Im Getting This Today Or Tomm.

[bigdawgfoxx]

I already have these parts-

*Seagate 80GB 7200RPM HDD
*PCI GeForce 4 MMX 440 64MB
*Chieftec Dragon Series Case w/ 500Watt Ultra PSU Case, mine has the titanium finish PSU (http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3539&Sku=DRG-C-S%20ULTRA)

I am ordering these parts off of newegg-

*Asus A7N8X $90 Asus A7N8X (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-131-455&depa=1)
*AMD AthlonXP 2500XP "Barton" AMD Athlon 2500XP (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=19-103-379&depa=1)

Now for the RAM. I am getting the Kingston HyperX series ram. I plan to overclock so I will need at least the PC3200. The PC3200 is actually $10 more then the PC3700, however I have noticed that higher speed ram moduels have slower timings, so should I spend the extra $10 to get the PC3200 instead of the PC3700?

PC3200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-125&depa=1)
PC3700 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-144-129&depa=1)

So I'm not sure which one to get. I want good timings.

Does that system look good to you guys and is there anything you would change? I plan on buying this today or tomm.

Thanks for ANY help..and please dont critisize anything I already have..except the graphics card lol, as I have already got it and am very satisfied :D

[bob_the_alien]

Everything looks good to me, well except the graphics card,
but that's not because it's a GF4mmx, it's because it's a PCI

As for the ram, the cas is 3 on the 3700, but it does support a higher fsb speed, and you are going to be overclocking, however the 3200 does have a smaller cas latensy, and it's still 400, which is above the 333mhz of the cpu, so I don't know, since the 3700 is cheaper I'd probably go with it,
but your choice, your pc.

[raiserblade2003]

now you have a great board, y get a pci like bob says. go for a agp card....a 5200 is only 60 usd and its a bit better then your mx440 and its also a agp 8x.

[adamp2p]

I noticed what you are talking about with the PC 3700 cas latency 3 timings.

That generally implies that if you lower the speed of the ram, you can tighten the timings. However, if you are overclocking:

(remember what we said, right: don't overclock for at least one month after learning everything about overclocking that particular mobo and ram by searching around the Internet?)

I have been looking at the datasheet for that particular series ram (http://www.valueram.com/datasheets/KHX3700_256.pdf) and it looks to me like you are getting "value ram" which generally does not support the best overall CAS latency timings. I will look for a better possible match for you.

Another suggestion: you might want to post the question about which ram is best at the www.xbitlabs.com forums as they probably will have a much better informed answer than you will get here (maybe, because we do have some overclockers in this forum community now)

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by raiserblade2003@21 December 2003 - 23:08
now you have a great board, y get a pci like bob says. go for a agp card....a 5200 is only 60 usd and its a bit better then your mx440 and its also a agp 8x.
Whatever you do please do not follow raiserblades advice (sorry raiserblade that is really bad advice).

If you plan on ever playing any game at decent resolutions with good framerates that is programmed for the DirectX9 API, DO NOT buy and Nvidia fx5200 series!

What is your budget now? For your video card?

[bigdawgfoxx]

Value ram? I dont think so. Its timed at 2-2-2-6 which are good timings. The value ram is much cheaper and not timed as good...I would say that is very good ram and is comparable with Mushkin and Corsair XMS.

I know I need at least PC3200 to overclock. However the PC3700 is CHEAPER and FASTER. The thing is is that the higher speed RAM has slower timings (2-3-3-6 for example). So is my best bet to go with the 3200 for more money or the 3700?

[bigdawgfoxx]

Maybe if we read again we will see the part where it says I already have these parts. There coming off my other system and I dont game, exxcept for Battlefield 1942 (with Desert Combat Mod of course!)

I know not to buy a 5200 :P

My main question is about the ram.

OK, I think I'm just going to go with the PC3200 with better timings.

But then what if I overclock it to over 200MhzX11 to get 2.2Ghz or the 3200XP. That ram wont be able to handle anything over 400Mhz...right?..I dont think I will go over 2.2 if even that high.

[raiserblade2003]

Originally posted by adamp2p+21 December 2003 - 22:12--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (adamp2p @ 21 December 2003 - 22:12)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-raiserblade2003@21 December 2003 - 23:08
now you have a great board, y get a pci like bob says. go for a agp card....a 5200 is only 60 usd and its a bit better then your mx440 and its also a agp 8x.
Whatever you do please do not follow raiserblades advice (sorry raiserblade that is really bad advice).

