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#1
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opinions wanted
hi,
I'm a software engineering student building my first computer. My knowledge on hardware is a little shaky so I was hoping I could get some opinions on the following system... mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe cpu - AMD 3500+ (Venice) ... possibly 3800+ instead is it worth the extra money? graphics - ASUS Extreme EN6800GT (just one for the time being) memory - 1024MB TWINX-3200XL (400MHz) DDR RAM Corsair HDD - Western Digital 74G SATA raptor DVD - LG 4163 LCD - LG L173ST its intended for gaming/media as well as work. A few things I'm wondering... firstly what sort of PSU should I be getting? Currently I'm probably going to go with a case packaged with a PSU (the Thermaltake Soprano Black case with 400W PSU)... will 400W be enough? Especially seeing as though I will probably upgrade/add components...? Also is it better (faster) to go with the raptor or would it be better to get two SATA hard drives and set them up in a RAID 0 configuration? (Is that even right? I understand how data striping would make disk access faster but the different types of hard drives confuse me... is RAID only available to SATA drives?) Finally has anyone had any problem with these components before? Has anyone had any hardware compatibility problems with any of these components before? |
#2
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On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 08:33:28 GMT, "CameronK" wrote:
hi, I'm a software engineering student building my first computer. My knowledge on hardware is a little shaky so I was hoping I could get some opinions on the following system... mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe cpu - AMD 3500+ (Venice) ... possibly 3800+ instead is it worth the extra money? graphics - ASUS Extreme EN6800GT (just one for the time being) memory - 1024MB TWINX-3200XL (400MHz) DDR RAM Corsair HDD - Western Digital 74G SATA raptor DVD - LG 4163 LCD - LG L173ST Looks OK to me just depends on what kind of deal you are getting for these things. Thats really the key. its intended for gaming/media as well as work. A few things I'm wondering... firstly what sort of PSU should I be getting? Currently I'm probably going to go with a case packaged with a PSU (the Thermaltake Soprano Black case with 400W PSU)... will 400W be enough? Especially seeing as though I will probably upgrade/add components...? Should be if its decent. Also is it better (faster) to go with the raptor or would it be better to get two SATA hard drives and set them up in a RAID 0 configuration? (Is that even right? I understand how data striping would make disk access faster but the different types of hard drives confuse me... is RAID only available to SATA drives?) You know Ive already posted several times that Anandtech claimed in an article where tested two raptors raided together including a game loading test that there was no benefits to most users using raid. I raided some HDs for a while but after I read that I went back to non-raid. He recommended not using RAID and also pointed out that it was riskier since it increased the chances of a data loss since if one of the HDs failed you lost everything. Generally as everyone says theres no real advantage to SATA except that most of the MBs come with SATA connectors so its convenient to get SATA HDs , though Ive always gotten PATA HDs because theyve incredibly discounted vs SATA super cheap with rebate deals so there was no comparison eg. Seagate 160 gig for $29 for PATA with 5 yr warranty. I use SATA to PATA converters so I can use some HDs on my SATA controllers which negated some of the cost advantage but Ive been reusing them over several HDs so the cost is really low - they are around $15 a piece at www.monoprice.com in the US - the cheapest place I know. They also have the cheapest DVI cables that I know of. Of course if you want raptors its a moot point cause they come in SATA form.. Anandtech also did a test later on SATA II with NCQ and he was far more upbeat about it suggesting that the big advantage of RAPTORS wasnt so great anymore and he did a pretty upbeat review on a Maxtor SATAII so Im not sure Id get the raptors since they are so dinky and expensive. Read some tests online and compare them to make sure there is still an advantage using them, I was all hot about getting at least one a while ago but the cost per size was so ridiculous that I decided not to. I still have all PATA but the SATA s are really falling in price and Office depot recently had a sale where they sold I think a sata version and pata at the same price. If i do find one low enough Ill go sata , especially sata II because of the upbeat review anandtech gave a maxtor sata II with NCQ HD a while ago. I posted about it here but it seems like the regular here were still fairly unimpressed about SATA II NCQ in regards to any advantages. Its true the SATA II was still 7200 and the raptors are 10,000 so I would expect better perf but check to see if the difference is really all that much better to justify the PUNY sizes of the raptors and the cost. For all I know the costs of the raptors may have fallen by now though. If you work with video etc youll want HUGE HD space. capturing video for instance with a TV card and other things really uses space. |
#3
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CameronK wrote:
" mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe " Be aware that the A8N-SLI Premium has a few changes that from the Deluxe that are very beneficial, particularly the northbridge heatpipe and the ability to switch between SLI and single card operation via software. http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050323/ |
#4
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On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 14:24:13 +0100, Cuzman
wrote: CameronK wrote: " mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe " Be aware that the A8N-SLI Premium has a few changes that from the Deluxe that are very beneficial, particularly the northbridge heatpipe and the ability to switch between SLI and single card operation via software. http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050323/ Nice changes but it's still about $60 more expensive, yes? Hard to believe those changes are worth $60, but rather it seems great that the Premium displaces the Deluxe to depreciate it's market value some. |
#5
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The ability to change SLI settings through software,rather than having to
open the case and rearrange the cards every time is a plus.And the heatpipe replaces a chipset fan in the Deluxe that's very noisy and seems to have a high failure rate.Last time I checked the price,it was more like $20.00 above the Deluxe's price.And I'd go closer to 500W for the psu.Enermax has a 535W model designed specifically for SLI. "kony" wrote in message ... On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 14:24:13 +0100, Cuzman wrote: CameronK wrote: " mobo - ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe " Be aware that the A8N-SLI Premium has a few changes that from the Deluxe that are very beneficial, particularly the northbridge heatpipe and the ability to switch between SLI and single card operation via software. http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20050323/ Nice changes but it's still about $60 more expensive, yes? Hard to believe those changes are worth $60, but rather it seems great that the Premium displaces the Deluxe to depreciate it's market value some. |
#6
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On Mon, 04 Jul 2005 16:06:25 GMT, "Gojira"
wrote: The ability to change SLI settings through software,rather than having to open the case and rearrange the cards every time is a plus. "every time" what? You plan on swapping cards around _without_ having to open the system? That's a trick I'd like to see. I don't deny that there might be some kind of remote, rare circumstance where it might save 2 minutes. $60 is a lot for that. And the heatpipe replaces a chipset fan in the Deluxe that's very noisy and seems to have a high failure rate.Last time I checked the price,it was more like $20.00 above the Deluxe's price. Ok, get a Zalman et al passive 'sink for $5. Still $55 difference if my pricing estimate was correct. It was based on Froogle pricing, $120 vs $180. I admit I only spent a brief moment searching, but it certainly looked like more than $20 difference. And I'd go closer to 500W for the psu.Enermax has a 535W model designed specifically for SLI. If one was running two higher-end SLI'd cards though, I agree 500W of quality power is a good idea. Otherwise, probably overkill unless one has a boatload of HDDs. |
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