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Working on a new computer - suggestions?


Guest $iLk
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Guest $iLk

Okay, it's about that time of year where I'm bored with my computer and feel it needs an overhall. Here are the specs of the system I'm currently going to start purchasing parts for. Does anyone have any suggestions about parts I should change or are these good choices?

Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.0A 512k 478

Mobo: Intel 850EMVL Socket 478, USB 2.0, 5 PCI slots, 1 4X AGP slot

RAM: Rambus - Kingston 2X 512MB

Case: Enlight 340Watt Case w power supply

Sound: Creative Labs Audigy Platinum Sound Card + Creative Inspire 5.1 surround sound speakers

Video: ASUS V8200 Geforce 3 Deluxe

Storage: 120GB Western Digital with 8MB cache

Drives: Plextor 24X CDRW, Universal Buslink DVD, Mitsumi 3.5 Floppy

Display: Either a 21 inch CRT, or something to that effect.

Comments? Suggestions? Before I spend money?

Thanks!

[ 05-08-2002, 18:54: Message edited by: $iLk ]

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nice, i wish i ahd ur kinda money to upgrade mine.

if u can afford it, get the GeForce 4Ti 4600. best card around, and it should be good for all new games for a while

and id say get an AMD CPU, they are cheeper, and better then the Intels. they can be a few .Xghz slower than an Intel, and still compete

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Guest $iLk

My only problem with AMD is the tremendous amount of heat they let off. I'd be scared my heatsinks or fan would fail and my house would burn down.

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true. with the huge money you save with an AMD chip AND DDR ram (RDRAM is $#@$@# expensive) you can get yourself a top-notch vid card.

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Guest $iLk

Change of plans - to make it a bit cheaper.

Here is the updated specs and costs:

Computer Specs:

[*]Case: ENLIGHT MID TOWER ATX 340 WATT - $62.00

[*]Mobo: Intel D845BG - $114.00

[*]CPU : Intel Pentium 4 2.0A ÔÇô 2000mhz - $274.00

[*]RAM: 2X Kingston DDR 512MB PC2100 - $293.00

[*]HD: WD1200JB Western Digital 120GB;8MB - $196.00

[*]Video: ASUS v8200 Deluxe Geforce 3 - n/a

[*]Sound: Creative Labs Audigy Gamer - $75.00

[*]CDRW: Plextor Plexwriter 24/10/40A - $130.00

[*]OS : Microsoft Windows XP Professional - n/a

[*]DVD: Universal Buslink - n/a

[*]3.5 floppy: Mitsumi - $15.00

[*]Speakers: Creative Inspire 5.1 5300 - $100.00

I feel that while it will only hinder upgradability, the DDR RAM with 845 chipset was my best alternative as it is comparable to the more expensive Rambus up to 2.4Ghz Processor speed.

I've already ordered. Comments?

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Guest $iLk

I don't really want the hassle of an AMD's heat. My friend has one, and he had to install extra fans, AND take the side of his tower off to keep it from making his room unbearably hot.

I like the Intel Northwood better, and it will support overclocking beyone what an Athlon will if I so choose.

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You just wasted some cash... P4 mhz are about 66-75% as powerful as AMD mhz, meaning a 1.4 ghz athlon could compete rather easily with a 2ghz P4

Well, if you wanna waste money, go ahead... its your money after all.

quote:

I like the Intel Northwood better, and it will support overclocking beyone what an Athlon will if I so choose.


It will support higher ghz ratings, but the AMDs will still outperform it if you overclock the AMD chip to 75% of the P4. Really, the only reason thast Intel is still in buisness is that they have a larger market share, and more propaganda.

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Also check on tech trend before upgrading to the northwood.

Last time I heard the "next" generation of intel chips (the 2.5's + ghz) would not use the same slot type. If this is true, in the future when you want to upgrade again, you wont be able to just swap the cpu, you'd have to buy the whole MOBO again (eeww $$$$$).

Oh, and BTW, if you buy a large ATX case (aka, those with like 4 or 5 slots 5 1/4 inch bays) your AMD will remain nice and cool with just 2 fans (1 on bottom front to suck in air, 1 on middle/top to blow hot air out). The AMD cpu on its own does not cause the "heater" effect, its your monitor that puts out 80% of the heat in your room.

