Need help picking parts for my new rig.

[SkdMrkLcy]

Basicly what I need is a new Mobo and CPU, and RAM if it call for more than PC2100 DDR. My main use is for Mpeg2 encoding and surfing the web, but I do a lot of gaming as well at lan parties. I do not care if it is AMD or Intel as long as it is stable. I would prefer to do a MATX setup, but can not seem to find any good MATX boards. I just would like some outside points of view. I have about $575 and maybe a little more, parts I already have are below.

60 Gig 7200 Seagate HD
120 Gig 5400 ATA133 Maxtor HD
512 MB PC2100 Samsung DDR
Radeon 8500 128 MB Retail Card
Sound Blaster Audigy.
16 X DVD and 32 X CDRW

 

[wfbberzerker]

if youre on a budget, youll probably want to go for an athlon xp cpu and mobo. the ram you have should be sufficient. if you do a lot of gaming and mpeg encoding, you should pick up a better video card (id say a radeon 8500 since they are pretty cheap nowadays).

 

[SkdMrkLcy]

The Video card is a 8500, i just left that out sorry, and as I said the budget is $575.

 

[SOSTrooper]

Get an Aluminum case, they're lighter to carry around. Then go for a 2200+XP, $575 should be enough for case+cpu+board+ram

 

[CrazySaint]

The Asus A7N266-VM is a nice board. It even has integrated NIC.

 

[SkdMrkLcy]

Thanks for the ideas, I will look into both of those.

 

[gf4200isdabest]

umm...or you could not get AMD!!

intel's price cuts make it quite worth it. Look into getting a 2.26GHZ for $240. A nice mobo for 130. A Chieftec alluminum case for 110. You can keep your RAM. Total: 480

the alternative would be 1.8GHZ Northwood for 163. Mobo for 130. And some nice 512MB Samsung Original DDR333 PC-2700 512mb $170. Chieftec Case 110. Total 573.

And oh yeah, once you change the FSB in the bios, either of these systems will slaughter the AMD's. Intel is the only choice for hardcore gamers until AMD gets Barton out the door (don't hold your breath)...

it is a well known fact that Intel is more stable than AMD. The Athlon XP's helped AMD's cause but they still aren't up to par with Northwoods on speed, reliability, heat (athlons get hot), or noise. If you care about stability for a gaming rig like I did when I bought mine 2 weeks ago; get a Northwood based system.

Keep the 8500 for now and wait for NV30. That card is gonna be sweet!

 

[gf4200isdabest]

oh...did i mention that once you get an intel you don't have to deal with Via 4 in 1 drivers!!?? or any other Via stuff for that matter...

that alone made the decision very easy for me.

 

[dmw16]

I dont want this to turn into another AMD vs Intel post, but this whole thing about AMD being less stable than athlon...I just dont see it. I will say that intel has cut it's prices and they even have me looking(and I've been an ardent AMD supporter for some time now). But I have no stability issues with my Athlon XP. The last time I had problems with stability on an XP was when I got my first AMD chip about 2 years ago. The new chipsets are just as solid as Intel. As for heat, that used to be a lot bigger problem than it is now. And speed, the only time I've really seen Intel have a big speed edge is in their fastest(and most expensive) chip when used with PC800 or PC1066 ram, both of which are very expensive. I think AMD is the way to go. You can get an Asus A7V333, an XP 2100+, and 512MB of DDR333(PC2700) for $430 and a chieftec case for about $70 shipped(i got the alienware looking one for $68 w/ shipping on newegg). Sorry about the potential starting of another intel vs amd war.
-doug

 

[murphy55d]

This whole AMD = not stable crap is getting ridiculous. VIA has had some issues but that has nothing to do with the Athlon's stability. Get an nForce chipset, or an AMD 760, if this VIA "issue" really worries you.

I've used both AMD 760 and VIA KT266A and have not had 1 issue of stability with either one. 4 in 1? Big deal.

Either one will be a hell of a system, what I would do is find the BOARD that best fits your needs, and THEN pick the processor. Compare some KT333 boards against some Intel boards and see which has the features you want (ie, integrated NIC, how many RAM slots, mATX vs ATX, # of PCI slots, etc.)

If the KT333 board has what you want, get an Athlon XP. If that Intel board seems to interest you more, go with whatever P4 you can afford.

No matter what anyone tells you about either one, BOTH will give you very stable systems.

 

[SkdMrkLcy]

I have had both intel and amd systems, and I have never had either not be stable unless their was a bad or quistionable part involved or was not running stock.

I have had a P4 in my rig for a long time, but I build mostly AMD system at my work, so I have have no love or hate for either, I just go with what will get the job done the best.

murphy55d, I seem to be useing the method you sugested as I can not seem to find a P4 board that has what I want, but I can find two or three AMD boards that do.

This Chiftec case you guys are talking about is the Antec like thing correct, not really what I had in mind for weight, as my old one was very heavy, I thought that I read that their is one coming out that is made of Aluminum, but I can not find it, that would be totall kick @$$.

And by all means let the war begain as long as people use reasoning, not just AMD SUcks or Intel Sucks.

 

[SkdMrkLcy]

If people could also use prices form Newegg or Mwave, as those are the only two places I will order this kind of stuffs online.

