[geeks] Good low-end AMD 64bit system?

[Nathan Raymond]

Six months ago I built myself an AMD64 system for as little money yet 
highest value.  I don't hestitate to buy 'refurb' parts from newegg 
(newegg.com is where I buy nearly all computer parts now, they get very 
high marks from me as a retailer).  So here's what I put together for 
myself:

  $77 AOpen MK89-L nForce3 150 mATX Motherboard for AMD Socket 754
$148 ($74 x 2) 512MB Geil PC3200 (DDR400) memory
  $69 Thermaltake Silent Purepower 480W w/Active PFC
  $39 AMS CF-6099 Micro ATX Computer Case (directron.com)
$160 AMD Athlon64 2800+ CPU (refurb)

I already had a GeForce FX5900 (that I bought for $150 a year ago, refurb 
from newegg), an 80GB Seagate hard drive, LiteOn CD burner and LiteOn 
DVD-ROM drive, and SoundBlaster Audigy card.  I've been very happy with 
the system, though if I were to do it again I'd probably go with the IN 
WIN Black MicroATX Mini Tower Case, Model V523T.I300BFU2D(1.3V), because 
it can take (and comes with) a 92mm fan in the rear of the case, whereas 
the AMS only has a spot for an 80mm.  Also the IN WIN looks like it could 
take an 80-120mm fan adapter shroud in the front, whereas the AMS has it's 
front 80mm offset enough that a fan adapter can't be used, unfortunately. 
Build quality-wise, though, I am very happy with the AMS case.

As far as mATX AMD motherboards now, I'd choose one of these socket 
939 boards over the socket 754 AOpen, primarily because they should be 
able to support dual-core AMD64 when it arrives in a few months with just 
a BIOS update and CPU swap:

FIC KTMNF3-Ultra 
http://www.fic.com.tw/product/motherboard/amd/ktmnf3-ultra.aspx

MSI RS480M2-IL
http://www.monarchcomputer.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=M&Product_Code=110473

Now, on the other end of the spectrum, I built a dual-CPU AMD64 system for 
the CEO of [day job].  Saved a few hundred/thousand dollars over going 
with a system builder, and I trust the quality of the components I chose 
over what other builders would use.  Here's the breakdown:

$101.50 CASE SLVRSTNE TJ-04 BLACK RTL
$220.50 MB MSI|VIA K8T800 K8T Master2-FAR
$509.00 VGA EVGA GF 6800U 256-A8-N345-AX
$116.50 POWER SUPPLY ANTEC NEOPOWER480 RTL
$882.00 2 x CPU AMD|OPTERON 246 2.0 GHz
$408.00 2 x PQI POWER 1GB DDR PC3200
   $6.99 FD 1.44MB|SAMSUG SFD-321B/LBL1 OEM
$354.00 2 x HD 74GB|WD 10,000RPM 8MB WD740GD
  $64.00 DVD+/-RW LITEON SOHW-1633S BLK RET
$196.99 SOUND BLASTER|AUDIGY 2 ZS PLTM PRO
  $14.49 FAN PANAFLO|120X38MM FBA12G12M -1J
$143.00 CD MS|WIN XP PRO w/SP2
$241.25 CD MS|OFFICE SBE 2003 w/SP1

Subtotal

$3,268.22

The thing that impressed me most was the low cost of the motherboard - 
$220 for a dual socket 940 motherboard that included heatsinks and fans 
for both CPUs (well they really had to include them - it's a standard 
desktop ATX size, and they wanted to leave room for an AGP graphics card 
with components on the back of it, so they have a custom heatsink for the 
lower CPU that leaves extra room on one side, and use Intel Pentium 4 Xeon 
type heatsink mounts rather than AMD64 for some reason).  With two 120mm 
case fans, and a single 120mm fan in the power supply, and the dynamic 
thermal RPM control active for the CPU fans, the system is actually 
surprisingly quiet during operation.

One big thing I would do differently though is not use the Antec NeoPower 
480 with the MSI motherboard.  While the K8T Master2-FAR supports a 
standard 20-pin ATX with 4-pin aux connection plugged into it's 24-pin 
main and 8-pin aux power connectors, they just friction-fit (clips can't 
line up), and to add to the confusion, the NeoPower 480 is what's known as 
a "WTX" power supply that has a native 24-pin connection that is wired 
slightly differently (and in an incompatible way) with an SSI EPS12V 
24-pin connector (!!!).  So I had to use the 24-pin WTX to 20-pin ATX 
adapter in order to use the NeoPower 480 with the K8T Master2-FAR.  In 
retrospect I would have gone with the AMS MERCURY EPS 12V 550W power 
supply for $91 right from the start, with it's native EPS12V 24-pin and 
8-pin aux connectors (an SSI power supply, which is ATX 12V v2.1, has the 
advantage of having four separate 12V lines, whereas the NeoPower is ATX 
12V v2.0 with only two 12V lines, and most ATX power supplies are pre-ATX 
12V v2.0 and have only one 12V line shared by the CPU and other 
components).

Otherwise, I was very satisfied with the complete system.

- Nate