[Baskt_Case]

Ok, maybe not so n00b? I got an Apple II when I was 8 and havent looked back (I'm 30 now). This IS my first complete build from the top down though, rather than just upgrading something I got on the cheap. Did reuse some older but still good hardware.

Asus M4A785TD-M Evo
Athlon II X2 255 Regor @ 3.1GHz
4GB of G.Skill Ripjaws DDR3-1333, 7-7-7-21 @ 1.5V
500GB WD Caviar Blue SATA
250GB WD PATA
DVD Combo PATA
Belkin Wireless PCI Card
Older but nice generic brand fullsize case, couple of Thermaltake fans.
Corsair 400CX PSU
Win 7 x64

About $364 not counting Win7, $543 with.

Def a huge upgrade from my old Athlon XP 1800+, and a welcome workhorse in the stable next to my Acer Netbook. Transcoding on an Atom gets old!

Currently, its all stock with the exception of BIOS adjustments to accomodate my RAM. I came out 12 hours stable on Memtest98+ and just about everything seems to be in order. I installed Win to a 60GB partition on the SATA drive to keep things tidy and snappy, for now. Once I rearrange some fans in the case I'm going to overclock the onboard HD4200 from 500MHz to 700MHz. Of course this is only a holdover until I go discrete. For now it serves me well via HDMI on my 32" LCD. After I get done playing with all the settings and get completely comfortable with the new AM3 stuff, I'm going to do a fresh re-install of Win7 x64. I've installed/removed alot of software lately while experimenting and I'm sure the registry is a mess, among other things.

When I get brave enough, I'll start OC'ing the CPU and pushing the RAM a bit but I'm just researching and learning for now. I know the board is old now, but I think theres plenty of headroom to tweak and grow. What do you guys think?

 

[nubz]

I just did a build like this for my grandparents they wanted to keep the cost down, it is a fairly snappy build!

 

[-iceblade^]

looks good.

those Athlon II's are pretty quick, especially with a good OC. slap in a 5670 or 5750 and you're golden

 

[Baskt_Case]

Yea, I was very pleased right off the bat with the boot times and overall responsiveness. Win7's 15 minute install time was a real breath of fresh air.

I dont know if I'm pleased with the RAM though... Experience Index rates the memory a 5.9, behind the CPU @ 6.9 IIRC, but PC Wizard benchmarks it above everything in its database except the Core iX systems. I tried downclocking to 1066 with tighter timings but lost bandwidth. Then tried squeezing the timings at 1333 but couldnt boot. G.Skill rates it specifically for 1333 @ 777-21 and thats what its running.

What is a good benchmarking suite that I can use to compare my performance to other individuals? Theres so many, SiSoft, 3D Mark, PC Mark, etc. I'm not one of those score junkies, but I would like to know my setup is where it should be.

 

[YangerD]

That should be a nice little upgrade for ya. Hope you enjoy it

 

[Kevlo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baskt_Case Yea, I was very pleased right off the bat with the boot times and overall responsiveness. Win7's 15 minute install time was a real breath of fresh air. I dont know if I'm pleased with the RAM though... Experience Index rates the memory a 5.9, behind the CPU @ 6.9 IIRC, but PC Wizard benchmarks it above everything in its database except the Core iX systems. I tried downclocking to 1066 with tighter timings but lost bandwidth. Then tried squeezing the timings at 1333 but couldnt boot. G.Skill rates it specifically for 1333 @ 777-21 and thats what its running. What is a good benchmarking suite that I can use to compare my performance to other individuals? Theres so many, SiSoft, 3D Mark, PC Mark, etc. I'm not one of those score junkies, but I would like to know my setup is where it should be.

First of all dont really pay attention to the windows experience index, its not a good benchmark. although that does seem kinda strange IIRC my RAM at stock 1333 got around 7, now of coarse its 7.5 and the highest out of everything.
Overclock a bit and the scores will go up. The 255 should at least hit 3.5/3.6 and that should also increase you RAM unless you like way downclock it. oh and i wouldnt recomend going to 1066, because in my rig for example in sandra soft (SiSoftware) i get better performance at my current overclock of 1566 with looser timings than i do with 1333 with 7-7-7-26. but still what ever floats your boat

 

[Baskt_Case]

I need to get SiSoft downloaded and then I can compare to the abundance of scores out there. I know the Win Index is pretty much useless and dont like using it comparatively but its all I've got atm besides PC Wizard.