Motherboards

[Matt Harris]

Sorry one more important question i missed.

I don't want to fork out a lot of money for a processor now as i will buy a dual when they first come out, so the one i buy now will pretty much go to waste.

Becasue of this what processor should i go for that still works pretty well?

 

[vnf4ultra]

That board seems like a good one. Lots of features/goodies included. Firewire b on the ti chipset. Dual gigabit + wireless lan, 8ch. audio, SLI, Sata II with raid options.

Corsair value select ram with cas 2.5 is really cheap now, and has really good reviews.

The mobo is standard atx, so if the case supports atx, then it should support the mobo. Although you will need a high quality power supply if you use the sli feature. Get a name brand like antec, powerpc and cooling, fortron, ocz, etc, and check that it has enough +12v amperage(~28a+ recommended).

The cheapest 939 is the 3000+, which is what I have, it works very well for me, but what I do isn't as demanding as your tasks. The 3200+ is also a good value. Some (lucky) people have overclocked 3000+ cpu's to over 4000+ speeds.

 

[Matt Harris]

Thats very helpful.

I think i will go for the 3200+ as i will be buying a dual when it comes out.

The 3200+ only costs about a hundred quid.

Yeah i have no real knowledge about what power supply it will need, but i will follow the guidlines you have given me.

The board also comes with it's own little mini power supply that fits on the mobo. I though that was a nice little touch.

I want to go for 2gb of Ram as there is only 4 DIMM slots. I am not sure what to go for out of Corsair or Kingston. The price is also a lot, so the cheaper the better.

 

[Matt Harris]

Is this fan good enough

Enermax Noisetaker 370W EG375AX-VE(G) SFMA ATX2.0 PSU (CA-005-EN)

 

[RealBlackStuff]

More than likely too weak.
Go here http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ and fill in your specs.
Then add at LEAST 30% on top of that. That will give you an indication of where to set your wattage-minimum.
The more power you have in reserve, the cooler the PSU will run.
Look for dual 12v rails, with at least 28Amp combined for the 2 rails.
Perhaps you should even look for a server-PSU (EPS Specs).
My estimate for you is around 480Watts.
Don't get Thermaltake butterfly, they have only one 12v rail for 480W.
Expect to pay from $80.- and up.

PS: glad you saw the light and went for AMD64.

 

[vnf4ultra]

I have found this forum thread helpful when looking for a psu.
Hardforum

For a cheap, but good power supply, the Tagan 480w is good.
For a more expensive, but very good power supply, the OCZ Powerstream 520w is good.

Oh, btw, do you need a different type of power supply since you live outside the u.s.? Like a different type of wall socket or line current? I think I saw somewhere that most countries use a different type of wall power outlet and higher voltage than we do in the us. We use 110-120v with a socket that looks like '.'

I've heard that for sli, dual rail is not better than 1 single high amp rail. I think a single rail with a high +12v rail amperage is best (28+a) from what I've read (at least easier to use).

Are you going to get 4 512mb dimms to get 2gb, or are you going to get 2 1gb dimms to leave room for expansion? I think I would get 2 1gb sticks so that it leaves room for expansion.

Corsair and Kingston are both good brands, choose whichever is cheaper. Remember while looking at ram, the lower the cas latency, the faster the ram. 2>2.5>3. Although getting really fast ram can cost much more than standard ram for the small increase it gives.

 

[Matt Harris]

Yes i have finally seen the light, just took me a bit longer than others.

Ok i am going to buy the pc parts tonight, so the quickest response possible will be good.

this is the spec i am getting. I am not sure on the Ram however will it fit the mobo and how will it run?

Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200PT TwinX (2x1GB) (MY-039-CS)

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester 90nm (Socket 939) - Retail (CP-097-AM)

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 NCQ 300GB 6B300SO SATA 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-040-MD)

Gigabyte 3D1 - Dual GeForce 6600 GT 256MB DDR3 & K8NXP-SLI nForce4 SLi Bundle (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-012-GI)

This all adds up to 928 pound leaving me 72 pound to get a PSU and case. That is not a lot and right now it is the one part that is really playing with me, so if you could advice me on a case and PSU in one that is good enough then that will complete my purchuse.

thanks please respond as quick as possible

 

[Matt Harris]

I am looking at this, becasue it is cheap, but i am worried the PSU is not good enough.

What do you make of it?

By the way i ran a quick test from the link you gave me realblackstuff and it came to 344 watts.

 

[Matt Harris]

vnf4ultra i just looked on your link and it said it did not recommend Raidmax, so then i guess that case is a no.

 

[vnf4ultra]

So adding the 30% to your 350w would be ~450w. So a 450w, 480, 520w, etc are in the right range.

If you like the case, then you could get it, but switch the psu with a better one.

Really almost all the cases that come with power supplies come with junk ones. So you could get a case without a power supply, or get one that does have one and switch it out. I'm sure good combos exist, but I don't know of any.

Can you link to the ram, I don't know which you are looking at. I see 3 or 4 corsair 2gb kits. As long as the ram is pc3200 and a 184pin dimm and is ddr, it should work with the board. Is there a ram compatibility list for the mobo you chose?

