Need Opinions On New System ABIT IC7-G

[SSERAB]

Hi guys, need some help with a new system I'm building. Here are the system specs, does anyone see a problem with any of the components below?

PSU - Antec True Blue 480watt
Mobo - ABIT IC7-G
CPU - P4 2.4C 800MHz FSB
Ram - 2X 256MB Corsair PC3500C2 (will probably add two more 256MB chips later on)
HD - 2X Maxtor 80GB 8MB cache (using SATA RAID, Abit adapters)
Video Card - ATI All in Wonder 9700 Pro

I've already got the PSU, and HD's, the rest I hope to purchase soon. I'd like to get all the stuff together and set it all up at once to avoid any major driver issues. From what I see I guess one of the first things to do is to flash the bios to the newest version. Thanks.
:beer:

 

[Wurrmm]

Looks good to me.

 

[ChefJoe]

I was in a similar situation with memory (building P4P800 based system)... needed 512 to start, wanted to have a gig in there. I decided to buy one 512 mb stick of corsair PC3200LL and suffer the 0-15% performance drop (as indicated by anandtech's own review of the 875 - dual channel benchmarks) for a few months to avoid having small size ddr sticks.

I did this because I had purchased 128 mb PC100 sticks back in 1999ish and ended up not being able to use them as my operating system (98se to 2k/xp) and computing needs changed (internet browsing to mpg2 encoding and multimedia use).

Also, see this: http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1057422

 

[oldfart]

Do you need the extra SATA and GigE on the IC7-G? IC7 could save you a few $$. Same with the AIW. Do you use the extra stuff on that card? I'd go for a 2.6C over the 2.4C. Its not that much more. If you plan on overclocking, the 2.4C can hit a mem or FSB wall where the 2.6 wont. I'd also go with 2 x 512 on the ram if you could swing it.

 

[SSERAB]

It's one of those, it would be nice to have kind of situations. I'd love to get the IC7-G. I figure it this way:

IC7-G $203 + one SATA adapter needed $30 = $233
IC7 = $141 + two SATA adapters needed $60 = $201 + a 10/100 network card $15 = $216
So here we have $17 difference and for that $17 I'm getting CSA Gigabit LAN, and 2 additional SATA connections.

I'm downloading constantly hopefully there will be some difference with the CSA Gigabit LAN even if it's marginal. By downloading all the time I need lots of hard drive space so more is better. I'm not one for super large HD's (they do crash, and I'm not good at keeping up with my back ups).

As for the processor I think the 2.4C is reasonably priced right now vs. the 2.6C which is about $15 too high. It should fall soon though. 2.4C goes for about $187 while a 2.6C goes for $230. $43 difference is kind of steep. Right now I'm using a 1.4 GHz T-bird machine so a 1 GHz boost should be plenty, if I can OC a little that's fine but not my initial plan. I've seen people using the 2.4 and getting it OC'ed to 3.0. That would be plenty for me, when I choose to OC. So on the processor, I think I'd stick with the 2.4C unless at the time I buy the 2.6C falls some more.

On to the ram. Good point while I'd be filling up the 4 slots with 4 256mb sticks I'd be paying $296 to do it. Going straight with the 2 512MB sticks would only cost about $270 saving $26 in the long run. Now I only need the cash to buy all this stuff.

Thanks for the replies, keep'em coming. Sometimes it helps to think out loud.
:beer:

 

[Tom]

Another thing to consider is that reportedly PAT doesn't work if all 4 ram slots are filled.

 

[camswinton]

Originally posted by: SSERAB

I'm downloading constantly hopefully there will be some difference with the CSA Gigabit LAN even if it's marginal.

Unless you have an internet connection that's faster than 100 MBit/sec you're not going to see an increase in your download times. Most broadband connections max out around 2MBit/sec. There's almost NOTHING in a home environment that would use the added bandwidth that a CSA Gigabit LAN would offer. I'm not being critical, just trying to save you a few bucks and some disappointment when you hook up your Gigabit LAN connection. (you'd also need a Gigabit router, etc...)

 

[oldfart]

GiGE wont give you any extra performance at all with your downloads. The 2.4C will work fine and overclock very well. I have a 2.6C on the way. I wanted to get a little more out of it. With my ram, the 2.6C will work out better.

PAT wont work with 4 sticks, but it wont work if you use a mem ratio either.

 

[SSERAB]

Great stuff guys keep it coming. I'm now going with a ram change. Think I'm going to stick with the 2.4C chip though. As for the G or non G board I'm not sure, while I can save a ton of money, if the Gigabit LAN won't have any impact, then I guess I probably won't use the extra SATA channels. Maybe I could save a few bucks, just need to get an extra network card, still will need two SATA adapters for my 2 Maxtor hard drives.

PSU - Antec True Blue 480watt
Mobo - ABIT IC7-G or Non G?
CPU - P4 2.4C 800MHz FSB
Ram - 2X 512MB Corsair PC3500C2
HD - 2X Maxtor 80GB 8MB cache (using SATA RAID, Abit adapters)
Video Card - ATI All in Wonder 9700 Pro

 

[cmdrdredd]

Originally posted by: SSERAB
It's one of those, it would be nice to have kind of situations. I'd love to get the IC7-G. I figure it this way:

IC7-G $203 + one SATA adapter needed $30 = $233
IC7 = $141 + two SATA adapters needed $60 = $201 + a 10/100 network card $15 = $216
So here we have $17 difference and for that $17 I'm getting CSA Gigabit LAN, and 2 additional SATA connections.

I'm downloading constantly hopefully there will be some difference with the CSA Gigabit LAN even if it's marginal. By downloading all the time I need lots of hard drive space so more is better. I'm not one for super large HD's (they do crash, and I'm not good at keeping up with my back ups).

