DescentBB

Hey you all. I am planning on building a new system to run Doom3 (at all) and Descent3 (better), etc. Here is the list of specs I have researched partially with you guys' help. If there any incompatibilities or criticisms, let me know.

1 POWMAX Silver/Blue Mid Tower ATX Case with 400W 501-1
2 ASUS "K8V SE Deluxe" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL K8V SE DELUXE
3 AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor - Ret ADA3000AXBOX
4 Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail KVR400X64C3A/512
5 Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail KVR400X64C3A/512
6 Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD1600JB, OEM Drive Only WD1600JB
7 ASUS Black 52X32X52 IDE Internal CD-RW Drive CRW-5232AS QT Black
8 TOSHIBA 8X Black DVD±RW Internal Drive, Model SD-R5272 BLACK, OEM SD-R5272 BLACK
9 eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Video Card, 128MB GDDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, ret 128-A8-N343-AX
10 Windows XP Home Edition with Service Pack SP1a - OEM N09-00741

11 ViewSonic G75F+B 17" Black CRT Monitor -RETAIL G75F+B
12 Kensington Orbit Optical Trackball PS2/ USB, Model "64327" -RETAIL 64327
13 ORtek MCK-91 MINI Multimedia Silver Keyboard PS/2 89keys -RETAIL MCK-91-Silver

Just one comment.

Read this. http://www.ocforums.com/showthread.php?t=316791

Actually, I do have a few other things to say. First, you do realize that a 6800 non-ultra performs about the same as the top-end cards from the last generation, right? Wouldn't want to see you drop $300+ on a new card and think you're gonna be rolling with the big bother 6800 GTs and Ultras. Second, I could be wrong, but that's probably a realy cheap power supply(as in quality, not price ).

Nah, the 6800 costs LESS then a 5950 ultra but outperforms the 5950U in pretty much every new game that is out. Granted it does not outperform the 5950U by much, but it is still clearly faster. The GT on the other hand shows massive performance advantages over the 6800 non ultra and 5950.

Like I said. Besides, in most cases it hasn't got as large a leed over the 9800XT then it has over the 5950. The way I see it, the 6800-naught is what the FX cards should have been.

graphics cards are so confusing. The more I read the more confused I get

Word from the wise:

Avoid anything VIA like the black plague. They're noting but utter ★■◆●. Go the nForce chipset route if at all possible.

Use Crucial/Corsair/Mushkin/OCZ/anything-else-besides-Kingston RAM. dual 512's, yes, but not from Kingston.

What is VIA? Is that graphics card maker?


I can look into the other memory types. I chose that one because it was on the ASUS website as an approved memory part #

VIA makes chipsets, including the one on that board you are looking at. I've never had a problem with the one board I have with a VIA chipset, but whatever...

Corsair makes some nice memory, especialy the XMS series parts.

I'd make sure you get a SATA Hard Drive. IDE most likely be supported next time you go to upgrade.

Mr. Perfect wrote:VIA makes chipsets, including the one on that board you are looking at. I've never had a problem with the one board I have with a VIA chipset, but whatever...

Try playing driver boogaloo and then come back and say you've never had a problem with VIA's crap.

Mobius wrote:I'd make sure you get a SATA Hard Drive. IDE most likely be supported next time you go to upgrade.

Say what? o_O

MD-2389 wrote:Try playing driver boogaloo and then come back and say you've never had a problem with VIA's crap.

Do what? O_o

Approved yes, for MS Word. Recommended, no.

whaat is O_o ???????

Ned wrote:whaat is O_o ???????

I'll give you a clue. Walk into your backroom and do what with your eyes. What is normally associated with that expression?

Ned,

Unlike what some other user has said VIA will be fine. If you ever plan to run an ATI video card then having an nForce board can sometimes lead to problems.

I would also avoid Asus motherboards simply because Asus doesn't support Linux, and it's been proven that certain Asus technology doesn't play nice with Linux. It's a hardware problem and Asus refuses to fix it because they don't support Linux.

One last thing. You mentioned that you're looking at a 754 chipset AMD64 when I think you might want to go with the 939 chipset as it is to be the future supported board. The 939 is replacing the 754.

SkyNet wrote:Ned,

Unlike what some other user has said VIA will be fine.

I guess you haven't heard about the 686B chipset issues, or their crackpot attempt at a dual p3 system.

If you ever plan to run an ATI video card then having an nForce board can sometimes lead to problems.

WHAT problems?

I would also avoid Asus motherboards simply because Asus doesn't support Linux, and it's been proven that certain Asus technology doesn't play nice with Linux. It's a hardware problem and Asus refuses to fix it because they don't support Linux.

