i dont know exactly wat im looking for but im about to spend some money on a comp that i want to build myself ive never installed a CPU chipset or a motherboard im confident that i can install the other hardware components... i would like it if someone would teach me to overclock a AMD 64 which ive never done ehh... im a nub

these are the full list of parts in buying im using some old parts from my current computer like my video card lan card i speakers monitor mouse keyboards sound card....

the full price is 1200$$

Thermaltake (BLUE), Voice Controlled, Cold Cathode Fluorescence Lamp (CCFL). Excellent and super bright with Sound-Activation/Voice controlled & normal type adjustment. Retail.

Thermaltake Highest Xaser III V2420U Super Tower Case with 420W Power Supply

Lite On LTC-48161H Black 48x24x48x16 Combo Drive, 2MB, OEM

SAMSUNG SFD321B/LBL1 Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, OEM Driver Only

WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY

Apacer 512MB DDR PC3200 RAM 32X8 CL=3 (Mosel or Powerchip Chipset) - OEM... x3

Gigabyte Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 64-bit Processors Model# GA-K8N PRO Retail

100 Ft. Cat. 6 Patch Cable, 500 Mhz. Color: (White). Can be used as Cat.5e/Cat.5. With Snag-Free Caps

GIGAFAST 4-Port Internet Router Internet DSL/Cable Broadband Router with 4-Port 10/100Mbps Switch, Model EE400-R Retail

AMD Athlon 64 3200+, ADA3200BOX - RETAIL, 1MB L2 Cache, 1600Mhz Bus

suggestions, critisism, flaming and hate is welcome

For overclocking it is best to go to the dedicated overclockers websites and their forums, e.g.
http://www.overclock.co.uk/
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/ (imo the best)
http://www.ocia.net/
http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/O/overclock.html
The 64 cannot be overclocked too much.


Personally I don't care for all the frills and lights, but you asked for opinions.

If you are going to spend all that money, you should go for the faster AMD Athlon 64 FX-51, but it costs quite a bit more and needs a different MoBo.
For a good comparison, see here:
http://www.amdzone.com/articleview.cfm?ArticleID=1344

Both processors really require registered DDR400 memory, rather than your DDR PC3200

wats the diff from the ddr400 and the ddr pc3200?

If this is the first time you setup a PC, I wouldn't advise to start overclocking right away.

Might be better for you to get the system up & running as it is & from there, if need be, maybe OC a little.

Yup...NoisySilence is right. When you build a pc, your first priority is to get it working stable at stock speed. Wait till your system is stable enough, this is when you start to overclock your pc.

ive never installed a motherboard or a processor and i think thats the most hardest part in installing the comp has ne one installed a amd 64 or even a processor? and is it relaly hard

Installing an Athlon64 CPU should be easier then installing an AthlonXP. The a64 has a heat spreader which makes it easier to install it without damaging the core.

Read the manual that comes with the CPU, showing how to install it & also make sure to check the Artic Silver website to see how to install the thermal paste ( the HSF that comes with the CPU might allready have a thermal pad though ).

If you are located in the UK, buy the PCAnswers mag issue 127 (Christmas 2003), on the shelves right now. It has a full description of how to assemble a PC.

Browse around to www.pcanswers.co.uk to have a look.
Visit the likes of www.crucial.com to find out about different memory types or do a search on the internet with Google.

(In other words, do a bit of work yourself as well...)

so i need thermal paste? wat else do i need? other than the list i have already

Athlon64s are only available in Boxed format, which means it comes with a heatsink & either some thermal paste or a thermal pad at the bottom of the heatsink. You shouldn't need to buy some extra thermal paste.

Besides that, I only noticed that you haven't listed any VGA card.

yea cause im using the old VGA from my old comp its a 5200 fx ill probably save a little more money later and get the XT or something

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030923/athlon_64-14.html is this that ram that u guys were talking about ? do i really need this compared to pc3200 ram? now that i think about it wat do u guys suggest for a motherboard and ram for The AMD 64

Registered memory is not necessary for the Athlon64 3200+ ( single channel ).

It is only necessary for the Athlon64-FX 51 ( dual channel ) in the Socket-940 format. AMD is scheduled to release an Athlon-FX in Socket-939 format sometime in 2004, which will not need registered memory either.

So regular PC3200 will work fine with the CPU that you have chosen. Try to get some Kingston HyperX memory. They have nice low latencies without the high price corsair has.

none at all

the asus k8v seems to be the fastest athlon64 board right now, and costs $200 cdn. sata 150 drives rnt much more than pata-100/133 drives nowadays. seagate makes good sata drives. geforce fx5900 or ati radeon 9800 (non ultra and non pro) are best bang fot the bucks

There aren't that many differences between boards based on the K8T800 or the nForce3-150.

The big difference is the HyperTransport link which is running at 600mhz on the nForce & 800 on the K8T800. The only time you'll really notice it is with SpecViewPerf. Not really a big deal.

You need to look at the features available on the board, & in that aspect the Gigabyte GA-K8N PRO is packed & less expensive then the K8V. Good choice IMO.

http://www.3dxtreme.org/Aspire_X-Alien_p1.shtml sorry i switched cases this ones cheaper and i like it but the PSU 420wawtt says its pentium 4 ready... this still means that i can use my amd 64 on it right? sorry im a nub and i just want to get it all this sh*t right b4 i order it off of newegg.com which is a great site for hardware i usually buy my stuff from there

o yea also wat those this part of the case description mean?

Included with this case is a P4 ready 420 Watt Power Supply. This PSU has a back fan and also a bottom fan for drawing hot air out of the case. Unfortunatly, there is no native support for SATA drives with this Power Supply however the main ATX connection does have a cool webbing on it.

also a issue with the PSU and the molex connectors on the psu with the case...

What I didn’t really like about this PSU was there weren’t enough Molex connectors. With all the fans in this case (six altogether), I rapidly ran out of connectors with only my 3 drives that required Molex connections. Add to this mix a modern video card that requires a Molex connector and you are sharing just too many plugs. so if im using just a video card and the drives u see on my list would this molex connecter shortage be a huge issue for me?

and id also like to thank all of u who helped my during this process which proved to me its a little harder than i thought to make my own comp... sorry for the bad grammer too... u guys are a huge help !

ps... this is the ram im using im getting 3 sticks of it http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=20-200-035

I don't think you'll have any problems using that PSU with the board you've chosen.

Oh, & don't get more ram then necessary.

Building the Ultimate High-End Gaming Workstation: Stage 2

As you can see in that article, after a certain amount of memory, you can actually notice a drop in performance. 1GB should be more then enough for you.

if you use 3 sticks in a dual channel board, it will only run in single channel mode. just keep that in mind

That is only the case with nForce 1 boards. He's going an Athlon64 so he won't have that problem anyways.