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Guest $iLk

My friend's AMD was overheating with a High Tower that had like 7 expansion bays. He had one of the huge fans directly on top of it, along with fans in case. From what I've read on firingsquad, it will be very safe to overclock this Pentium four, possibly to 2.6 or 2.8 ghz rating without breaking a sweat.

As Maximum PC says:

quote:

As the owner of a new P4 system, you'll find yourself swatting away the snide comments of AMD fanboys. Here's your essential retort: Your CPU may not offer the most efficient core architecture, but it probably runs at a higher frequency than that Athlon around the corner and sits inside a rig that's generally more compatible with third party hardware and software.

I'm a sucker for Microsoft and Intel. I can't bring myself to use their competitor's products.

Luckily I got most of my parts really cheaper than they are usually. I got some of the better deals on the net, and ordered from reliable companies.

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I would get a slower CPU and get a GF3 Ti200 - mostly because the GF5 will be out eventually and nVidia promised a radical new archietcture, or something to that effect.

The Ti200 is nice and cheap these days and will keep you going till you're ready to shell out $600 for the GF5

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..Like everyone's been saying, go with AMD. My 1.1Ghz has been lovely as far as heat goes, and I've had my system running pretty much 24/7 (thanks XP, though curse you for a lack of legacy support) with no problems. On the inside I've got two chassis fans and a Chrome Orb for a direct processor heat sink, that's it. I've got a nice big server tower for my case as well.. works fine. It peaks at around 55-60 degrees when it's working really hard, which is a mite hot, but nothing to seriously worry about.

I used to be an "Intel Only" guy myself, since the first AMD processor I ever got sent me on a 6 month wild goose chase trying to figure out why my system was crashing so much untill I swapped it with an Intel chip, but this new Thunderbird I got has worked out pretty nicely for me so far.

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If you're really worried about in-case heat, you can always improve airflow with round IDE and floppy drive cables.

Actually, if you don't want to spend the bucks on those cables (which come in designer colors), you can probably just take a razor, slice carefully between the ribbon cable lines three or four times, and then use small rubber bands or the like to "bundle" the smaller ribbons into a tighter package. Large ribbons can sometimes obstruct airflow in a cramped case.

Amen on what Tac said about monitors being the biggest heat source. Any CRT is just a glorified light bulb. A big light bulb.

Still, I have an AMD 850 MHz CPU. Things do seem to be warm down in the cubbyhole the case sits in. But then, I never go with the retail CPU fan anyway, I prefer to spend $20-$30 for a decent size fan.

Funny but true: till last year, I never knew the case fan was supposed to blow into the case. Both the power supply fan and case fan were blowing out. Lord knows where the air was being pulled in from.

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quote:

Posted by $ilk

My friend's AMD was overheating with a High Tower that had like 7 expansion bays. He had one of the huge fans directly on top of it, along with fans in case

Three ways that that can be true: poor ventilation outside the case, like if it was in a closet, the main heatsink fan wasnt powerful enough or the main heatsink wasnt on correctly.

quote:

From what I've read on firingsquad, it will be very safe to overclock this Pentium four, possibly to 2.6 or 2.8 ghz rating without breaking a sweat.


Sure, you can overclock it to 2.8ghz, but a simple 2 ghz athlon can outperform it easily.

As I said before: if you want to waste money on a P4, go ahead. Its your money.

[ 05-09-2002, 16:06: Message edited by: Kartoffel ]

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LOL, What is this pressure to go with AMD? $ilk, be tough, stick with Intell.

As for Ddram, sounds a bit pricey, $300 for 512?

I got my RDram 216 for $100, each 128 = $49.99

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Well $ilk

All I have to say is that I have been nothing but happy with my AMD T-Bird....And will give AMD my business from now on unless they seriously drop the ball.....I feel that their Impressive response to the pentium processors are a key factor in bringing PC prices down and keeping them down.

besides if the underdog is fighting the good fight,I'll put my money on him every time....kinda seems like the right thing to do.

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quote:


I feel that while it will only hinder upgradability, the DDR RAM with 845 chipset was my best alternative as it is comparable to the more expensive Rambus up to 2.4Ghz Processor speed.

