Want to improve my pc! horray! =P

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Well, I dont understand much in these stuff, but heres what im thinking of buying:

AMD Athlon 64 3500 Venice Socket 939 Tray
Asus A8V Deluxe VIA K8T800 Socket 939 Motherboard
Kingston KVR400X64C3A-512MB DDR 3200 Memory X2 = 1024MB
Maxtor 120GB 7200rpm 8MB Buffer Serial ATA HDD

I got some people saying Asus arent that great...and such things...thats why i need your help fellas.
my budget is something like 3300₪ (650$) [note: im from israel]

please take links from this site:
http://www.logicpc.co.il/eng/

just cause I bought from this store quite alot already and I trust it, also cause i dont buy from english sites/stores
ohh and dont mind the prices of course...these are not dollars :laff:

p.s.!
I have to know XD I have Radeon 9800 pro 128mb 256ram, does it count as a good card for now? as i see there are SO MUCH better cards out there, i gotta know if it'll handle those new games...cause right now my pc doesnt even produce it's full power lol..

Thanks ya'll in advance!
 
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Yeah, those parts are fine, but your video card is going to be struggling to keep up with them. If you're thinking of doing a complete system upgrade, then do just that. It's not essential that you upgrade your video card, but it's a hella good recommendation.

EDIT: If you want a new video card, I would go with an Nvidia Geforce 6600 or something equal.
 
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Amnestometh said:
If you want a new video card, I would go with an Nvidia Geforce 6600 or something equal.
He really wouldn't see that much difference between a 9800pro and a 6600 series card, given the fact that there's no really big gap in performance between the two cards themselves (sure while you may get support for sm3 and a faster card, It's something you have to consider). If you wanted a better gfx card I would ethier get a vanillia 6800 and try pipe modding it or getting a 6800gt, as they are falling in price. But, if you are considering a new gfx card then spend the extra money on some future proofing and get a pc-ie mainboard and gfx card (If your serious about it, & get a 6600gt if your'e running low on cash if you end up getting a pc-ie mainboad).

As for a mainboard, yes asus is a quality brand, but if I were you, I would get a DFI board.
 
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Nuh, i probably wont buy a new graphic card cause i bought this one a few months ago so...
i just wanted to know if it sucks already XD

Anyway, if not Asus Mo-Bo, maybe a Gigabyte one?
Im not sure if that site has a DFI, plus i havent heard about it before.
 
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Super Veggeto said:
Nuh, i probably wont buy a new graphic card cause i bought this one a few months ago so...
i just wanted to know if it sucks already XD

Anyway, if not Asus Mo-Bo, maybe a Gigabyte one?
Im not sure if that site has a DFI, plus i havent heard about it before.
Don't get a gigabyte board, sure they are good, but they jus fail to please me, and they can't overclok as well as other boards can.

They may be able to order a dfi board in for you, but I dunno if you can still ifnd DFI nforce3 based boards these days in retail, might be a little hard to find. If you can't find a dfi board stick with the asus board ;).
 
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Super Veggeto said:
Well, I dont understand much in these stuff, but heres what im thinking of buying:

AMD Athlon 64 3500 Venice Socket 939 Tray
Looks fine.
Asus A8V Deluxe VIA K8T800 Socket 939 Motherboard
Also looks fine. ASUS is good, I'm sure you'll like their motherboards as I have. Although, if you're into overclocking, I'd get the second revision of that motherboard as it fixes the AGP/PCI lock.
Kingston KVR400X64C3A-512MB DDR 3200 Memory X2 = 1024MB
Here's a slight problem: the latencies. I'd try to get slightly more expensive RAM such as Patriot's. I can't access your store site, so I'll just give a model #: Model PDC1G3200+XBLK
Maxtor 120GB 7200rpm 8MB Buffer Serial ATA HDD
Fine, fine.

But where's the PSU? Just going to use the one you currently have? If so, make sure it's good enough for this upgrade.

