference $250 for the above ram vs 350 for the mushkin listed.

I've also taken your suggestion regarding the heatsink fan, ill give the oem one a shot and see how it performs.. $70 for a hsf is a lot of cash.

THX!

EDIT: Updated the parts list as follows:

ASUS M2N-E ATX AM2 Nforce 570 Ultra PCI-E16 PCI-E4 2PCI-E1 3PCI SATA RAID Sound GBLAN Motherboard $121.90

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ Dual Core Processor Socket AM2 Windsor 2.2GHZ 2X512KB 89W 90NM Retail Box $229.98

OCZ Gold XTC PC2-6400 2GB 2X1GB DDR2-800 CL5-5-5-12 240PIN DIMM Dual Channel Memory Kit $257.64

EVGA E-GEFORCE 7600 GT KO 580MHZ 256MB 128BIT 1.5GHZ GDDR3 Dual DVI-I HDTV Out Video Card $195.04
Combo Deal (18885)

BenQ DW1655 Lightscribe DVD+RW16X16X8 DVD-RW16X16X4 CDRW48X48X32 OEM DVD Burner Black W/ SW $47.98

Antec P180 ATX Advanced Mid Tower Aluminum Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS W/ USB & Audio Ports $141.42

Enermax All In One EG565P-VE Fma ATX12V V2.0 20/24PIN 535W 2FAN SLI Ready Power Supply $89.93 OPEN BOX!

Shipping Insurance: $32.52
Subtotal: $1,116.41
GST(6%): $66.98
YOUR TOTAL: $1,183.39
CAD

Wow that's saved me a bunch of money.. i hope the performance doesn't suffer THAT much.. maybe i should look at upgrading either the mobo or the vid card?
Also, the current hard drives i have are old ATA not SATA.. Its possible that with the money i've saved here i could put that into either a raptor drive, or just a large capacity SATA drive.

 

[unclewebb]

OCZ currently has a $40 rebate on the Gold XTC memory you're looking at. If you believe that you will actually get your rebate then buy the XTC. If not, they have the Platinum on sale at $249 which is slightly better memory. I'm happy with my OCZ PC3200 Platinum. Remember to ask NCIX about their price matching policies.

I just re-read your reply, the memory part, and it looks like you suggest buying pc26400 ram and running it at DDR667

If you start overclocking your computer, your memory will also get overclocked and it will start trying to run at a speed greater than its rated speed of 400 MHz. How much you can go beyond 400 MHz depends on the quality of the memory used, your memory timings, voltage and how lucky you are! Many users quit here thinking that their CPU is holding them back.

The best thing to do is to set your memory divider to DDR667 before you start overclocking. This will force your DDR2-800 memory to initially run at only 333 MHz. Now when you overclock your CPU, your memory will overclock beyond 333 MHz back close to its default of 400 MHz. You will get a big boost in CPU speed if all goes well without having your memory running beyond its rated speed.

The numbers I posted before will likely be very doable and you won't have to be an overclocking guru. Try downloading DDRCalc so you can enter your numbers and watch how different memory dividers will effect your memory speed on the AMD platform.

http://www.telusplanet.net/public/glynnk/DDRCalc.zip

There is one thing to watch for with the new AM2 systems. When your processor uses an odd multiplier, your DDR2-800 memory won't run at its rated speed even with the appropriate DDR800 memory divider set in the BIOS. The AM2 4200 uses an odd multiplier of 11.0 X 200 MHz for a total of 2200 MHz.

Instead of hurting your brain with all this confusing stuff, just use DDRCalc before you buy or start to overclock.