Amd 64 Dual Core Rig

galwaydude18

Guys i'm gona build a dual core rig. I want to go the sli route. What it is the best mobo at the moment and memory to go with it? I'm going to try most of the stuff on ebay and hope I can get good prices for all the parts. I need to research the fine details yet but I'm looking for your advice on the mobo and ram and a water cooling system... Thanks a million in advance

Dooom

From what I know, the Asus A8n-SLi Premium is a good board. It uses heatpipes instead of nasty noisy little fans so it's a good bit cooler, also has a few new software updates including (I think, not sure) the ability to switch from SLi to single card setup without rebooting.

As for RAM, I don't have a wealth of knowledge on that subject but I'm picking up a set of Corsair 2GB DDR XMS3200C2PT TwinX (2x1GB) CAS2 from Overclockers.co.uk.
AFAIK, GeiL are supposed to be good for overclocking, that's assuming that you are overclocking?
Anywho, best not to take my word on the RAM but it's a pointer for you.

Watercooling - there's loads of kits floating about. If you can't find any on Ebay, just google for it and you'll come up with a good lot of sites within the UK and close Europe that sell them.

rsynnott

galwaydude18 wrote:

Guys i'm gona build a dual core rig. I want to go the sli route. What it is the best mobo at the moment and memory to go with it? I'm going to try most of the stuff on ebay and hope I can get good prices for all the parts. I need to research the fine details yet but I'm looking for your advice on the mobo and ram and a water cooling system... Thanks a million in advance

You're going to get new technology on ebay? Good luck. Seriously, you'd be better wait six months, till prices calm down a bit. Do you even have a use for dual cores?

galwaydude18

DUBDVD / Wizard any views on this? Can ye offer any adivce on what to buy?

airetam_storm

Well i was told by this here boards that OCZ PC5000 PLATINUM is the greatest stuff around but $hit expensive :rolleyes:

http://www.pc-memory-upgrade.co.uk/new-prod/ocz-pc5000-platinum-dfi.asp

galwaydude18

is the ram any good http://www.excaliberpc.com/OCZ_2GB_1GB_x_2_DDR2_PC2-4200_Dual/OCZ25332048ELDCGE-K/partinfo-id-553833.html

duridian

galwaydude18 wrote:

is the ram any good

That stuff you linked to seems to be DDR2, AFAIK it is only socket 775 pentiums that are designed to use that kind of ram. I gathered from your posts that it is a dual core Athlon 64 you were going to build, so buying that ram would be a mistake, as I think all current Athlon64 setups use DDR1. The previous link by airetam is for an extremely fast variety of DDR1, possibly the fastest megahertz I've seen yet for DDR1, it's real crazy overclocking stuff.

galwaydude18

cool I will keep that in mind. I thought ddr2 was newer and better stuff than ddr1.. Thanks for letting me know that...

DemonOfTheFall

The epox SLI board would be a good bet i'd say. Their ultra board is a cracking overclocker. Up to 300mhz fsb without changing anything other than memory divider, after that didn't bother overclocking it anymore.

airetam_storm

Anandtech recently overclocked a set of X2 chips using the DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR . The overclock .

\edit\Dont know much else but heres a list of recommendations from AMD

\edit2\ Anandtech .....I love them

flatface

DFI LANPARTY nF4 SLI-DR is a great board and you get expert advice on DFI-STREET.com to really get the most out of their very tweekable bios.

for me on my non SLI ultra-D I have gone for a pair of g.skill 4400 LE kit which uses TCCD chips which are supposed to overclock like crazy (testing that out this weekend )

but I think the general opinion is that with the A64s tight timings such as 2-2-2-5 at 1T using a memory divider to get the max OC out of your CPU beats hugely fast memory speeds at loose timings.

IF you go for 2GB get the best you can get - eg. OCZ or Corsair - as the cheeper dont overclock at all.

po0k

Both the OCZ and Corsair 1Gig sticks (2x1024meg PC3200) use Infineon chips and aren't capable of *truely* tight timings. Of the two, the OCZ seem to quote slightly better timings 2-3-3-6 as opposed to 2.5-3-3-7 or something, whereas the specs on the Infineon site for (I assume I was looking at the right part) the chips quote 3-4-4-8 or something @ DDR400.
I would've gone for it, but I wasn't too sure about compatability between the DFI TCCD/BH-5 BIOSes and the Infineon stuff, especially for overclocking, so instead I got 4x512meg sticks of OCZ EL PC3200 TCCD, so I can have 1Gig at 1T and high clock speeds, tight timings or 2Gig at 2T and lower clock/timings etc.
This is the sort of thing that DDR2 would be good for, ie 4Gigs of ram at 800Mhz and tight timings all running at 1T.