WTF?! I've NEVER run into ANY problems installing Linux on ANY computer with ANY Asus products. The only problem I see here is ID10T errors.

SkyNet wrote:Ned,

Unlike what some other user has said VIA will be fine. If you ever plan to run an ATI video card then having an nForce board can sometimes lead to problems.

What problems are you referring to? I'm pretty sure my ATI card actually worked BETTER in my Nforce2 motherboard than it currently does on my Intel 865PE board. That statement is utter nonsense. ATI works fine with Nforce chipsets.

VIA is crap, don't go with VIA. Every one of their products I have ever used has had some sort of strange compatibility problem. Their drivers are crap, worse than ATI 5 years ago, if thats even possible. The only two chipset makers to even consider are Intel and Nvidia. VIA chipsets have been, and always will be, big festering piles of crap.

Don't even get me started on VIA's tendancy to release a beta version of a chipset that hardly works and then release the proper version some months later after their end users have tested it for them. Does the KT133, KT133A or the KT266, KT266A, or the KT333, or the KT333A ring a bell to anyone? I could go on, but why bother? VIA makes junk.

Ned wrote:4 Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail KVR400X64C3A/512
5 Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail KVR400X64C3A/512

Skip the Kingston memory for now. While I have some Kingston stuff in my system, I am not impressed with its performance / capability. In fact, it doesn't even work properly at the settings they advertise for it. If you want good memory go with Crucial, www.crucial.com. Their new Ballistix line of memory is really getting GREAT reviews. Their PC3200 stuff is really fantastic stuff. You can get it here:
http://www.crucial.com/ballistix/store/ ... BL6464Z402

Corsair memory is also decent, but a bit overpriced in my opinion. I think you will be much happier with Crucial's price / performance.

Arch, I really hate when other people feed someone BS. You don't have any idea what you are talking about. Except the RAM in which case you're right.

Have a look at this, and tell me AMD is crap.

As for VIA they are every bit as nice as nForce. It all depends on what the user wants. The performance difference between the two is not enough to justify one over the other. Users should be looking at feature sets they are after. As for stability, well this house is run off of various VIA, and nForce based boards, and the only real trouble I've had is ATI 9600 into nForce board when the 9600 was just to market, but later drivers solved that problem. This house is also various Linux, and Windows machines, as well as Intel, and AMD so I have a pretty good idea what I'm talking about.

SkyNet wrote:Arch, I really hate when other people feed someone BS. You don't have any idea what you are talking about.

And yet you post stuff like this:

Unlike what some other user has said VIA will be fine. If you ever plan to run an ATI video card then having an nForce board can sometimes lead to problems.

I would also avoid Asus motherboards simply because Asus doesn't support Linux, and it's been proven that certain Asus technology doesn't play nice with Linux. It's a hardware problem and Asus refuses to fix it because they don't support Linux.

You had a driver problem with your ATI card, and thus conclude that ATI cards and nForce boards dont mix. You also make a blanket statement that Asus mobos dont support Linux. (hint: they do)

SkyNet wrote:As for VIA they are every bit as nice as nForce. It all depends on what the user wants. The performance difference between the two is not enough to justify one over the other.

Speak for yourself.

Vindicator wrote: You had a driver problem with your ATI card, and thus conclude that ATI cards and nForce boards dont mix. You also make a blanket statement that Asus mobos dont support Linux. (hint: they do)

I do not make blanket statements I am typing this on a Linux box based on an A7V133-C which is an Asus board. Even though this board works Asus attitude toward Linux is not that of a Linux supporter.

I was also mearly stating that he should do research on his motherboard/video card solution to make sure they are compatiable. Very much the case with some nForce boards, and ATI video cards or do I need to do the research for you?

Vindicator wrote: Speak for yourself.

Fine I will speak for myself, because No, I will not fix your computer

Cool. I leave you all alone for 5 minutes and a flame war breaks out!

Actually, it's too bad the DBB doesn't get more traffic. I already ordered stuff, so I'll have to live with it. It'll probably be fine. I appreciate everyone's advice. One thing though, some people are very picky and others are not, so it can be hard to know what to worry about and what to let slide.

I like to tinker in Linux sometimes, but at the moment it isn't a big priority. If MS starts asking for a blood sample to register, I'll never use them again. At the current rate, that'll probably happen in early 2005. Soon it will be saliva swabs and $200 extra for "premium support" (ie how to change monitor resolution).



I can't wait to put my puzzle together. Any suggestions besides 'gently put it all together and turn it on?'

