Best Setup for a Noob Friend

[Ricemarine]

Well, he's planning to build his computer in December, which is when Nforce4 will be released... But right now, he's coming up with plans for his $2k computer (grrr, jealous ) So um, we made lists together, except his friend whos literally addicted to Kingston and Intel, tells him Intel.. I say AMD... So right now, we have 3 lists, Opteron, AMD 64 Skt 939, and Intel LGA775. so tell us.. which one is the best?

Option #1: Intel
NEC 8X Black Dual Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Model ND-2510A BLK, OEM BULK
ASUS Black 16X DVD-ROM/ 48X CD-ROM Drive, Model DVD-E616P2, Retail
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD740GD, OEM Drive Only (X2)
Aspire KO-COMBO-BL Blue Keyboard and Optical Scroll Mouse Combo Set PS/2 105keys -RETAIL
DFI "LANPARTY 925X-T2" 925X Chipset Motherboard For Intel LGA 775 CPU -RETAIL
Intel LGA775 Pentium 4 550 3.4 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, Hyper Threading Technology - Retail
OCZ Platinum Enhanced Bandwidth Dual Channel Kit 240-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR2 PC-4200, Model OCZ25331024EBDCPE-K -RETAIL
ATI Radeon X700 PRO Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "100-437402" -RETAIL
ANTEC Silver Aluminum Performance 1 Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with Side Window Panel, Swiveling Front Control Panel features LED Display, Model "P-160WF" -RETAIL
Antec 550 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans 5.25 Control Panel, Model "TRUE550" -RETAIL

Option #2 Opteron
Nec 16X Dual
Mitsumi Floppy Drive 3.5" 1.44MB Black Bulk
Western Digital 250GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD2500JD, OEM Drive Only" (X2)
Aspire KO-COMBO-WHT White Keyboard and Optical Scroll Mouse Combo Set PS/2 105keys -RETAIL (X2)
Tyan "Tiger K8W (S2875ANRF)" AMD-8000 Chipset Server Motherboard for Dual AMD Opteron CPU -RETAIL
AMD Opteron Model 242, 1 MB L2 Cache 64- bit Processor - Retail (X2)
OCZ Enhanced Latency Series Dual Channel Kit 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) ECC Registered DDR PC-3200
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model ""256-A8-N344-AX"" -RETAIL
ANTEC Silver Aluminum Performance 1 Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with Side Window Panel, Swiveling Front Control Panel features LED Display, Model "P-160WF" -RETAIL
Antec 550W Power Supply, 24-Pin, Model "TRUE550 EPS12V" -RETAIL

Option #3, AMD 64
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Beige, Model ND-3500A BG, OEM
ZALMAN CNPS7000A-Cu Pure Copper CPU Cooler for AMD XP Socket 462/ 754 and Intel Socket 478
Mitsumi Black 1.44MB 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model D359M3D/D359M3B, OEM
Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD740GD, OEM Drive Only (X2)
Thermaltake A1806 XaserIII Office Keyboard & Mouse PS/2 104keys -RETAIL
ASUS "A8V Deluxe" VIA K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512K 90nm (939)
Kingston HyperX Series Dual Kits 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3500
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "256-A8-N344-AX" -RETAIL
ANTEC Silver Aluminum Performance 1 Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with Side Window Panel, Swiveling Front Control Panel features LED Display, Model "P-160WF" -RETAIL
Antec 550W Power Supply, Model "TRUE550" -RETAIL

Sorry for the copy and pasting, its kidna huge lol. All the hard drives are X2 though, so duals. Now the reason I say he's a noob, cause he is, and which concludes, he's not ready for Water cooling. But, I can help him with o/cing.

 

[LordPhoenix]

If i had $2000 bucks I would rather go with Alienware.

I would go with build #3 if it was one of those.

 

[cyberfuzz]

save yourself some money on #3 and go with the 3000+, their max oc is about the same.

