Budget AMD Sys. Help

[soad1789]

Sigh, I can't come up with enough for the 3500+ system, so this is what it's looking like:

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Budget AMD System:
CPU: AMD Sempron 3100+ 1.8GHz Socket 754 Processor
MOBO: MSI K8N Neo Platinum nForce3 250Gb Athlon 64 Skt754 DDR ATX
CPU Cooler: Thermaltake A1744 Venus 12 CPU Cooler
Memory: Corsair TWINX1024-4000PRO 1GB Kit DDR500 XMS4000 Dual-Channel ProSeries Memory
GFX Card: ATI 9600XT (already owned)
HDDs: 2x Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y060M0 60GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive (in RAID 0)
Case: MGE Quantum Case
CD Drive 2: Sony DWU18ABK Internal DVD±RW Bare Drive (Black)
WiFi Card: D-Link AirPlus G DWL-G510 High Speed 2.4GHz (802.11g) Wireless PCI Adapter
PSU: Thermaltake W0023 Silent PurePower 560W w/Active PFC
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I'm looking to OC, hopefully to ~2.6 (I'm hoping!)

Do you think I should go with some 1 gig Corsair TWINX1024-4400C25 DDR550 XMS4400 RAM @ $269.00? It's cheaper than the ultra expensive DDR500 Corsair listed above by $10, and faster, but which would be better to assist in OC'ing the Sempron?

I think it's a good setup, I think it should be very cool with the total of 8 fans I believe. If you think I should relook a component or two, please let me know. This total system cost after rebates is about $959.13 ($556.32 cheaper than my other system) so basically what do you think? Did I overlook anything? Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions.

EDIT 1: Oh yah, I'm using Artic Silver 5 as the thermal paste. Hope it helps...

[platdragon]

DFI Infinity NF2 motherboard

AthlonXP-M 2500+ stock cooling

Buffalo Technologies DD4002-512/WC x2 (alredy have)

MSI Radeon 9800Pro (9800XT core!)

Casewith 450e PS (frogot the brand)

Total of about 700 $$


You have a nice set up.


Supports 3 slots for 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM modules.
• Supports the memory size up to 2GB.
• Supports unbuffered ECC/ non-ECC DDR 400/333/266.
• Supports a maximum memory size of 2GB for DDR400
• Supports a maximum memory size of 3GB for DDR333

With the higher speed memoy you will limit the total memory your board supports and require more power but your PS will should be able to pull the load .
The board does not support dual channel so either way.

[washe]

He crearly stated was looking for a A64... semprom is closest thing to the a64 architecture, not a AMD 2500+ (that in the following year will bottleneck most newer cards) and its not PCI express for the future.

You wont notice any gains with that paired memory because the S754 are single channel, maybe you can get a different module for a better price..

[soad1789]

I just want a gig of ram (yah i know its not dual channel, but i could always recycle the memory on a skt. 939 system later) that will run fast and will allow me to overclock the sempron without much trouble to about ~.25, 2.6GHz...hmmm i need money

[platdragon]

[QUOTE=washe]He crearly stated was looking for a A64... semprom is closest thing to the a64 architecture, not a AMD 2500+ (that in the following year will bottleneck most newer cards) and its not PCI express for the future.

I placed my rig that i am doing till DFI releses their 939 MB. It is a chep AMD system for me til I can get the good stuff.


[QUOTE=soad1789]I just want a gig of ram (yah i know its not dual channel, but i could always recycle the memory on a skt. 939 system later) that will run fast and will allow me to overclock the sempron without much trouble to about ~.25, 2.6GHz...hmmm i need money

If you upgrading in the future tha I can see the point of the DD500 memory now.

[the_apprentice]

Nice setup, but why don't you go for an athlon 64 2800? It may be 10-20$ more but it is better, and it has that 64 bit thing enabled.

[Peter M]

You're making the usual mistake - way overboard on many things that do little but have a huge price premium, losing focus on what makes a budget system good.

The A64 2800 isn't even $10 more than the Sempron 3100, at least not where I buy them. Same core, same frequency, same platform - but twice the L2 cache, and enabled 64-bit extensions.

Get less expensive RAM (two DIMMs on a single-channel platform is a bad move anyway), use an actual budget mainboard like the ECS 755-A2. Also, a 560W power supply is way overboard, proper 350 to 400 watt units will do nicely. One extra intake fan in addition to the extraction fan in the PSU will do.

Stuff the overclocking. Instead, use the money you saved here to up the CPU speed grade by one or two steps, and come out with something quiet, stable, and possibly faster than you'd ever managed to OC to.

[JPMiller]

Peter M is right on the money...
Your overdoing it on the overclocking instead of going for stable standards... Overclocking ends up getting expensive and time consuming when better cooling and finding stable settings and components are factored in.

A solid 350Watt or better PSU will more than do fine... You can get a really good 420 for around $43 shipped
which will be hard to beat even when going with a lower powered unit after shipping...