Questions on a New A64 System

[Napy]

I've decided to build a comp for the first time although I have helped others with theirs before. I have decided on teh a64 3000 (CG0 and a MSI K8n Neo plat. I have a 6800 Gt that I got with the bestbuy deal and have a case and dvd burner. Here come the actual questions:

1. I don't know much about memory and need it, but I would like to keep it relatively cheap. (~$100 per 512mb)

2. For my hard drive I was thinking about going SATA but don't really know much about it.

3. Finally I have to actually purchase Windows Xp, is Pro worth the extra cash?

Sorry if this is a lot to ask. I just want to get the most for my money.

 

[n0cmonkey]

1. Don't skimp on ram. Check out newegg's and mwave's prices.
2. It works just fine, but is sometimes icky when it comes to loading the OS on it. You just hit F6 and install the drivers from a floppy.
3. Depends. I think so. But most people don't care much about permissions, encryption, and joining a domain. Check the Anandtech FAQ on Pro vs Home.

 

[jpeyton]

1) This stuff is about $120 a stick, but the extra money is worth it because of it's tighter timings.

2) This is a good drive; SATA isn't difficult to use or setup. Just load the SATA Controller drivers when Windows Setup is loading (as the previous poster mentioned).

3) If Pro is $20-$40 more, go for it. But if you're paying significantly less for Home vs. Pro, make sure you'll actually need the networking features provided by Pro.

 

[imported_LobbDogg]

To get past the loading of the SATA drivers from a floppy disk when Windows is loading up, you can make a Windows XP slipstream CD that has them built in, then you don't have to provide the drivers for it. Works really slick

 

[mechBgon]

Another potential perk of getting XP Pro is that it's got Automated System Recovery, if you take the trouble to use it, and Pro will be supported at Windows Update until Dec. 31 2008, two years beyond XP Home. I also saw a rumor that Microsoft may have a plan where buyers of XP Pro can swap up to XP Pro 64-bit Edition when it comes out (!). Of course, that could very well be for retail buyers only, at which point we might as well go buy another OEM license with a new hard drive or some other hardware.

As for SATA, I see newbies having struggles with SATA a lot lately but it's not insurmountable, and with the board you're choosing, SATA is not too convoluted (haha, famous last words ). I believe WinXP won't even need SATA drivers supplied since the SATA function is native to the chipset on this board.

Keep in mind that SATA is not necessarily better, just different, and the SATA fittings on the motherboards and drives are breakable, whereas the PATA fittings are bombproof. For my sister's system, I picked a 120GB Hitachi with 8MB cache and an ATA/100 interface, and if you want a recommendation in a PATA drive, you might check that one out too. Not too expensive, and pretty fast for a 7200rpm drive. Seek noise is audible, about on par with my Cheetah 15k.3. Idle noise is low, it has fluid bearings.

 

[Tostada]

1) Faster memory makes very little difference with an A64. There's really no reason not to just get $79 Mushkin CL 2.5. Just look at some benchmarks (Tom's has some with A64's that compare CL 3, CL 2.5, and CL 2). I doubt you'll find it worth an extra $85 minimum to get two CL 2 sticks instead of CL 2.5.

2) There is currently no benefit to getting an SATA drive. All you're doing is making drivers more of a hassle. That said, there's not much of a drawback either if you think SATA is cool and want to pay an extra 5 for the drive.

There's also not much benefit to spending extra for a K8N Neo Platinum, especially given all the little quirk problems that board seems to have, and the obnoxious layout. I'd get the $99 Epox 250Gb board unless you're really concerned about your GB ethernet performance.

3) Unless you're doing some fairly complex networking stuff, there's no reason to pay extra for XP Pro. I certainly doubt you'll still be worried about using Windows Update for XP Home after Dec 31 2006 or ASR. You could just sign up for a class at a university that gives students free copies of XP Pro...