I've built two PCs in the last month, both with AMD Duron CPUs. Here are my results and thoughts for anyone interested. Both PCs run Win98se. In both cases I used a pencil (HB #2 lead) to unlock the Durons by connecting the L1 bridges.
PC #1 (parts bought at Allstarshop.com [except where noted] last month with prices paid last month)
* Abit KT7-RAID ($158)
* Duron 650 at 900 ($89)
* Vcore at 1.83
* Cooler is Globalwin FOP38 ($26)
* Temps at idle are about 98F, at 107F stressed (running Super pi, Primordia, and 3dMark2000 simultaneously)
* Room Temps at 80F or less
* Generic 128 PC133 RAM CL=3 rated at 7.5ns ($139 [now sold for $82])
* IBM 30gig 7200 rpm ($150)
* eVGA Geforce2 MX ($109)
* Linksys 10/100 PCI Network card ($16 at Onvia.com, now it is $18.87)
* Case if Fong Kai 320 with 120mm ($14 at Onvia.com) fan in front and a 92mm and a 80mm in back, and AMD approved 300w power supply ($99 for case with $17 shipping bought at Directron.com)
* Startech Silicone heat sink paste ($3 at Onvia.com)
* Mitsumi floppy ($11.75) and CD-ROM ($34.95)
The max speed this Duron will reach is 900, and won?t post beyond that. I believe this is just the limit of this particular CPU, but 250 MHz over rated is pretty good.
Despite the generic ram with CL3, I get memory benchmarks that seem on par with scores reported on the web for the more expensive stuff.
Some benchmarks for ya (note duron 650@900):
3Dmark 2000 at 1025x768 default = 4702 (Game 1 high detail = 34.0 fps)
Sandra CPU Bench CPU dhrystone = 2558, FPU whetsone = 1209
Sandra CPU multimedia integer MMX = 3025, Floating Point = 4189
Sandra Memory Bench ALU = 442, FPU = 528
PC #2 (parts bought at Bunta.com unless otherwise noted)
* Abit KT7 (non-RAID) ($132)
* Duron 700 at 850 (will try 1000 once I get better heatsink) ($72)
Vcore 1.6
*Heatsink is Cooler Master DP5-5G11 (only rated to 850mhz) ($5.50 at Allstarshop.com)
* Temps at idle are about 105F, at 111F stressed (running Super pi, Primordia, and 3dMark2000 simultaneously)
* Room Temps at 80F or less
*Case is old Micron desktop with 80mm hole cut in side with fan blowing in, and 92mm and 80mm blowing out the back
* Inno3d Geforce2 MX ($109)
* Generic PC133 128MB RAM not sure of CL or of ns rating ($79)
* Cnet 10/100 PCI Network card ($14.50 Onvia.com)
* Antec PP303x 300w power supply ($38.87 Onvia.com, top rated PS by Anandtech.com of AMD recommended supplies)
I don?t know the max speed of this Duron yet since I don?t have a good heatsink for it, but I expect good results (950 or 1000) since I?ve not had to move the vcore up much and other 700 seem to overclock well.
As with the other generic memory, this generic RAM shows bench scores that are very good.
Here some numbers (note duron 700@850):
3Dmark 2000 at 1025x768 default = 4737 (Game 1 high detail = 33.5 fps)
Sandra CPU Bench CPU dhrystone = 2426, FPU whetsone = 1183
Sandra CPU multimedia integer MMX = 2848, Floating Point = 3954
Sandra Memory Bench ALU = 431, FPU = 527
Some other thoughts. All four sites I bought from seem very good (Onvia.com, Allstarshop.com, Bunta.com, and Directron.dom). I would buy from any again. If you are looking for a few items, check Onvia since they offer free shipping. Both Allstarshop and Bunta are good for buying a number of items at one time. A single item will cost too much once shipping is added.
If you look at prices of components at Pricewatch.com, you will find a number of sites that offer lower prices than Bunta and Allstarshop, however, if you look at resellerratings.com, you will find that most of the first 10 to 15 sites listed on Pricewatch.com, with low, low prices, often have terrible service. In my opinion, Bunta and Allstarshop offer the lowest prices of reputable businesses.
