[Foxfyre]

I am probably going to be getting a settlement from getting rear ended and I'm thinking if I get enough I might like to spend some of it on custom building a new rig.

I would like to build a computer around this cpu:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103539

Also, there are major price differences between this CPU and the ones above it, as you can see here:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ce=&MaxPrice=&SubCategory=343&Submit=Property
Is there any major difference to justify the price jump to the FX series? The specs look almost identical (same L1 and L2 cache, slightly higher clock speed) I just don't see what the major difference is...


Which means that jump to that from my current setup is pretty much going to require building a whole new computer. The only thing that is a bite in the ass about it is I just recently bought my 6600GT AGP...but I feel I would be hurting myself in the long run if I didn't make the move to PCI Express.

I know I'm gonna want an N-Force 4 mobo...any suggestions for ones that are better than others?

What speed ram would be more recommendable with this CPU? I see most people in the reviews are using just PC3200, but would it be better to go higher?

Also, is their that much of a speed different with SATA (RAID) hard drives? Or would I be cool sticking with the IDE drives I have?

Also, since I'm posting anyway, I also have a question about my soundcard. I have a Soundblaster Live! LS. I went to Creative's site yesterday and that card is no longer listed in the support section. Would I be just as cool using the regular Live! 5.1 drivers? Not that the existing drivers give me any problems, except for in VBA. It stutters pretty good if I use VBA.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[Yeloazndevil]

just stick to the athlon 64

The difference between Athlon 64 FX and Athlon 64 is the fact that Athlon 64 FX series doesn’t have its clock multiplier locked, allowing more overclocking possibilities. The complete specs of the Athlon 64 FX-57 we reviewed you can check on Figure 3. By the way, our ABIT AV8 motherboard does by default a small overclocking (HTT is set as 204 MHz). We’ve corrected this to 200 MHz in all CPUs we installed in order to have honest results in our benchmarking.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/161 - You should try doing some research

you can try the nforce 3 (AGP) or a VIA mobo....the nforce 4 is pci express only, so either sell your current one and get the pci epxress version

also stick to pc3200 if you don't plan on overclocking

why not get a sb audigy 2 zs oem for like $71
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16829102178

 

[Foxfyre]

also stick to pc3200 if you don't plan on overclocking

Um...and who WOULDN'T want to overclock an Athlon 64?!?!?!?!?!?!

/me smacks Yeloazn around a bit with an old smelly trout

(sorry....to much irc and bash.org....)

And that idea had occured to me as well about buying a more up to date sound card....it just sucks that I bought one that is no longer supported. :hdbash: I might just stick with the soundcard I've got....I've only got 2 standard desktop speakers anyway.

Coulda swore I saw some Nforce 4 AGP boards...but it really doesn't make sense not to go to PCI express....

It's just that the FSB on an Athlon 64 is 1000 Mhz and the speed on PC3200 is...400???? So even with dual channel it seems like lt would be bottlenecking. But I've also noticed the incredible price difference between PC3200 and the higher speed sticks of ram. It's just a hard decision to make, and at this time, it's not even a decision, just a daydream. I'm just hoping I get a pretty good settlement.

Edit: I believe I saw that article....it was on warp2search.net...but that was before I started thinking very seriously about upgrading, so I don't think I read it much.

 

[dukenukem]

if you get that sandiego try getting it at monarchcomputer.com they have it for cheaper.You should give the dfi lanparty mobos a try since i have heard good things about them since they are great for overclocking the cpu.

 

[Yeloazndevil]

Um...and who WOULDN'T want to overclock an Athlon 64?!?!?!?!?!?!

ppl that don't care about overclocking duh

and no, nforce4 doesn't use agp

 

[-Superdude688-]

okay heres my input *cracks knuckles*

Im happy with my Athlon 64 3000+ i got it overclocked up to 2.4GHz once...but dont keep it there as i only have air cooling. Mine is Socket 754 ... but most ppl are saying to go with Socket 939 now.
Motherboards: Definately ASUS all the way and right now, i dont see too too big of a difference between AGP and PCI. maybe in like two years or maybe even one AGP will pretty much be phased out and the one to get will be PCI. so it depenends on how long you will be keeping it.
RAM: Def get DDR400 (pc3200) ...maybe more if u find a mobo that will support it. like get DDR2 if you find a mobo that can use it. i think some of the new ASUS ones can... oh and Corsair is like the best kind of memory.
HDD (hardrive): DEFFINATELY SATA. IDE is old and slow. i made the mistake of getting it cause i didnt have much money left. and the best ones are the WD Raptor 74GB ones. especially in RAID array.
Sound cards: i dont really give a rat's tail about the sound card. i just use the intergrated sound with mine. and if i didnt i would use my old pci soundblaster lol. so some1 else reccomend what to do with sound.
well that about does it. peace.
- Dave -

Edit: oh yeah forgot to put up the websites that are good for getting parts:
Computer Geeks not the best prices ever or the best parts ever, but ive gotten stuff from them be4. and they have a sale going on today and tommorow.
also NewEgg always has excellent prices as long as you know what you are looking for. kinda hard to just randomly look around for things if you dont know what you want specifically.

 

[dukenukem]

i would say the 10,000 rpm 74 gig hdd's aren't worth the price just get a bigger sata hdd since it will save you money,Are you deadset on getting a 939 athlon64 with pci express or an agp mobo?

 

[Foxfyre]

Well, socket 939 seems the way to go right now, YES I want an Athlon64 and as for PCI Express vs. AGP, it's either save some money now and get a motherboard that's AGP so I can use my existing graphics card or get PCI Express now and buy a new graphics card too. So Motherboard + Graphics card now, or Motherboard now, and Motherboard + Graphics card when I have to upgrade later....

So DDR 400 will be just fine then? Cool.... Just pondering stuff right now still....anybody got any SPECIFIC ( links?) recommendations for motherboards?