Budget P4 Workstation Mobo/Ram - plz advise

[catsailor]

Ok, I want to build workstation for around ? 1000, I "only" need the CPU, Mobo and 1 Gig of RAM with the option of adding another 0,5 or 1 Gig (for Video Editing and 3d stuff).
I don't want to overclock (don't laugh plz), stability is the major point. I don't need Raid (too much hazzle for 10-20 % speed increase) or any other onboard features. I rule out Rimms, because of the cost. I have looked at the following Mobos to go with a P4 2,4 Gig:

Asus P4B533

GA 8IEXP

MSI Max2 L

I am a bit confused about the RAM, because

1.) it seems the 845E chip doesn't officially support 333, but some Mobo manufacturers have found a way around this limitation, right ?

2.) it was said, that the full power of the P4 is unleashed only with high memory bandwidth, on the other hand, benchmarks tell me that there is only a 10-15% increase, if any, when comparing 266 to 333 RAM (it looks better with Rimms, but they are not considered here)

3.) the whole issue about double-sided and single-sided RAM slot occupation has entirely confused me, I just want to know which board with what kind of RAM can take 1,5 or preferably 2 Gigs of RAM; availabilty being a problem with the 2 Gig solution here, since not only do 1 Gig RAM sticks seem to be very rare, but they only seem to come as registered or ECC (or both) modules, which from what I have read were initially designed for servers and can cause compatibility problems with run of the mill Mobos like the ones above

Lastly, a few questions about the CPU:

Would there be advantages in getting the newer P4 2,4 533 Mhz instead of the 2,4 400 Mhz (the price difference isn't that big) even if I only used 266 RAM ? Would you go for the boxed version or buy a seperate cooler (no overclocking plans) ? Since power consumption of the P4 seems to have gone down, would my old 300 W PSU still do?

Lots of questions I'm afraid.

To sum up, I need lots of RAM and a really stable Mobo.

Any help appreciated,

TIA

 

[catsailor]

anyone?

 

[CraigRT]

Not sure if you can use the type of mobo I would suggest, but I build a cheap P4 1.6a workstation on an MSI 645 Ultra board and it is absolutely fabulous.. works like a charm. maybe that can help you out? it was ~$120 CAD which is really good for a great board.

 

[Wishkar]

If you got the money for a p4 2.53 most people here would probably advise you to get a p4 1.6A and oc it to something like 2.2-2.4ghz and get a more expensive motherboard (the asus). I know thats what i'd do.

Personally, i myself haven't a clue about the memory issue and would be interested to see if anyone can clarify.

Also remember that us europeans have to pay through the nose compared to those americans. 1 dollar seem exactly equal to 1 pound sterling when computer components are concerned e.g. antec sx300 case, 60 us dollars, 65 uk pounds, p4 1.6A; 135 us dollars, 135 uk pounds.

845e/g both support ddr333. and i consider 10-15% speed increase to be a lot.

thats my 2 pennies

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: catsailor
Ok, I want to build workstation for around ? 1000, I "only" need the CPU, Mobo and 1 Gig of RAM with the option of adding another 0,5 or 1 Gig (for Video Editing and 3d stuff).
I don't want to overclock (don't laugh plz), stability is the major point. I don't need Raid (too much hazzle for 10-20 % speed increase) or any other onboard features. I rule out Rimms, because of the cost. I have looked at the following Mobos to go with a P4 2,4 Gig:

Asus P4B533

GA 8IEXP

MSI Max2 L

I am a bit confused about the RAM, because

1.) it seems the 845E chip doesn't officially support 333, but some Mobo manufacturers have found a way around this limitation, right ?

2.) it was said, that the full power of the P4 is unleashed only with high memory bandwidth, on the other hand, benchmarks tell me that there is only a 10-15% increase, if any, when comparing 266 to 333 RAM (it looks better with Rimms, but they are not considered here)

3.) the whole issue about double-sided and single-sided RAM slot occupation has entirely confused me, I just want to know which board with what kind of RAM can take 1,5 or preferably 2 Gigs of RAM; availabilty being a problem with the 2 Gig solution here, since not only do 1 Gig RAM sticks seem to be very rare, but they only seem to come as registered or ECC (or both) modules, which from what I have read were initially designed for servers and can cause compatibility problems with run of the mill Mobos like the ones above

Lastly, a few questions about the CPU:

Would there be advantages in getting the newer P4 2,4 533 Mhz instead of the 2,4 400 Mhz (the price difference isn't that big) even if I only used 266 RAM ? Would you go for the boxed version or buy a seperate cooler (no overclocking plans) ? Since power consumption of the P4 seems to have gone down, would my old 300 W PSU still do?

Lots of questions I'm afraid.

To sum up, I need lots of RAM and a really stable Mobo.

Any help appreciated,

TIA

Ok I'll try to answer the questions I know as best I can.

1) I'm not sure if the new crop of motherboards offer a 5:4 memory ratio or not (which would allow DDR 333 support without overclocking) ... I think they do (like the P4B533), but I'm not 100% sure.

I'd probably recommend the P4B533 because ASUS boards are always very stable (my P4B266 is like a rock).

2) It's true, the P4 is bandwidth hungry and higher memory speed makes it run faster. Your number sound about right, 10-15% faster with higher bandwidth memory (this would be like running at DDR 266 vs DDR 400 with the same CPU speed). You won't have a total piece of cr@p even with only DDR 266 or DDR 333.

3)The single/double sided thing works as follows: Single Sided modules have one "bank" of memory ... double sided modules have two "banks" ... the i845e chipset only supports a total of 4 banks, so you can only put 2 double sided RAM cards or two single-sided cards and one single or double sided one in the third slot. If you can find two 512MB single-sided RAM cards then eventually you can put in another 512MB of any type, bringing you up to 1.5 GB, which isn't too bad.

If you're not overclocking, get the CPU with the higher FSB, so that would be the 533 FSB P4 2.4 instead of the 400 one.

Hopefully this clears some stuff up for you.

 

[catsailor]

thx for the input,

now I'll go hunting for those 512 MB single-sided RAM sticks
(pity that even on the crucial or kingston sites they never mention,
if the sticks are single or double)