Upgrade Spec's System.

Someone one wanted me to check out hardware for a new system and so it got me thinking so I did a spec "core" that would be an "upgrade" for my current system.

I will only include the "core" parts and my thought and buy parts that I could upgrade latter.

Motherboard - A8N-SLI Premium (Around $160)
http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l...&modelme nu=1

Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (Around $300)

(x2) OCZ Platinum Series 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model OCZ4001024ELPE CAS 2-3-2-5
(2x100 - Around $200)

Since I have to I currently have a FX 5700 Ultra and not a big buget, I would get a card to hold me over before I upgrade to duo card(s) latter thinking 78xx series once the next 8x series comes out.

eVGA Nvidia 7600 GS (128mb) (Around $140)

I do have an eneremax 475 watt power supply case, etc so these would not be considered. What do you think for about $790

Personaly i would have gone for a crossfire mobo, you've got yourself two cards there and SLI requires to identical cards whereas crossfire only requires 2 of any cards. I can never recommend running an NVIDIA card on an ATI chipset but that's why i'm an ATI guy ^^.

You can run mix vender cards support with the 8x.xx drivers as long as the same GPU type.

You really dont need "OcZzzzzZZ hardc0re ub3r overcl0x RAM LOLZ"

That stuff is a TOTALLLLL waste of money.

Because..? That post really doesn't help at all.

The setup you plan on getting Eternal seems fine, to me at least. Wish I could get that!

I would drop the 3800 a64 and just get a 3200 venice core. You can get it to the speed of a 3800 no problem. Why would you get 3200 ram, yah it maybe ocz, but wouldnt you rather get corsair 4400 2gigs for $280. I would also go crossfire over sli as well. Although two video cards for GW? You must play something else like fear as well.

You can get a X2 3200 Venice now?

I'm 6 months away from being able to afford this and by then the new socket will be out as standard but I'm not one to jump on bleeding edge 1st gen 1st rev hardware (there are horror stories about 1st gen pci express slots and 1st gen pci video cards )

I'm wanting to future proof my pc as much as possible and will go dual core vs single core, my new system (when it actually happens) has to be able to run Windows Vista.

Out of all the components, ram is not one I can future proof so I will spend the most on mother board + ram and want the fastest timmings and CAS 2-3-2-5 is the fastest I've seen in DDR 1 standard at least.

If the Corsair has these timmings, I would be looking for it.. but it seems more expensive for the same amount of ram. As strange as this sounds I have no intersted in oc this thing. I've very familiar on how the effects of memory timmings have on games and other applications. Come to think of it.. I can xfer my memory off my old machine and upgrade it latter too. That would drop it to $590... hmmm

I would be very intersted in any lower end dual cores (amd based) that's out there).

My current system that I have is:
Via Chipset K8T800 (AMD 754 pin) board
Athlon 64 3400+ (Older core with L1/L2 1mb cache vs newer core 512kb cache)
Nvidia Geforce FX 5700 Ultra AGP (128 MB Ram)
(2x512) 1 gb Corsair Memmory running at 2-3-2-6

I'm now on the verge of games such as Fear, Oblivion, and other's coming out that may run on the lowest settings.

I would only plan on getting one video card atm and waiting a bit (saving up) to get a pair latter. Can someone tell my why crossfire is better then nvidia sli? I have some hate built up with Ati with previous cards I've owned and software support that may be affecting me.

And I may have the tone "Im set on X action" which I don't mean to be and more receptive to suggestions.

OCZ ram is regular RAM with overclocked timings right off the shelf. What you're paying (well, overpaying..) for is a neat little heatshields and the time it took for a person (or likely computer), to overclock the RAM.

Just go with cheaper stuff and OC it yourself

That's my fair, unbiased opinion.

actually what you are paying for is a higher quality ram that can take tight (high performance) timings GUARANTEED and a lifetime warranty.

they are not overclocked any more than my a64 3200+ is just an overclocked A64 3000+. it just happens that when they tested the bach of processors mine was able to run stably at 3200+ speeds. it called binning. they arent overclocked its just that some components turn out to be higher quality than there siblings and can therefore clock higher or take tighter timings.

no ram (or any other component for that matter) that you overclock is guaranteed to be able to run at those timings and as soon as you overclock it you void your warranty anyway

You realize that only like 2-3 out of 6 different types of OCZ RAM actually was built to overclock.... Also, overclocking RAM=Mushkin Redline or G.Skill.

My advice to you tempest is.

DFI Lanparty nf4 Ultra-D 120$
AMD Venice 3200+ 150$..?
eVga 7900gt- then later step up to a 8xxx series if they let you, IF not

Amd x2 3800+ manchester 298$


(x2) OCZ Platinum Series 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model OCZ4001024ELPE CAS 2-3-2-5
(2x100 - Around $200)

I'm assuming ur buying 2 sets of 1gb sticks. If you are this is the stupidest possible thing you can do. First, of all you may get the low 2-3-2-5, however your going to have to run 2T instead of 1T drastically cutting your performance. Just get 2gb 2x1gb sticks 150$ OCZ platinum 2-3-2-5. Cheaper, better.

Video Card- whatever youf eel like gettin, i suggest for now just an x1800xt 256 or 512mb if you can squeeze, if you cant 7600gt.

Overclock this, overclock that. Bah, overclocking is a waste. All it does is shorten the life of the hardware and as already mentioned it tends to void the warranty.

Not to mention it can potentially lead to system instability, and when that happens no one ever suspects it was becaues they've overclocked something.

Personally I also don't see the point of Dual Core processors for games. My single core 4000+ will out perform all but the highest end Dual Cores, where the chip costs a grand ($1,000+) anyway. I'm also more of an ATI fan, thus working my way up to Crossfire.

However in the end I see nothing wrong with the OPs selection of equipment. It all comes down to what your like and how much money you can spend on it.

Just to comment on the silly comment about paying for OCZ heat spreaders. My 2-2-2-5 Corsair RAM's heatspreaders would be more 'expensive' to make than one OCZ uses, I've got LEDs on my RAM.
I have nothing against OCZ Ram at all, it is good quality performance RAM. Just saying this part cause I had to LoL at the statement about paying for fancy heatspreaders.

I'm not a fan of OCZ RAM myself, I've had one or two bad sticks before. I prefer Mushkin which can be had for a similar price and IMO is a better performing RAM.

That said, the OP's friend will be more than happy with the system they've specced up. Should hold up to any game these day's, including Battlefield 2 on full settings.