Does This Setup Look Good?
CForrester
P0rk(h0p Join Date: 2002-10-05 Member: 1439Members, Constellation
P0rk(h0p Join Date: 2002-10-05 Member: 1439Members, Constellation
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">For PC building...</div> Hey guys. I plan to save up some money and buy self a new PC, and I've designed what I want. What I need from you guys is verification (i.e: Will all the parts work together?) and recommendations on brands (OTHER THAN MY VIDEO CARD OR CPU!)
Here are the specs:
Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 / 2.4BGHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus OEM
Mobo:
SHUTTLE AV40 P4 P4X266 DDR SOCKET 478 ATX MOTHERBOARD
RAM:
DDR DIMM 333MHZ 512M * 2
Video card:
POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9700 128MB GOLD DDR CRT+DVI+TV 8X AGP RETAIL ,NOT 9700 PRO
Case:
Raidmax Model 228(BLUE/BEIGE) 10-bay Case Retail
Power Supply:
Antec P4 ATX12V 400 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans
Fans:
Speeze Cooling Fan FD08025S1M4 * 2 (80mm)
VANTEC's STEALTH SF6025L (60 mm)
CD-Writer:
Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S OEM
Sound card:
SoundBlaster Live! Dolby Digital 5.1 OEM
Hard Drives:
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Monitor:
AOC 19" 9GLR CRT Monitor Retail
I still haven't finalized, I think I might throw in a few extra things, and I already have a 40 GB hard drive that I'm going to stick it with my 120 GBer. Please note: I will NOT switch brands on my CPU or my Video Card. I like Intel, and I like ATi. Don't bother trying to convince me to change those brands, I will NOT.
Here are the specs:
Processor:
Intel Pentium 4 / 2.4BGHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus OEM
Mobo:
SHUTTLE AV40 P4 P4X266 DDR SOCKET 478 ATX MOTHERBOARD
RAM:
DDR DIMM 333MHZ 512M * 2
Video card:
POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9700 128MB GOLD DDR CRT+DVI+TV 8X AGP RETAIL ,NOT 9700 PRO
Case:
Raidmax Model 228(BLUE/BEIGE) 10-bay Case Retail
Power Supply:
Antec P4 ATX12V 400 Watt Power Supply With 2 Fans
Fans:
Speeze Cooling Fan FD08025S1M4 * 2 (80mm)
VANTEC's STEALTH SF6025L (60 mm)
CD-Writer:
Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246S OEM
Sound card:
SoundBlaster Live! Dolby Digital 5.1 OEM
Hard Drives:
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD1200JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Monitor:
AOC 19" 9GLR CRT Monitor Retail
I still haven't finalized, I think I might throw in a few extra things, and I already have a 40 GB hard drive that I'm going to stick it with my 120 GBer. Please note: I will NOT switch brands on my CPU or my Video Card. I like Intel, and I like ATi. Don't bother trying to convince me to change those brands, I will NOT.
Comments
Otherwise it sounds good. But if I were you I'd wait a couple of months before I bought a computer. Prices are supposed to go down in Augest... or so I've heard.
Or maybe wait till after HL2 and see what new things they'll have.
Additionally, I'd suggest grabbing a Thermaltake Volcano + (regardless of number rating, the + incorporates a solid copper heatsink, and is a damn fine investment for $35, as opposed to $50 for a standard Volcano copper-plug cooler)
There is no point in getting a northwood chip (533 bus) if your getting a 400mhz bus mobo and 333mhz ram if you plan on going with that mobo get the 400hmz 2.4 chip and save 20 bucks
get the ASUS p4t533-c mobo and the samsung pc1066 RDRAM if you plan on using northwood. ASUS jumperless boards are great I've been running ASUS/Intel combos for a while and I love it.
Also you should prolly go with the IBM Deskstar 60 gig GPX70 series HDs beter seek time
Earth. It's called the AMD +3000xp 64-bit Processor. AKA, Hammer.
the "hammer" is a 2.16 gig that runs at 400mhz? so how is it faster?
Lowdown: Athlons are more efficient with their clock cycles, and since they get more instructions per clock, they can keep up with the "faster" Intel chips. It's been that way for a long time, ever since intel introduced the 20-step pipeline for the Pentium 4. AMD's also run hotter, but hyperthreading makes the pentium 4 actually dissipate MORE power than most athlons.
Athlon is cheaper, but not by much...and the faster front side bus on the newer pentiums makes it worth it imo. And talesin, read his post - he's not interested in switching processor brands or video card brands.
And the hammer...well, first of all, no desktop needs 64 bit processing. Do you even understand what 64-bit processing is? Higher numbers don't always mean better.
As for your proposed setup Forrester, it looks pretty good at this point, but you may want to switch out the motherboard for something that fits your system specs better (get a chipset that supports 533 FSB default, instead of the 400 FSB you have now). An i845PE board, or maybe a Granite Bay might do you well (Like a gigabyte, but don't try albatron's 845pe board - major voltage regulation problems). And for the ram, make sure you get ram that is made/tested for aggressive timings, because they tend to stay stable at higher overclocks than your average valueram. Other than that, all your hardware should work fine together..