This ram seem cheap(I know you can't buy from this site, but so you can see it here's the link.) link

 

[Matt Harris]

what about this power supply

Tagan TG420-U01 420W ATX2.0 Silent PSU (CA-002-TG)
- Fully compatible to all AMD (including K8) and Intel P4 CPUs
- Automatic voltage adjustment for input with a range of 95-250V.
- Very quiet (from 20dB/A!) Dual-Fan technology
- 2 Serial-ATA powerconnectors.
- 28A at 12V for increased stability with many connected devices
- Mainswitch with rubber-protector
- ATX 24 plus 8pin / 20 plus 4 pin connectors for use on most common mainboards (including some serverboards!)
- Supports up-comming BTX format and PCI-Express motherboards
- 3rs Warranty


I will get this case and fit that power supply in

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=72996

will it fit?


The ram is the sixth one down will it fit my mobo and is it any good?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Corsair_XMS.html#aMY_2d039_2dCS


All i need to know is the answer to these questions now and then i will buy it.

 

[vnf4ultra]

Most psu's should fit in most cases. Nothing is "guaranteed", but they should work together.

That psu seems good. 3yr warranty, and it supports the 24pin connector of your motherboard. It's quiet too.

The ram looks like the right kind. pc3200, ddr, etc. XMS is high quality memory, it should work well.

 

[Matt Harris]

Ok well thank you very much vnf4ultra you have been a great help. I don't think i could of produced this system spec without your help.

Now i have all i need to know i am going to buy it and then build it when i come home for easter next week.

I will get back to you when it is all up and running (hopefully) and tell you how it is going and about any problems i may be having.

thanks very much once again


matt

 

[vnf4ultra]

wait, the psu doesn't look like it has 28a

 

[vnf4ultra]

On the tagan site it says 22a for the 420. The 480 has 28a I think.
It also says it's atx 1.3 instead of 2.0. Maybe the site it outdated? It does say 8-2004 last update, so that is a little old.
Do you have a link to the psu? The last thing I want to happen is for you to buy a psu that wont power your system. 22a probably wouldn't cut it.

Hmm. Here it says 28a.OCUK

Maybe they revised them?

 

[Matt Harris]

I have just bought it all, which came to 1017 pounds.


This is the link to the power supply. It is the third one down please put me at ease and say it is good enough. It does say 28a

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Tagan.html

 

[vnf4ultra]

Can you afford the 480w? The 480w is more "future proof", and I know it has 28a on the 12v. It also says it's designed for sli.

It should have enough power. That site says 28a, so if it comes and isn't what they advertised, then you can send it back(they would be in the wrong).

The 480w says it has 2 graphics card plugs, but if your using the 3d1(sli on one card) then maybe you only need 1?

 

[vnf4ultra]

That psu is still an excellent psu. High quality. The 3d1 video card has 1 power connector, so you should be able to connect.
3d1

You may not be able to use a 2 card sli, I don't think the 420 has 2 6 pin card connectors.

 

[tbrunt3]

There nothing wrong with Raidmax been using them for years.I have a Raidmax power supply that is 70% efficient ..

 

[Matt Harris]

No i can't afford it i am totally skint now until April 11th.

Yeah i will just have to hope what is stated on the site is right otherwise i will send it back.

The good thing is though it is a good make and a how of a lot better than the Raidmax.

You say i may not be able to use a 2 card SLI i, but would that only be the case if i hasd two seperate graphics cards in the two ports. The one with the bundle it two on one card, so will that probley work?

I hope that made sense as i am not totally sure what you mean.

 

[vnf4ultra]

Yeah, with the 3d1, you only need one 6 pin sli graphics connector, which the 420 should have. So it should work as is. But if you would ever upgrade to a 2 card sli(as opposed to a 1 card with 2 cores like you have), then you would need 2 sli power cables.

Oh, good news, I just saw that the 3d1 should come with it's own 4 pin molex to 6 pin sli power adapter. So the psu comes with one and the card comes with one. You should have everything to do a dual card sli if you want to later. Good news. Now if that psu actually has 28a, then it should work perfect.

Here's where I saw it.link I think it's the 5th pic down from the top.

Well, congrats, you got it ordered, and it should be a sweet system. Everything seems like it should work together.

 

[RealBlackStuff]

On the tagan site it says 22a for the 420.
It also says it's atx 1.3 instead of 2.0.

vnf4ultra is right, it IS only 22a and ATX1.3
See Tagan's website: http://www.tagan.com/main.htm

The 480-model is 28a but also still ATX1.3, even when OCUK says it is ATX2.0
Both have only a single 12v rails.

 

[Matt Harris]

Good news about the graphics card. I was wondering if i could ever have the 3d1 in one slot and then put another graphics card in the other sli slot, so you could have a total of three graphics cards running?

The power supply is not very conferting. If i have to take it back then so be, but if it will work then fair enough.

I don't doubt overclokers yet as even though the official site my state things they seem to get a lot of goods with added parts, but i really dont know.

I will next tell you guys how i get on when i start to build it in about a weeks time when i get home.

cheers for the help

 

[Matt Harris]

I am not that great at understanding power supplies, but if you take a look at this link to the model i oredered it does say 28a

http://www.tagan.com/main.htm

 

[Matt Harris]

OK that link does not direct you to the part i was on.

What you have to do it click that link go to products, mine is the forth one down click it and then go to specification and see what you make of it.

cheers