I tried a number of things with the Fong Kai 320 case to test case cooling. As built, the 320 circulates air better than almost any case available today (do a search to see it?s reviews, e.g. Anandtech.com). With the 120mm fan I added to the front, the internal temp of the case is exactly the temp of my room, so the 320 may be the closest thing you can get to a wind tunnel.
The 320 comes with a vent directly over the CPU for extra cooling, either pushing air in or blow air out (which is recommended for rear fans, see AMD?s web site). I found the vent withdrew TOO much air and interfered with the CPU heatsink fan and actually raised CPU temps, so I detached the vent. Also, I tried opening the case side panel and placed a desktop fan blowing directly on the motherboard and CPU to see if this helps cool. Again, it did not. The extra air from the desktop fan seems to interfere with the fan on the CPU heatsink, thus the CPU was hotter. In the end, the best cooling solution was to remove the vent over the CPU that comes standard with this case, add a 120mm in front, and keep the case sides CLOSED. Also, I drilled a few more small holes in the plastic case front to increase air flow.
I think the Inno3d Geforce2 MX is better than the eVGA card for two reasons: (1) it comes with a fan on the heatsink and the eVGA does not, so this should help with overclocking, and (2) the eVGA shows color distortions, color spots in some games for some reason and on MadOnion?s 3dMark2000 (maybe these discolorations resulted from having the video card overclocked, but the Inno3d is also overclocked and does not show this; I may try adding a fan the eVGA heatsink to see if that solves the problem, but more than likely I will just live with the discolored spots as they don?t interfer with game play or work).
Finally, just a note on costs. As you can see, I have very fast machines for prices that are very good. PC #1 can now be bought for less than $630 (including shipping!), and PC #2, which is nothing more than parts used to upgrade an old machine, is less than $450 (including shipping!). I have to say that I will never again buy a pre-built machine. I?ve owned three Gateway?s and two Micron?s, and I had good experiences with both companies, but for the price savings and the ability to get exactly what I want in components, building my own PC is the way to go. In sum, I have happy with my experience with these components.
PC #1 (parts bought at Allstarshop.com [except where noted] last month with prices paid last month)
* Abit KT7-RAID ($158)
* Duron 650 at 900 ($89)
* Vcore at 1.83
* Cooler is Globalwin FOP38 ($26)
* Temps at idle are about 98F, at 107F stressed (running Super pi, Primordia, and 3dMark2000 simultaneously)
* Room Temps at 80F or less
* Generic 128 PC133 RAM CL=3 rated at 7.5ns ($139 [now sold for $82])
* IBM 30gig 7200 rpm ($150)
* eVGA Geforce2 MX ($109)
* Linksys 10/100 PCI Network card ($16 at Onvia.com, now it is $18.87)
* Case if Fong Kai 320 with 120mm ($14 at Onvia.com) fan in front and a 92mm and a 80mm in back, and AMD approved 300w power supply ($99 for case with $17 shipping bought at Directron.com)
* Startech Silicone heat sink paste ($3 at Onvia.com)
* Mitsumi floppy ($11.75) and CD-ROM ($34.95)
The max speed this Duron will reach is 900, and won?t post beyond that. I believe this is just the limit of this particular CPU, but 250 MHz over rated is pretty good.
Despite the generic ram with CL3, I get memory benchmarks that seem on par with scores reported on the web for the more expensive stuff.
