Building a computer - some advice, please

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SWCheetah

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Hey guys, I'm a n00b building a computer and I decided that before I go buying expensive parts, I should ask on a forum about it. I have a few parts in mind, but I'm not entirely sure about compatibility, so I guess I need someone to tell me; are the parts I've chosen compatible? Have I made good choices? Does anyone have any recommendations..?

I decided to shop on http://www.nintek.com.au, and I have the following in mind:

Asus A8R32-MVP DELUXE

AMD Athlon 64 FX-60

Asus ATI Radeon X1900XTX 512MB PCI-Express Graphics Card

And I don't know anything about RAM, but I was thinking of:
Corsair TwinX 3200 2GB Kit (2x 1024Mb) DDR400 CL3-3-3-8 TWINX2048-3200

I know I need an ATX case (not yet decided, but I guess that doesn't really matter, right?), and PSU. I don't know what kind of PSU to get, either (that is, what type of outputs it has and what its power output should be).

So, basically, I need some nice person(s) to let me know if I'm buying the right stuff, and what kind of PSU to get. I also have no clue about RAM (eg. what do the CL X-X-X-X numbers mean?); so what kind should I get there?

I'm getting this system, by the way, because need a new computer, and I really want a decent one that will last me for a while (and specifically so I can play TES4 Oblivion :D ).

Thanks very much in advance, and sorry for the annoyingly long post. :)
 
Okie.

CL x-x-x-x is the latencies of your RAM. Basically the smaller the number, the faster your RAM will be. If u have a nice budget, then go with some faster ones ( eg 2-2-2-5 for 512 sticks or a lil bit higher for 1Gb sticks ).

For motherboard, i would suggest go with the DFI Lanparty Ultra SLI, that is a nice Mobo. You could overclock later if u want to - lots of things for expansion later.

For graphic card, go with the 7900 GTX. That is an awesome card.

For CPU, the FX 60, in my opinion, is a too expensive CPU. Go with the 4800 X2 Toledo core, for some minor decrease in clock speed but much better price. Or you could go with something like the Opteron 175, if you want to OC later on.
 
i agree with mystic rose. unless you have a lot of money to spend, don't look at the fx60 (it is great.. just way too expensive). as for video cards, i personally prefer the x1900xtx. very similar in perforamnce to 7900gtx, depending which games you play, one will be faster than the other at different games. for oblivion, probably the x1900xtx will be better.

and for ram, get something like this: http://www.nintek.com.au/x/scripts/prodView.asp?idProduct=1779
 
in my opinion ram is really all the same... it only matters if it is in dual channel or if u have enough..

But since it looks like u have a big budget, it really doesnt matter that much in saving the little money

But i think the ram aliasoid suggested is a little to high in price.
If u could afford it i would get it.

Hope u enjoy ur awesome gaming machine, never buy a pc PRE-BUILT...
 
get better ram like the on suggested above, get the mobo suggested above, but if you want a good processor and you dont want to spend alot DO NOT GO WITH THE FX 60, its really expensive. Go with the X2 4800 or if you are going to overclock get the Opteron 165, it can overclock past the FX 60 with just air cooling.
 
alexsabree said:
in my opinion ram is really all the same... it only matters if it is in dual channel or if u have enough.


So your basiaclly saying If I buy 2gb of corsair value select and 2gb Of OCZ Gold Edtion and I try to OC my results will be the same since all ram is the same?...eh I think not.. :rolleyes:
 
Anthrax is right, as is Alex, until you OC it all ram (at same speed and latencies) is the same. so what we need to know to help you out is what is your budget (in aussie or us dollars), what do you mainly do on a pc (CAD?,gaming?,word?), and do you plan on OCing?
 
Thanks, you guys are a lot of help..!

As to the purpose of the machine, yeah, mostly just gaming. I want something really high-end so I won't have to upgrade again for a while (or is that a bad idea?). My budget is 3-4k AUD but I guess I'd rather save money if I can; and since I don't know much about overclocking, chances are I won't be doing it at first.

And regarding the hardware I've chosen, I chose the FX-60 because it's the best one around; and Oblivion is supposed to make use of dual-processor systems (I think). I chose the graphics card because it's supposed to be the best, too, but I wasn't too sure about the motherboard. I figured that in the future I might buy another graphics card and use crossfire but that might not be for a while.

I'm still not sure about PSU's, either. Can anyone tell me about those..?

Yeah, I think that answers your questions, Gage. What do you think I should do?

Thanks again! :)
 
Opteron 165 ~ $325
DFI Nforce 4 Ultra-D ~ $125
eVGA 7900GT ~ $300
Antec Truepower 2.0 550w ~ $100
G.SKILL Extreme Series 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR ~ $200

It should total around $1000. 7900GT can OC beyound stock 7900GTX speeds, Opteron 165 can OC beyound FX-60 speeds, memory is solid and can OC to faster timings and speeds, motherboard is the best for overclocking.

I'm not sure why others reccomended the SLI version of the motherboard since you won't be even using it, and it's not of great value.
 
Okay, I guess that's not too expensive so it might not be a bad idea...

Do you think I'd be able to run Oblivion with the highest settings on Brtnboarder's recommended setup (but not with anti-aliasing)?

And does the Opteron 165 multi-thread/is it dual core? I think that's also important; but I'm not really sure.

Edit:
By the way, I think I'd prefer to go with a Radeon card this time. Lots of people on the Elder Scrolls forums are saying they're getting better performance with Oblivion with Radeon cards.
 
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