Your opinion needed please

[benwynn]

I'm acually looking at this one now, if I'm going to buy another 8800GT (or what ever GXF card I buy) down the road, to future-proof it.

http://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecificati...x?ItemID=363541

However it says:

QUOTE

- ASUS Fanless Design: Heatsink solution
- ASUS Q-Fan 2[/quote]

So it's a fanless design, but comes with a fan?

[brownbox]

It is a fanless motherboard. The asus Q-fan refers to the motherboards ability to change the cpu fans speed dependant on temperature, thus allowing for minimum noise from your system, hence the name q-fan.
The P5N-D is the model down from mine, and by the looks of it, it has a bigger heatsink that mine, so it should be alright. Mines been fine all this time, and ive overclocked my CPU to almost 200% of the original speed, and it hasnt skipped a beat. Then again, my case has 5 120mm fans.
You will be alright, I thought I would just mention that the fanless mobos a little toasty. As long as you dont do any overclocking, youll be fine.

EDIT
Now that I read more closely, the P5N-D is infact the model up from mine, and by the looks of it, they have rectified the problem the p5n and p5n-e models had with heat by adding a bigger heatsink. In this case, you will be fine. Nice choice of mobo by the way. Mines taken a beating (not to mention a few modifications) over the year ive had it, and its fine

[NZ255]

Yeah the only thing is it only supports the 800mhz ram, can this be changed if it's ovaclocked?

EDIT: What case have you got the Antec 900?

[brownbox]

my case is the Coolermaster CM690

Only cost me a whole $60 new with shipping.

You will have to look at reviews on the motherboard to see its overclocking potential. It most probably can be overclocked past 800, but no promises.

[NZ255]

That case looks nice, I really wanted something with a side window, but I guess it's what's in the case, noti what the case looks like.
Still I think I might get the 900, I lkie the look of it and the reviews its got are pritty good for a mid case.

Nick

[brownbox]

the antect 900 is certainly a nice case. It was the price that kept me away

[deaneb]

There are some details on updating a PC on a budget to run FSX here

[NZ255]

QUOTE (brownbox @ Apr 24 2008, 07:35 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

my case is the Coolermaster CM690

Only cost me a whole $60 new with shipping.

Where did you get this from for $60, cheapest I can find is like $170

[brownbox]

ahhh, i see the price has gone up, and it can be had for around $130 now. I got mine when it was on special and i beleive it was also a clearance sale. At the time they were about 90 without being on special.

[NZ255]

OK, 2 month old topic, REVIVE!

Righto, after selling our old computer to my friend, and most of our PS2 games on Trade me, we finally are ready to start ordering.
I have been reading review after review after opinion after opinion, I think I have got it now.

Here's the current line up, please share your opinion and thoughts.

Case Centurion 590
Motherboard GA-P35-DS3L
CPU Core 2 Duo E8400 (Overclocking to 4GHz hopefully with the help of this:
CPU Cooling Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme
PSU Corsair TX650
Ram Crucial Ballistix
Video Card Palit 8800GT 512M I know it links to Asus, but similar specs.
DVD drive Asus DRW-2014L1T, SATA

Total Cost = $1300

Just using Ascent for displaying, can save 90 bucks if having a look on Price spy.

Nick

[benwynn]

OC to 4.0Ghz? Not a good idea unless you have good cooling. It could screw your system up big time.

Dono why u need such a good case, I still have my dell 4700 Case with completely different parts in it!

Processor- Good
Mobo- Meh, mobo is a mobo.
Ram- Kingston is always good, but it looks OK

Rest is neither here nor there.

[Anthony]

Just a thought, but why not consider the ATI HD4850 for a graphics card?
The 4850 isn't too much dearer than the 8800GT, maybe $50 or so from Gigabyte or Sapphire, but is newer and seems to be the better of the two from what I have read.
It's single slot like the 8800GT, but isn't such 'proven technology' I suppose. It is pretty hot, but not too ridiculous.
I've been looking at computer builds and I was originally going to go for the 8800GT, but then the HD4850 came out and I think I'm pretty much swayed towards it. Though I haven't heard much about its performance in FS, it seems to be pretty good in other games, even Crysis.

