New System Help, please!

[divaschepps]

OK, so I'm about to build my second computer ever. 1st was 3.5 years ago. Still using it (Athlon 1400 w/ IWill KK266 MB). Problem is that it is too slow to handle home video editing and MP3 encoding is slow.

I'm having a difficult time making a decision on primarily the CPU. So after trolling this board for a couple of months now and reading so many reviews I'm almost blind, too much info has just made the decision harder. I'm begging for help/constructive opinions from the experts now (yes, you!).

I don't really game. Primarily, the system would be used for music (encoding, editing, listening), home video editing, burning DVDs, editing photos, working on/updating home web page, internet, e-mail, and light Microsoft Office use. The most multi-tasking I can imagine trying would probably be web surfing while encoding a DVD and listening to MP3s on Media Jukebox. Not currently interested in OC'ing, although not ruling it out for the future. Also, looking to keep system for 4-5 years, although I would consider upgrading the CPU half way through that time period.

Current reviews would suggest I should get a P4. The most my budget could possibly allow would be a 3.4 LGA 775; however, a 3.2 would be less taxing on the wallet. But for about the same price as the 3.4, I could get an A64 3500+ 939 chipset. Is there really that much of a performance difference in encoding and multi-tasking between the two? How much? Like 3-5%? or larger?

So what do you think? Sorry for the long winded message and thanks in advance for your help!

 

[SrGuapo]

If money is an issue, the A64 might be a better choice. There is a very little speed difference in encoding between the P4 and A64, but since they are so fast, you really won't notice anyway. If you don't plan on gaming much, you could skimp on the graphics card a little and buy a good sound card with a nice set of speakers.With what you need, you should be able to get a good system for around $1000 w/out a monitor.

Edit: here is a quick system I put together.

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ winchester ($200)
MSI Neo2 nForce3 ($130)
Radeon 9600 Pro ($120)
1 GB (2x512) PC3200 value RAM ($150)
250 GB 7200 RPM Hard drive (~$150)
Case (~$50)
quality PSU (antec, etc.) (~$75)
Audigy 2 ZS sound card ($90)
quality 5.1 speakers ($100-$300)

Edit again: Optical drive - lite-on/pioneer DVD burner ($70)

Total: $1120 - $1320 (depending on speakers)

 

[divaschepps]

Thanks, SrGuapo!

I should also mention that I just bought an Antec Sonata case and a WD 160GB IDE ATA HD about 2 months ago that I would like to use in the new system. So if I ended up getting a P4 LGA775 would I have to get a SATA HD?

 

[DaveSimmons]

For your applications, the 3.2 is probably good enough. You'll get less than a 10% speed boost buying the 3.4 or 3500+ (since you don't play games), it's up to you whether the 10% is worth the money. For more specific differences by application, try the CPU/chipsets tab at the top of this page.

Get at least 512 MB RAM. 1 GB is always nice, but your mix of apps doesn't really require it.

Get a DVD burner for backups, if buying your own parts the NEC 3500a is the current favorite here.

Having 2 hard drives is useful, you might get smoother performance when encoding / writing having a destination drive diferent from the source (and different from your music files drive). It also makes it a little easier to keep files backed up for when one of the drives fails.