Good idea. In fact, one my dev stations is running an ABIT TH7-II (850 chipset) @ 2.0Ghz and 512MB of PC800 RDRAM

quote:


Originally posted by $iLk:

Video: ASUS V8200 Geforce 3 Deluxe

Drives: Plextor 24X CDRW, Universal Buslink DVD,

Display: Either a 21 inch CRT, or something to that effect.


I'd go with

    [*]nVidia GF4 Ti4200, 4400 or 4600 (if you can afford it. By the end of the year, when the next gen cards from nVidia, ATI, Matrox (G1000) show up, the GF3 will be twice removed from the next-gen card status.

    [*]Lite-On LTR-32123S 32x12x40 CDRW

    [*]Pioneer 16x DVD + 40x CD

    [*]NEC FP1375X 21" monitor or any high-end Viewsonic 21" monitor

[ 05-10-2002, 10:14: Message edited by: Supreme Cmdr ]

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Guest $iLk

I'd really like to get a new Geforce 4, but I'm strapped for cash after purchasing all the necessary equipment to build a 2nd computer out of some of my old pieces. I will however be selling a bunch of stuff on ebay, seeing if I can't cover at least $150 of the $350 for the card.

Not only am I building this new computer, I'm using more money to build my wife a second computer, since she has been really interested in monopolizing my computer for Unreal Tournament 2003 when it comes out, and I can't have that - so this 2nd computer I'm building is her mother's day gift, along with the clothes I bought her.

The reason I'm going with the crappy DVD ROM that I have, is because I had purchased it out of necessity when I was out in the middle of nowhere with no internet and wanted to keep entertained. I actually want the Pioneer 16X, but will need to give myself a couple months to buy the rest of the cool stuff I want.

I went with Plextor 24X10X40A because I have been in love with the Plextor series, this drive in particular. I know there are faster drives out there, but this one is one I've wanted for a long time .

I'm still contemplating on monitor, and your choice is the one I'd go with SC, I'm still keeping a lower budget for the initial setup, so I'm sticking with my old 19" monitor until I get the cash to get a 21"er

Thanks for the recommendations everyone, and thanks for your input.

The "weakest link" of my components will definitely be the video card, but I'll be upgrading it within another 6 months to whatever is top of the line.

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I just dropped a PNY Geforce4 4600 128mb in my Intel 2.0GHz/512 MB, replacing the high-end GeForce 3 card; a Hercules GF3 TI 500 64mb. The 3DMark 2001SE benchmark score went from 7800's to the 9500's. Of course, in gaming applications only a modest improvement is seen.

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$ilk, I agree with the wife statement. My wife recently started complaining about how her PacBell won't do The Sims for her anymore with the recent expansions. It works but moves like molassis. So I suggested that I build her a new one. She said I could share mine instead, and said, "How will I know if it is better. Maybe I should test it on yours first." So, against my better judgement, I installed it. Needless to say, she wants to play again. So I am now going to be getting a part a month for her machine, until I have enough for a working computer. I figure maybe I can just surprise her one day with a shinny new box on her desk. I can't wait!!!

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I found a really great 7 bay ATX mid tower Case with dual USB at www.electorseller.com for $40.

It's a 400w ATX, it's nice and wide, with plenty of space to work and the really neat thing about it, is if your motherboard supports 4 USB ports, there is a little door on the front that opens up a compartment with 2 USB ports in it. No more reaching around to the back to switch USB devices! Look under 7 bay cases for the 400w dual USB Clasic by Future Power. You will want to pick up an extra 3.5" cooling fan to take air in from the front side, it only comes with one fan.

I've always used Asus so I went with the Asus P4TE motherboard and it's been absolutley great! It uses the intel 850 chipset, 478-pin socket, Rambus memory and the north bridge like the intel does. It has two built in ATA 100 disk controlers, which would be great for that new WD 120GB HD, Raid 0 would be better but probably a lot more expensive. If you are going to spring for the 8MB cache version WD 120 GB HD, you'll want to be sure that your mother board has controlers that support high transfer speeds.

The audigy is a good card, I have not seen any problems like I had with the SB Live. I also went with the WD 120gb HD, WOW! mega, mega storage space!

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