AMD64 3500+ / GF6600GT system - Does this sound ok?

HiddenWolf · Post by **HiddenWolf** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:55 pm

I have ordered already:

2x512 (1gb) kingston hyperx ultra low latency pc3200
nec 3520 dvd burner (black)
nec 5800 dvd player (black) -> might replace if loud

currently planning on buying
AMD64 3500+ winchester
Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe
Asus EN6600GT Top Limited Edition 128 MB, PCI Express x16
2x Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 10 300 GB, 7.16 MB, SATA/150 (plan to raid 0 on the nf4 chip)

this would all be powered by:
Antec Phantom 350

housed in a
Antec SLK3000B -> plan to replace this beast with a p180 the moment it hits stores

I've got a few questions remaining:
* Will the phantom be beefy enough?
* Is there anything just around the corner that is worth waiting for? (E stepping AMD core / dual core?)
* Can one get that 6600gt to be silent / are there better models out there?
* What do you think in general

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:37 pm

1. By the numbers, it ought to be. But I'm giving it a definite maybe.

2. Not that I'm aware of. There's always something bigger and better around the corner, but it's been my opinion that the incremental upgrade isn't always worth it. Sure you can get something better in 6 months or so, but is it really THAT mcuh better than what you're planning on now? Not really.

3. There are passive models out.

4. Sounds more or less good to me. Raid-0 is probably a waste for you, and you may be better off with a normal solution for reliability (or even Raid-1, if you want the ultimate). But that's more my personal opinion, rather than my quiet suggestion-like opinion.

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:42 pm

sthayashi wrote:4. Sounds more or less good to me. Raid-0 is probably a waste for you, and you may be better off with a normal solution for reliability (or even Raid-1, if you want the ultimate). But that's more my personal opinion, rather than my quiet suggestion-like opinion.

Why do you say that RAID-0 is a waste for him?

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 8:52 pm

sthayashi wrote:3. There are passive models out.

That model doesn't seem to be available in the US at the moment (please correct me if I am wrong). One could get a version of the 6600GT with a fan and replace the fan/heatsink with a ZALMAN VGA Cooler Model VF700-Cu, with the fan not wired, especially with the ventilation provided by the SLK3000B near the PCI slots. Even if you wanted to run the ZALMAN fan at 5V, it would be sufficiently quiet.

sthayashi · Post by **sthayashi** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:07 pm

m0002a wrote:
sthayashi wrote:3. There are passive models out.
That model doesn't seem to be available in the US at the moment (please correct me if I am wrong). One could get a version of the 6600GT with a fan and replace the fan/heatsink with a ZALMAN VGA Cooler Model VF700-Cu, with the fan not wired, especially with the ventilation provided by the SLK3000B near the PCI slots. Even if you wanted to run the ZALMAN fan at 5V, it would be sufficiently quiet.

Consider yourself corrected.

m0002a wrote:Why do you say that RAID-0 is a waste for him?

To be honest, I shouldn't. I'm just making an assumption here that he's a gamer, and that Raid-0 doesn't really help out the gamer. And I speak from painful personal experience that you don't want ALL you data on a Raid-0 array. Trust me.

m0002a · Post by **m0002a** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 9:54 pm

sthayashi wrote:To be honest, I shouldn't. I'm just making an assumption here that he's a gamer, and that Raid-0 doesn't really help out the gamer. And I speak from painful personal experience that you don't want ALL you data on a Raid-0 array. Trust me.

I was not necessarily disagreeing, but a lot people are looking for advice on this subject and an explanation (not just the correct conclusion) helps people make a better decision. I would agree that one needs to have backups and the backup cannot be on the same RAID 0 disk array.

Thanks for the link for the fanless 6600GT. I am still thinking about getting the Cu Zallman and not using the fan (at least initially). Some people have reported problems with the fanless Gigabyte 6600GT

Tzupy · Post by **Tzupy** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:34 am

I have the Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe, 3200 Winnie, XP-90 and 6600GT with Aerocool VM-101, in SLK3000B with NeoPower480. For starters, you'll want to silence the Asus stock chipset cooler, and if you are not going to overclock, the Zalman NB47J should do. I have the Thermalright NB-1 and although I lowered the rpm to ~4,500 it's still loud. I hope to find a good 50 mm fan to replace that 45 mm Delta. The VM-101 is touching the XP-90, which is not such a bad thing, considering that the VM-101 tends to tilt otherwise. Probably the VF-700 at 5V is a better solution, it would also provide some airflow on the NB47J. I believe you would be better with a top Seasonic PSU (like the 600W that has 18A + 18A on 12V) than the Phantom. It would allow you room for a SLI upgrade.

freka586 · Post by **freka586** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:48 am

I recently put together a similar system:

A64 3500+ 90nm + ZM-7000 Cu (low)
Asus nForce4 SLI Deluxe MB + Zalman passive NB
4 x 512 MB RAM
2 x 160 GB SATA HDD
1 x DVD
Stock case fan + PSU
6600GT + VF700Cu (low)

So far no problems with temp or insufficient power.
Since this has 350W, I think you should be OK with the Phantom.
As a disclaimer I should state that I have *just* finished the system so I cannot really comment on stability etc.

meglamaniac · Post by **meglamaniac** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:53 am

Regarding your RAM:
You may find Crucial Ballistix is cheaper, and it has constantly come out on top or in the top 3 in memory benchmarks on the AMD64 platform. There's just something about Athlon 64 chips that Ballistix really likes.
http://www.crucial.com/ballistix/

Regarding RAID:
I was considering raid 0 for the system I've just put together and was talked out of it (luckily).
As soon as you actually sit down and do the maths, its a daft risk for little gain. You double the chance of data loss for as little as a 10% speed increase in real world applications - don't be fooled by theoretical transfer rates, and many benchmarks that get thrown about show only tests that are known to perform well on RAID.
I would strongly advise you against it purely on the increased risk of drive failure.