If you plan on ever playing any game at decent resolutions with good framerates that is programmed for the DirectX9 API, DO NOT buy and Nvidia fx5200 series&#33;

What is your budget now? For your video card? [/b][/quote]
the 5200 was an examples, and its better then his 440 so...

[bigdawgfoxx]

Yeah, but when I could get a 9600 for &#036;100...Then the 5200 is a rip.

[Virtualbody1234]

I would say get the lower priced PC3700.

If you run it at slower than the rated DDR466MHz then you can set tighter timing.

In effect they are almost the same product so save a few dollars.

Just my opinion.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@21 December 2003 - 23:14
Maybe if we read again we will see the part where it says I already have these parts.&nbsp; There coming off my other system and I dont game, exxcept for Battlefield 1942 (with Desert Combat Mod of course&#33;)

I know not to buy a 5200 :P

My main question is about the ram.

OK, I think I&#39;m just going to go with the PC3200 with better timings.

But then what if I overclock it to over 200MhzX11 to get 2.2Ghz or the 3200XP.&nbsp; That ram wont be able to handle anything over 400Mhz...right?..I dont think I will go over 2.2 if even that high.
It will get hot, that is for sure.

Are there heat spreaders on the ram?

I think actually that the pc 3700 at 3-3-3- whatever settings will be better than the 3200 at the tighter timings.

However, as I mentioned earlier, I highly advise the xbitlabs.com forums or the www.abxzone.com for this particular question, as it is such a vital decision and those forums are full of AMD freaks. If you ask your question there I am sure you will get a much more informative answer.

So go to abxzone.com and ask there...okay?

link (http://www.abxzone.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=16)

[bigdawgfoxx]

Yeah there are awesome looking blue heatspreaders..look at my links.

[adamp2p]

Yeah, I would still get the 3700 (even at those 3-3-3 whatever timings is better than pc 3200 at tighter timings)

[bigdawgfoxx]

But wont the damn ram run at the same speed at the FSB. Stock the FSB is 333Mhz so wont the ram run at 333Mhz. And isnt it best to have the FSB of the CPU and RAM the same. And if I overclock it to a 400Mhz then it will still have plenty of room. How easy is it to tighten the timings? Just a bios option?

So if I have it at a 400Mhz bus then wont the ram run at 400Mhz but with slower timings? Where as the 3200 would run at 400Mhz with fast timings..?

[clocker]

My Mushkin PC 2700 runs quite happily at 100% of my FSB(400MHz) with timing of 2.5T,3,3,6.
If money is an issue then you might look into that.

[adamp2p]

For one thing, I won&#39;t lie to you. I really do not know enough to answer your question. However, I will learn as you do...

I posted your question at xbitlabs to see what they say...to be honest I am suprised how long the abx forum is taking to answer your question...we&#39;ll see what they say...I am sure an overclocking expert will have something to say soon enough... B)

[bigdawgfoxx]

lol I have posted a thread on there too. I just think that the 3700 will only run at 3200 but will have slower timings.

[bigdawgfoxx]

ok well 2 people have posted saying that AMD boards HATE PC3700 and up. One guy said get the 3200 no question...I think im gona get the 3200.

Do you think prices on mobo cpu and ram will go down after xmas? I can wait till after xmas..or order it today

Damn, this guy that posted got his 2.4 P4 up to 3.5...niceee

[adamp2p]

I would get it ASAP because the price drops on those particular items really cannot come down any farther&#33; (maybe 3 cents&#33;)

[bigdawgfoxx]

Ok I will be ordering it tonight then I guess. Just waiting on my ram decision. The 3200 has much better timings and I really think I will go with that..

Can I take the 400Mhz ram and lower the speed to 333Mhz? Because on tomshardware.com I saw some test they ran and the 333Mhz ram whooped the 400Mhz ram and even 466Mhz ram in almost every benchmark with an athlon XP with 333Mhz FSB.

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@22 December 2003 - 01:13
Ok I will be ordering it tonight then I guess. Just waiting on my ram decision. The 3200 has much better timings and I really think I will go with that..

