Upgrading hardware: choices, choises :-) (1 Viewer)

[fikse]

What about theese components:

• Asus M4A78T-E mainboard
• Phenom X3 720 BE
• 2x2GB Kit from Corsair
• Sapphire 4850, with HDMI.
• Sony NEC BlueRay-player BR-5100S-0B + CBDS6, bundled with DVDsuite v6
• Logitech S520 cordless keyboard/mouse.
• Seagate Barracuda 500GB 7200.12

Already have a 3R HT-1100 case, some good Zalman CPU/GPU-fans, and some quiet fans, and a 500W good PSU. I use the case today with some old MB, a P4 Prescott (heatbomb) and a X1300, and it runs quiet, but its not enough juice, and no BlueRay.

OS I have license for 32bit XP Pro, and stick with that, until Win7 is released/stable. Vista is a no-go for me...

It might seems like a bit overkill with this spec, but I am gonna use the machine not only for MP, but also gaming.

Comments most welcome

 

[Spragleknas]

Well, I think you sum it up nicely yourself:
"It might seems like a bit overkill with this spec," - other than that I have no comment

 

[happy]

i'd personally get a hold of a ATi 4550 or 4350 there passivly cooled, and i can swear by them both for blu ray as i used to own them there both very efficient, and if i remember correctly use 25watts at full load

keyboard and mouse take a look at the Logitech DiNova awesome for what it is

 

[fikse]

Well, I think you sum it up nicely yourself:
"It might seems like a bit overkill with this spec," - other than that I have no comment

Absolutely. If I should use it only with MP and similar tasks, Ill guess this would be waste of money But since I also want it to be a OK gaming-machine, for games who is hungry for power, I will try to squeeze the most out of a silent machine.

 

[fikse]

i'd personally get a hold of a ATi 4550 or 4350 there passivly cooled, and i can swear by them both for blu ray as i used to own them there both very efficient, and if i remember correctly use 25watts at full load

keyboard and mouse take a look at the Logitech DiNova awesome for what it is

You remember correct: 25W, while the 4850 is 110W. Its huge difference! Now, what I also consider, is gaming capacity. While the 4550 gives 96 GFLOPS, the 4850 gives 1000. Of course there is other ways to check performance, but 10 times should count for something. Actually it is possible to get the 4850 as passive cooled, but still it makes alot of heat, and that got to get out. What I hope is that if I buy a cheap 4850 (with a rubbish fan), mount a quiet, big, lowspeed Zalman-fan and also some 18dB, 80mm case fans pretty close the GPU, I will manage to keep the temp and noise down, and still have the performance "needed" for pretty heavy games. A shame that ATI has not implemented PowerExpress at desktop GPUs, but only at their mobile series. If so, I could run in CrossFire with a integrated HD3300, so the 4850 most of the time is shutted down. At least the 4850 will run at idle at most of the time, that should count for something

Now I already have bought some of the stuff, and also the keyboard/mouse. The S520 is a pretty cheap set, so if it isn't doing the job properly, I will have a look at the DiNovo. I have earlier tried the Gyration Go compact keyboard and mouse. Its very very nice, but not the price, almost £200!