its time i finally update old faithful....to the tune of "just about everything"

my current system is...

Athlon XP
Radeon 9700 Pro
SB Audigy 1
Abit NF7-S rev 2.0
40 Gig hard drive
Enlight 420 Watt ATX
Generic case that i butchered to no end
Parts such as ram and dvd burner will be transplanted...

this is what i am planning on replacing her with...

Athlon 64 3200 ($160)
Asus A8N5X Mobo ($89)
WD Caviar 250 gig 7.2k 16mb cache SATA 3.0gb ($105)
GeForce 6800 GS 256mb ($189)
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II w/ 450 Watt Smart Power PSU ($99)

total: $642, or around $700 for everything shipped

i do not want SLI
i do not care about socket 940
the case and psu are perfect

what i want to know is, what you guys think about the rest of it, i havent messed around with newer technology enough to know wether or not im getting a good deal...is the video card good enough to run source games at 1280 x 1024 with HDR and all that crap (dont use AA hardly ever, just 8x Aniso)...

comments will be appreciated, and as a bonus to all of you, when i finally get my new system here and installed and working, i will part out the existing system for some pretty super-discounted prices to those of you interested...

EDIT: will the stock heatsink that comes with the cpu be enough to use it out of the box, i mean, i dont plan on overclocking it (silence rocks)?

I think that for what you want to run, you're just a bit underpowered. I run my source games with a similar rig, and my buddies have comps almost exactly like your hypothetical setup, and HDR is kickin' our asses atm. I don't have a 6800GS, so someone who knows more about that card will have to chime in on that front. I'm interested to hear if it's solid, because that's one of the cards I'm considering to upgrade to.
::EDIT:: Looks like you can unlock the 6800GS with RivaTuner... hmmm

That case is really nice.

The stock cooler will be fine performance-wise, but it will be a screamer. The Sonata should do a decent job of masking the noise, but you might consider picking up a zalman cooler or maybe a thermaltake XP-120 with a nice quiet 120mm fan on it if you really are going for silent.

Welcome to the 64-bit side of the house!

From the looks of the parts list, you're going for the upgrade with a tight budget in mind. There is nothing at all wrong with that, IMO...

The only concern that comes to my mind is the mobo/GPU combination keeping in mind the gaming requirement you stated... While the card will no doubt slow down to match the mobo speed, for the settings you're looking for, I would perhaps look towards a mobo with a 16X slot, to get the most out of that 6800GS.

With that in mind, a couple suggestions for a mobo with a single 16X slot (since you don't feel you need SLI):

DFI Ultra Infinity - $95.99
Gigabyte K8NF9 - $76
MSI K8N Neo 4F -$80

Hope that helps you out! BTW, props to ya for the "Juice" app...

Quote: Originally Posted by GrandpaNoob72 Welcome to the 64-bit side of the house! From the looks of the parts list, you're going for the upgrade with a tight budget in mind. There is nothing at all wrong with that, IMO... The only concern that comes to my mind is the mobo/GPU combination keeping in mind the gaming requirement you stated... While the card will no doubt slow down to match the mobo speed, for the settings you're looking for, I would perhaps look towards a mobo with a 16X slot, to get the most out of that 6800GS. With that in mind, a couple suggestions for a mobo with a single 16X slot (since you don't feel you need SLI): DFI Ultra Infinity - $95.99 Gigabyte K8NF9 - $76 MSI K8N Neo 4F -$80 Hope that helps you out! BTW, props to ya for the "Juice" app...

i was pretty sure the motherboard i originally selected had a 16X slot...

Expansion Slots
PCI Express x16	1
PCI Express x1	2
PCI Slots	3
Other Slots	1x PCI Express x4 slot

i might be wrong, but is the PCI Express x16 the same thing as a 16x slot?
i hope so because i actually like this mobo, trust its manufacturer, and it has a perfect score so far on newegg...
thanks for the replies too
EDIT: and from all the reviews i have read, the 6800GS is damn near identical in performance to the 6800GT despite having 4 fewer pipelines, its clocked higher AND theres a better than reasonable chance that you can use Rivatuner to unlock the 4 extra pipes for better-than-GT performance for around $50-100 less!
sounds like a no brainer for me, after all, im upgrading from a 9700 pro

You know what, Fu3l? You're right, it did... I guess my caffeine intake hadn't restored my alertness levels as I thought it had prior to posting...

I did some testing with the stock HSF, it can take a 200~400MHZ OC at stock voltage and still be within acceptable temp limits. I even used the stock paste for the test, a little AS-5 wouldn't hurt though.

If you realy don't plan on OC'ing, it will be more than adequate.

I wish you would consider an Opteron though, for 10$ less than a 3200+ the 144 is 1MB cache and can typically OC to 2.4~2.8ghz at stock or near stock voltage.

http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch...ricewatch&NR=1

mild oc can be done with stock parts!

The best bang for the buck card out there would be the X800GTO2 from Sapphire. You can flash an X850XT or even an XT PE BIOS on it and it's guaranteed to work, since it uses a bona-fide R480 core.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102596

Yeah, it doesn't have SM3.0, and won't get a great score in 3DMark06, but when unlocked it will smoke pretty much everything from the previous generation (in other words, all 6800's).