I got some people saying Asus arent that great...and such things...thats why i need your help fellas.
my budget is something like 3300₪ (650$) [note: im from israel]
That's just it: some people =P. I'm perfectly happy with mine. I'm sure if anyone who got an ASUS and liked it posted about how much they liked it, it'd be a huge ratio differential to those to don't.

p.s.!
I have to know XD I have Radeon 9800 pro 128mb 256ram, does it count as a good card for now? as i see there are SO MUCH better cards out there, i gotta know if it'll handle those new games...cause right now my pc doesnt even produce it's full power lol..
It's alright for the majority of today's games =).
 
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I use an Asus board and its the best buy ive made in a long time.
 
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Smith| said:
Also looks fine. ASUS is good, I'm sure you'll like their motherboards as I have. Although, if you're into overclocking, I'd get the second revision of that motherboard as it fixes the AGP/PCI lock.
Well, actually i have no idea what overclocking is XD i heard it's powering up the system or something?...heh

Smith| said:
Here's a slight problem: the latencies. I'd try to get slightly more expensive RAM such as Patriot's. I can't access your store site, so I'll just give a model #: Model PDC1G3200+XBLK
Humm, i cant access the site atm either =/ but thanks =] I'll look for that model.
just to know, is there something wrong specificly with the ram I choosed?

Smith| said:
Fine, fine.

But where's the PSU? Just going to use the one you currently have? If so, make sure it's good enough for this upgrade.
I didnt understood that one exactly, what's PSU?
And I have no idea which one I have atm =| heh all I know that it's 40GB...



Smith| said:
That's just it: some people =P. I'm perfectly happy with mine. I'm sure if anyone who got an ASUS and liked it posted about how much they liked it, it'd be a huge ratio differential to those to don't.
GrimReaper said:
I use an Asus board and its the best buy ive made in a long time.
Sounds good to me =] I like Asus for one too.


Smith| said:
It's alright for the majority of today's games =).
Ahh ^_^ thats good to hear!
i want to enjoy F.E.A.R/Doom3/HL2/Quake4 this time XD
 
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Super Veggeto said:
Well, actually i have no idea what overclocking is XD i heard it's powering up the system or something?...heh
It's upping the speed (clock) at which components operate. Don't worry about it if your system is fast enough when you get it ;).
Humm, i cant access the site atm either =/ but thanks =] I'll look for that model.
just to know, is there something wrong specificly with the ram I choosed?
Not really, it's just that AMD 64 processors really like memory with low latencies due to their integrated memory controller. If you pair something that has low(fast) latencies with something that has high(slow) latencies, then there will be some bottlenecking.
I didnt understood that one exactly, what's PSU?
And I have no idea which one I have atm =| heh all I know that it's 40GB...
Hehe, it's a Power Supply Unit. The big box in the upper back of your computer where you plug the power cord into.
Ahh ^_^ thats good to hear!
i want to enjoy F.E.A.R/Doom3/HL2/Quake4 this time XD
It'll play Doom 3, HL2, and Quake 4 fine with medium/high settings. FEAR, though, it may have to go down on :eek:. Heh.. heh.. I said 'go down on'.
 
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MSI mainboards are also good buys, especially if you're into overclocking, but they aren't for newbies, you'll have to educate yourself on bios settings before getting one. Try: http://www.rojakpot.com/ for more info on bios tweaking, because alot of basic education is to be had here that many so called experts don't know jack about, like setting your AGP apeture.

Incedentally, that Kingston RAM you were looking at is a good buy, because Smith only cares about speed, not stability. I've never, ever had a Kingston SIMM/DIMM crap out on me. Plus, it's latencies can be adjusted better than he thinks they can.
 
