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New System - Should I go PCI-Express or AGP?

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diablo900t

Member
Ok, here's my dilemna, I want to build a new system; and I want to stay a little thrifty while still building a rock solid performer. At the risk of sounding like a noob, I priced out this Dell System(I don't like the idea either, i've already built a PC of my own 2 years ago), but this deal seems almost too good to be true:

Price $1824.20
P4 3.4 Ghz 800 FSB
1 GB DDR2 533 RAM
74 GB 10000 RPM SATA
XP Pro
256 Geforce 6800 GTO PCI-Express
48X CD-RW
16X Dual Format DVD+/-RW
Audigy 2 ZS
17 Inch 1704PT Ultrasharp Flat Panel Monitor

I'm caught between whether I should purchase this system, i'm going to be using it mostly for gaming and 3d modeling. Or building an Athlon 64 system with an AGP mobo, since i've only seen PCI-Express nvidia cards for almost $450-$500:

Cost: ~$1450
Athlon 64 3500+
MSI KT Neo2 nforce3
1 GB(2x512) Geil DDR400 RAM
256 Geforce 6800 GT AGP
34 GB Western Digtital Raptor 10000 RPM
200 GB Western Digital 7200 RPM
16X DVD+/-RW
48X CD-RW
Onboard soundcard
No Monitor

My question is whether or not I should spend the bucks....and go for the Dell(its a really damn good deal, 30% off). Or forget going to PCI-Express and get a reliable AGP mobo thats going to give me tops in performance. If I were to buy an Athlon system with an nForce4, I'd be looking at the $1600-$1700 range, which at that price I should buy the Dell and get the 17 inch flat screen. I realize that i'm goign to have to upgrade every 2-3 years anyway, so is the cost of PCI-Express really worth it? I'd appreciate any advice from people out there on both sides of the boat, AGP or PCI-Express.

 
Just because it says 17 inch flat screen doesn't mean that it will be any good for your gaming...

1 GB DDR2 533 RAM
Click to expand...
DDR2 not too bad but aren't the latencies higher than DDR1?

74 GB 10000 RPM SATA
Click to expand...
Nice drive although a bit small!

PCI express is still an unproven technology....I would stick with the self build for now....although you are right about that Dell system looking like good value!
 
After getting burned by the Abit BP-6 mainboard some years ago, I made a personal rule: stay away from the bleeding edge. PCI-express is still out there on the bleeding edge. So much so that there still aren't any PCI-express AMD mainboards available. If it were me, I'd hold off on making the jump to PCI-express until it offers a clear advantage. If you intend to do SLI, then there's your advantage. But otherwise, I'd stick with AGP for the time being and let other people be guinnea pigs. By this time next year, PCI-express should be mature-enough to warrant a second look.

 
Well AMD 64 is the best gaming platform out right now. There is really nothing to gain with PCE-E over AGP, and it appears AGP will be around for at least 2 more years.
My vote is the AMD system.
 
My gut tells me to go with the AMD system. Benchmarks show it to be faster anyway, and really thats what i'm spending my money for is performance. The Dell system is still enticing since its such a good deal, but the fact remains that that system can't ever be upgraded(proprietary MB). Most of my systems are throwaways after 2-3 years anyway. Even though the Monitor sounds nice, just like Fuzzy said, it may not be great for gaming. Any suggestions for other components for the Athlon system? I've seen the MSI nForce 3 board get great benchmark results, as well as the Geil RAM. I think its a pretty solid system, but any other advice would be worthy input.
 
Well, you don't need a CD burner with a DVD burner as the DVD will burn both.
Also, I don't see any Pwr supply listed.
Other than that, that seems like a very nice setup.
 
Another thing:
Should I wait for the nForce 4 boards to be released? Is that going to make a huge price decrease on the nForce 3's??
 
Hi Diablo,

Have you seen Anand's guide to buying or building a system here? He makes a pretty solid recommendation specially the AMD system.

Definitely go for the AMD specially it kicks Intel's ass for gaming.

In anand's guide he lists the radeon 9600 pro as his first choice to stay within budget. However he recommends the Nvidia 6800GT if you can dish the dough.

Regarding the hard drive, the 74Gig (around $170) is pretty small & expensive and personally, i'd rather have the larger 160 gig SATA samsung (around $95). Hell, at that price i'd even consider getting the 2 samsung drives.

Your case is a bit too flashy (personal preference and the generic PSU probably sucks). I would suggest getting a solid case with a solid PSU. Antec makes good cases (example lanboy) .

Have fun buikding your computer!
 
Hey DanDrop,

Any recommendations for a quiet case? My last box was really really loud. It was an aluminum case so it ran pretty cool. I'd like to have a case that will let me do a little overclocking, but most importantly is quiet. Any ideas? I like the lanboy case by the way, cool design.
 
Oh i forgot. From what i have been reading so far, the main difference between the NF3 and NF4 as already mentioned is the AGP vs. PCI-E. The PCI-E does not offer a very big advantage at this point over the agp. Depending on how soon you need the computer, i would say that the NF3 boards right now would make a solid system. I guess if you can wait, the NF4 boards would be worth a look ( do expect buggy mobo bioses during the first release though).

I am also sure that once the NF4 hits the market, NF3 board prices would decrease.
 
I actually expect the first NF4 boards to be more stable than the current NF3s, and have a better feature set to boot. We'll see the reviews soon enough. It's true that there's no advantage to PCI-e over AGP in terms of performance with current cards, but one should consider the resale-ability of your video card 2 years down the road. The only downside I see to NF4 is the overblown prices on the high end video cards.

The baseline NF4 models should weigh in around $150. No way I'm paying $300 for a mobo though.
 
Thanks again DanDrop,

I think I'm going to stick with the nForce 3. At $130-$140, I can't see the prices dropping drastically even with the advent of the nForce 4s, which from what I can tell are going to range from $150-$200.
 
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