Simviation Forums

Finally, I'm almost ready to buy one! I just wanted some last words of advise from you guys. The system I'm thinking about:

Motherboard: MSI K9N Neo-F (amd am2 board with integrated sound and network cards)
Processor: AMD athlon 64 X2 4200+
Memory: 512MB x 2 (Corsair TWIN2X1024-5400C4) (I wanted to go for 2 Gb, but prices suddenly increased over here, so I think I'll upgrade later)
GFX card: asus en7900gs 2dht
HDD: Samsung 160Gb sata2 8mb cache

Any comments on this?

Pretty good. Although I can't see ANY reason for you to not go Conroe.

Try:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 Conroe 1.86GHz LGA 775 - $180
GIGABYTE GA-965G-DS3 Socket T (LGA 775) Intel G965 - $150
GeIL 1GB (2 x 512MB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) - $110

That's a total of $440 compared to around $400 for the CPU/Mobo/RAM that you are proposing. And it's about 100 times better

As for the HDD, try a Seagate Barracuda 7200.10. Pick up a 200Gb one new for around $75, and they're nearly as quick as the WD Raptors. Come with a 5 year warranty too

Jon

You can get better OCZ RAM for the same price, and go with a 16MB cached WD drive. You can get a 250GB one for about $80

Other than that use eVGA insted of ASUS, and use the componants GeForce suggested.

Cheers
Cameron

Where do you guys get the price tags from? If they're from some local stores in the US, then they're no good to me. I live in Holland you know...

The ones I quoted were from Newegg.com. I'm sure stores around you (or who post worldwide) will have the same stock.

Have a look around

go with a 16MB cached WD drive.

Fair enough. But I really would recommend one of the 7200.10 SATA 16mb Barracudas. They're much faster than the WDs. Same amount of noise (hardly any), and a 5 year warranty.

Good point on eVGA though. It's pointless to get an Asus card. More expensive, worse customer service.

Jon

Thanks a lot guys!  :)

Take a look at my "Welcome to hardware thread" for some links to UK based retailors.

Cheers
Cameron

I'd add this,   can't beat it!
For  $245.99 you can get about the thrid fastest NVIDIA g eforce card out there,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130065

 

Search for 'Prometier Infosystems' at Marktplaats, that's where i got my rig.

I'd add this,   can't beat it!
For  $245.99 you can get about the thrid fastest NVIDIA g eforce card out there,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130065

 

The extra memory isnt worth it. Though FSX can fill the extra memory, the preformance increase isnt that great.

Cheers
Cameron

OK, guys, some other suggestions here:

The 6300 Allendale (not Conroe

The extra memory isnt worth it. Though FSX can fill the extra memory, the preformance increase isnt that great.

Cheers
Cameron

That card costs the same as a standard 7900GT. Has double the memory, a 7900GTX cooler, and core clocked to 7900GTX speed. I think it is worth it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130033

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130065

OK, guys, some other suggestions here:

The 6300 Allendale (not Conroe  ;)) would need a different (more expensive) motherboard. The good thing about this is that it will be suitable for ugrading later on, right? So is the asus pb5  with intel 965 chipset a good choice?

Also an alternative for the memory:
kingston kvr667D2N5K2/1G dd2 pc5300 or should I stick with the 2 x 512 Mb?

All this costs about 50 euro more than the previous system (altough the memory is cheaper here), but I like the idea that the motherboard is suitable for upgrading.

Should I go for it or not?

Ps. Maybe the kingston kvr667D2N5K2/1G dd2 pc5300 memory is better known as DDR2 ValueRAM 1Gb 667 2K CL5.0

E6300 is a Conroe with half the cache disabled. It uses the same motherboards as E6600. Allendale is not even released yet, and it will be slower and less expensive than Conroe.

Asus P5B is fine.

I rather have 1GB fast RAM with tight timings than 2GB slow "value RAM" with bad timings. If I had a limited budget I would get 1GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) 4-4-4-12 RAM instead of a cheap 2GB RAM kit.

I think 1GB is enough for XP. I have 1GB and when running FS9 my system only uses about 500MB to 600MB. Maybe for Vista you need more memory, but I don't care.

Allendale

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 "Allendale"For a very long time, it was considered that stripped down versions of the Conroe processors were code-named Allendale. In actuality, Allendale is a code-name for a different processor. Many suggest that E6300 and E6400 are actually code-named Allendale, however, the E6300 (1.86 GHz) and E6400 (2.13 GHz) processors are not code-named Allendale because they physically have 4mb cache, same as their big brothers E6600 and E6700 - it is just that half of their physical memory is disabled. Traditionally, CPUs of the same family with less cache simply have the unavailable cache disabled (this allows parts that fail quality control to be sold at a lower rating). The fact that E6300 and E6400 are not code-named Allendale and actually code-named Conroe has been confirmed by Intel themselves.

The real Allendale processors, including the E4300, will be released during Q1 2007.

Would you guys please stop making me make more decissions!!

The 6300 Allendale (not Conroe  ;)) would need a different (more expensive) motherboard.

1) Whoa... where did you get that from?! The Conroes are on of the same family on LGA775. Any Conroe works with any Conroe supporting motherboard.

2) As has already been said, E6300 = Conroe.

3) As for RAM, will you be overclocking? If you will, PC5300 is really too slow. You should be looking at PC6400 at the minimum.

Jon