Newbie PC Shopper...

[Defacil]

Hey, I have a p4 2.7 at the moment but I'm really interested in the HT technology of the more recent P4s. I also use a lousy mobo (OEM pc) that requires RDRAM so I wanted to scrap that all together. I was hoping to pick up a P4 3.2ghz but I have no idea what motherboard and RAM to get (pcxxxx or whatever).

Budget wise.. I guess it really doesn't matter. I was hoping for under $500 but if what I'm looking for (a solid/stable mobo, p4 3.2ghz, and 1gb of whatever ram) will bring me over so be it.

I was trying to read through some articles on Anandtech but most of them are about what's coming out in the future.

Thanks in advance,
def

 

[Blain]

Joined: 07/20/2004 - "What do you all suggest?"

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[Defacil]

Very true. I wish I could understand half the stuff that is posted on Anandtech though. Know any other hardware sites you could recommend ?

 

[Wahsapa]

if your just getting into the whole pc thing its gonna take awhile to educate yourself(no many places will tell you the whole big picture to the pc world) but the good thing is if you ever get out of it it doesnt take very long to catch backup again(core technologies seldomly change)

may i suggest an athlon xp mobile 2600, an abit nf7-s and some 1 gig ram from samsung(can all be found at newegg.com for the price range your looking at)

im not sure why you would want a p4? chances are the preformance difference from the above specd out system will beat your current system and when overclocked it can catch up to the p4 3.2. if it has to be intel then a abit ic7 should do the trick with the 3.2 u plan on getting, it might run over the 500 budget tho

anand has a system guide you should check out, its updated about every month. search for it on the front page

also welcome to the forums

 

[Blain]

This is a great site to learn from. People are really very willing to help out, as long as it's not a topic that's been talked to death.

Here's what to do...
1. Click the "Search" button at the top-right.
2. Type in "which motherboard" in the Search Phrase box.
3. Choose "Title only" from the Search what drop-down menu.
4. While holding down on your "Ctrl" key...
Use your mouse pointer to select "General Hardware", "CPU/Processors and Overclocking" and "Motherboards" in the "Forum Catagories" box.
5. Click the "Search" button when you're done.
6. Scroll down the search results until you find a topic that may answer your question.
7. Open the thread and start reading.

It's just that simple.
BTW, THIS is what it should look like just before you hit the "Search" button.

 

[sisooktom]

Defacil, you'll learn a lot by building your own box. I will go ahead and tell you that most people on this site will try to steer you towards AMD. Most of the time, this is a good idea, as their products tend to offer a bigger bang for your buck, and in the case of the A64, just a bigger bang If you're loyal to Intel, I have no issue with that, but some here will. My advice is to research what Hyper Threading really buys you and see if it's applicable to your situation. If not, I suggest looking into AMD.

 

[Zebo]

Here's the best DIY guide on the net:

http://arstechnica.com/guide/system/index.html

Sorry no ones recommending P4's today. At the highend they are too slow and the low end they are to expensive.

Anyway what most people do for a buget Pentium system is get a

P4C @2.8 and OC to 3.2 easy for $180
Abit IS7 for $95
PC4000/4200 like Adata or Kingmax harcore for $100 for 512 MB usually you want two sticks.