I really need advice, need to be brought up-to-date for upgrade.. (thnx)

[fortythree]

well, it has been a long time since i have been in the computer building game.. it has been a long time since i have been to this forum!!
anyways, i am itchin to build myself a new computer.. bored i guess.. i'll try and keep this post to a few general questions in regards to different choices for upgrading..

currently i have a p3v4x mobo, 512mb mosel vitelic 7ns cas 2-2-2 @ 143mhz, PIII 700e @ 933mhz, 10000 rpm 9gig scsi cheetahs, geforce 2 mmx, etc..

when i built this it was considered pretty fast.. i got laughed at by local computer guys cause i was just learning!..

anyways, my general questions are: do i go with a new high ghz P4 cpu?
OR
should I go with a dual PIII 1ghz setup? (i realize it could get pricey, but i would just do dual 1ghz rather than dual 1.4ghz if i went with the dual PIII... 1.4's are lotsa $$$)..

if I went dual PIII am i stuck with regular 168 pin sdram? do any mobo's support dual PIII's AND the newer ddr sdram?
is there a big difference in the ddr sdram compared to fast 168 pin sdram?

the main reasons i want to upgrade are: i need bigger hdd's, which meens i need to go back to win2K or XP so i can use NTFS (right now running win98 because XP seems heavy and slow on my system)..

In regards to hdd's, i was just gonna buy a quantum atlas 73.4 gig scsi so i could keep using my aha-2940u scsi card for the time being.. (8mb buffer, 10000rpm, should be fast)...

any and all help is extremely appreciated, i miss this place alot.. things change too fast!!

thanks in advance.

fortythree / Boozy43

 

[GnomeCop]

is there any reason you need a dual cpu setup? You should step out of the P3 era, thats no good.
P4C and AthlonXP Barton/nforce2 systems is where its at it seems these days.

 

[fortythree]

nope no reason to go with dual PIII.. just that if I go to P4 I am forced to get new mobo, new cpu, and new ram... and because it has been so long since i have tinkered with hardware, i dont know what is best..

when i bought my ram i knew it was fast and overclockable.. when i bought my cpu i knew it was able to hit 933 @ 133 fsb + more.. i bought this mobo (p3v4x) cause people recommended it for overclocking/bios options.. etc, etc..

so now i guess i am just wondering what to do!! everything has changed so i dont know anything anymore..

what ddr ram is good? (ie: like my cas2 7ns pc133 @ 143mhz ram was good compared to cas3 pc100)

as far as P4 goes, i have read a bunch on them but still feel unsure... do some have more on-die cache than others? do they still run like the pIII's? (ie: 000 fsb x 00.0 multiplier = actual CPU speed)

what motherboard gives good bios options, possibly allows for some overclockability...

1 thing i do know, i would rather buy a fast chip already at a high fsb than a semi fast chip than i can overclock... the reason being because i would rather not have to put a huge, noisey fan on the sucker.. i'm sick of this pep66 i have on my 700e allowing it to run at 933!!!

thanks again for the help, i so appreciate it.

 

[fortythree]

bump cause this board moves fast!

 

[Corporate Thug]

what ddr ram is good? corsair XMS, kinston HyperX, twinmos
All p4's have the same amount of cache, the new "C" have 800mhz fsb
what motherboard gives good bios options, possibly allows for some overclockability...? ASUS P4P800, P4C800 or ABIT IS7/IC7

 

[mattg1981]

I would definatly go with an Intel C chip .. I got the 2.8C (shoulda gone 2.6 to save money)

If you are straped for cash, you cant beat a 2.4C