Input for my Intel-based System

[Rookie]

<EDIT>Here's the final product being ordered slowly but surely ;-)

CORSAIR XMS2 Series Dual Channel Kit 240-Pin 1GB(512MB x 2) DDR2 PC2-4300 with Heat Spreader
BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC 256MB GDDR3/PCI-E/TV-Out/Dual-DVI
Intel Pentium 4 Prescott 3.40E GHz 800MHz FSB
ZALMAN Aluminum + Copper CPU Cooler for Socket 775/478/754/939/940
ASUS "P5AD2 Premium" 925X Chipset Motherboard For Intel LGA 775 CPU
Seagate 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
ANTEC Silver Aluminum Performance 1 Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with Side Window Panel, Swiveling Front Control Panel features LED Display
Antec 480W Power Supply
Plextor Serial ATA 12X DVD+/-RW Drive
Illuminated SATA Cables
Alps Silver 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive
Link Depot 18-inch 2 Connector Floppy Cable (Blue)
Dell 2005FPW 20.1-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor

The only thing I am still debating is the memory... I plan on overclocking... what say the masses?
</EDIT>

Ideas, suggestions? It's been five years since I've built one but I figured I might as well go for something nice.

Suggest away! Thanks!

 

[stevty2889]

Not bad, not bad at all. I would go with a little better power supply though, thermaltake power supplies are ok, but not the best, and prescotts are power hungry. I would go with an enermax or a antec at around 400w. Make sure the heatsink is LGA775 compatibable. Usualy if they just say P4 compatible they are refering to socket 478 since lga775 is still fairly new.

 

[Rookie]

Great suggestions thanks! I didn't even notice that heat sink was for socket 478!

 

[josepavento]

Is it reall worth it to go with ddr2 over ddr?

I'm not really sure of the answer, but someone on anandtech should know the answer.

 

[piroroadkill]

Obviously he has to use DDR2 on that board.

Don't know if you can get non-DDR2 Prescott boards, because frankly, I think Prescott is a POS.

[not, not Intel hating fanboy ravings here, I currently run a P4 2.4B, and have a P4 2.8C in my new PC which just needs a graphics card]

 

[josepavento]

Originally posted by: piroroadkill
Obviously he has to use DDR2 on that board.

Don't know if you can get non-DDR2 Prescott boards, because frankly, I think Prescott is a POS.

[not, not Intel hating fanboy ravings here, I currently run a P4 2.4B, and have a P4 2.8C in my new PC which just needs a graphics card]

Well ya, I know he has to use ddr2 on that board. I'm just wondering if ddr2 has much of performance advantage over ddr, and is it worth the cost?


Also, why not go with an amd64 system? (not an amd fan boy, intel rig is in the sig)

 

[stevty2889]

DDR2 has no performance advantage over DDR right now. Basicly it costs a lot more but offers no added performance, but since it is required by that motherboard, the ddr2 choosen will work well.

 

[Rookie]

Intel has been around and is still the standard. I've known others with AMD problems (not to say there aren't Intel problems.) I don't mind spending the money on the Intel platform. Basically, it's just choice. I've had no Intel problems. *shrug*

 

[Longkid]

like the setup, alot. my only question is why go with the ASUS P5AD2? personally i would go with something like the abit AA8 and save the $80 or so (depending on where you get it). for me, i dont see the added benefit of the P5AD2 for the cost. of course, it doesnt seem like your really on that much of a budget.

 

[Rookie]

Originally posted by: Longkid
like the setup, alot. my only question is why go with the ASUS P5AD2? personally i would go with something like the abit AA8 and save the $80 or so (depending on where you get it). for me, i dont see the added benefit of the P5AD2 for the cost. of course, it doesnt seem like your really on that much of a budget.

I thought about it and decided that I liked the built-in WLAN and dual GigE. More flexibility when i turn this state-of-the-art box into a server in a year.... lol

 

[Longkid]

Originally posted by: Rookie

Originally posted by: Longkid
like the setup, alot. my only question is why go with the ASUS P5AD2? personally i would go with something like the abit AA8 and save the $80 or so (depending on where you get it). for me, i dont see the added benefit of the P5AD2 for the cost. of course, it doesnt seem like your really on that much of a budget.

I thought about it and decided that I liked the built-in WLAN and dual GigE. More flexibility when i turn this state-of-the-art box into a server in a year.... lol

oh, well in that case nice choice. sry, didnt know your future plans

 

[Rookie]

Nothing wrong with making me think, thanks!

 

[uOpt]

How much do you pay for the 6800 GT PCIe?

I would spend the money on a system with DDR1 RAM and AGP, and get the fastest Northwood. Then reinvest the saved money into ECC RAM. Maybe even an extreme edition CPU.

It is not entirely clear to me whether the 533 DDR2 RAM will be of any benefit without overclocking the CPU. I think not but some people think differently.

What are you doing with the system anyway? You say you later convert it to a server, so I assume this is mostly gaming? I think you get better performance for the same money with a 6800 Ultra AGP and DDR RAM.

 

[Longkid]

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer
How much do you pay for the 6800 GT PCIe?

I would spend the money on a system with DDR1 RAM and AGP, and get the fastest Northwood. Then reinvest the saved money into ECC RAM. Maybe even an extreme edition CPU.

It is not entirely clear to me whether the 533 DDR2 RAM will be of any benefit without overclocking the CPU. I think not but some people think differently.

What are you doing with the system anyway? You say you later convert it to a server, so I assume this is mostly gaming? I think you get better performance for the same money with a 6800 Ultra AGP and DDR RAM.

