How much trouble am I going to have?

[Dorthin_Othortin]

SOOOOOO, I finally decided to buy a new computer, and decided once again to build it myself.....

currently I am running:
3700+ AMD Athlon 64 cpu
ASUS A8N-SLI MB
1.5 gig cosair XMS ram
2 SLI enabled 7600GT EVGA 128bit cards
IDE 120 gig WD 7200 rpm HD

Im about to purchase:
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Black Edition Processor Model
ASUS M2N-SLI Deluxe AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard
CORSAIR 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
1x EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP
Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
LITE-ON 16X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA
Rosewill RCR-102 52-in-1 USB 2.0 Black Card Reader
MASSCOOL FHD-4020S1H HDD Cooler
2x Seagate Barracuda ES.2 ST3250310NS 250GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

NOW, before anyone goes posting "oh blah, blah, blah amd vs intel" dont, please. Ive been an AMD buyer for about 10 years now and out of my last 5 built computers with AMD cpu's I have never had a single problem. I have never had system crashes, installation problems, or anything. I am an AMD fan and will always support their product over Intel.

Do i know that the new quad core Intel processors actually clock higher in bench testing? yes. Do i know that the intel quad core processors are slightly faster? Yes. So, dont go there.

my question is this, will i be much happier playing DDO with this system setup? I think I will, but i wanted to ask around before i hit that "purchase submit" key and build this setup.

also, would like to get feedback from anyone that has recently bought a similar setup and how they like it, or dislike it.

would also like any suggestions as to changes (other than CPU) that anyone would make

ALSO, i will not be using Vista to build this machine right off the bat, i will be installing winXP OS, yes i know it will not support 4g ram. I am cutting a few corners cash wise and i plan on upgrading to Vista in the future, however from the ppl ive talked to about this ive been told that xp will suit my purposes for now, is that a mistake?

thanks for the input and please dont post if youre going to try to talk me out of AMD and into Intel, not gonna fly! lol

[Impaqt]

What res do you play at? You would gainjust as much performance by moving to 2 Gigs of Dual Channel Memory as you would from buildign that whole rig.

DDO Isnt all that intensive......

[Dorthin_Othortin]

true, but this is my present to myself, i do this every 2 years lol

i buy a new system every 2 years

dont rain on my parade!

[Auran82]

1x EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 320MB 320-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP

The 512mb versions of the GTS are somewhat faster than the 320mb ones, even the 880GT 512mb is faster than the 320mb GTS

[Vhlad]

You could try XP 64 bit if you don't want vista. The main suggestion I have is to change that 8800 gts 320. It is the older G80 model (90nm) and runs hotter than the newer 65nm G92's: 8800 gt 512 or 8800 gts 512. The gts is newer than the gt, and slightly better (but ~$30 more expensive). Both cards will outperform the 8800 gts 320 though. Price should not be that different.

[Dorthin_Othortin]

thats cool to know, thanks

[Weedo]

do not use windows longhorn (aka 64bit windows), stick with xp if you don't like vista.
and as for the parts on this new monster comp your building i think you should do it as long as you have the money. i love AMD but personally i think you should go with an ATI video card...and speaking for those on a budget...your hardrives dont need to be that uber, and why do you need 2 of them? do you really have 500gb's worth of stuff that you actually need? especially if your gonna get another comp in two years..and theres also no point in getting 4 gigs of ram if your not going to be able to use them all. i also think you could definately get a cheaper tower, after all its just a casing, when i built mine i went for size, its so much easier building a comp when theres plenty of room to work with in the tower.... and cooling systems are definately over rated, i like how they make the computer silent when its on but a few case fans plus being inside an air conditioned room should work just fine

[Praxxis_Strongarm]

I just built a new PC my self. I think that you will enjoy the new rig immensely. I have similar specs, but I went with INTEL Q6600 Quad, OCZ 4 GB RAM, EVGA nforce 680 SLI A1 MB, EVGA 8800GTS 640MB 320-bit, X-FI XTREMEGAMER Sound Card, 2 WD 500 GB 7200 RPM HD, and the ANTEC 900 Case. I have enjoyed playing DDO a great deal with my config, so hopefully you will be as pleased.

[Dorthin_Othortin]

i hear ya, but heres some of my reasoning,

the case is expensive but i want to make sure i have overkill on air flow, i always do that, this case has alot of airflow and i just like the case

the 4 gig of ram, i do plan on going with vista in the future so even tho i know i cant use all of the 4g now i will be able to then

the 2 hd, no i dont need 500g of storage space, but i plan on running them in raid

as far as the ATI thing, yeah i like ati cards as well, esp the new 3870 cards, but i just felt like sticking with nvidia this time and im a brand buyer and ive never had a problem from EVGA cards

overall, minus the video card this system comes in under my 1k budget i allow myself to spend, comes in under 700 actually. i dont plan on playing ddo forever either, i wanna try out AOC when it comes out so i wanna make sure i got a system that can handle something more than ddo.

just my thinking

[satya_sai]

this is really similar to what I just built.... only yours owns mine
I went Asus mb also... ASUS M2N32-SLI NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD and my only problem with it is that the pci express wasn't 2.0 which was pretty stupid of me.
I screwed up buying my vid card anyway and had to get a new one cause my first didn't have a fan or ps plug in.
I upgraded the vid card to EVGA 512-P3-N801-AR GeForce 8800GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
I'm not even running quad core... I got Athlon 64 FX-62 125W Dual-Core

I skipped Vista and stuck with XP even though I got a completely vista ready system as well. Vista can bite it.

And mine is smoking. Yours is going to own everything and probably open up a vortex which sucks all of North America into oblivion.
I'm getting minimum fps of 65-70 now and my res is maxxed at like 1600 x 1250 or whatever it is and system performance is great.

I'm having some bit of lag spike..shroud portal especially... but i'm pretty convinced that's not me at all.

I know this because my mom goes to college.

[Dorthin_Othortin]

yes, satya, your mom does go to college, however........

how much ram did you get with yours?

i assume you had no problems installing or win seeing all your components etc? ie saying you have what you have on system data after installing.

[Dorthin_Othortin]

btw, this MB does not have the 2.0 pci, just the old, am i going to regret that?

i cant seem to find a reasonable MB that has both 2.0 and SLI support, or maybe i just haven't looked hard enough

anyone know of a good one?

i want to run SLI nvida and i would like 2.0...........

[Uamhas]

This post feels like home, cuz I'm hearing all this technobabble, my eyes are glazed, and I can't understand a word. Now if someone can just say "hey babe" every once in awhile it'll be a perfect reproduction.

[brshelton]

dont get the antec 900 case i regret choosing that as mine

[Rissten]

you should be. I'm useing and almost the same setup except 4 gig of ram and 500 gig HD run graphic on ultra high no probs. only time I lag is when the server causes it.

[satya_sai]

yes, satya, your mom does go to college, however........

how much ram did you get with yours?

i assume you had no problems installing or win seeing all your components etc? ie saying you have what you have on system data after installing.

Started with only 2gig.
No problems at all.

The PCI Express 2.0 vid cards will work with your board... the only problem is that you'll lose performance with them.
The theory is that they would nearly double performance being 2.0 compatible (but somehow, I seriously doubt that).
So yeah, .. I went SLI nvidia too. Didn't even think about the 2.0 because the x16 fit.

Thing is...it hurts a little when you look to upgrade vid cards and know you're not getting the best bang for the buck (like your mom).

Good luck finding one with all three. I have no clue.

[Dorthin_Othortin]

dont get the antec 900 case i regret choosing that as mine

whats wrong with this case?