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Cucumba said:
MSI mainboards are also good buys, especially if you're into overclocking, but they aren't for newbies, you'll have to educate yourself on bios settings before getting one. Try: http://www.rojakpot.com/ for more info on bios tweaking, because alot of basic education is to be had here that many so called experts don't know jack about, like setting your AGP apeture.
I hope that wasn't a cheap shot at me =P, because I can defend myself if need be. AGP aperture* is the fallback into main system memory for textures and other materials the video card stores in its own RAM. Increasing it can be both benefitial and nonbenefitial to performance as you're both increasing the room for your video card to play in and reducing the room for your system to use.
Incedentally, that Kingston RAM you were looking at is a good buy, because Smith only cares about speed, not stability. I've never, ever had a Kingston SIMM/DIMM crap out on me. Plus, it's latencies can be adjusted better than he thinks they can.
I'm more than sure that the Patriot memory I suggested is perfectly stable. Patriot has a good name in memory and well deserved =). Also about lowering latencies on the Kingston ram: it is called Value Memory for a reason, and unless it's got good chips on it (which I doubt for the price), then it most likely won't be able to get good latencies without some serious volts through it.
 
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Do NOT buy expensive low latency ram, especially if you are on a low budget.

The lower latencies arent worth it at all, you'll gain only like 5~15% when loading programs and games.

Ingame you wont notice ANYTHING.(Unless you have insufficent amount of ram, but even then its NOT worth it)

Also I would go Kingston, have it too, works absoluty fine with my AMD 64 3500 Venice and my friends AMD 64 3200 Winchester.
Also the memory is extremely stable and the price may suggest different, but you can lower latency or overclock if you want without killing the ram in the process.

My advice(Cant watch the site atm >_<), get an AMD 64 3200, the 3500 is faster, but you are not on a very large budget.
Get a reliable and stable motherboard, like you choose, only Asus is expensive.

There ARE Asrock board which are just as stable, have same features and wont lack you in performance.(Example: Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 outpeforms every Asus mobo and its just $60(And very stable))

I would suggest a new videocard, especially if you wanna play Quake 4 and FEAR.
You should get a 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 AGP cheap, but be advised, if you do buy this card, but the Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 mobo.(Has native AGP and PCI-E slots)

As for your PSU, a good 300 watt is fine, if you just have 1 Hard Disc drive and cdrom or else I would advice you to get a 350 watt.(Take a normal brand)

A 160GB HDD would be fine I guess.(Unless you are a major pron freak ;p)

AMD 3200 ~$160
Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 ~$60
Geforce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 ~$250 (Some places have it on a sepcial sale =))
HDD 160GB (Maxtor?) ~$90
Good reliable PSU 350 watt ~$50-$60

Total $610-$620, these are dutch prices so they MAY defer with Israël webshops.
 
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Devion said:
Do NOT buy expensive low latency ram, especially if you are on a low budget.

The lower latencies arent worth it at all, you'll gain only like 5~15% when loading programs and games.

Ingame you wont notice ANYTHING.(Unless you have insufficent amount of ram, but even then its NOT worth it)

Also I would go Kingston, have it too, works absoluty fine with my AMD 64 3500 Venice and my friends AMD 64 3200 Winchester.
Also the memory is extremely stable and the price may suggest different, but you can lower latency or overclock if you want without killing the ram in the process.

My advice(Cant watch the site atm >_<), get an AMD 64 3200, the 3500 is faster, but you are not on a very large budget.
Get a reliable and stable motherboard, like you choose, only Asus is expensive.

There ARE Asrock board which are just as stable, have same features and wont lack you in performance.(Example: Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 outpeforms every Asus mobo and its just $60(And very stable))

I would suggest a new videocard, especially if you wanna play Quake 4 and FEAR.
You should get a 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 AGP cheap, but be advised, if you do buy this card, but the Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 mobo.(Has native AGP and PCI-E slots)

As for your PSU, a good 300 watt is fine, if you just have 1 Hard Disc drive and cdrom or else I would advice you to get a 350 watt.(Take a normal brand)

A 160GB HDD would be fine I guess.(Unless you are a major pron freak ;p)

AMD 3200 ~$160
Asrock 939Dual-SATA2 ~$60
Geforce 6800 GT 256MB DDR3 ~$250 (Some places have it on a sepcial sale =))
HDD 160GB (Maxtor?) ~$90
Good reliable PSU 350 watt ~$50-$60

Total $610-$620, these are dutch prices so they MAY defer with Israël webshops.
I love how people are acting as though I'm suggesting the world will explode with higher latencies. Please re-read my posts.