Ned

You know Ned, I didn't think about Blood samples with Microsoft, but that could actually happen. OMG!!!

I really hope desktop Linux usage kicks off so we can get the games over before that happens.

SkyNet wrote:
I do not make blanket statements

That article doesn't come to a solid conclusion that Asus has a grudge against Linux, although the author thinks it does.

It, at the most, exposes a problem with the verison of the Marvell Gigabit Lan component on that particular model, at the very least, its a flaw in the design of that particular motherboard model.

hmm, Asus supplies a linux driver for the P4P800SE's Gigabit Lan. so Asus can't be that bad.

SkyNet wrote:Arch, I really hate when other people feed someone BS. You don't have any idea what you are talking about. Except the RAM in which case you're right.

Have a look at this, and tell me AMD is crap.

As for VIA they are every bit as nice as nForce. It all depends on what the user wants. The performance difference between the two is not enough to justify one over the other.

What the hell are you talking about? Maybe you should re-read my post because no where in there did I comment on AMD. Stop smoking crack and then maybe we can have an intelligent conversation.

As far VIA, their products are crap. Their drivers are even worse. All other things being equal, performance, compatibility, and feature set I would choose Nvidia simply because their software is MILES AND MILES ahead of VIAs. VIA's installation program is horrible, the uninstall even worse. VIA's software has always sucked and always will.

AMD sux0rZ! Get a Pentium 4 Extreme Edition and a GeForce 6800 Ultra Extreme, even though both will cost you about as much as one computer. ^_~ Psych. Get a Pentium 4 3.2 GHz with the Northwood core and a GeForce 6800 Ultra...and listen to their advice about the RAM. ^_~ Or maybe you should buy dual Xeon microprocessors if you can afford it so you can burn two, two, two discs for the price of one! 2wice as nice! ^_~ No, seriously, get that P4 and a GF6800U. ^_^

Crack is Whack

- the eloquent and sophisticated Whitney Houston

For the record, I have 12 via-based mobo's that have never flinched.

Ned, get Windows XP Professional instead of the Home Edition.

Arch wrote: The only two chipset makers to even consider are Intel and Nvidia.

Those are your words. From my take on it, you basically said AMD isn't worth looking at. Once I again I state, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Testiculese, my VIA based boards haven't given me a problem either.

I have a system with a KT266A chipset in it, running at 300 MHz, longest uptime without a reboot: 55 days (Running XP pro). No problems with it, granted it IS an A revision. I would comment that VIAs drivers do suck/are a pain to install, just stick with what you get off windowsupdate.

SkyNet wrote:

Arch wrote: The only two chipset makers to even consider are Intel and Nvidia.

Those are your words. From my take on it, you basically said AMD isn't worth looking at. Once I again I state, you have no idea what you're talking about.

Testiculese, my VIA based boards haven't given me a problem either.

What ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! Nvidia makes chipsets for only AMD. Man, stop taking hits from the pipe. Nvidia makes chipsets for the A64 too. Sheesh, maybe you should actually read posts before you make yourself look foolish time and time again.

Testiculese wrote:For the record, I have 12 via-based mobo's that have never flinched.

Add 8 more for me ...

Iceman wrote:

Testiculese wrote:For the record, I have 12 via-based mobo's that have never flinched.

Add 8 more for me ...

add 4 more for me

Thanks for all of the help. The system is up and running flawlessly, well except for the DOA NEC DVD-RW which I will hopfully swap soon.

I am glad I got a gig of RAM. Doom3 runs flawlessly in case any of you all were wondering how the GeForce6800 non GT non Ultra would fare. Now the only problem is. . . doom is one sick (_o_) messed up game. I wish descent 3 looked that good. Video card is Chaintech made.

I like the motherboard and CPU, they seem fast. Has anyone used those benchmark programs with prime numbers? THe only other CPU intesive thing I can think to try is CD ripping.

Thanks Krom, Iceman and others for helping me get up the nerve to build and order this beast.

-N

Homebuilt is always so satisfying, isn't it? Carefull, or you'll get addicted to that new-part-smell that comes from sliping new cards out of their anti-static bags!

Matrix wrote:

Iceman wrote:

Testiculese wrote:For the record, I have 12 via-based mobo's that have never flinched.

Add 8 more for me ...

add 4 more for me

Add, uh, 1 for me...

It IS addictive, but you can always buy "new circuit board scent" and spray it under the seats. . .

Ned: Got any 3D rendering programs? I've got a 3dsmax mesh handy that I guarantee will push your system.