My upgrade machine

[D0S3D]

SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX - retail External $299.95
Thermaltake Xaser III V1000A (Black) w/ window more $198
Pentium 4 3.0C GHz w/ Hyper-Threading Technology Retail $583
LiteOn 48X CD-RW/16X DVD-ROM Combo (black) OEM $83
2x512MB PC3200 Dual Channel Kit EL-DDR Enhanced Latency info $413
Logitech Cordless MX Duo Retail more info $109
ASUS P4C800E-DLX $275
Thermaltake 480W Pure Power Black (W0014RUC) info $96
=====================================================================
Total = $2365.50 (with tax)

this is what i plan on getting ( feel free to give opion )

if i should change anything let me know (also prices are canadian prices)

 

[Corporate Thug]

i assume these prices are canadian:

SoundBlaster Audigy 2 Platinum EX - retail External $299.95: this is a waste of money, get a regular audigy 2
Pentium 4 3.0C GHz w/ Hyper-Threading Technology Retail $583: waste of money again, get a 2.8C. a 2.6C if you are gonna OC
2x512MB PC3200 Dual Channel Kit EL-DDR Enhanced Latency info $413: get pc3500 if you are gonna OC

 

[D0S3D]

would the pc3500 work since the mobo only says it works with pc3200

 

[DaveSimmons]

Originally posted by: D0S3D
would the pc3500 work since the mobo only says it works with pc3200

you only need pc3500 if oyu are going to overclock and want to keep a 1:1 ratio for the processor and memory. If you aren't overclocking, don't bother.

The 2.8C is a much better value than the 3.0C -- even for games the extra 200 MHz won't really help, the video card will be what is slowing you down. So if you need to cut back something to fit your budget, cutting back the P4 speed is the best choice.

Do you already have a good video card? If not, you want a Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB.

 

[D0S3D]

at the moment i have the asus geforce 3 ti500 pure

so ur saying its not worth it to go with the 3.0?

 

[jdogg707]

Definitely not worth it for the 3.0GHZ chip...get the 2.8C and overclock it! BTW, PC3500 will be better when overclocking is concerned, especially once you use a 5:4 divider for your memory if you are able to hit 250MHZ and above. With a 2.8C chip, it really doesn't make as much sense to do that because you will probably not hit that speed, and if you do, you probably won't be able to go over it very much anyway. For a 2.8C, you might want to consider some good PC3700 or PC4000 memory, that way you can keep the divider at a 1:1 ratio and you'll really enjoy the higher memory bandwidth! It might also be a wise idea to look at the 2.6C. This chip and some good PC3500 Memory and you should be able to get some nice speed out of it...with either chip really, you'll be able to get well over 3.0GHZ for half the price!

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: D0S3D
at the moment i have the asus geforce 3 ti500 pure

so ur saying its not worth it to go with the 3.0?

If you do any gaming you may want to consider a Geforce4 Ti 4200 card or even an ATI Radeon 9600 Pro....both sub-200 dollar cards that will show a mssive improvement over the card you have now!