AMD 64 advice
Posted: Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:11 pm
Hi guys, I've been puttering around in the shadows for a while now, but thought it was time to speak up since I need advice on a new computer.
Being a starving college student my goal is to get a mother board, cpu, ram, and video card for ~$750. This is what I'm looking at so far:
CPU: AMD 64 3000 $172 at newegg, a bit cheaper elsewhere
The 3000 seems to be the best bang for the buck I can find out there right now.
Motherboard: EPoX EP-8KDA3J nForce3-250Gb $99
I'm not set on this, but it's a good price for the nForce3-250gb chipset.
videocard:
GAINWARD GeForce FX5900 $203
I run linux so I pretty much need an nvidia card. Although I may hold off for another month or so and see what prices are like since they just announced the 6600.
ram: 1gb ddr3200 of something for ~$200-220 ....not sure what kind though.
micron for ~$200
Corsair value select ~$212
This is my main question. The Cool'n'Quiet page on here says that the epox board can only run CnQ with one dimm. Is that the case? If so, would it be better to get one 1Gb stick or find a different board and get two 512 sticks? I don't really know too much about ram performance since my current setup is from the stone age and using 133 SDram (1Gig though)
Case: Recycling old one $0
It's custom painted (by me) to look like a block of marble, so it's sticking around. Pretty good airflow with a couple 80mm panaflo fans in it
Powersupply: Recycling old one $0
400watts with a 120mm papst fan in it, so it's quiet and has good flow.
I'm not sure what the best approche to CPU cooling is either. For starters I'll probably use the stock HS and put a panaflo on it. If that's too loud/inefficient I'll most likely resurect my old watercooling setup (home made block, car oil radiator, pump and piping all for under $50) and see where that goes.
So let me know what advice you all have on my setup.
Being a starving college student my goal is to get a mother board, cpu, ram, and video card for ~$750. This is what I'm looking at so far:
CPU: AMD 64 3000 $172 at newegg, a bit cheaper elsewhere
The 3000 seems to be the best bang for the buck I can find out there right now.
Motherboard: EPoX EP-8KDA3J nForce3-250Gb $99
I'm not set on this, but it's a good price for the nForce3-250gb chipset.
videocard:
GAINWARD GeForce FX5900 $203
I run linux so I pretty much need an nvidia card. Although I may hold off for another month or so and see what prices are like since they just announced the 6600.
ram: 1gb ddr3200 of something for ~$200-220 ....not sure what kind though.
micron for ~$200
Corsair value select ~$212
This is my main question. The Cool'n'Quiet page on here says that the epox board can only run CnQ with one dimm. Is that the case? If so, would it be better to get one 1Gb stick or find a different board and get two 512 sticks? I don't really know too much about ram performance since my current setup is from the stone age and using 133 SDram (1Gig though)
Case: Recycling old one $0
It's custom painted (by me) to look like a block of marble, so it's sticking around. Pretty good airflow with a couple 80mm panaflo fans in it
Powersupply: Recycling old one $0
400watts with a 120mm papst fan in it, so it's quiet and has good flow.
I'm not sure what the best approche to CPU cooling is either. For starters I'll probably use the stock HS and put a panaflo on it. If that's too loud/inefficient I'll most likely resurect my old watercooling setup (home made block, car oil radiator, pump and piping all for under $50) and see where that goes.
So let me know what advice you all have on my setup.