New budget build - comments

[floppybootstomp]

I've just built a computer for a friend using almost all the spare parts I had lying about and I took the motherboard/CPU/CPU Cooler/Memory from my media machine to complete the build.

So I'm looking to replace those parts in my media machine. It's only for video and audio playback so I don't need high spec.

I've selected these parts and would welcome any comments.

Asus M2N68, NF630a, S AM2+, PCI-E (x16), DDR2 1066/533/667/800, SATA II, SATA RAID, ATX

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ AM2 Dual Core 2.7GHz, 512KB x 2 Cache, Retail

2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX XMS2, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), 240 Pins, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 4-4-4-12

That lot comes to £128.02 (I get free postage at Scan)

I'm wondering whether or not to get a third party CPU cooler or use the stock retail AMD cooler.

Also, which memory timings are best as the Corsair memory comes in two flavours but both the same price.

Settings available are

CAS 4-4-4-12 & CAS 5-5-5-18

The rest of the components will be:

Thermaltake Bach silver aluminium media case
DVDRW; DVD-ROM; Floppy drive
BFG Nvidia 7600GT 256Mb Vid card
Jeantech 350W PSU
Soundblaster Audigy 2 Soundcard
Hauppage digital twin tuner Nova T 500 TV card with remote control
2 x Samsung 500Gb SATA II HDD's
Linksys wireless WMP54G network card

 

[guest_9323wk]

All looks fine to me mate,

I would buy a third party CPU cooler as it would be better, you could build it and see what the temps are like and then decide if you want a better CPU cooler or not. I my self would go for the lower timings ram because you will have more OC head room with them, than with the higher ones.


Hope this helps,

Regards

 

[Abarbarian]

On October 21st, 2008, AMD launched the Athlon 64 X2 5050e processor, which is based on the 65nm Brisbane core. The AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e processor is clocked at 2.60GHz and has a TDP rating of just 45 Watts at the highest peak power. The Athlon X2 5050e is wildly popular for Small Form Factor (SFF) and Home Theater Personal Computers (HTPCs) as the low TDP means that it puts out less heat and consumes less power than other processors in its class.

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/AMD-...et-AM2-Dual-Core-26GHz-512KB-x-2-Cache-Retail

I'd go for the 5050e it is £2 more but uses less electric and will be well powerful enough for your needs.

I got a 2 x 1 GB DDR2 PC 6400 Dual Channel Kit of Geil Ultra Low Latency memory CAS 4-4-4-12 never been overclocked and only seen light use for 6 months you can have for £ 18 including postage.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=65721

Thats an old link so the prices are way too high.

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thanks, Abarb, for the advice.

I'll go for the 5050e cpu, looks good.

Think I'll pass on the memory, that module's no longer made and I've never been keen on Geil tbh. Sorry, but when Geil first appeared, their product came low in all reviews.

I'm something of a Corsair, Crucial and OCZ fan when it comes to memory.

Thanks for the offer though

 

[floppybootstomp]

All looks fine to me mate,

I would buy a third party CPU cooler as it would be better, you could build it and see what the temps are like and then decide if you want a better CPU cooler or not. I my self would go for the lower timings ram because you will have more OC head room with them, than with the higher ones.


Hope this helps,

Regards

I actually let a Zalman CNPS 8000 cooler go with the motherboard combo I sold. Mistake, I should have fitted the stock cooler to the one I sold.

Given the internal dimension sof the case, that Zalman is probably the best bet, but it comes to £38.00 with postage from OCUK, Scan don't stock it. In fact Scan are a bit rubbish when it comes to their stock of CPU coolers.

I shall do what you suggested, try the stock cooler first. After all, playing movies isn't really going to stress it that much is it?

 

[Abarbarian]

No sweat about the memory flops.

Mebees I can interest you in a Zalman CNPS 7000B AlCu cooler quieter than a 8000 but heavier.I'll even hoover the cobwebs of it.

insert smiling smilie

 

[guest_9323wk]

I actually let a Zalman CNPS 8000 cooler go with the motherboard combo I sold. Mistake, I should have fitted the stock cooler to the one I sold.

Given the internal dimension sof the case, that Zalman is probably the best bet, but it comes to £38.00 with postage from OCUK, Scan don't stock it. In fact Scan are a bit rubbish when it comes to their stock of CPU coolers.

I shall do what you suggested, try the stock cooler first. After all, playing movies isn't really going to stress it that much is it?

Thats a shame Zalman are good coolers oh well at least you can still buyt them Yeah movies wont stress it to much so you should be ok, still keep an eye on the temps. Are you going for the lower timing memory or the higher one?

 

[floppybootstomp]

Abarb: Might well be interested in the cooler, will try stock cooler first.

Wiz: The lower timings memory

 

[floppybootstomp]

Ok, been having a rethink, am now considering this motherboard with a 780g chipset, reasons being:

Made primarily for media centre computers, has an hdmi output. Also has VGA o/p and a hdmi to DVI converter supplied with it if you want to use DVI (which I do for now).

It also has 1066 fsb which means if it's fitted with a Phenom processor it can take advantage of 1066Mhz RAM.

M3A78 PRO ATX AM2 780G 8Gb DDR2 VGA PCI-Ex16 Hybrid Crossfire SATA2 Raid 2x1394a GigaBit LAN Audio

With a 2M gold plated hdmi cable and postage, that will cost me £78.78 from e-buyer.

