I have $500 to build a new system; please suggest components.

[jacktesterson]

For somebody who does Mild gaming, and owned a Matrox...save yourself some money, and get a Radeon 9100 128 MB for $50-60......that card is as fast as a geforce3 ti500 and is comparable to a ti 4200 in some benchmarks....I truely think this is all your going to need

 

[bupkus]

Thanks to everyone for all your suggestions. ATPoint I'm especially interested in motherboard suggestions for the P4/800fsb and video card, not that the final decision is done.
I wonder if the thing that he's probably most into with a pc will benefit from the additional speed(and cost) of the Intel option -- ripping and burning cds and dvds? He just got a new tdk indi +- and he's probably gonna start with his DVD Xcopy Express to backup his movies.
Playmaker's link to THW's Media Encoding comparison clearly gives the P4 the advantage, but is this the same/similar to ripping a dvd?

 

[Playmaker]

While doing research for my new computer in the same area (only for ripping and encoding CDs in high quality mp3s) everyone told me that the Intel route would blow the AMD route away in the regard. The ripping is all abou the drive, but when it comes to endoding the Intel should win hands down. And yes, that is what the Media Encoding comparison says.

For Springdale/Canterwood motherboards Anandtech gave it's best value board award or whatever they call it to the Abit IS7, a Springdale board. It's $108 shipped at Newegg. Abit also makes a version without Firewire and RAID, the IS7-E, which sells for $98. I went with the IS7-E because I know for a fact I'll never use either. My next hard drive will be a Raptor and by the time I can afford 2 I'll have a new mobo. I'm a college kid so I'll never use Firewire either. Buy soon and get a version with PAT before Intel gets rid of it. The Abit Canterwood board is the IC7. It can be found for ~$125 on Pricewatch. Springdale and Canterwood seem to be neck and neck until the FSB passes 240-250, in which case Canterwood move into the lead. Really up to you which one you want.

For video cards it seems the choices are...Sapphire Radeon 9500 np softmodded to 9700 Pro for $130 (~30% chance to succeed from what I've heard, so it's a gamble)...Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro for $151 (good OCer, but lags behind 9500 Pro which has been phased out)...Powercolor 9700 np for $215...Sapphire 9800 np for $244. Those cards seem to be the best bang for your buck in all the price ranges. Just decide how much you have to spend and go for it. I personally don't like to upgrade much if at all (prefer waiting a year and a half to 2 years and building a completely new system) so I went with the 9800 np. Some will say go cheaper and wait for the new cards. Just depends on how much he games and has to spend...

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: Playmaker
While doing research for my new computer in the same area (only for ripping and encoding CDs in high quality mp3s) everyone told me that the Intel route would blow the AMD route away in the regard. The ripping is all abou the drive, but when it comes to endoding the Intel should win hands down. And yes, that is what the Media Encoding comparison says.

For Springdale/Canterwood motherboards Anandtech gave it's best value board award or whatever they call it to the Abit IS7, a Springdale board. It's $108 shipped at Newegg. Abit also makes a version without Firewire and RAID, the IS7-E, which sells for $98. I went with the IS7-E because I know for a fact I'll never use either. My next hard drive will be a Raptor and by the time I can afford 2 I'll have a new mobo. I'm a college kid so I'll never use Firewire either. Buy soon and get a version with PAT before Intel gets rid of it. The Abit Canterwood board is the IC7. It can be found for ~$125 on Pricewatch. Springdale and Canterwood seem to be neck and neck until the FSB passes 240-250, in which case Canterwood move into the lead. Really up to you which one you want.

For video cards it seems the choices are...Sapphire Radeon 9500 np softmodded to 9700 Pro for $130 (~30% chance to succeed from what I've heard, so it's a gamble)...Sapphire Radeon 9600 Pro for $151 (good OCer, but lags behind 9500 Pro which has been phased out)...Powercolor 9700 np for $215...Sapphire 9800 np for $244. Those cards seem to be the best bang for your buck in all the price ranges. Just decide how much you have to spend and go for it. I personally don't like to upgrade much if at all (prefer waiting a year and a half to 2 years and building a completely new system) so I went with the 9800 np. Some will say go cheaper and wait for the new cards. Just depends on how much he games and has to spend...

Can you expand on the PAT thing? Also, what do you think about Intel's Prescott? Some have posted that they're worth the wait.