Smith said:
Not really, it's just that AMD 64 processors really like memory with low latencies due to their integrated memory controller. If you pair something that has low(fast) latencies with something that has high(slow) latencies, then there will be some bottlenecking.
Smith said:
Here's a slight problem: the latencies. I'd try to get slightly more expensive RAM such as Patriot's. I can't access your store site, so I'll just give a model #: Model PDC1G3200+XBLK
It's his decision entirely. I'm just suggesting lower latencies as AMD 64s generally love them, proven time after time. He wants high peformance, I'm showing high quality gear. Even after your post, I'm still suggesting to buy the low latency RAM.

That ASRock motherboard looks good, but from a quick search, loses a lot to .. a lot of motherboards, almost all of them in all of the scenarios: http://www.pcstats.com/ArtVNL.cfm?articleid=1860&page=9
Performance of the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 motherboard was relatively good. It did come in near the bottom of most benchmarks we ran, but its scores were not drastically slow. The board overclocked to 304 MHz, which is certainly nothing to scoff at! Ultimately, if you're on a budget and looking for some flexibility, the ASRock 939Dual-SATA2 can definitely help consumers build a budget system that brings to the table some very attractive future upgrade options.
you can lower latency or overclock if you want without killing the ram in the process.
He doesn't know what overclocking is and so I really doubt it'd do well to tell him to lower his latency or clocks and not get his system to post. I know a lot of people who don't know that just removing the BIOS battery or just resetting it defaults your settings, allowing you to post again. So, they freak out and think their entire computer is dead. We don't need that, do we?

Oh, and I completely forgot about the graphics card + new motherboard. If you go with that ASUS motherboard, you will need a new graphics card. Instead, you could go with the not-as-good-but-still-decent motherboard shown by Devion, or find an AGP 939 Motherboard, which there are plenty of.

As for the PSU, I'd go with the one I got: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817159026 It has great rails (most importantly +12V 35A) and a good W number (550W).
 
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Hummm, i got a little confused there XD
i fixed the link above =o i wrote it wrong heh, can you please take a look and suggest through there? =o

Oh, and I completely forgot about the graphics card + new motherboard. If you go with that ASUS motherboard, you will need a new graphics card. Instead, you could go with the not-as-good-but-still-decent motherboard shown by Devion, or find an AGP 939 Motherboard, which there are plenty of.
=O your kidding me.......why??...
i was just asking if my card is ok, i dunno if i have the money for another card...it took me quite some time to save for that card anyway XD...
 
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Super Veggeto said:
Hummm, i got a little confused there XD
i fixed the link above =o i wrote it wrong heh, can you please take a look and suggest through there? =o


=O your kidding me.......why??...
i was just asking if my card is ok, i dunno if i have the money for another card...it took me quite some time to save for that card anyway XD...
With the config I showed you, you would be fine budget wise.

Also Smith, the advantages is just 5~15% at loading times, real performance wise, it doesnt make any difference.

The 939Dual-SATA2 is excellent(ok layout is a pain) performance wise and even supports an upgrade port(M2 Socket, although dont get to excited about this :p) and low price.
The mobo is not decent performance wise, but great.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2524&p=9 (Take note, the board is shown in orange and red (AGP/PCIe) :p)

As a techie you should know, never to trust synthetic benchmarks, but normal game benchmarks.

He DOES NOT need a 550watt psu, that pure bs, its like 70 dollars already.
A good 350watt is FINE.(I have a normal 300 watt with a 6800GT @ Ultra speeds and an AMD 64 3500+)

You suggesting all kinds of parts which are maybe slightly better(althought I disagree on the ram issue), but his budget aint fit for it.

EDIT: Also funny you on purpose showed the page where the mobo performed the worst of ALL.(That's not really objective)

EDIT2: When the next time you reply, dont act arrogant its not helping SV at all.
I think he rather have you be realistic with his budget and objective at certain parts of his pc.

@SV That webshop is quite expensive, I would suggest finding another one.
 
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Devion said:
With the config I showed you, you would be fine budget wise.