Some benchmarks for ya (note duron 650@900):
3Dmark 2000 at 1025x768 default = 4702 (Game 1 high detail = 34.0 fps)
Sandra CPU Bench CPU dhrystone = 2558, FPU whetsone = 1209
Sandra CPU multimedia integer MMX = 3025, Floating Point = 4189
Sandra Memory Bench ALU = 442, FPU = 528
PC #2 (parts bought at Bunta.com unless otherwise noted)
* Abit KT7 (non-RAID) ($132)
* Duron 700 at 850 (will try 1000 once I get better heatsink) ($72)
Vcore 1.6
*Heatsink is Cooler Master DP5-5G11 (only rated to 850mhz) ($5.50 at Allstarshop.com)
* Temps at idle are about 105F, at 111F stressed (running Super pi, Primordia, and 3dMark2000 simultaneously)
* Room Temps at 80F or less
*Case is old Micron desktop with 80mm hole cut in side with fan blowing in, and 92mm and 80mm blowing out the back
* Inno3d Geforce2 MX ($109)
* Generic PC133 128MB RAM not sure of CL or of ns rating ($79)
* Cnet 10/100 PCI Network card ($14.50 Onvia.com)
* Antec PP303x 300w power supply ($38.87 Onvia.com, top rated PS by Anandtech.com of AMD recommended supplies)
I don?t know the max speed of this Duron yet since I don?t have a good heatsink for it, but I expect good results (950 or 1000) since I?ve not had to move the vcore up much and other 700 seem to overclock well.
As with the other generic memory, this generic RAM shows bench scores that are very good.
Here some numbers (note duron 700@850):
3Dmark 2000 at 1025x768 default = 4737 (Game 1 high detail = 33.5 fps)
Sandra CPU Bench CPU dhrystone = 2426, FPU whetsone = 1183
Sandra CPU multimedia integer MMX = 2848, Floating Point = 3954
Sandra Memory Bench ALU = 431, FPU = 527
Some other thoughts. All four sites I bought from seem very good (Onvia.com, Allstarshop.com, Bunta.com, and Directron.dom). I would buy from any again. If you are looking for a few items, check Onvia since they offer free shipping. Both Allstarshop and Bunta are good for buying a number of items at one time. A single item will cost too much once shipping is added.
If you look at prices of components at Pricewatch.com, you will find a number of sites that offer lower prices than Bunta and Allstarshop, however, if you look at resellerratings.com, you will find that most of the first 10 to 15 sites listed on Pricewatch.com, with low, low prices, often have terrible service. In my opinion, Bunta and Allstarshop offer the lowest prices of reputable businesses.
I tried a number of things with the Fong Kai 320 case to test case cooling. As built, the 320 circulates air better than almost any case available today (do a search to see it?s reviews, e.g. Anandtech.com). With the 120mm fan I added to the front, the internal temp of the case is exactly the temp of my room, so the 320 may be the closest thing you can get to a wind tunnel.
The 320 comes with a vent directly over the CPU for extra cooling, either pushing air in or blow air out (which is recommended for rear fans, see AMD?s web site). I found the vent withdrew TOO much air and interfered with the CPU heatsink fan and actually raised CPU temps, so I detached the vent. Also, I tried opening the case side panel and placed a desktop fan blowing directly on the motherboard and CPU to see if this helps cool. Again, it did not. The extra air from the desktop fan seems to interfere with the fan on the CPU heatsink, thus the CPU was hotter. In the end, the best cooling solution was to remove the vent over the CPU that comes standard with this case, add a 120mm in front, and keep the case sides CLOSED. Also, I drilled a few more small holes in the plastic case front to increase air flow.
I think the Inno3d Geforce2 MX is better than the eVGA card for two reasons: (1) it comes with a fan on the heatsink and the eVGA does not, so this should help with overclocking, and (2) the eVGA shows color distortions, color spots in some games for some reason and on MadOnion?s 3dMark2000 (maybe these discolorations resulted from having the video card overclocked, but the Inno3d is also overclocked and does not show this; I may try adding a fan the eVGA heatsink to see if that solves the problem, but more than likely I will just live with the discolored spots as they don?t interfer with game play or work).
Finally, just a note on costs. As you can see, I have very fast machines for prices that are very good. PC #1 can now be bought for less than $630 (including shipping!), and PC #2, which is nothing more than parts used to upgrade an old machine, is less than $450 (including shipping!). I have to say that I will never again buy a pre-built machine. I?ve owned three Gateway?s and two Micron?s, and I had good experiences with both companies, but for the price savings and the ability to get exactly what I want in components, building my own PC is the way to go. In sum, I have happy with my experience with these components.
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