Need advice from A8N32 owners

[akaji]

Building my first PC and trying to do it right.

After much deliberation broke down and bought an A8N32 SLI mobo from mwave.com (couldn't get it from newegg and it didn't look good in the near future).
After reading all the posts here and on asus.com certainly nervous about getting into all sorts of compatbility / installation issues.

Thing is, haven't actually purchased any other parts yet - was waiting with a wish list on newegg for mobo to become available. So ...

I was wondering if anyone with experience building with this board could take a look at my prospective components and offer any advice on whether they are ill-advised in using with the A8N32. Being my first build, I'm not trying to get into a situation where I spend weeks troubleshooting equipment that isn't easily compatible.

ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI X16 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail

BFG Tech BFGR78512GTXOC Geforce 7800GTX 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

COOLMAX CW-650T EPS12V 650W Aluminum ATX v2.01 APFC Power Supply w/ "SLI" - Retail - Retail

AMD Athlon 64 FX57 San Diego 1GHz FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADAFX57BNBOX - Retail

CORSAIR ValueSelect 2GB (2 x 1GB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered System Memory Model VS2GBKIT400C3 - Retail

Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM

(2) Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD4000KD 400GB 7200 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM (either nonRaid or in Raid 0)

PLEXTOR Beige IDE DVD Burner Model PX-716A/SW - Retail

ASUS Beige IDE DVD-ROM Drive Model E616A - OEM
M
icrosoft Windows XP Professional with SP2 - Retail

Any advice appreciated - have the opportunity to avoid mistakes prospectively, if possible !

[Amazin Caucasian]

well, I haven't built with this board, but i could make a few suggestions...do you want suggestions?

well, im gonna go ahead and make suggestions take em or leave em

1. no need for the 512mb VGA you can lower it to 256mb, it has been proven to have little affect.
2. 2 x 400 gb? i dont know about that....you will want to lower this
3. i would go with a different DVD-ROM drive, maybe a Lite-On or NEC
4. diff PSU

[blue60007]

Ack, dump that power supply ASAP, you don't want to trust a couple thousand dollars of parts with a power supply with not so good reputations. Get something quality from Enermax or Seasonic.

[akaji]

Thanks for those replies, guys. I absolutely would like suggestions. Want to do it as close to right the first time as I can (although I know there will always be something to wrestle with).

I'll change that power supply. I was thinking of the PC Power and Cooling 510 SLI - do you think 510W would be enough for that setup?

I'll change to the LiteOn DVDROM as you suggest - didn't know anything about non-burning DVDROM quality.

I had originally been thinking to go with two 256MB in SLI but thought that I had read on other sites that the performance difference between 256 x2 and 512 x 1 was not significant. Is solo 256MB the way to go in people experience? I want to be able to play all the latest games without hiccups (but don't necessarily need 94 vs 92 fps, for example, as long as its smooth)

Any other snafus you can see?

[jayb1234]

You will need an SLI certified PSU from the list at the bottom of this page. Antec, Enermax, PC power, sparkle or FSP would be the best choices.

[Amazin Caucasian]

2 x 256mb will perform better than 1 x 512mb...but its not a big enough noticeable difffernce IMO to justify dropping another 500...a 256mb and 512mb of the same card will have little difference in performance. WHen they first came out with the extra GDDR3 they thought it would be the next bets thing but turns out games dont need that much RAM headspeed and it makes little difference. It will certainly run smooth with just one card...games will run perfectly smooth with my 6800gt let alone your 7800gtx (i would still stick with BFG for the VGA tho just not 512mb)

are you gonna stick with the 874gb?? i highly suggest you don't its just a waste of money.

[akaji]

Thanks again for the advice - have switched to a SLI-certified PSU

based on everyone's recs I'll just stick with one 400GB Sata drive. I can always add another one if I run out of space ripping DVD's,e tc.

Still waiting for the A8N32 to arrive from mwave.

Also waiting to consider ordering an FX-60 next week or seeing if FX-57 price will drop

[rspassey]

What is this build going to be used for? What is your budget?

What PSU did you end up selecting?

[BigRed CC Dually]

I just built a similar setup. As mentioned go with a good PSU. I bought the Seasonic S12-600 and LOVE it, it is very quiet, the fan only spins at 760rpm most of the time (the speed is controlled by temperature of power supply). I also got the BFG 7800GTX but in the 256mb version and it Rocks!! I went with 2Gb of Corsair XM also. I have a different CPU I selected the Athlon 64 4000+ to go with the mobo. I do not understand any of the complaints others have made concerning the A8N32-SLI Deluxe, mine is only running at 34C and the CPU is at 31C......even after a lengthy session of COD2 the temps are not much higher. You will love the rig, just don't scrimp on the power supply. I can whole heartedly endorse the Seasonic S12-600, a lil' pricey at $159 from Newegg but it is one item I know I will not have to worry about when it comes time to go SLI.

[akaji]

Purpose: Gaming first, then DVD ripping-recoding, Video transcoding to IPOD/PSP secondarily

Budget: no real budget ceiling - just don't want to completely waste money (e.g. willing to spend more when I will get a performance return for it)

I chose this Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC ATX12V but I have read very good things about the Seasonic as well.

!! The mobo finally arrived yesterday from mwave - now I just have to figure out if I should wait until next week to order the FX-60 vs FX-57 (cheaper next week - maybe?)

How do you like the Cool Master case? I have the ASPIRE X-DISCOVERY-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case chosen.

What do you think of this case for the setup? Don't want it to be cramped when I'm working since it's my first one.

Thanks for everyone's input so far.

[akaji]

Can't find the 512 MB GTX anywhere - anybody have any leads or tips?

[BigRed CC Dually]

Originally Posted by akaji Purpose: Gaming first, then DVD ripping-recoding, Video transcoding to IPOD/PSP secondarily Budget: no real budget ceiling - just don't want to completely waste money (e.g. willing to spend more when I will get a performance return for it) I chose this Power Supply: PC Power & Cooling 510 SLI-PFC ATX12V but I have read very good things about the Seasonic as well. !! The mobo finally arrived yesterday from mwave - now I just have to figure out if I should wait until next week to order the FX-60 vs FX-57 (cheaper next week - maybe?) How do you like the Cool Master case? I have the ASPIRE X-DISCOVERY-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case chosen. What do you think of this case for the setup? Don't want it to be cramped when I'm working since it's my first one. Thanks for everyone's input so far.

I do like the Cool Master case really well, there is a lot of room and the Audio, USB, Firewire on the front top is very convenient. This system runs very cool compared to what some with the A8N32-SLI Deluxe have said. The other case I have used is an ANTEC Sonata II...I like the Cool Master better because there is no door like on the ANTEC.

[Shane351]

Just for general knowledge I have a CoolerMaster Staker 830 Case for my build with an A8N32 and my 2 Asus 7800GTX video cards will not fit in it. They keep binding where the bottom fits into the slots at the back and the card will not seat into the PCE slot fully. Oh and another hint to all you people going to use this board the 512 video cards block all the remaining PCI slots on the board.So you cannot mount a better sound card or anything PCI on it.

[FireByyrd]

512mb, PCI express can't even allow that much bandwidth...