Can I take the 400Mhz ram and lower the speed to 333Mhz? Because on tomshardware.com I saw some test they ran and the 333Mhz ram whooped the 400Mhz ram and even 466Mhz ram in almost every benchmark with an athlon XP with 333Mhz FSB.
I would advise you to continue at those threads for a little while to see what people are saying. So far is sounds like the 3200 would do you just fine.

[_John_Lennon_]

120 bucks for KINGSTON? 512MB 3200 ram?

You can get Corsair for around that, and they are largely known for having about the best overclocking abilities on the market. You might only be able to get 220 tops for a FSB if your lucky going with that Ram, where as I know people that have gotten very close to 240 with Corsair.

Just go to memory, sort by customer reviews, and you will see the two Corsairs I am talking about.

BTW, did you pick out dual modules for the dual memory? Just wondering if you split up the 512MB for that reason.

[john_malkie2010]

pc3700 is basically overclocked pc3200...ive read many excellent reviews of the kingston ram especially the current batches of it...it has been coming with what is known as BH-5 chips which oc extremely well...im sure i read as well that the pc3700 comes with CH-5 chips which are known not to be as good as the BH-5, correct me if im wrong there though...some pc3200 sets also come with CH-5 chips so watch out for them(they usally have an &#39;A&#39; in the product code...e.g. &#39;K2A&#39;)

in you are still unsure of any incompatibily when u order give them a phone and ask if it will work

[bigdawgfoxx]

One other thing
FANSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

My case has 2 80MM fans in front and 2 in back. I need 4 fans... Clocker wants me to make room for 120MM fans and put 1 in front and 1 in back..but I dont think im ready to do all that..I dont know how I would mount the fans really...Anyway is 2 80mm in front and 2 in back good enough?

What fans do I need? Im thinking about gettting these. Supposed to be there best seller. (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=CoolerMaster%2CModel%3AT&searchdepa=1)

I want a fan that can move good air and not be very loud...color is a good thing but NOT required..I can just buy cathodes :D

[bigdawgfoxx]

Ok that kingston ram has great reviews and it looks fucking AWESOME. I heard kingston Hyper X was great ram and it is timed the same as the corsair. I dont think I can get my CPU up any higher then 200Mhz newayz..so I wont worry about that really. Would corsair be better?

And yes it is 2X256MB for the dual channel.

[_John_Lennon_]

I have a blue/red version of those, there nice. 2700RPMs, cant really notice them, although its 2700, so there is some noise for me, just not enough to annoy me. You moreover here the air being pushed out than the fan itself.

Oh and btw, its a 2500+ BARTON. People have gotten their FSB&#39;s, even with the new locked ones, close to 250Mhz, on high end air/ mostly water cooling.

[bigdawgfoxx]

Originally posted by _John_Lennon_@21 December 2003 - 18:21
Just go to memory, sort by customer reviews, and you will see the two Corsairs I am talking about.

I dont see what your talking about

[bigdawgfoxx]

Originally posted by _John_Lennon_@21 December 2003 - 18:26
I have a blue/red version of those, there nice. 2700RPMs, cant really notice them, although its 2700, so there is some noise for me, just not enough to annoy me. You moreover here the air being pushed out than the fan itself.

Oh and btw, its a 2500+ BARTON. People have gotten their FSB&#39;s, even with the new locked ones, close to 250Mhz, on high end air/ mostly water cooling.
Damn thats 2.75Ghz..niceee. Ok everyone is Kingston HyperX good or do I need to get the Corsair..i dont think i will see much diff and I plan on staying with stock cooling right now so around 2.2 will prob be my limit newayz. I dont want to push it a lot.

What are your CPU temps since we have the same CPU and I wish mine to be at ur speeds and the fans I have are the same as urs..so what are ur CPU temp with stock cooling?

[_John_Lennon_]

There are too high end 3200 512MB Corsair modules that alot of people use, more notablly the C2 version, and the other version, whose name aludes me, but seeing as how you want good OCing ram, 512MB, in two modules to do the dual channel, I think you made a fine choice.

[_John_Lennon_]

My temps right now, well usually. (I got a new motherboard coming from newegg by the 24th, because I erm, sold mine.)
Were high 40&#39;s on idle, and low 50&#39;s on full load. It usually just stayed right at 50C, maybe 52C after playing Halo for awhile. And that was with the stock cooling, One 2700RPM out take, and a 2500RPM intake up front. Thats all at 2200Mhz

You should be able to get it to 2.2Ghz with similar temps on the stock cooling. I have a Thermaltake 11+ Xaser version (look on newegg for it) coming soon, and I will see what temps I get with that. It was only like 29, and I just didnt have the money to go up a bit for a SLK-900, and a 10 dollar fan.

