Building a New PC...need to pick the mobo and CPU

[Budarow]

I've purchased almost all of the components for a new PC and I'm essentially down to the mobo and CPU. Do I go with an AMD XP (i.e., XP 1800+) or with Intel P4 (i.e., 478 Socket, 0.13 micron Northwood 1.8A GHz)?

For the mobo/cpu, I'm considering:

1. AMD (Epox 8kha+ with an AMD XP 1800+ and a copper base fan/Volcano 6
2. Intel (mobo...undecided but must have a 1.8 GHz or faster Northwood at 0.13 micron)

Also, will any of my components fail to meet (i.e., I want my system to be ROCK STABLE) the requirements of a "slightly" overclocked AMD XP or P4 Northwood based system?

1. Case ($81.00 for Stock Antec SX830 case with 300 watt PS and 2 case fans). I may add the 2 optional "intake" fans to the front.
2. Video Card ($109.00 for a Visiontek GeFore 3 Ti200)
3. Sound Card (have not decided...may settle for on-board sound)
4. RAM Memory ($152.00 for two sticks of 256 MB ea. Crucial PC2100)
5. Hard Drives ($112.00 for two 60GB Western Digital 5400 RPM, 100 ATA)
6. DVD/ROM player (still looking)
7. 3.5" floppy (still looking)
8. TV Tuner Card ($32.00 for a Pinnacle Studio PCTV Pro)
9. Ethernet Card (a FREE D-Link DFE-530TX+ 10/100...or may go with on-board 10/100 Ethernet).
10. Internet and LAN (Comcast Cable Modem and $36.00 for a D-Link DI-704 Router 10/100 switch)
11. CD Burner (Not Applicable...I have an External USB burner)
12. Monitor ($262.00 for a 19" Samsung SyncMaster 955 DF)

Please feel free to "shread" any of my selections just as long as you offer a BETTER choice at a REASONABLE price difference.

Thanks for any input!

Bud

 

[KenAF]

Bud,

At this time, Intel offers the best price/performance value for new systems. The $150 P4 1.6A mated with the $110 Asus P4B266 DDR motherboard does 2.1GHz at stock voltage (just changing the FSB from 100 to 133), and 2.4GHz to 2.7GHz with slightly increased voltage. It seems 95% of those with this combo can hit at least 2.4GHz with rock solid stability, and many hit 2.55 and 2.65GHz. Many will actually post at 2700-2900+MHz with stock cooling, but they don't run stable at this speed. It does all this with the retail Intel heatsink that produces less noise than most Athlon heatsinks.

For the case, the Antec looks good. Though even if you overclock the Intel 1.6A, it still produces less heat than most of the Athlons, so you can do with minimal or no case cooling. At most, I would add two 80mm L1A fans undervolted to 7 volts.

For the video card, the Visiontek Geforce3 Ti200 is a good choice...at least until the Geforce4 Ti200 arrives in two months.

The Crucial is excellent PC2100, but the Asus P4B266 mainboard, as well as a number of Athlon boards, can do upwards of 175MHz DDR speed when paired with the right PC2700 DDR memory (Nanya?). You can do this through the mainboard's 4:3 etc dividers, so you don't actually have to run your bus at that speed. Of course, if you only want to hit 150-160MHz DDR memory speed at CAS2, then the Crucial should do fine.

Those 5400rpm hard drives are going to seriously slow down your system. Beyond 1.3GHz or so, the hard drive can really limit your performance. As the comprehensive benchmarks and tests at Storagereview has shown, ATA RAID does improve throughput and transfer speed, but it doesn't do much for actual application performance and system responsiveness. The fastest current ATA drive (as found by Storagereview and other sites) for the PC is the 120Gb Western Digital WD1200JB; note this is different from the much slower WD1200BB, as it has 8 megabytes of cache. The JB runs about $260 on Gogglegear. The next step down in cost and performance is the 100Gb WD1000JB with 8Mb cache, which runs about $200. If you want a noiseless system, then the best choice is the Seagate Barracuda IV, although it doesn't performance nearly as well as the WD1200JB.

 

[oldfart]

KenAF sums it up very well. Northwood and P4B266 is the combo to get. Go for a good 7200 RPM drive. 5400 is too slow these days. For sound, there is a P4B266 with the built in C-Media, or get a Santa Cruz or whatever.

 

[Athlon4all]

I have to agree for the most part with KenAF as well, but do keep in mind that the Athlon XP can oc as well (but it would still lose to a 2.56Ghz Northwood). As for the mobo for the P4, well, I would personally get Abit TH7II (RDRAM). It overclocks just as good as P4B266, and if you get RDRAM that can hit PC1066 speeds, it will beat a equivalent P4B266 setup. Yea, make sure you go with 7200RPM drives, 5400RPM will be a huge bottleneck. Oh and have you considered waiting for a GF4 Ti 4200?

 

[KenAF]

Athlon4all,

Although I agree that PC1066+ RDRAM is the best platform for the P4....I'd be a bit hesitant to recommend the TH7-II or any other shipping RDRAM motherboard at this time. If you do go for the TH7-II, be sure to buy from a vendor with a liberal return policy, for reasons I mentioned towards the bottom of this thread.

 

[Budarow]

Thanks for your response (especially KenAF!). I've added the "delivered" cost of each component (to the 1st post) and I believe you'll be able to "tell" why I've "settled" for some of the components.

Also, in my "old" PC...I have a Maxtor 40 GB HD which spins at 7,200 RPMs. If you guys think I'd see a BIG difference in "game" performance, maybe I'll put it in the "new" PC.

Any other ideas.

 

[oldfart]

<< Video Card ($109.00 for a Visiontek GeFore 3 Ti200) >>


Nice price!

 

[Dreadogg]

well I just built one with AMD XP 1600 and the MSI K7N420 and all I can say is very smooth setup and very stable so far no lockups and no problems getting the onboard components running, as a matter of fact this is the first post coming through it! I built this system for my father Im not sure if iI would consider it for my self I might still choose Via 266+ over this considering the price, but what sways me is that via's been having lots of problems with Nvida video cards and drivers that accually work properly. good luck to ya !

 

[killmeplease]

It's a bit pricey, but I like my Abit KR7A m/board. But I hear the Epox is damn good.

Where did you get that price for the vid card?

 

[KenAF]

Budarow,

Again, I have to reiterate the importance of a modern, fast hard drive. A year old 7200rpm drive (or any Maxtor, for that matter) is not going to be anywhere near as fast as the latest drives. As far as system responsiveness goes, a 1GHz system with a new, fast 7200rpm drive (i.e. WD1200JB) might well outperform a 2.0+GHz system with an older 5400rpm drive. Although I always recommend 512Mb RAM, your system would probably be faster with 256Mb RAM and a modern 7200rpm drive [for many general tasks] than it would with 512Mb RAM and an older 5400rpm model.

For pricing, you list $112 for two slow 60Gb 5400rpm drives that might as well be ATA33. The cheapest high-performance drive (and its not exactly cheap) is the 40Gb IBM 120GXP at $95 from Googlegear. The 60Gb version is $20 more at $114. Perhaps you could get one fast 60Gb drive, and then add another drive in the future as your computing requirements grow? Note the IBM 120GXP isn't as fast as the $200 100Gb and $260 120Gb Western Digital 8Mb cache models, but it would be a significant improvement over what you have now, and a vast improvement over the 5400rpm drives you have spec'd. Those 5400rpm drives, and even the older 7200rpm Maxtor, just won't be sufficient to keep up with your new system.