Note: AGP 8x has proven not to do very much right now.
If you check I originally sujested that:
QUOTE:
There is no point in getting a northwood chip (533 bus) if your getting a 400mhz bus mobo and 333mhz ram if you plan on going with that mobo get the 400hmz 2.4 chip and save 20 bucks
get the ASUS p4t533-c mobo and the samsung pc1066 RDRAM if you plan on using northwood. ASUS jumperless boards are great I've been running ASUS/Intel combos for a while and I love it.
i'm gunna build an all 800mhz system in a few months... soons as Asus releases the card using the geforce FX5900
not $500... when the 4600 from asus was selling at $420 I got it for $300... I can sometimes find really good deals.. I wont spend more than $400 for it... $350 is my target
but considdering that I will be spending an arm a leg and a leg, my liver and kidneys on an 800mhz sys it wont matter anyway? so whats an extra $100 when you looking at a $2000 price tag ?
mobo + CPU is $500+
I dont really know yet... I'm an Intel/Asus/Geforce fanboy
Ohh heheh I'm getting a nice flatpanel from viewsonic(19-21 inch depends on cost), a set of digital 7.1 speakers and an audigy 2 that brings me WAY over 2k, so I dont know yet. The flatpanel is a real killer and the digital speakers with decoder are like $300? bah.. now you depressed me I was living in denial
I'd suggest getting a Plextor burner though instead of a Lite-On. They are the best quality burners you can buy. This thing has never ever made a coaster on me, ever. ever. It pwns.
My Lite-On dvd drive on the other hand... ugh. very noisy :X I know not a really direct comparrison, but kinda in the same ballpark heh.
I must waffle now between pointing him at the GFFX posts (including the bit about how the Dawn demo runs approximately 10-15% FASTER on ATI cards, even through a college-student-programmed instruction wrapper, than on the hardware it was natively written to run on), pointing him at Pricewatch, or tossing him a link to my $600 Alienware Killer.
They should get those college kids to write them some drivers that don't crash and can handle gamma / resolution changes properly. <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif'><!--endemo-->
(My roommate has ATI, I have nVidia. Guess who has more problems.)
Single problem I've had with my R9500 Pro is that with some overdraw modes, it doesn't remove the old draw properly before placing the new one. Only real application in which it's shown itself is in Maya, when you're trying to insert a new isoparm, it'll leave red gunk until you release the mouse button. Which MAY be a Catalyst 3.4 problem... I'm tempted to move back to Catalyst 3.1, as I'd had the same problem even on the 9000 Pro with Cat3.4.
Never had any problems with res changes... which card is he using?
Single problem I've had with my R9500 Pro is that with some overdraw modes, it doesn't remove the old draw properly before placing the new one. Only real application in which it's shown itself is in Maya, when you're trying to insert a new isoparm, it'll leave red gunk until you release the mouse button. Which MAY be a Catalyst 3.4 problem... I'm tempted to move back to Catalyst 3.1, as I'd had the same problem even on the 9000 Pro with Cat3.4.
Never had any problems with res changes... which card is he using? <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I've only had problems on my R9000 (NOT pro) with the new Cats. I installed Cat 3.4 and started getting a slideshow in BF42, and laggy menus. I rolled back. /me hugz0rz XP.
and its anathema not anethema. And its silly to loathe someone cause they buy more expensive hardware than you. And most of my price quotes come from pricewatch and or pricegrabber.
I also didnt understand the line about alienware? did you say you actually bought something from those swindlers? or did you put something together for $600 that was better than they were offering? clarify thnx
edit: eheheheh I must be soo slow.. when did u become a mod Tal? I just noticed the shiny orange color of your Nick! <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
If you are planning on trying to software mod the 9500 into a 9700, I wouldn't advise it. Not only are most of the mod-able ones mostly if not all sold out, there's somewhere around a 30% chance of failure (i.e., getting artifacts).
If you are willing to spend the extra ~$40, you should instead try the 9700 pro which clocks at 325 core, instead of the regular radeon 95xx/97xx which clocks at 275 core. Worth it imo, if you aren't willing to risk overclocking your regular video card. Although it *is* personal preference.
And AMD XP3200+ is no where near the Intel P4 3GHz
<a href='http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030513/athlon_xp-22.html' target='_blank'>http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030513/...hlon_xp-22.html</a>
And AMD XP3200+ is no where near the Intel P4 3GHz
<a href='http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030513/athlon_xp-22.html' target='_blank'>http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030513/...hlon_xp-22.html</a> <!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><span class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
::hugs::
<!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html/emoticons/smile.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile.gif'><!--endemo-->
YAY! A person up to my standards! woot!
I was thinking of that <a href='http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4p800/overview.htm' target='_blank'>Mobo</a> with a p4 3.06 (800mhz whats the callsign for the new 800mhz chips?)