Maximum PC

I plan to build this system next Spring and I need some advise before I go and spend $1750. I want this thing to last me through College. Knowing that this board supports dual-core, I can always drop two dual-core procs in there later to upgrade.

I plan to do a lot of Premiere Pro, Studio MAX 7, Vue 5 Infinite, gaming stuff. Will this system work well?

Tyan Thunder K8WE
2 x AMD Opteron 246s
2GB CORSAIR 512MB 184-Pin PC3200 (http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145309)
DIAMOND Radeon X600PRO 256MB (http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814103164)
2 x THERMALTAKE Venus 7+ (http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106034)
Antec TRUE550 EPS12V 550W http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817103918
AeroCool SPIRAL GALAXIES Case (http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811196006)

TOTAL PRICE: $1640

CHANGED THE SETUP AFTER CONVERSATION SO FAR...

I especially need advise on the case, I think it is pretty cool (follow the link), I do not know how it would work.

Note: I still do not understand how this system is so awesome and is twice as powerful as other system that cost twice as much!

Please post advise about my setup.



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Transmitting from Alpha Centauri...END TRANSMISSION.

I would make sure both heatsinks will fit on a dual cpu setup. I would spend more on a single 939 now and upgrade to a dual core later. A college computer you want to be smaller/quieter usually too.

Remeber the programs I am running...Studio MAX7, Vue 5 Infinite, Premiere Pro, Bryce 5.5, Lightwave 8, and....Half-Life 2, COD, BF1942, etc.

I need power to run these programs. Remeber this, 939 limit's is one CPU, the Tyan K8WE has two CPUs...possibly dual dual-core cpus.

I will take the latter. What about the case? Any more takers?

I can almost guarantee those HSF's aren't going to fit. Not 2 of them at the same time anyways.

Beyond that, that system is definitely enough for what you're going to be using it for. I've been wanting dual, dual cores myself, but at over $1k per processor, it's gonna be a bit before I can afford it.

In your case, I'd either go with this dual, single cores which has very good upgrade potential, or a single dual core.

A Pair of 246s on ebay is around $400. This is a lot cheaper than the dual cores of the same speed. I will drop those in there and upgrade to dual core 2+ years down the road when the price goes down.

After reading stuff on the Zalman coolers, I would need 2cm more between the procs for a fit...doh! Oh well, I spent more than an hour looking through NewEgg to find a good cooler and this is what I have found...

THERMALTAKE Venus 7+
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835106034

These will actually work better than the Zalman if I am overclocking. With the upside down ATX desgin case I am buying, this setup will run pretty good. I will buy two of these and hope for the best.

you could go with the zalman 7000 series instead of the 7700 series.

What is the difference? Size?

yup, i believe the 7000 series is 92mm fans where the 7700 series is 120mm fans.

I decided to downgrade the video card since I do not want to spend a lot on one untill the price of SLI cards come way down. I am also waiting for ATI to boast their SLI cards. This is a card that will tide me over. I am not playing Doom 3, so I can turn down the graphics a bit to keep stuff playable.

I decided to downgrade the RAM since I wanted to keep the price lower.

What the... That looks exactly like a regular Retail AMD cooler for their 64bit procs. It's not better at cooling than a Zalman. Don't waste your money, if you want a pair of those, I've got a pair of AMD ones you can have.

The reviews said that the cooler kept the procs 10-15c cooler than stock...obviously not the same! These coolers are less than half of the Zalmans and I think they may keep them a little hotter, but for the price difference, who cares?

Hmm.. I just dug out one of the retail coolers. There is a difference. The Thermaltake has a smaller base, and is all copper.
The retail has a bigger copper base, but appears to have aluminum fins.

At any rate, I have these ones just sitting here, so if you want 'em you can have 'em.

Send 'em here man! (Shipping?)

PM me the info, I'll likely forget otherwise.
Man, there's a lot of TX residents here.

I'd still almost say Michigan has the highest resident count on this board.

That's because we usually have 9 months of winter to be cooped up inside.



Tis up to you of course, but you may want to reconsider posting personal information such as your home address on a public forum.

Tis up to you of course, but you may want to reconsider posting personal information such as your home address on a public forum. [/quote]

Good idea....done...

Hi SuperCrazySniper, we've talked before...

Anyways, I'm have the same motherboard. The Tyan Thunder K8WE (S2895) non-SCSI. I know all the programs you are running as I have most of them. Anyways, you want to go with multiple CPUs with the option of Dual Core later, you have that part done well. Opterons won't let you down. I do have some questions though as to your setup.

1) Why gimp SLI capabilities by going with an ATI card? If ATI comes up with SLI anytime soon, the Tyan mobo is of the NVidia chipset (2200pro + 2050 core logic) so it won't support ATI version SLI. You can still use 2 ATI PCIE cards for your multi-monitor setup, but... You can't use SLI to boots game performance. If your going to have a workstation board with all the nice bells and whistles... why not pull a few strings to have it help you with better gaming experience? I would go with a 6800GT for now (if you don't need 4 monitors yet) and plan to upgrade when you're ready?

2) Why only 2GB RAM? I understand that 512MB sticks are faster, but Opterons aren't as sensitive to timings as Intels are. I guess you're trying save money... IMO for those RAM hungry applications you're running, the more RAM the better. I'm getting Corsair TWINXRE-3200 (3-3-3-8-1 timings) modules, 2 sets. Total is $742 from Monarch. You would have the option to upgrade to 8GB when you find 4GB doesn't do you.

3) If you plan on going dual-core in 1-1.5 yrs, you could save a few bucks by going with 244s. There is a guy on EBay selling for $340 and $360 for a pair. He is level, I bought 3 sets from him.

4) Good case for the price. That wind tunnel thing is aligned with where the CPUs will go. I personally went for the Lian Li PC-V1200. About $100 more though, so may not be worth it to you.

5) I'm not certain that PSU will work... The Tyan needs SSI (24 + 8 + 6). I think you try it... Whatever you do DON'T PLUG THE PCIE 6PIN INTO THE 6PIN ON THE MOBO, as this will fry your $500+ mobo investment. You can try to run the mobo just using the 24pin connector, it may work, esp if you power the GPU directly from the PSU. If the system won't boot, I would get the cable adapter. I got the 650W SilverStone SST-ST65ZF. That one will work.

And about your comment:

I don't know if you're refering to single CPU computers or what. I'm assuming you are. Your system will blow those desktop solutions out of the water because all your programs you run (besides gaming, high-end desktop SLI rigs will laugh at the 244s or 246s unless you overclock them to all hell) are multi-threaded. Rendering benefits the most from multi-cpu environments as they are very thread-aware and efficient. It will only get better when you decide to get dual-core (You gaming might take yet another hit if the core speed is lower and until games switch to multi-threads)

Anyways, I hope I helped answer questions. I may have created more questions though.

Arquero