Also Smith, the advantages is just 5~15% at loading times, real performance wise, it doesnt make any difference.
I'm still standing by my claim that AMD 64s love low latency memory as their memory controller is e-m-b-e-d-d-e-d (wtf is this censored?) into the chip itself instead of on the motherboard. But, if it'll make you and Cucumba happy, I'll change my recommendation to only my honest opinion of what he should do =P.

As a techie you should know, never to trust synthetic benchmarks, but normal game benchmarks.
http://www.pcstats.com/ArtVNL.cfm?articleid=1860&page=11
There, happy? ;). It loses anywhere in those three tests, at least, by 5-20 fps.

He DOES NOT need a 550watt psu, that pure bs, its like 70 dollars already.
A good 350watt is FINE.(I have a normal 300 watt with a 6800GT @ Ultra speeds and an AMD 64 3500+)
I don't know about you, but I'm not suggesting it for only the wattage. The ampage of the rails is the first most important part, not the wattage. So, don't think of my suggestion being only a semi-expensive 550Watt PSU, but a semi-expensive PSU with very nice rail amps. The PSU is the single most important part of a computer as it can either make or ruin the whole shibang. You, yourself, may not be getting the proper power to your system, but you just don't know it as you have nothing to compare it to.

EDIT: Also funny you on purpose showed the page where the mobo performed the worst of ALL.(That's not really objective)
No, not really. This post now shows the benchmarks where it performed the worse, and in a 'real' benchmark at that ;).

Edit: Hold on Devion, adding together some things.
 
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Im still, really confused...

1st, why wont my radeon be enough for an asus mobo?
2nd, i dont understand much in psu's, how can i check my current psu's watt?
3rd, im not sure i really want to buy another graphic card...i was just interested...so i guess we can take that off the list for now...

about the rest of the stuff you guys were talking about i was mostly confused but i did understood some of the mobo talking...although im still confused which is better for me XD

also, ill try to find better shops, but my current source is not a webshop, it's an actual shop, i already bought there a few times so im guessing they would have a good deal for me, price wise of course.
i do have 2 more sources, ill find out the prices for now...
but i still need to know what im going for...=P
 
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I couldn't complete my post as my internet went haywire last night. Devion (I'm sure) and I will answer your questions later tonight.
 
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SV said:
2nd, i dont understand much in psu's, how can i check my current psu's watt?
It should say, either on the back of the PC (the exposed PSU) or on a sticker. If not then open up the PC and it'll say on the PSU itself. Probably around 250W?
 
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Super Veggeto said:
Im still, really confused...

1st, why wont my radeon be enough for an asus mobo?
2nd, i dont understand much in psu's, how can i check my current psu's watt?
3rd, im not sure i really want to buy another graphic card...i was just interested...so i guess we can take that off the list for now...

about the rest of the stuff you guys were talking about i was mostly confused but i did understood some of the mobo talking...although im still confused which is better for me XD

also, ill try to find better shops, but my current source is not a webshop, it's an actual shop, i already bought there a few times so im guessing they would have a good deal for me, price wise of course.
i do have 2 more sources, ill find out the prices for now...
but i still need to know what im going for...=P
@ 1 That aint the point, but you wanted to play FEAR and Quake 4 so I suggested to get a new videocard, you can keep the old one, but I would advise a PCIe and AGP mobo. And the only mobo which has that kind of feature is the Asrock 939Dual-SATA2.

@ 2 You'll have to screw up your pc case.

@ 3 Ok :)

@ Smith, I get normal scores for my system @ 3dmarks05, ofcourse I checked that first with my PSU :p, also I would experince slow down and crashes if my psu wouldnt be powerfull enough.

Also Anandtech(Which has a better name imo, but Ill let that hang in the middle) it performed superb.
Also with some more browsing:
http://www.ocworkbench.com/2005/asrock/reviews/939Dual-SATA2/conclusion.htm

And ofcourse it should have a good V-Rail I said a GOOD PSU ;).(And 550watt is just overboard, asuming it has a decent v-rail and pushes it watts out it is saying)
 

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