Great hello to everyone ! I am back from a long silent time ! New system needed !

[Thor_Sevan]

Great hello to everyone ! I am back from a long silent time and here is my new system !

- I N T E L -
- Gigabyte 8IEXP (network card included)
- Intel P4-B 2.26 ghz 533 fsb
- 512 MB PC2100 ** Should I get PC2700 instead ? **
- Antec file server metallic gray
- Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X 40 GB
- ATI RADEON 8500 128 mb RETAIL
- Creative audigy OEM
- Pioneer DVD 16X IDE DVD-ROM drive slot load OEM
- Logitech Wheel Mouse optical, corded 2 button + roller mouse, blue/silver color, 2X optical (Retail)
- Samsung SyncMaster 900NF - Flat CRT - 19" - 2048 x 1536 / 87 Hz - 0.25 mm Aperture Grille
- Klipsch 4.1 that I already have

- A M D -
- Asus A7V333, Athlon & Duron Motherboard, VIA KT333 chipset, s462, 3xDDR333 / OR SOLTEK SL75DRV5
- AthlonXP 2100+
- next is same as above.

The Intel system is a little more expensive but from my point of view is currently a smarter choice because it has not arrived at the end of its architecture. If I buy an XP, I won't be able to upgrade 6 months later.

I have open mind, if you see something that should be different, go ahead !
Here are some things that could be discussed:
- Samsung 900 nf vs LG 915FT+
- PC2100 vs PC2700
- Video card in general
- HD. I first wanted the 120 GXP from ibm but people seem to like the Maxtor a little more

Again, thanks a lot for any ideas !
Oh yeah, this system will be used for general use, gaming, programming, graphic design and computer engineering !

Thor_Sevan.

 

[Lint21]

Great hello right back at ya, Thor I'll say what I'm sure many others would point out regarding the hard drive: consider the Western Digital JB or "Special Edition" series. They are the current enthusiast favorite, largely due to the increased performance gained from the 8 megs of cache. I personally have two of the 120 gig models, and have been pleased with them. IBM GXP line has fallen out of favor due to hardware failure issues.

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: Lint21
Great hello right back at ya, Thor I'll say what I'm sure many others would point out regarding the hard drive: consider the Western Digital JB or "Special Edition" series. They are the current enthusiast favorite, largely due to the increased performance gained from the 8 megs of cache. I personally have two of the 120 gig models, and have been pleased with them. IBM GXP line has fallen out of favor due to hardware failure issues.

I second that, on the other hand if you want something that makes less noise id go for a seagate. Next, for a P4 deffinatly go with 2700. you want as much memery bandwidth that you can get. The best performace is with PC1066 RDRAM since it give you the same speed as the bus. If you havent noticed i suggest the INTEL system.

 

[Thor_Sevan]

There is no way I am buying RDRAM ! It is too expensive. I could go PC2700 though.
Is there any benchmarks with a P4-B 2.26GHZ with this ram ? Is there any serious performance drop ?
And I think that this CPU can also be overclocked pretty high with regular air cooling !

Thor

 

[CrazySaint]

PC2700 is only about 2-5% slower than PC1066 RDRAM, so its an excellent choice. Btw, that 2.26B should OC to about 2.7-2.8GHz, if you're interested Also, you might wait until Sept. 1st to buy your system, because by then, Intel will have slashed its prices, and the Radeon 9700 will be in stores. I'm not necessarily saying you should *BUY* the 9700, but it will cause the prices on other cards to drop.

 

[Thor_Sevan]

Yeah, thats a good idea. First I wanted a parhelia for the outstanding 2D quality, but now that the Radeon R300 is getting out soon with MUCH higher 3D performance...
If the 2D quality of the ATI card is very good, then that is what I should get. I still can use my old G400 max temporary in my PC for a few more months !

As for the P4, I will wait untill new ones get out and drop the prices of the one I want and overclock it to 2.6 ghz you say ? Thats pretty nice indeed !

If PC2700 is +- 5% slower than rdram, how much slower is PC2100 ?

Thanks a lot !

Thor

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: Thor_Sevan
Yeah, thats a good idea. First I wanted a parhelia for the outstanding 2D quality, but now that the Radeon R300 is getting out soon with MUCH higher 3D performance...
If the 2D quality of the ATI card is very good, then that is what I should get. I still can use my old G400 max temporary in my PC for a few more months !

Parwhalia? ATI has very good 2D, get a 9700

As for the P4, I will wait untill new ones get out and drop the prices of the one I want and overclock it to 2.6 ghz you say ? Thats pretty nice indeed !

Yep, the P4 Northwoods are amazing overclockers, just make sure you get some good RAM that can handle the high FSBs (Corsair XMS comes to mind, and can be had for a decent price at googlegear.com). The 1.8As (<--- That "A" is important) EASILY OC to 2.4GHz+ (even at default voltage), and a few even go as high as 2.7-2.8+GHz. Most 2.26Bs OC to 2.6-2.7GHz and a few reach around 3GHz. But OC is still somewhat luck, even with the P4s, so don't get a P4 planning on getting a high OC, rather consider it "icing on the cake" (very THICK icing ).

If PC2700 is +- 5% slower than rdram, how much slower is PC2100 ?

Thanks a lot !

Thor

P4 + PC2100 = Crap. You definitely need to get at least PC2700 for P4s.

One other thing, for the motherboard, I would either get the Asus P4B533, EPoX 4G4A(I|+), or Abit BG7.

 

[Thor_Sevan]

CrazySaint, by how much "crap" is the P4 with PC2100 ram ? I will go PC2700 but just to know why Anand used PC2100 in his HIGH END GAMING RIG.

Yeah, at first I wanted the parhelia... but when I looked at the benchmarks I was deceived. The R300 is a very nice idea concidering that it will also lower prices for the radeon 8500 !

As for the motherboards, is there any specific reasons why I should not get the Gigabyte 8IEXP ?

Thanks !

Thor

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: Thor_Sevan
CrazySaint, by how much "crap" is the P4 with PC2100 ram ? I will go PC2700 but just to know why Anand used PC2100 in his HIGH END GAMING RIG.

Yeah, at first I wanted the parhelia... but when I looked at the benchmarks I was deceived. The R300 is a very nice idea concidering that it will also lower prices for the radeon 8500 !

As for the motherboards, is there any specific reasons why I should not get the Gigabyte 8IEXP ?

Thanks !

Thor

Ok, perhaps "crap" was overstating it a bit (I think I was actually thinking "SDRAM" not "PC2100" when I said that...), but PC2700 is about 5-10% faster than PC2100, obviously, it also allows you to OC higher than PC2100

The Gigabyte 8IEXP is based on Intel's slower i845E chipset instead of the faster i845G chipset. That, and the three boards I listed before are just better boards - probably the best 3 DDR OC boards on the market. If you get the P4B533, just make sure you don't get the -V versoin (P4B533-V), even though its based on the i845G chipset, because the P4B533-V doesn't support the 3:4 mem ration past 132FSB. A future BIOS update may alleviate that, though.