Is this worth doing? (plus video card question)

[Fatt]

I was thinking of building one of those shuttles.

I believe it's the ss61g model. That's the one with the 800mhz FSB and the dual channel ddr support and the serial ata.

I know that I don't want to run a real fast processor because I leave my computers running constantly and i don't want heat issues.


Anyway, I was thinking...

What if I use the 400mhz dual channel ddr ram on the 800mhz fsb and use a 1,600mhz chip?

I mean, will choosing that combo, which is sort of "matched", give me any particular benefit over say, using a 1.8 or 2.0 ghz chip?


The added video question is:

What is a really nice video/TV card that will let me use it as a VCR and have really nice quality video, but will actually FIT in the shuttle case and preferably not block the pci slot with a huge heat sink?

 

[Geomagick]

I was thinking along similar lines to make a computer for my sister. To make use of the 800MHz FSB you will need a 2.4C or better. Coupled with a decent chunk of matched RAM and you will have the basis of a pretty good PC.

You have to really use an 800FSB processor because of the memory divider options. DDR400 is only for the 800FSB processors.

As for the TV card go for one of the current generation Radeon All in Wonders. Either the 9600 or 9800 would be sweet.

To finish things off one of the seagate SATA drives would be relly good as this will be nice and quiet for what I assume is a living room environment.

Hope this is of help.

 

[Fatt]

I don't get the "2.4C" part of your answer.
You say I'll have to use a 2.4ghz chip?

 

[Geomagick]

The 2.4C is the lowest rated 800FSB CPU. And when partnered up with some DDR400 in dual channel mode it really flys.
It also has the advantage of being the cheapest HyperThreaded chip for the desktop.
Unless you are able get an unlocked chip (highly unlikely) then you would not be able to gain all the benefits of using this particular shuttle model.

As for the heat issues I run my own 2.4C at 3.0 and it doesn't get that hot at all. When running at stock it is typically in the region of about 40C on load.

 

[Fatt]

Part of the problem is that I don't understand which multiples matter and in relations to which other.


Like if I have 400mhz ram and an 800mhz fsb, which of those numbers are important in terms of being matched.

One? Both?

Is 400/800/2400 a match, or would it be 400/800/1600 or 400/800/3200?

 

[Geomagick]

Ok from the top.

The 800MHz FSB is a quad pumped 200MHz bus.

When partnered with DDR400 in a dual channel configuration this gives a 6.4Gbit bandwidth for both the FSB and RAM.

This is the optimum configuration.

The actual processor speed is a multiple of the basic 200MHz clock.

So a 2.4C is 12x, 2.6C is 13x and so on up to the 3.2 which is the highest performing processor in the P4 line up.

When it comes down to building your system you will need the shuttle box with its insides, a 'C' processor and two sticks of DDR400 RAM for the dual channel as well as hard disk and any other drives that you may want.

When that's all assembled you will have a very nice piece of kit.

I hope that this is of help.

 

[Fatt]

Originally posted by: George Powell
I hope that this is of help.

Yes. Yes it is.

All I have to do is make sure my chip is both a "C" chip and a multiple of 200.


Last question...

If I hear you correctly I am theoretically looking at 5 possibilities.

2400mhz
2600mhz
2800mhz
3000mhz
3200mhz

2400 because it's the slowest version of the chip I need, 3200 because that the fastest one.

Out of those choices, is there a particular "best choice"?

 

[Geomagick]

The best choice is really up to you, for overclocking the 2.4C is a great chip and most will happily go up to about 3GHz, however if that is not your cup of tea go for the fastest chip that you can afford at the moment. The 3.0C and 3.2 are still very expensive at the moment so unless you have a lot of spare cash at the ready it might be worth avoiding those.

 

[Fatt]

OK, I've got the answers I needed.
Thanks very much.