As for the processor I think the 2.4C is reasonably priced right now vs. the 2.6C which is about $15 too high. It should fall soon though. 2.4C goes for about $187 while a 2.6C goes for $230. $43 difference is kind of steep. Right now I'm using a 1.4 GHz T-bird machine so a 1 GHz boost should be plenty, if I can OC a little that's fine but not my initial plan. I've seen people using the 2.4 and getting it OC'ed to 3.0. That would be plenty for me, when I choose to OC. So on the processor, I think I'd stick with the 2.4C unless at the time I buy the 2.6C falls some more.

On to the ram. Good point while I'd be filling up the 4 slots with 4 256mb sticks I'd be paying $296 to do it. Going straight with the 2 512MB sticks would only cost about $270 saving $26 in the long run. Now I only need the cash to buy all this stuff.

Thanks for the replies, keep'em coming. Sometimes it helps to think out loud.
:beer:

by SATA adapter you mean for the power right? SATA to moltex power adapter comes with the mobo. I have the IS7 and got 2 of them One for each SATA channel.

 

[SSERAB]

By SATA adapter, I mean the adapter to convert your IDE hard drive to SATA hard drive. I have two drives, the G version of the board includes one adapter, so I'd have to buy a second one in order to use the SATA channels. There is also a power adapter that is needed as well. I think the power adapters come with the board but a second IDE to SATA adapter does not.

 

[cmdrdredd]

May I ask why you would want to run IDE on SATA channels? It won't be any faster.

 

[LegionX]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd
May I ask why you would want to run IDE on SATA channels? It won't be any faster.

kind of wondering that myself. what benifit does it give you besides smaller cables?

 

[cmdrdredd]

the only thing I can think of is for RAID. Or perhaps to have 1 very large HD on the SATA just for backup.

 

[SSERAB]

There is no IDE RAID on the board right? I don't have SATA hard drives. I do have two 80GB 8MB cache drives that I paid about $38 each for after rebates. So I figured I'd set up a RAID array using the SATA channels. But you guys really make a good argument for the non G board. It is something I will consider G or non G. I appreciate the comments.
One question... An SATA RAID setup on this board should be faster than the IDE right? I plan on running 3-4 hard drives in the system, I have tons of video & mp3 files to store.

 

[cmdrdredd]

SATA has more bandwidth available so burst speeds can excede the ATA/100 standard. The intel controller doesn't have limitations of the PCI bridge so I think I read it can burst beyond the 150MB/s limit.

 

[gramboh]

Just echoing what other people said re: CSA. The only benefit would be if you were running a server on a switched gigabit LAN with a fast (10k SATA or 10-15k SCSI RAID array) and had multiple clients with either very fast machines and CSA gigabit, or a lot (10+) clients with resonably fast HDDs and gigabit accessing your files at once.

 

[ChefJoe]

Well, in all actuality, CSA helps to free the PCI bus up. Even if you're only running on a 100 mbit lan, with CSA that traffic will be off the PCI bus. Is it as noticeable as with a saturated gigabit connection, no, but CSA with a saturated 100 mbit lan is gonna do a little for it.

 

[Tom]

Originally posted by: Dead Parrot Sketch
Another thing to consider is that reportedly PAT doesn't work if all 4 ram slots are filled.

Wanted to say that hardocp.com addressed this issue in their news section and they report that using 4 dimms changes the way PAT works, but doesn't disable it. I of course, have no idea.

 

[ronss]

the ic7-g board got great reviews at hrdcop.

if it was me, i spend a bit more extra and get the 2.6 fsb 800. i know that the 2.4 is priced nicely, but think you will appricate the 2.6 in the long run.

i have the antec true power 430 on my asus a7n8x deluxe with a ton of stuff, but if you want 480-go for it

should be nice setup, have the abit kg7-r board, they usually make great boards.

i was thinking of getting the asus p4p800 deluxe, basically because of price, not sure if i will, my asus a7n8x deluxe is working awfully good right now.

 

[SSERAB]

Here are the components I purchased today:

Mobo - ABIT IC7-G
CPU - P4 2.4C 800MHz FSB (The 2.6 was still $229, I paid $185 for the retail box 2.4)
Ram - 2X 512MB Corsair PC3500C2 (1,024MB Total)
Video Card - ATI All in Wonder 9700 Pro
ABIT Serillel 2 SATA Adapters (These are the only ones said to work on the IC7-G with the most up to date bios - found them at excaliburpc.com for $28.99 shipped)


To go with the above core system I have:

Antec 1030B - painted deep black & modded with window kit and all blue lighting/fans.
Antec True Blue 480 watt PSU
2x Maxtor 80GB 8MB cache hard drives (maybe I'll pick up one of the new SATA HD's down the road)
2x Maxtor 80GB 2MB cache hard drives (not sure if I will use these, just for extra storage)
Cendyne - rebadged Pioneer DVR-105 DVD Burner
Cendyne - rebadged Pioneer 106S Slot Load DVD Drive
Matrix Orbital VK202-25 VF Display
Vantec 4 knob, blue lit, fan controller
Apacer 6 in 1 USB 2.0 Internal 3.5" Media Reader w/ Front USB 2.0 Port

Currently I'm using a 1.4GHz T-bird system so the 2.4 should be plenty of speed for a while. When I get bored I could try an overclock to 3GHz. I've been seeing tons of people able to hit 3GHz with similar set ups. The 1.4GHz T-bird and other core parts I'm swapping out will go into a huge old server case I got from work. I got the case for nothing they were happy to get rid of it. It had 2 SCSI 50 PIN, Seagate 1.73GB ST11900N hard drives in the case. No idea if they work but they look like they are in good shape. Lots of modding opportunities with this case but it does need a lot of work to make it functional.
Thanks for all the help.