And from Scan I would buy:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5050e, Socket AM2, Dual Core, 2.6GHz, 512KB x 2 Cache, Retail

and

2GB (2x1GB) Corsair TwinX DDR2 XMS2 Dominator, PC2-8500 (1066), 240 Pin, Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5

Those items would cost, inclusive, £95.08 from Scan.

That makes a total price of £173.86

I've selected 1066mhz memory as that would make the setup ready for an upgrade to a Phenom processor when and if they are reduced in price. The 1066 RAM costs about ten pounds more than the 800 type.

So, for another £46.00 when compared to the first system, I would get a faster fsb and inbuilt graphics with direct hdmi out. It would also leave me a spare 7600GT vid card.

Such are the physical size limitations of the case that were I to choose the 780g board I would either have to do away with the floppy drive fitted or cut about 6mm from the end of the 5.25" drive bay it's fitted to. Not really a problem. The cheaper motherboard fits into the case perfectly.

Both boards have enough pci slots to take TV Tuner, wireless NIC and sound card.

So, do you think the extra expense is worth it, considering it will only be used for video and audio?

£128.00 vs £174.00

I'm undecided but am leaning slightly towards the cheaper option.

Your views welcome.

 

[Ian]

I suffer from the same problem Flops ... my build starts of at £x... then I find that for "only" an extra £50 I can get something a bit better

That 2nd set does look good, but I'd probably go for the 1st option and get something else with the £46 instead. Unless you've got a nice new TV that can use HDMI and you use it a lot, or you think you'll use the Phenom as something else in the future. Not sure if the faster FSB would do much on an audio/video machine - it seems speedy enough already

 

[floppybootstomp]

Thinking about it, the only real advantage for the extra money is hdmi out.

I do plan, eventually, to use this with a TV. I know almost all LCD TV's have VGA in now but I was going to use the DVI output of the 7600GT card with a DVI to hdmi lead into the TV's hdmi input.

Will that still give me full 1080/blueray playback? Cos the more expensive option I've listed will enable that playback.

It may seem odd, but although part of my work involves audio visual equipment I've never yet been involved where I've had to connect a computer to a TV, so I'm pretty much in the dark on this one.

If my video card will drive the TV's hdmi input with the apropiate lead, I'll definitely go for the cheaper option.

The cheaper option will also allow me to upgrade the video card should I want to play computer games on a big TV, quite an important consideration for me as well.

This is the month I had actually planned to buy a TV but work is so dire at the moment I'll be lucky to pay the bills

So TV's on hold for a while.

Makros are currently selling a Sony 40" 1080 TV, model number KDL40V4000 for £575.00 inc VAT which seems like a good buy to me.

 

[crazylegs]

Sony 40" 1080 TV, model number KDL40V4000

Its the W range you should be looking at Flopp's not the V range..

 

[floppybootstomp]

Its the W range you should be looking at Flopp's not the V range..

Why dat?

And can anybody confirm my video card will drive a TV's hdmi input with a DVI to hdmi lead?

 

[V_R]

Im not sure about the above flops. However i'd suggest having a read around or even asking over at http://www.avforums.com/ The guys over there really know their stuff and will be happy to answer your AV q's .

(Hope you dont mind me linking to another forum BTW)

 

[crazylegs]

Oh well in that case I'll shut up then..

 

[floppybootstomp]

Oh well in that case I'll shut up then..

Nah, don't do that

Why W over V? I'm intrigued.

Is it perchance something to do with 1080/1080p?

V_R - ok to provide link to helpful specialist forums.

I may well go there but I'm afraid I was putting this very complex quote together for work, very involved, and at about 6pm I thought 'Jeez, I need a Guinness'.

So this evening I am prematurely p****d

Best wait until I am on an even keel eh?

 

[floppybootstomp]

New build now up, running and purring

I went with the cheapo version in the end, motherboard and memory linked to in first post plus AMD dualie 5050e 2.6Ghz CPU.

Also bought a DVI to hdmi lead/converter set from Scan, gold plated, for twenty quid for when I eventually get a telly.

Lately I'm liking Scan more and more, they've been superb on last few orders.

I have XP/SP3 up and running, all is good and the system is very nippy indeed.

Not impressed with stock AMD cooler though, I lapped it for 10 minutes and used Arctic Silver thermal compound, case top is off atm and it's still 42C on idle. Not good. Will eventually get a third party cooler.

Thanks, all, for input, still wondering about W & V though...

 

[Madxgraphics]

Does lapping the cooler make much of a difference..?

 

[floppybootstomp]

Does lapping the cooler make much of a difference..?

Yes it does.

See posts from Abarbarian to confirm.

In this instance, however, I didn't really do it long enough for it to make much of a difference, I spent about ten minutes with three grades of wet and dry, is all. Although it probably helped a little, to gain a distinct cooling advantage, you have to spend at least one hour slowly rubbing the metal surface down. And hopefully arrive at a mirror finish.

I left the stock cooler (60mm fan still attached) on top of radiator for half an hour after using water and wet and dry paper, three grades. Just to make sure all moisture gone.

 

[Abarbarian]

Nice to here you are up and running. Just don't install any software and it will keep on sprinting away.