[bigdawgfoxx]

awesome...I also want these blue fans because they will make the front of my case glow blue a little bit too :D Thanks for your help and I think I will go with the Kingston HyperX. I will also try to follow what you did because I want my CPU running like yours. I will have 2 intake and 2 exhaust.

If I wanted to run these fans faster because I could handle the noise...could I make them run faster? Cooler Master (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-999-051&depa=1&section=3)

[_John_Lennon_]

I dont think so, but 2700RPM should be fine. I would run more fans, but I would have to do some dremmeling(cutting) in my case to make new spots for them.

btw, what case are you getting?

*goes to check first page to see if he linked to it.

[_John_Lennon_]

Ahh, okay, I see the link you provided to your case.

With that in mind, maybe you should take a look at this link..........

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....64&searchdepa=1 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=11%2D125%2D264&searchdepa=1)

No powersupply though.

[bigdawgfoxx]

Why would I buy that case when I have an almost identicle one sitting on my bed right beside me that I have already purchased and a 500Watt PSU

[Virtualbody1234]

I would say try just 2 fans at the back to exhaust. Those 2 fans runnung at 2700 rpm should be good. I have mine setup like that and the fans are set to run at a very slow ~1500 rpm. Just be sure that there is unobsructed openings near the lower front to let the air in.

It all depends on how much noise you want and how cool is cool enough.

[raiserblade2003]

Originally posted by _John_Lennon_@22 December 2003 - 00:50
Ahh, okay, I see the link you provided to your case.

With that in mind, maybe you should take a look at this link..........

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....64&searchdepa=1 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=11%2D125%2D264&searchdepa=1)

No powersupply though.
http://server5.uploadit.org/files2/221203-untitled.GIF

obviously u didnt becuz that case is almost identical to his.

[bigdawgfoxx]

Yes if you look at the picture of my case, then the slits at the bottom let all the air in very good. Are you saying JUST 2 in back and NONE in front?

Here is my "final" layout for the stuff I need

CoolerMaster Model:TLF-R82(TLF-R82-E1)Blue 80mm Neon LED Fan. Qty-5

Kingston HyperX Series Dual Kits 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200

Asus nForce2 Ultra 400 Motherboard for AMD Processors, Model "A7N8X" RETAIL(New

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail

I like it.. :D All free shipping and I will have a very nice pc :D

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@22 December 2003 - 02:12
Yes if you look at the picture of my case, then the slits at the bottom let all the air in very good. Are you saying JUST 2 in back and NONE in front?

Here is my "final" layout for the stuff I need

CoolerMaster Model:TLF-R82(TLF-R82-E1)Blue 80mm Neon LED Fan. Qty-5

Kingston HyperX Series Dual Kits 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200

Asus nForce2 Ultra 400 Motherboard for AMD Processors, Model "A7N8X" RETAIL(New

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail

I like it.. :D All free shipping and I will have a very nice pc :D
Congrats, dude&#33;

Man, you will be so freaking stoked when the whole thing actually comes together&#33;

Jumping from that crap celeron 566 mhz all the way up to that Barton should make you a happy camper for quite some time. My guess is that it will take you about a week to get it all up and running (and I mean stable).

So what&#39;s left for the graphics card?

[adamp2p]

btw: I started a thread at xbitlabs.com on this topic, maybe you should check it out:

one of the guys concludes the same thing virtualbody does:

link (http://www.xbitlabs.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=2568)

[bigdawgfoxx]

Aight cool. What is to process exactly now? I CANT WAIT TO BE "STOKED" haha

I put everything together, then I insert the CD that comes with the mobo once everythings assembled..right?

[raiserblade2003]

wouldnt u put in the "windows xp" cd first?

[bigdawgfoxx]

Ok he says to get the Corsair XMS 2X256MB PC3200. The one with the Platnium Heat Spreaders has a 2-3-3-6 timing and the Kingston HyperX has a 2-2-2-6 timing...the Kingston has better timings, so why would he reccomend me getting that?