 

[Pugchucker]

I saw a deal recently for an XP2000 + K7S5A for $62 or so. You might want to search for that. If you can grab a 1700+ WPMW 0310 cpu those are good for at least 2600-2800XP levels on overclocking and should save you a pretty penny.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: Slammy1
ABIT IS7 $108
P4 2.4C $172 (Retail, w/ HSF)
9700NP $219
Keyboard $1

All the numbers are from NewEgg, except the keyboard which I just made up to match your budget.

same thing I am gettin except already have 9700 Pro and KB

but i do have 2 Kingston HyperX as well like the original poster

 

[bupkus]

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: Slammy1
ABIT IS7 $108
P4 2.4C $172 (Retail, w/ HSF)
9700NP $219
Keyboard $1

All the numbers are from NewEgg, except the keyboard which I just made up to match your budget.

same thing I am gettin except already have 9700 Pro and KB

but i do have 2 Kingston HyperX as well like the original poster

Hopefully the HyperX 2.5v I have will peform better than the 2.6.

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: bupkus

Originally posted by: mchammer187

Originally posted by: Slammy1
ABIT IS7 $108
P4 2.4C $172 (Retail, w/ HSF)
9700NP $219
Keyboard $1

All the numbers are from NewEgg, except the keyboard which I just made up to match your budget.

same thing I am gettin except already have 9700 Pro and KB

but i do have 2 Kingston HyperX as well like the original poster

Hopefully the HyperX 2.5v I have will peform better than the 2.6.

i picked up some 2.5v as well hopelly i can get 3.2 Ghz or higher

did you make a final decision?

 

[bupkus]

mchammer187,
It's my relative's decision to make, but he'll probably take my recommendation for the Abit and P4c you're listing. With a little luck he'll have a system better than mine... :Q

 

[Playmaker]

Can you expand on the PAT thing? Also, what do you think about Intel's Prescott? Some have posted that they're worth the wait.

Some of the Springdale boards, Abit boards included, have a feature called GAT. The Canterwoods were built with a feature called PAT, one of the things making them better then the Springdale boards. I guess Intel didn't intend to have GAT on the Springdale boards but some mobo manufacturers unlocked it. Intel said recently they were going to prevent that on future boards, but it shouldn't affect any ordered in the near future. I'm not 100% knowledgable on all this, but check at HardForm for more info on it. It seemed like the consensus was that at lower FSB speeds the fact that both boards had this feature caused them to be neck and neck in benchmarks. However, as the FSB rises this feature must be toned down and the more expensive Canterwoods will rightfully move into the lead. There is a long post on HardForum detailing that the Canterwood seems to have a significant advantage once you get to the 240-250FSB range and higher. Whether it's worth the extra $30 between an Abit IS7-E and IC7 is up to you.

I don't know much about the Prescotts, but I do know that if you keep waiting for the next best thing you'll never upgrade. You'll wait for Prescott, then you'll want to wait for the next generation of vid cards, then you'll wait for PCI X, then you'll wait for DDRII, it will never end. Once you feel your system lagging behind your programs it's time to upgrade.

 

[bupkus]

Some of the Springdale boards, Abit boards included, have a feature called GAT. The Canterwoods were built with a feature called PAT, one of the things making them better then the Springdale boards. I guess Intel didn't intend to have GAT on the Springdale boards but some mobo manufacturers unlocked it. Intel said recently they were going to prevent that on future boards, but it shouldn't affect any ordered in the near future. I'm not 100% knowledgable on all this, but check at HardForm for more info on it. It seemed like the consensus was that at lower FSB speeds the fact that both boards had this feature caused them to be neck and neck in benchmarks. However, as the FSB rises this feature must be toned down and the more expensive Canterwoods will rightfully move into the lead. There is a long post on HardForum detailing that the Canterwood seems to have a significant advantage once you get to the 240-250FSB range and higher. Whether it's worth the extra $30 between an Abit IS7-E and IC7 is up to you.

I don't know much about the Prescotts, but I do know that if you keep waiting for the next best thing you'll never upgrade. You'll wait for Prescott, then you'll want to wait for the next generation of vid cards, then you'll wait for PCI X, then you'll wait for DDRII, it will never end. Once you feel your system lagging behind your programs it's time to upgrade.

I just read some about the Prescotts not coming for months, so that's out.

About the fsb settings, I'm only use to the amd fsb math, where you only double the frequency rate to know your effective DDR rate.

Now Intel is another story I don't get. If you run at 240fsb, do you multiply by 4? IOW, the normal setting is 800/4, or 200 if not OCing the fsb?

So if I only run at default, I'll need pc3200 and no faster?

Something a bit curious... I just did a search on the page of Refurbished Motherboards available at Newegg and apparently they're all boards for AMD processors. Of course it could mean that most boards purchased at NE are AMD, but well... you figure for yourself. I personally am very pleased with my AMD computer builds (15 or 20).