AMD Machine, agh I want new one help me BUILD ONE!

[TheSHANK]

I am selling my current machine in MAY. Here is the current setup.

AMD XP2400+
Chaintech 7NJS Motherboard
(2) 256MB 2700 Crucial Technology RAM
(2) 40gb 7200 rpm harddrives on raid 0
(2) 80gb 7200 rpm 8mb cache harddrives
ASUS 64MB Geforce4mx
52x Lite On CDRW Drive
16x Lite On DVD Drive
17" Monitor
Modded windowed case
Logitech Cordless Elite DUO

Okay. Why did I have 4 Harddrives? The 2 40gb harddrives were on PATA-> SATA convertors for the Raid 0 stripe, running Windows XP. 1 80gb was for Mandrake Linux 9.1, and the other 80gb was to share data between the 2 OS. Yes, sad, but true, no drivers for the onboard raid controller in linux, so I had to use a different HD to share data between the 2 OS.

Why the upgrade?
The onboard raid failed a few weeks ago, RMA got a new one. Installed XP again, and omg, 3rd day since I had my rma board back, I installed XP about 6 times. It's horrible. After installing XP, and somewhere along the line of SP1 and the Sp1 nforce2 utilizaiton hotfix, the PC just started to drag tremendously. And of course, I want the raid to work in linux!!

I want a system = to or faster then what I have, but I want to only spend about $1100, that's with monitor. It might seem low, but damn I can build my same machine for cheaper And, I think i want to stay away from the Chaintech board.


So far I am thinking:

ABIT NF-7 motherboard - $125
AMD XP2600+ = $196
(2) Crucial Technology 512MB RAM 2700 - $68 x 2 = $140
2) Seagate 120GB SATA 7200rpm - $186 x 2 = $380
ASUS V9480TVD 128MB Geforce4 TI4800SE DDR = $180
RocketRAID 1520 SATA RAID - $83
Lite On 52X CDROM - $50
NEC 19" AS90 - $180
Case w/PSU - $100

This already knocks me over my cost. Maybe SATA drives aren't needed because they aren't as fast right now? I'll have a 40GB and a 80GB HD to work with though. Let me know what you guys think. All recommondations and opinions on choices would be great.

 

[pillage2001]

Are you into overclocking?? I would take a xp2100 over a xp2600 any day. Saves you about 100 bucks there. Also, Crucial RAM (512mb Pc2700) are not very compatible with Nforce2 chipsets. Why the CDrom when you have a DVD rom?? Go with a 9500Pro, you'll be happier.

Is SATA really needed??

 

[Ilmater]

If you don't need a DVD-ROM any more, then why don't you sell your old comp without the CDRW and keep that. I don't know why you're paying for a 2600+ when you wouldn't see any difference between that and a 2400+ and you could save $80. I'd get a Ti4600 right now, but that's just me. Finally, I'd get the Epox 8RDA+ over the Abit board, but that's up to you.

 

[bgeh]

if you oc, then go with the 2100+
and get the NF7-S, it has an onboard SATA chip that can do SATA raid
and i would get the Radeon 9500Pro instead of the GF 4 TI 4800SE(TI4400+AGP8x)

 

[TheSHANK]

Okay. I never overclocked.. thats' why i was just gonna ge tthe 2600.. Maybe i should get the 2100 then hmm okay makes sense..

Now what about EPOX? Does tha thave onboard raid and whats so speical about that board?

Why SATA? Cuz SATA hds use less of the cpu .. when i went from PATA to SATA i seen a difference

shank

 

[BmXStuD]

wtf ur pc is already x5 faster than mine and others :/, and your want another grr.

 

[TheSHANK]

lol why am i building another new one fast one?

I have no clue

 

[Siddhartha]

Originally posted by: TheSHANK
lol why am i building another new one fast one?

I have no clue

You have the "I wanna a new system" bug.
Why not keep the XP2400+ and change the motherboard? I do not overclock either but the XP2400+ will run at 333 FSB which I assume is the reason you are thinking of getting the XP2600+. I recommend that you upgrade your current system instead of buying a completelyl new system.

 

[arcenite]

I have that bug.. I just can't afford it.. Yet

Bill

 

[TheSHANK]

actually i am selling my system cuz some dude wants to buy it hehe and then with the extra cash of "building" him my system i can get a new radeon 9500, 512mb of ram, and maybe ssome dedicated SATA drives rather then pATA with convertors

 

[Psychosylph]

Just a quick aside - from what I've read of SATA and nForce2, you did see a difference when switching from PATA to SATA, but not for the reason you think. nForce2 is supposed to have a poor PATA implementation that uses more CPU than SATA implementations. Further, currently SATA drives do not outperform PATA drives, either, so to get the best performance at the best price it would probably be smart to stick with convertors and PATA drives.

 

[TheSHANK]

ah..
well.. heh that sounds sweet.. but wait, what about when the 10,000rpm sata drives come out..

won't they be noticeable faster?

 

[BaboonGuy]

yes definetly, western digitals raptor has already been reviewed by some sites (search for it) and the results are stellar. near scsi performance

 

[TheSHANK]

ahh sweett