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro I did some testing with the stock HSF, it can take a 200~400MHZ OC at stock voltage and still be within acceptable temp limits. I even used the stock paste for the test, a little AS-5 wouldn't hurt though. If you realy don't plan on OC'ing, it will be more than adequate. I wish you would consider an Opteron though, for 10$ less than a 3200+ the 144 is 1MB cache and can typically OC to 2.4~2.8ghz at stock or near stock voltage. http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merch...ricewatch&NR=1

but the Opteron is an 800mhz fsb chip, what will that mean for my 400mhz DDR ram? (common sense tells me it will work in synch, but im not too sure how the new architecture works, so get me started here)...

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu3lman but the Opteron is an 800mhz fsb chip, what will that mean for my 400mhz DDR ram? (common sense tells me it will work in synch, but im not too sure how the new architecture works, so get me started here)...

The RAM will work perfectly fine. The "Hammer" platform doesn't have an "FSB" per se, it's a HyperTransport link. The memory controller is built in to the processor, so there is no need for a full Northbridge. The NF4 chipset actually only has one bridge chip that handles both the North and the South functions. (PCI, PCI-Express, SATA, IDE, etc.) So, the RAM connects to the CPU via HTT, and runs at a multiplier of the base clock (the "FSB" clock of 200Mhz). Socket 939 uses a 5x multiplier, and 754 uses 4x.

Turning up the FSB clock also turns up the HTT clock, so you'll need to drop the multiplier to keep it under it's max stock speed (Opterons are at 1000Mhz stock, so running at, say, 300FSB would need a 3x HTT multiplier for stability). Strangely enough, overclocking your HTT bus doesn't help performance at all. Since the RAM clock is far below 1000Mhz, it won't help at all. We'll have to wait for the DDR2-compatible Socket AM2 for any real HTT OC benefit.

You won't have any sync problems. After all, don't Athlon XP's have a 133/166FSB? DDR400 works fine with them...

Quote: Originally Posted by Ator You won't have any sync problems. After all, don't Athlon XP's have a 133/166FSB? DDR400 works fine with them...

yes, they do, my mind was working in multiples of 4... (200mhz fsb x 4 = 800mhz / 250mhz x 4 = 1000mhz) and for some reason i was under the impression that using anything less than pc 4X00 DDR would cause stability issues...

Naw, you'll be fine. Hard to imagine you with a new rig. All I can say is, congrats. Two years ago I would have asked what store you knocked over.

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita Naw, you'll be fine. Hard to imagine you with a new rig. All I can say is, congrats. Two years ago I would have asked what store you knocked over.

alot has changed, 3 household incomes, nice job, tax returns, and a tiny bit of pell grant money, the guy at the Speedway down the road is lucky things are goin so well for me

EDIT: thanks to the help of Capt Planet and $SOLID$ Necro, i not only found an Opteron for $10 less than the 3200, but a Zallman heatsink and the prospect of a very nice overclock, all for the same budget i was lookin at before...

current prospect is as follows, again, opinions, flames, grenades are welcome...

Opteron 144 (939) ($150)
ZALMAN CNPS7000B-ALCU ($29)
MSI K8N Neo4-F ($80)
WD Caviar 250 gig 7.2k 16mb cache SATA 3.0gb ($105)
SAPPHIRE Radeon X800GTO2 ($196)
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II w/ 450 Watt Smart Power PSU ($99)

grand total of everything, including shipping, is 706.19, right on budget....

That is one excellent machine! You will be very happy with it.

That's a nice overclockable rig. That video card especially. I've got one and after you flash it, it's smooth as silk.

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita That's a nice overclockable rig. That video card especially. I've got one and after you flash it, it's smooth as silk.

id like to know your experiences with that card, is it this exact model that will flash, and what is the success rate?

thanks in advance

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu3lman alot has changed, 3 household incomes, nice job, tax returns, and a tiny bit of pell grant money, the guy at the Speedway down the road is lucky things are goin so well for me EDIT: thanks to the help of Capt Planet and $SOLID$ Necro, i not only found an Opteron for $10 less than the 3200, but a Zallman heatsink and the prospect of a very nice overclock, all for the same budget i was lookin at before... current prospect is as follows, again, opinions, flames, grenades are welcome... Opteron 144 (939) ($150) ZALMAN CNPS7000B-ALCU ($29) MSI K8N Neo4-F ($80) WD Caviar 250 gig 7.2k 16mb cache SATA 3.0gb ($105) SAPPHIRE Radeon X800GTO2 ($196) Antec LifeStyle SONATA II w/ 450 Watt Smart Power PSU ($99) grand total of everything, including shipping, is 706.19, right on budget....

Wow, that does look like a nice rig...........and not a bad price either

Umm, dude. I would require a link before I could give you any info. As far as I know, the GTO2 is still flashable to an 850.

Quote: Originally Posted by BigAkita Umm, dude. I would require a link before I could give you any info. As far as I know, the GTO2 is still flashable to an 850.

Here yah go..............
http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/...ng/vidcard/127

EDIT: The only reason I knew of this link was that I was on the site yesterday looking up some info on my new X850 XT PE...............lol

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu3lman Opteron 144 (939) ($150) ZALMAN CNPS7000B-ALCU ($29) MSI K8N Neo4-F ($80) WD Caviar 250 gig 7.2k 16mb cache SATA 3.0gb ($105) SAPPHIRE Radeon X800GTO2 ($196) Antec LifeStyle SONATA II w/ 450 Watt Smart Power PSU ($99) grand total of everything, including shipping, is 706.19, right on budget....

Now ^That^ is a nice rig. Good job putting that together (for $700?? I'm jealous!). So when does the shipment come in?