New 3800+ system please comment

mk · Post by mk » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:56 am

Hi.

I am building a new system for my father. Noise is not the most important issue but he would like it to be quiet. He will be using it mainly for office programs and image handling (photoshop).

Here's what i have in mind.

Asus M2NPV-MX, nForce430 / 6150
AMD Athlon64 X2 3800+, AM2, EE, BOX
Kingston DDR2-667, 1024MB
WD Caviar SE16 2500KS, 250GB, SATAII
Scythe Ninja Plus, Multi Socket
LiteOn SHM-165P6S-09C, DVDÂ±RW, Black
Seasonic S12-330, 330Watt
Antec SLK3000B

I got a few questions:

1. Will he be better of getting a lowcost PCI-E card. Everything he does is in 2D.

2. Is the motherboard OK?

3. Is the Ninja overkill?

All other comments are welcome.

Thanks.

Post by **MikeC** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 11:48 am

1. The onboard graphics could be good enough. Depends on image file sizes and how much photoshopping he really does. You can always add a card later.

2 & 3. Probably.

stromgald · Post by **stromgald** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:03 pm

A blowdown fan would probably use the 3000B's side intake better. Something like an Thermalright XP-120 or SI-120 with a Nexus fan would be adequate cooling with less weight and strain on the motherboard. Also, the Lite-On drive might be a little noisy. Consider the NEC 3550 and BenQ 1650 drives. They're generally quieter, especially when combined with Nero DriveSpeed.

jharne · Post by **jharne** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:15 pm

Passively cooled discrete graphics with, a less powerful motherboard might be an idea. Does the motherboard have active cooling?

Spod · Post by **Spod** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:45 pm

Photoshop will gobble up any RAM you can afford to throw at it. Depending on the resolution of images being edited, and the number of undos required, 2 GB is sensible, and 4 GB can help.