If he is looking for a socket 775 proc he is going to most likely be limited to DDR2 RAM. I know the benchmarks dont show perfomance increase over DDR1 but he may not have a choice given the 925X chipset he wants to use.

I would also say going with an APG graphics card isnt the smartest approach because investing in a PCIe card with SLI would allow him to add another card in an sli format down the road without having to get rid of the card he is about to buy. Buying with the future in mind.

 

[Hanpan]

If you do go with the 925xe chipset why not complement it with a processor that has 64bit support.

They are a bit hard to find right now but I happen to have one for sale here : http://forums.anandtech.com/me...472578&amp;STARTPAGE=1



Another suggestion is going with a Benq 1620 over the NEC. THe benq is a little cheaper and considered by most to be a superior product. Benq has also shown they have excellent support by frequently releasing new firmware.

 

[uOpt]

Well, but he's paying huge bucks for the PCIe Ultra, and the DDR2 RAM is more expensive for no speedup right now. That mainboard is about $250 but has almost no performance benefits over a i875P based one for $180.

By the time he would throw his existing mainboard away and gets an SLI board (hoping they have one for that CPU and RAM) he can probably get a new computer with a twice as fast graphics card. Remember he's putting out hundreds of dollars extra right now for no performance benefit, and a serious heat disadvantage.

 

[Longkid]

Originally posted by: MartinCracauer
Well, but he's paying huge bucks for the PCIe Ultra, and the DDR2 RAM is more expensive for no speedup right now. That mainboard is about $250 but has almost no performance benefits over a i875P based one for $180.

By the time he would throw his existing mainboard away and gets an SLI board (hoping they have one for that CPU and RAM) he can probably get a new computer with a twice as fast graphics card. Remember he's putting out hundreds of dollars extra right now for no performance benefit, and a serious heat disadvantage.

Martin damn you i think ive been swayed. The big problem is going to be getting his hands on a 6800GT APG. But then your right, a 875 mobo with DDR1 and a 6800GT could end up alot less expensive and with little performance difference. Bottom line, listen to this guy.

 

[Rookie]

back to my original configuration...

would the increased bus speed in the P5AD2-E be worth the extra cost over the P5AD2 Premium?

Any thoughts or suggestions on that? So much information to wade through... thanks for all the input!

 

[stevty2889]

The increased bus speed(I think you are refering to 1066mhz FSB) is only used by one processor at the moment, the 3.46ghz extreme edition. Costs over $1000 right now, so unless you are planning on buying that cpu, no reason to get the board with the higher FSB.

 

[biostud]

Originally posted by: Rookie
Intel has been around and is still the standard. I've known others with AMD problems (not to say there aren't Intel problems.) I don't mind spending the money on the Intel platform. Basically, it's just choice. I've had no Intel problems. *shrug*

Pfft AMD is just as stable as Intel, I'm sorry to say but only ignorants thinks spending more money on an Intel system will give them better bang for the bucks (unless you do lots of video editing). It's ofcourse your choice but AMD is a btter gaming platform ATM.

 

[dev0lution]

There aren't any performance gains with DDR2, since the latencies are usually a bit higher than what you can get with good DDR. There's a few decent boards out there for LGA775 chips that either feature both DDR and DDR2 slots(MSI 915 combo boards) slots or just DDR (abit AG8 boards...915P chipset though). Just depends on whether you're hoping your DDR2 might be good in a future board down the road...

Also, you might want to take a look at the Kingston Hyper-X PC2-4300 modules. A bit cheaper in price (last I checked) and pretty similar performance according to a hothardware review.

Let me know how it all goes, since I'm just waiting on a case and video card upgrade to put this system together:

3.4 GHZ Pentium 4 550
1 GB Kingston Hyper-X PC2-4300 Dual Channel Kit (512x2)
Intel D915PBL mobo (no good for OC...but it was a really good promo bundle)
Zalman CNPS7700-Alcu Heatsink
WD 80 GB SATA HDD (planning to add - 36GB Raptor for apps, 250 GB Seagate for more storage)
PNY GeForce FX 5200 PCI (let's see how long I can bear that before moving up to a 6600 GT PCI-E)
Lite-ON DVD ROM
LG LGA-4160B DVD Triple format burner
Antec PlusView1080AMG case
Antec TruePower 480W PSU
UV Mods - UV LED light strip, Blue UV PCI/DIMM covers, Blue Rounded UV IDE cable + 40 x 80mm Blue UV Fans

 

[Gamingphreek]

No the Corsair Memory is fine. Remember P4 is much more picky about memory than the A64 is.

Also i would NOT get the Thermaltake cooler or the Case. THe Case will sound like a jet engine in your room, as will the CPU Cooler. And on top of all that noise it will do very little. I would advise if you like that case design just go with one of the classic Antec, or Chieftec Cases (Dragon Series). ALso for CPU cooler, DO NOT get the TT. They are not good at all (Yes i have owned them). I would HIGHLY advise the Zalman coolers, and the Thermalright coolers with the THermalright having the slight edge.

Lastly i would advise a Seagate HDD over a WD. WD is rock solid and fast, but noisy. Seagate presents the best of both worlds while being very quiet.

-Kevin

 

[Googer]

Originally posted by: josepavento
Is it reall worth it to go with ddr2 over ddr?

I'm not really sure of the answer, but someone on anandtech should know the answer.

No, performance is the same. 200mhz DDR1 performs the same as 200mhz DDR2.

 

[Googer]

Crucial Ballistix- Check them out, in almost all of the reviews they come out on top.

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: Googer
No, performance is the same. 200mhz DDR1 performs the same as 200mhz DDR2.

You're mistaken; DDR2 has increased latencies (standard is actually CAS latency 4), and those actually make DDR2-533 perform around the same as DDR400.