Hardware setup...good ou non?

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pixelsteward

Member
Jun 26, 2003
32
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0
Hiya,

sorta a repost, although changed the forum and the hardware a little bit. First time building from scratch, on a massive student budget, all prices are listed in canadian 'dollars'.

If anyone can suggest better prices than these, in the toronto core area, would be very helpful indeed!

quadro4 750xgl: (this has already been bought on ebay) 480$

Antec SLK3700AMB case w/ 350W PSU $105

Athlon XP 2500+ (Barton) w/ 512K L2 cache Retail $132

Western Digital 80GB w/ 8MB cache $121
OR (which one?)
Western Digital 120GB w/ 8MB cache $159

Samsung 512MB PC-3200 DDR400 SDRAM $134

ASUS A7N8X Deluxe $183


again, i'm ever thankful to anyone who can comment on this stuff. I am an old user, but a new builder. And yes, I bought the quadro for a specific reason :p

cheerio for now
 
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brettjrob

Senior member
Jul 1, 2003
214
0
71
Originally posted by: pixelsteward
Hiya,

Samsung 512MB PC-3200 DDR400 SDRAM $134

ASUS A7N8X Deluxe $183
Click to expand...

You'll definitely want 2 sticks of 256MB PC3200 to take advantage of dual-channel on that nice nForce2 motherboard. (Maybe that's what you're getting, just making sure).

As for the HDD's just get the 80GB if it's big enough for you, speed difference is not noticable.
 
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pixelsteward

Member
Jun 26, 2003
32
0
0
heya,

am just getting the one 512 for now, because will upgrade in the future to 1gig.

is dual channel really noticeable? whats the approx percentage improvement?

thanks :)
 
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Corporate Thug

Lifer
Apr 17, 2003
37,622
0
76
Originally posted by: brettjrob
Originally posted by: pixelsteward
Hiya,

Samsung 512MB PC-3200 DDR400 SDRAM $134

ASUS A7N8X Deluxe $183
Click to expand...

You'll definitely want 2 sticks of 256MB PC3200 to take advantage of dual-channel on that nice nForce2 motherboard. (Maybe that's what you're getting, just making sure).

As for the HDD's just get the 80GB if it's big enough for you, speed difference is not noticable.
Click to expand...

honestly, i would get a 512 stick now and save up and get another 512 stick later. that way, you can run 1.5GB max. besides, dual channel really benefits when you are using onboard grpahics which you obviously arent. as for the HD, it all depends on what you are gonna use the HD for. if you think you are gonna need more than 80Gb than get the bigger one. personally, i would get the 120 gb and not worry about a HDD upgrade for a while. for the mobo, have u considered the NF7-s? many people (me being one of them) feel that it is the best nforce2 board available
 
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pixelsteward

Member
Jun 26, 2003
32
0
0
hmmm. i have read up a bunch on these forums and on the site about the nforce2's...is the asus not the best? i was under the impression it was :s
 
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brettjrob

Senior member
Jul 1, 2003
214
0
71
The 512MB now and another 512 later is also a good plan. The percentage increase for dual-channel is (I believe) more noticable on Intel boards than on AMD anyway (I may be wrong), so it won't be a huge deal anyway.
 
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Ionizer86

Diamond Member
Jun 20, 2001
5,292
0
76
Bestbuy will have a Maxtor 120gb for $80 tomorrow, says Hot Deals.
Also, I think Barton 2500+ cores are under $100 now at many places.
 
Jeff7181

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
Originally posted by: pixelsteward
heya,

am just getting the one 512 for now, because will upgrade in the future to 1gig.

is dual channel really noticeable? whats the approx percentage improvement?

thanks :)
Click to expand...

Almost nothing. I've benchmarked both ways and you can see the difference in benchmark scores, but not really in real world tests, like games. Maybe in a memory intensive appliation, but still, when using PC3200 RAM, dual channel doesn't do a whole lot... I imagine if you're still using PC2100, then dual channel would be more beneficial.
 
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pixelsteward

Member
Jun 26, 2003
32
0
0
wow. these replies were very helpful. thank you.

shady06-> thanks for the link, i'll look more intensively into the abit now. i still have about 3 weeks to decide; that's when my quadro will get here.

brettjrob and jeff7181-> i think i'll go with the one stick of 512 now. would it be best to go with 2700 or 3200? would i notice a big performance increase from one to the other?

ionizer86-> thanks for the deal, although i'm in canada. bestbuy up here is future shop...which is substandard in my opinion. i checked their site last night, they don't have anything i'd be serious for. thanks anyways!

 
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JonTom

Senior member
Oct 10, 2001
311
0
0
Where did you get those prices? Have you dealt with them before? Those are pretty low in Canadian $$
 
Jeff7181

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
Originally posted by: pixelsteward
wow. these replies were very helpful. thank you.

shady06-> thanks for the link, i'll look more intensively into the abit now. i still have about 3 weeks to decide; that's when my quadro will get here.

brettjrob and jeff7181-> i think i'll go with the one stick of 512 now. would it be best to go with 2700 or 3200? would i notice a big performance increase from one to the other?

ionizer86-> thanks for the deal, although i'm in canada. bestbuy up here is future shop...which is substandard in my opinion. i checked their site last night, they don't have anything i'd be serious for. thanks anyways!
Click to expand...

I'd go with PC3200... the price difference isn't THAT much... and it will leave you room to overclock, or upgrade to a 400 Mhz FSB stock processor in a few months when prices drop after the Athlon-64 is released.
 
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pixelsteward

Member
Jun 26, 2003
32
0
0
super. thanks jeff7181.

i've been reading that the A7N8X DX has a 2.0 revision? how could i tell this before buying it? would it be printed on the box somewhere?

just because the shop i'm buying from is...honest...but it's the type of place that would also take peeps for a ride i think.

cheerio
 
Jeff7181

Jeff7181

Lifer
Aug 21, 2002
18,368
11
81
Originally posted by: pixelsteward
super. thanks jeff7181.

i've been reading that the A7N8X DX has a 2.0 revision? how could i tell this before buying it? would it be printed on the box somewhere?

just because the shop i'm buying from is...honest...but it's the type of place that would also take peeps for a ride i think.

cheerio
Click to expand...

Most will advertise Revision 2... otherwise look for a sticker or something that says something about it being approved for use with a 400 mhz FSB
 
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