Building a new computer. some questions

[Ddraig85]

1)The motherboard I am looking at has a Nvidia chipset, but I would like an ATI video card. Is that possiable?

2)If so, what's the difference between these two chipsets: NVIDIA nForce4 SLI and NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra?

If I have more questions, I will post. Thanks for your response.

 

[Ddraig85]

3) Can you clearify what I am looking at? The name of the processor is "Athlon 64 3500" but it has an operating frequency of 2.2GHz. So does it run at 3.5ghz or 2.2, because that is a huge difference?

 

[DragonQ0105]

1) Yes. The chipset has nothing to do with the Grahpics Card. Popular chipsets include nVidia and VIA, it just so happens that nVidia makes Graphics Cards too.

2) SLI Boards have 2 PCI-E 16x Slots so that you can put 2 PCI-E Graphics Cards into the Motherboard and use their combined power to produce graphics. The Ultra board is the same, but without SLI capability (it'll also only have 1 PCI-E 16x Slot for a single Graphics Card).

MORE INFO:

http://www.slizone.com/content/slizone/learn.html

3) The performance for the Athlon64 3500 is equivalent to the performance of an Athlon Thunderbird running at 3.5GHz.

However, people usually accept this as also meaning that its performance is similar to a Pentium 4 running at 3.5GHz aswell (the P4 and Athlon Thunderbird were very similar performance-wise).

However, the Athlon64 is able to run a 64-Bit OS and Programs, and in these situations, will run much faster than a P4 3.5GHz.

 

[Ddraig85]

Wow, you answered all of my questions perfectly. Thanks for the info, and I am glad to hear that I can still get an ATI vid card with the Nvidia chipset.

 

[Ddraig85]

Another question for ya. I am looking at the cooling aspect of the system and I am not sure on something. I have seen some people say that they have 2 fans in their system, does it make that big of a difference? Also, what generates the most heat (what should the fan be blowing on)?

 

[franklin97355]

Some people have many fans in their case. You should have one on the CPU, one or more (or not) in the PSU, maybe one on the video card, one or more in the case blowing in (or out (or both)) to change the air inside with hopefully cooler outside air.

 

[spanishfleee]

personally i would buy a nvidia graphics card over ATI. and i wiould also advise sticking with the Athlon 64 as AMD is alot better than Pentium

 

[paparazi]

A few things here:
When AMD name their CPU's they are always rate them against the Intel equivelent not there own range, quote:

"The performance for the Athlon64 3500 is equivalent to the performance of an Athlon Thunderbird running at 3.5GHz"

"The Thunderbird core" was the original socket A Athlon that only went up to 1.4Ghz so the analogy just doesn't work (I accept that P4 was also mentioned)

Basically Athlon64's speed ratings are compared directly to P4's true clock speeds at around the same performance.
Also AMD's budget Sempron's are rated as compared to the equivelent budget Intel Celeron's true clock speed again more or less the same performance.

As for fans.
Well I note you are looking at a fairly high end setup, performance generally means heat, heat that needs to be taken out the case efficiently, that brings us back to fans and the need to have a reasonable turn over of air internally so as not to allow temperatures to rise too much.
The CPU is the number 1 heat generator followed by the graphics card and then the hard drive. The CPU and normally the graphics card have their own fans but as these fans are air coolers their efficiency is directly related to the temperature of the air they are using to cool the component.
Thats why case cooling is so important, by tuning over the air in the case all internal components will effectively be running at lower temperatures and this as you can appreciate will help reliability and the longevity of your parts.
The usual basic setup is:
One case fan front lower mounting point drawing IN cool air
PLUS
One case fan top rear (underneath the PSU) EXHAUSTING OUT

This is considerd standard cooling for any middle to high spec machine (note* hot air naturally rises) so this setup just helps natural convection.

Use the biggest fans that your mounting points will support.
Bigger fans are normally quieter for any given CFM rating (less noise/higher volume of air moved)

Ideally 120mm fans if supported.
Martin






We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Ddraig85]

Thanks for your help. I am getting an Athalon 64, not a pentium and I prefer ATI over Nvidia. The vid card that I am getting has a fan but the CPU doesn't, so I will make sure I get a couple to put in my sytem. The case that I am getting has a tempature read out on it, what is the target temp?

 

[spanishfleee]

well target temp basically the lower the temp the better, the temp will rise when the machine is doing more stuff like running ganes or high end software, when it is not in use the temp will drop down.

 

[paparazi]

Ddraig85
The vid card that I am getting has a fan but the CPU doesn't.
Are you sure thats right?

Difficult to say about case temps, there are just so many determining factors ie: room temp, CPU temp, other components used etc etc.

If you go for an Athlon64 3500 then try and get the very latest Venice core.
Built on 90nm die but with added instruction set, the latest 3500 runs very cool so you will never need to be worried about CPU temps.
Martin

We like members to GIVE and not just TAKE.
Participate and help others.

 

[Sympology]

Make sure that the CPU fan is a good quality one. Speak to your supplier about what you want to do with the pc and they should be able to advise. Don't skimp on this. If your CPU fan fails, so will your proccessor, more than likely permantly.

Stu..

Only the truly stupid believe they know everything.
Stu.. 2004

 

[Enndiem]

Enndiem (TechnicalUser) Jun 2, 2005
2) SLI Boards have 2 PCI-E 16x Slots so that you can put 2 PCI-E Graphics Cards into the Motherboard and use their combined power to produce graphics. The Ultra board is the same, but without SLI capability (it'll also only have 1 PCI-E 16x Slot for a single Graphics Card).



That SLI comment isn't entirely correct. The ultra board can also have two PCI-E x16 slots. SLI is a technology developed by Nvidia to run two of their 'special' SLI enabled cards. This involves an SLI bridge which is a special chip that connects the two cards together. There's no reason to spend the extra money on an SLI capable board if you don't intend to get the nvidia SLI cards. There are nf4 Ultra boards that can support dual cards as well, SLI is not neccessary to do this. It's especially not important as ATI does not have SLI boards. This is a propriatary technology created by Nvidia. ATI has recently come out with the technology to do something similar and possibly better known as Crossfire. You can read about it here:

http://ati.com/products/crossfire/index.html

Hope this clears things up a bit.