With regards to oc'ing the CPU, I've heard of some good results with it but perhaps I would't push it quite to 4 GHz.
The GPForums are good for this sort of thing as well by the way.

[NZ255]

Wow, thanks for the tip on that 4850, I think I've converted! Haha

It's got better frame rates than the 8800 Ultra and 9800 GTX!!! All that for about half the price! 315 bucks! For anyone interested: See here

I think I may also change to the Q6600 G0, and OC it to at least 3GHz, maybe more after.

[brownbox]

with that setup you could be able to hit 4gb on the cpu. The q6600 is good too. Thats a nice psu too.

[Anthony]

Yer the Q6600 G0 is like the wonderchip or something.
Standard clock is okay so it's not too bad out of the box, but it can be overclocked something wicked if you've got the guts to push it and the cooling and PSU and stuff (which you do).

You're welcome on the 4850 tip, it was just an idea seeing as it's fairly new to the scene and better bang for buck compared to the 8800 which was pretty much the leading mid-range card for a while (look at how many members here have some varient of the 8800).

[NZ255]

OK, I think I may just be ready to order , just waiting on some emails to see if some stuff is in stock

[NZ255]

The only problem I may have is, does the ATX version have to be the same for the PSU and mobo? I can't find out what the mobo ATX version is but the TX650 is:

QUOTE

* Supports ATX12V v2.2 standard and older ATX12V 2.01 spec[/quote]
I'm not to sure but I would think so...anyone fill me in?

Anyone know the ATX version on the GA-P35-DS3L?\

Thanks

Last edited by NZ255 on Mon Jul 14, 2008 11:06 am, edited 1 time in total.

[NZ255]

I've had it up to here with this blimmin PC!

After doing some reading, I discovered that the original mobo didn't support this that and the other, so I changed it to the Asus P5K Pro for 20 bucks extra (unless anyone tells me other wise)

So my new line up is now this:

Case Centurion 590
Motherboard Asus P5K Pro
CPU Core 2 Quad Q6600 (Overclocking to 3GHz (at least) with the help of this:
CPU Cooling Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme
PSU Corsair Corsair TX650
Ram Crucial Ballistix
Video Card HIS HD 4850
DVD drive Asus DRW-2014L1T, SATA

Total: $1390, bit over budget but hopefully will preform good.

Sorry this is dragging on and on, I'm sick of it my self, but hopefully if every thing's in stock, I can order tomorrow *fingers crossed*

Nick

[Anthony]

I think ATX is just a sizing specification. ATX is full size and mATX is like a mini version or something, but I'm not sure.
As far as I can tell everything you've specced out looks fine.
Might have to change/update your signature though

The Thermalright cooler isn't 100% necessary, but if you want to overclock, which you do, then it's worth getting it.
I will probably look at a very similar rig for my upcoming build

[NZ255]

QUOTE

The Thermalright cooler isn't 100% necessary, but if you want to overclock, which you do, then it's worth getting it.[/quote]
Yeah, I've read countless reviews that say that the TRUE (ThermalRight Ultra-120 Extreme) is the way to go. It's got a removable fan, so if the stock is too loud, you can replace it with a quieter one. Well, thats all I can think of for now but....um...yeah. Might change to this??? Reading reviews now.

QUOTE

I think ATX is just a sizing specification. ATX is full size and mATX is like a mini version or something, but I'm not sure.[/quote]
Thanks for checking it over, I knew the ATX is a size thing (like you say ATX, mATX). But the "ATX Version: 2.2 , 2.01 , 1.0....." and so on confused me. **Just spock to Crazy on MSN, he said that "ATX is a brand of PSU (Intel)" "its a cheapy brand like "homebrand" at supermarkets"

But still, I can't aford a non-ATX PSU as he suggested so I will stick with what I've got I think.

NZ255

NZFF Pro

 

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