 

[phisrow]

Depends on what he wants to do with the said system. For gaming the A64 is probably your best bet. For serious number crunching(3d rendering, media encoding, &c.) the Opterons are clearly superior(I know the Gentoo user in me longs to recommend them). As for the Intel, it is stylistically somewhat between the two. Traditionally, the hyperthreaded P4 had an edge(though not always a big one) in media encoding and general snappyness, while being rather worse for gaming. The degree to which the Intel is worse than the AMD is something of a matter of theology. I would would personally shy away from it; but I hardly want to start a flame war over the issue.

 

[Markfw]

Well, number3 will blow away number 1 for almost anything. Since you have 6800GT cards in them all , I assume he is a gamer. But the question is what is the intended use ? That really determines the answer, however, it looks like number 1 is the least attractive choice based on current info.

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

If he is just gaming the A64 will be the best. Like cyberfuzz said get the 3000+ because they overclock to around the same.

 

[Ricemarine]

Mmm, main use is gaming heh... but really... he has $2k, so let him spend it on something worth while. no reason for him to start lowering the CPU. I'm still very interested on how an opteron will perform though... Intel "seems to has the least problems" so I've heard, and flame wars isn't suited for here either. So I don't know... cause this is the dilemma

1)If he goes intel, his friend will help him
2)If he goes AMD, his friend won't do squat, and I would have to come over and help
3)He has this paranoia thing about AMD's burning up to a crisp

 

[imported_Computer MAn]

The rumor that AMD's have more problems than Intel is false. And about his paranoia about AMD's burning to a crisp A64's do not run that hot at all. Opterons are not really suited for gaming they are server based so an A64 would be the better choice.

 

[CraigRT]

I'd go with #2 myself, once you go dual it's hard to go back.
only reason I am not running dual right now, is cause my MP1800's were just too slow, and nothing is readily available right now for a good price like the MP's were.

 

[gururu]

x700 in system #1 kills it.

I'd go with system 3 since it may be easier to upgrade 4000+?

 

[Markfw]

OK. looks like number 3 is the winner ! For gaming it rules. The opterons are great for SMP applications, but games will do better with number 3 overall.

 

[Mo0o]

Sounds like a gamer, go w/ 3

 

[spelletrader]

Option #3 ...


And F going Alienware!

 

[slash196]

3 looks pretty damn good. I don't see why you need 500 gigs of space, so you could cut a little fat there, maybe enough to bump up to a 3800+, although if you're overclocking a lot, the 3500+ is probably just as good, if not better.

 

[ksherman]

and who needs a floppy drive... thatll save a couple of dollars!

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: Ricemarine
Mmm, main use is gaming heh... but really... he has $2k, so let him spend it on something worth while. no reason for him to start lowering the CPU. I'm still very interested on how an opteron will perform though... Intel "seems to has the least problems" so I've heard, and flame wars isn't suited for here either. So I don't know... cause this is the dilemma

1)If he goes intel, his friend will help him
2)If he goes AMD, his friend won't do squat, and I would have to come over and help
3)He has this paranoia thing about AMD's burning up to a crisp

worried about amd burning to a crisp??? i'd be more worried about the intel burning to a crisp! prescott = presHOTT!

 

[magomago]

go option three. if it were me, i'd take option 2, but.....option 2 won't provide the fastest framerates (but i don't play games all that often~ i just prefer a smooth system). If he is a gamer it should be A64 all the way, option 2 shouldn't even be considered.

Btw, incase he is worried about a system smoking to a crisp...perhaps you should take notice hat A64s run cooler than presscotts which a few people have already pointed out they are named as "pressHOTTS"

Oh, might i add don't bother with raiding 2 raptors? The "boost" is near negligible....it make more sense to tack on a 200 gig hdd with the money you'll spend on a 75G raptor.

and did you remember to add a copy of windows into it? or does he already have one?

in the end tho..i feel for 2k that just isn't that much. I don't konw why, bu maybe you are paying for things that should be cheaper, but i feel that he should be getting more of a system for the price he is paying~ then agian maybe me watching hot deal whores build cheap pcs because they spend too much of their life lurking