airetam_storm

Mushkin new red sticks have been up to the same standard as the OCZ stuff but cant remember the name of it for the life of me :rolleyes:

djmarkus

MSI k8n diamond sli is brilliant for overclocking and has onboard creative soundblaster sound which is excellent. i know msi are known to have noisy NB fans but this one is quite enuf

po0k

airetam_storm wrote:

Mushkin new red sticks have been up to the same standard as the OCZ stuff but cant remember the name of it for the life of me :rolleyes:

Mushkin Redline

airetam_storm

SyxPak wrote:

Mushkin Redline

Dead on. Ment to be amazing stuff but still vpricy

po0k

It eats volts, but you really really really do need active cooling on the ram.

masteroftherealm

DFI for your board dude by far the best. And go with the Mushkin or Patriot Extreme Bandwidth(Super Low latency at up tyo 533mhz). Althought the quickest ive ever seen ram is 600mhz!! Yup can be got!!

flatface

nice guide for TCCD and DFI-sli board
600+ RAM

WizZard

Right, first question to ask is what do you want to do with the machine?

Will you overclock? And if so, properly tweak (ie. take ages to get everything up and running (could be months) at it's full potential) or is it just to up the FSB by 40Mhz and call it a day?

Why dual core? And do you need dual core now, or is it a futureproof strategy. if so you're better off getting a good single core now and uprade later (+6 mths) since the sockets are the same.

Spike wrote:

the Asus A8n-SLi Premium is a good board. It uses heatpipes instead of nasty noisy little fans so it's a good bit cooler, also has a few new software updates including (I think, not sure) the ability to switch from SLi to single card setup without rebooting.

Wrong info. It doesn't use the little card thingy on the mobo anymore - it's a pure soft switch in the BIOS. But you still have to reboot. (If non-reboot single card <-> SLI ever appears it will be from nVidia drivers).


How much RAM? Are you willing to sacrifice speed for quantity? If so Syxpak knows more about 1gb sticks than anyone I've seen posting on this board. He's done his homework.

When you say what you want to do with the machine it will be easier to recommend hardware. BTW, it's ok to say you want it for bragging rights - but be warned, both dubdvd and I have big projects coming up to wow boardsies! (and bragging rights cost a LOT of money )

WizZard

masterofthereal wrote:

DFI for your board dude by far the best.

Only if he's prepared to work to get it stable/rocket fast.

masterofthereal wrote:

And go with the Mushkin or Patriot Extreme Bandwidth(Super Low latency at up tyo 533mhz). Althought the quickest ive ever seen ram is 600mhz!! Yup can be got!!

I doub't DDR RAM can hit 600Mhz FSB - maybe you mean DDR600 (= 300Mhz FSB)??
I've had my babies running at DDR625 (312Mhz FSB - the extra 1 is from the HyperTransport)

masteroftherealm

WizZard wrote:

Only if he's prepared to work to get it stable/rocket fast.

Well hopefully he will cause that would make for one amazing system no?? :eek:

WizZard wrote:

I doub't DDR RAM can hit 600Mhz FSB - maybe you mean DDR600 (= 300Mhz FSB)??
I've had my babies running at DDR625 (312Mhz FSB - the extra 1 is from the HyperTransport)

HEEHEEHEE oh i wish it was actual 600mhz!!! Yeah sorry i meant DDR600 (havent had eniugh coffee yet today!!) :cool:

airetam_storm

Any snippetts of whats going into the new rig Wiz?

masteroftherealm

Yah come on give us some hints!

WizZard

Mainly cosmetic changes, tbh. (Go faster stripes etc:D) My CC is still hurting from the purchases of the first Q of this year
Much better cooling system (not as good as dub's PC water though!), 'n' stuff...

airetam_storm

WizZard wrote:

Mainly cosmetic changes, tbh. (Go faster stripes etc:D) My CC is still hurting from the purchases of the first Q of this year
Much better cooling system (not as good as dub's PC water though!), 'n' stuff...

No 4800+'s @ *insest.ridiculas.OC.here*?

WizZard

airetam_storm wrote:

No 4800+'s @ *insest.ridiculas.OC.here*?

Hehe, unfortunately my wallet can't handle it!

masteroftherealm

WizZard wrote:

Hehe, unfortunately my wallet can't handle it!

Ah go on I'll set you up with a good deal on one in work, ya know thheres that little bit of credit left on it(",)

airetam_storm

masterofthereal wrote:

Ah go on I'll set you up with a good deal on one in work, ya know thheres that little bit of credit left on it(",)

A bit being a thousand euro

WizZard

airetam_storm wrote:

A bit being a thousand euro

Well now, that would really just cover the CPU wouldn't it

masteroftherealm

airetam_storm wrote:

A bit being a thousand euro

Ah i can get them cheaper than that