Occasional gamer - system advice
 

As I'm currently working on an XP1800+ system, I long for a system that can handle my multi-tasking. I occasionally play 3D games as well, hence the choice for a medium-class videocard. I intend not to spend too much money on the hardware.

I do not intend to overclock the system in the immediate future (maybe up the CPU as it's multipliers are unlocked) but I'd like to keep my options open for time to come.
Total: ~600EUR



Advice is welcome.

Or would one advice to wait 1-2 months (price-drops, new hardware, ...)

The 550 can be had for a cheaper price and is on par with the 720, even in multi threaded apps.

In IT you can wait forever, if you're not waiting for new hardware to be released I'd say go for the current selection, you won't regret it.

What about CPU-cooling?
Are the AMD boxed cooler quiet? (I love the silence of the current Intel stock coolers).

I had no problem with using AMD boxed cooling on one of their latest quads, dunno what you'll find problematic but give it a try ;)

Can you compare the noise production against an Intel stock cooler?


Are these the current AMD stock coolers:

?



What AM3 cooler would you advice?

start with what you get in the box, if that doesn't offer you the desired performance/noise ratio, you can take a look at any of the entry level directheatpipe touch 120mm HSFs (Xigmatek, Sunbeamtech, OCZ, ....) at <€30

Thanks, figured that out on myself by now. In the meantime I read the stock coolers aren't that quiet. We'll see (or hear ;-)).

I went for the 720 btw. Price difference with 550 is only 25EUR, and I think the 720 might be a bit more future-proof. In the meantime, the third core can occupy itself with background tasks. (also, as I'm planning to do some multi-threaded programming, some extra cores could be welcome.)

2x Kingston ValueRAM - Geheugen - 2 GB
~> 2x2GB = 4GB ;)
Wouldn't go for less these days with these RAMprices :)


Don't mind the harddisk, it's for my server, still have plenty (smaller) harddisks lying around ;)

Got a HD4870 because my brother has the same card & is very pleased with it (both performance & noiseproduction). As we have the same cards now, we can the same games (~) against each other with more or less equal systems.

(also, I hope to find the time to fiddle around with GPGPU programming - not an expert yet but I believe the HD4870 has better (more) hardware for this ;))


(order is made btw, so you can't really help me anymore. I guess however that advice could still be welcome for other readers. I'll keep you guys informed on the AMD stock cooler noise levels)