Ok I just saw this..Its Corsair 2X256MB PC3200 2-3-2-6 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-432&depa=1)

Even though the timings arent as good as the hyperX...will this still be better?

Well...I&#39;m thinking I could prob get this RAM torun at 2-2-2-6 huh? lol
some guy got it to 2-2-2-1t

[bigdawgfoxx]

Ok well it is between these 2 now

The corsair in the link above with 2-3-2-6 timings PC3200 2X256MB, or

The Mushkin PC3200 2X256MB Level II 2-2-2-6 Mushkin (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-287&depa=1&section=2)

[Virtualbody1234]

Are you saying JUST 2 in back and NONE in front?
Yup, that&#39;s what I&#39;m saying. That&#39;s how mine is with 2 fans @ only ~1500 rpm so yours @ 2700 rpm should be fine.

Try it out and see.

[bigdawgfoxx]

Dang VB thats not much cooling...but I guess your system stays cool lol. I know you dont overclock though and I plan on it.

[Virtualbody1234]

If you push in 2 quantities of air in and you push out the same 2 quantities then there isn&#39;t much difference if you only push 2 quantities out. Only air resistance and if you have open airflow in the front then the resistance is quite low.

[bigdawgfoxx]

Ohhh ok..that does actually make since&#33; I think I will put maybe 3 fans in the front if i can mod the case and 2 in back...this is kind going AGAINST yours...but I will just try new stuff since im getting 5 fans for the price of 4 anywayz&#33; I just figure fans blowing air across the CPU and some pulling it out is best..

[adamp2p]

whatever cools the cpu the best...eh?

[bigdawgfoxx]

Mushkin or Corsair? Im thinking the mushkin might be better due to tighter timings...

Plus it has that gorgeous chrome look that the blue cathodes will shine off of nicely :D

[adamp2p]

Originally posted by bigdawgfoxx@22 December 2003 - 03:48
Mushkin or Corsair?&nbsp; Im thinking the mushkin might be better due to tighter timings...

Plus it has that gorgeous chrome look that the blue cathodes will shine off of nicely :D
what&#39;s the price on the Mushkin?

I have heard people like that stuff particularly. ;)

Man, I feel like I am talking about dope&#33;

[bigdawgfoxx]

The Mushkin is 2 dollars cheaper.

[_John_Lennon_]

Originally posted by raiserblade2003+21 December 2003 - 20:10--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (raiserblade2003 @ 21 December 2003 - 20:10)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-_John_Lennon_@22 December 2003 - 00:50
Ahh, okay, I see the link you provided to your case.

With that in mind, maybe you should take a look at this link..........

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....64&searchdepa=1 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=11%2D125%2D264&searchdepa=1)

No powersupply though.
http://server5.uploadit.org/files2/221203-untitled.GIF

obviously u didnt becuz that case is almost identical to his. [/b][/quote]
I was referring more to the price. :rolleyes:

No need to try and lash out when you dont know my meanings.

[raiserblade2003]

Originally posted by _John_Lennon_+22 December 2003 - 23:04--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (_John_Lennon_ @ 22 December 2003 - 23:04)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'>
Originally posted by raiserblade2003@21 December 2003 - 20:10
<!--QuoteBegin-_John_Lennon_@22 December 2003 - 00:50
Ahh, okay, I see the link you provided to your case.

With that in mind, maybe you should take a look at this link..........

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc....64&searchdepa=1 (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?DEPA=1&sumit=Go&description=11%2D125%2D264&searchdepa=1)

No powersupply though.
http://server5.uploadit.org/files2/221203-untitled.GIF

obviously u didnt becuz that case is almost identical to his.
I was referring more to the price. :rolleyes:

No need to try and lash out when you dont know my meanings. [/b][/quote]
okay, so u want him to get a identical case for more money and no power supply? :blink:

[_John_Lennon_]

IT WAS LESS MONEY. Oh, wait a min.

*looks back at first page.

*looks back at post.

*looks at case link.


Ahh, he already had the case. :rolleyes: Well why on earth did he give a link to a for sale page about the case? *shrugs

[bigdawgfoxx]

umm....did you want me to link u to a place that just had stuff but didnt sell anything...i was either gona link you there or newegg..but i linked u there cuz it also showed the awesome PSU i got..and i didnt get the black one...i got the one with the titanium finish..it looks AWESOME :D