 

[bjc112]

Originally posted by: gf4200isdabest
umm...or you could not get AMD!!

intel's price cuts make it quite worth it. Look into getting a 2.26GHZ for $240. A nice mobo for 130. A Chieftec alluminum case for 110. You can keep your RAM. Total: 480

the alternative would be 1.8GHZ Northwood for 163. Mobo for 130. And some nice 512MB Samsung Original DDR333 PC-2700 512mb $170. Chieftec Case 110. Total 573.

And oh yeah, once you change the FSB in the bios, either of these systems will slaughter the AMD's. Intel is the only choice for hardcore gamers until AMD gets Barton out the door (don't hold your breath)...

it is a well known fact that Intel is more stable than AMD. The Athlon XP's helped AMD's cause but they still aren't up to par with Northwoods on speed, reliability, heat (athlons get hot), or noise. If you care about stability for a gaming rig like I did when I bought mine 2 weeks ago; get a Northwood based system.

Keep the 8500 for now and wait for NV30. That card is gonna be sweet!

No your entire post was right on, until you say...

it is a well known fact that Intel is more stable than AMD.

Well that is complete BS, even though i would build a p4 system now, don't go around spewing false facts....

:disgust:

 

[The Wildcard]

Hahaha, wow, I see it's still a touchy subject......

 

[gf4200isdabest]

guys...i didn't say Athlons are unstable but if you start counting it to the last % of uptime: P4 is more stable. that's why Intel is always used on webservers for companies where uptime=money.

You will be happy with a new computer either way but when I keep my computer running 24/7 for weeks, a crash pisses the hell out of me. P4's crash less although for people who don't run their computer 24/7, the difference isn't too noticeable. However, VIA doesn't do much to help AMD in this respect as it takes a chip which is slightly behind p4 in stability and makes it even less stable. The two things working together amounts to my definite statement: better stability can be found in a Northwood rig than an AMD

 

[LongCoolMother]

Originally posted by: gf4200isdabest
guys...i didn't say Athlons are unstable but if you start counting it to the last % of uptime: P4 is more stable. that's why Intel is always used on webservers for companies where uptime=money.

You will be happy with a new computer either way but when I keep my computer running 24/7 for weeks, a crash pisses the hell out of me. P4's crash less although for people who don't run their computer 24/7, the difference isn't too noticeable. However, VIA doesn't do much to help AMD in this respect as it takes a chip which is slightly behind p4 in stability and makes it even less stable. The two things working together amounts to my definite statement: better stability can be found in a Northwood rig than an AMD

 

[FlamingEagle]

Originally posted by: gf4200isdabest
guys...i didn't say Athlons are unstable but if you start counting it to the last % of uptime: P4 is more stable. that's why Intel is always used on webservers for companies where uptime=money.

You will be happy with a new computer either way but when I keep my computer running 24/7 for weeks, a crash pisses the hell out of me. P4's crash less although for people who don't run their computer 24/7, the difference isn't too noticeable. However, VIA doesn't do much to help AMD in this respect as it takes a chip which is slightly behind p4 in stability and makes it even less stable. The two things working together amounts to my definite statement: better stability can be found in a Northwood rig than an AMD

Go under the kitchen sink and drink away the pain.

 

[Krk3561]

I agree with gf4200isdabest, a P4 in an Intel board will be more stable than any other amd solution. But, I think the best value is to get an Amd Athlon XP 1600+ from newegg.com w/ a KT333 board. People have been overclocking the 1600+ to 2200+ speeds (actually faster than 2200+ because of increased fsb) with no problems. Buy it from newegg because they have the CPUs with the special cores for oc'ing like this. Also, get 512MB of either crucial, mushkin, or corsair PC2700.

 

[CrazySaint]

Just get an XP and motherboard based on the nForce chipset (Like that A7N266-VM I mentioned earlier), it should be as stable as anything.

 

[The Wildcard]

Intel 486DX-66 with 8MB of RAM and DOS 6.0??? Man, now that's a stable machine, hahahaaha, well atleast with Doom.

 

[SkdMrkLcy]

Well I picked my stuffs.

I ended up going with AMD as I really did not want another Intel Rig. Maybe when the new mobos start coming out I will switch back.

I got the following

Athlon XP2200+
AX-7 HSF w/Adj. Speed Fan
CHAINTECH 7VJL Mobo "Apogee" had some nice features and looks good

For a case I am still looking around, but will get some sort of aluminum case, only question is how much I wanna spend on a case.

 

[DeRusto]

I know you said that you couldn't find the Aluminum Antec cases, I think that these Cheiftec cases are the all aluminum versions. If they aren't, they sure carry the pricetag of one.

Cheiftec Aluminum Cases at Newegg

Hope this helps. As I write this, most of the good colors are sold out.

 

[amdskip]

I will put my AMD 1800XP chip up against any P4 and then we will see who wins

 

[CrazySaint]

Originally posted by: amdskip
I will put my AMD 1800XP chip up against any P4 and then we will see who wins

Uh, against ANY P4? Sorry, but a 2.53GHz P4 with PC2700 RAM is WAY faster (at most things) than an XP 1800+.

 

[newbiepcuser]

P4 is more stable. that's why Intel is always used on webservers for companies where uptime=money.

Most of the large enterprise market web servers use UltraSparc chip by Sun Microsystems not Intel.
Using the old studying methodology for SATs, and other standarized testing, then UltraSparc must be the most stable chip of them all then.