My New Computer

P-KhanP-Khan Join Date: 2003-05-27 Member: 16776Members
in Off-Topic
<div class="IPBDescription">Any modifications?</div> I'm gonna get a new computer in like, a month (FINALY convinved my parents that I needed a new computer). I have the following specifications, which I found it was not bad. Just wanted to know what you guys think, like, what should be added and what hsould be droped.

P4S8X-ASUS
Pentium 4, 2.4G
80G of HD
CD-RW 52x32x52
512M DDR
GeForce 4 FX 128M

That's more or less what I'll have in a month or so. Any suggestions on what to do here?
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Comments

  • NikonNikon Join Date: 2003-09-29 Member: 21313Members, Constellation
    just wanna check, are you getting a GeForce 4 or a GeForce Fx??
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  • P-KhanP-Khan Join Date: 2003-05-27 Member: 16776Members
    edited February 2004
    GeForce4 Ti probably. I'm not sure which one.... Depends alot on the money I'll have though.....
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  • AyumbharaAyumbhara Join Date: 2003-09-08 Member: 20675Members
    The Go is notebook only, but I'd go with a DirectX 9.0 Card, the 9500 or greater for ATI (9600 is the less-costly, 9800 is 256MB) or the GeForce FX cards. As for the processor, AMD Athlon XP's are generally cheaper than their Pentium counterparts, but it's all preference and availability. Other than that, good luck to you.
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    If you go with the Pentium, get the 800MHz FSB one. I really don't know what you're going to do with the computer, though, so it's hard to make specific recommendations. I'd go with a Radeon 9600 regardless though.
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  • P-KhanP-Khan Join Date: 2003-05-27 Member: 16776Members
    <!--QuoteBegin-TychoCelchuuu+Feb 12 2004, 10:11 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> (TychoCelchuuu @ Feb 12 2004, 10:11 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> If you go with the Pentium, get the 800MHz FSB one. I really don't know what you're going to do with the computer, though, so it's hard to make specific recommendations. I'd go with a Radeon 9600 regardless though. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
    Well, the computer will be mostly for school work, games, music and some graphing stuff (Maya, for example).
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  • TychoCelchuuuTychoCelchuuu Anememone Join Date: 2002-03-23 Member: 345Members
    For Maya, a gig of RAM is REALLY worth it. Maya will suck it all up and still ask for more, and RAM is nice and cheap nowadays. I'd say go with a Quadro, but that's no good for games.
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  • XaniethXanieth Join Date: 2002-11-06 Member: 7280Members
    How about a quatro? Those things have <b>four</b> razors.
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  • AllUrHiveRblong2usAllUrHiveRblong2us By Your Powers Combined... Join Date: 2002-12-20 Member: 11244Members
    Get with the times man! They're up to dodecarazors now.
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  • OttoDestructOttoDestruct Join Date: 2002-11-08 Member: 7790Members
    Save yourself about $100, pick up an Asus A7N8X Deluxe, and a 400 mhz fsb processor, as AMD is locking them now. With that mobey you saved upgrade the graphics card. I got my 9700 pro for about 200 several months ago, its a great card, better value IMO now that the price has dropped than the 9600 XT. For the harddrive I wouldn't recommend SATA if youre looking at that. I'm just not impressed with the WD Raptor drives. The mobo I pointed out is picky about ram, I have CAS latency 2 Kingston PC3200 in mine, and it runs fine, even though Asus' website says it only works with CAS latency 2.5. Lite-on CD rom drives = winnar.
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  • SycophantSycophant Join Date: 2002-11-05 Member: 7092Members
    edited February 2004
    <!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->.... Asus A7N8X Deluxe ....<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    The Asus is a damn good board, and I was considering it when I built my new rig a few months ago. It's blocked with features, reasonably priced, and has a solid name brand.

    But I decided to go with an <a href='http://www.abit-usa.com/products/mb/products.php?categories=1&model=6' target='_blank'>Abit NF7-S</a>. It's got a lower pricetag, has all the features you might want (8x AGP, SATA150, Dual DDR 400, SoundStorm 5.1 onboard, optical S/PDIF out, etc), and it's great for overclocking (<i>if you're into that stuff</i>).

    While I was skeptical about the onboard sound, I've been more than impressed with it so far. It was a bit finickey at first, but it's crystal clear after installing the latest updates and is easily up-to-par with my friend's Audigy2.

    I've been running this board with an Athlon 2500 Barton since December, and it's been great so far. No issues with installation and everything worked great right from the get-go.

    <u>specs of the new rig</u>:
    1x Abit NF7-S v2.0
    1x AMD Athlon 2500+ Barton
    1x 512mb Corsair DDR400 PC3200 CAS2
    1x GeForceFX 5200
    2x WD 80gb/8mb/7200rpm on striped RAID
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  • TalesinTalesin Our own little well of hate Join Date: 2002-11-08 Member: 7710NS1 Playtester, Forum Moderators
    edited February 2004
    I'd echo the other recommendations; an AMD processor tends to be far more efficient (ESPECIALLY with Maya, as I use Maya 5 for college). Though I'd recommend the ASUS A7V8X Deluxe. I've never really trusted the nForce or nForce2 chipsets, after having to repair machines in which the 'TwinBank' ended up frying the memory and nearly destroying the entire system due to the shorting.

    On the Maya front, again, I'd actually have to give a warning. At least on *my* R9500 Pro, when adding new isoparms, the current drivers leave 'garbage' behind while you're dragging the new line around. It disappears when you let up the mouse button, and is only a minor annoyance, but just to be forewarned.
    I'd still recommend an ATi over an nVidia card, again as it's far more efficient. Get an R9700 Pro if you can, or an R9600XT if you can't.

    If you're serious about Maya though, definitely go for a FireGL. They outright SPANK the equivalent Quadro, both in 'serious' applications (Maya, AutoCAD, etc) and gaming.

    Bump the RAM to 1GB or 1.5, preferably DDR3200 or 4000. Maya does love to suck it up, especially while rendering.

    And I'm not sure if you're building this yourself, or having it built; in the case of the former, keep in mind that the price on the Athlon64 3000+ is FAR lower (less than half) of the 3200+. You can easily get an Ath64 3000+ and mobo for about $300. I'd recommend the ASUS K8V... nForce3 is a pitiful joke, all my prejudice against 1 and 2 aside. 15% lower performance than the WORST performer out of all the rest of the offerings.

    As well, consider going with a striped RAID array. The A7V8X Deluxe and K8V both include an on-board Promise RAID controller, and using striping, your throughput will be significantly boosted; hard drive access tends to be the biggest bottleneck in my own A64 rig, as I hadn't thought ahead when I set it up.

    <u>Recommended Specs:</u><ul><li>AMD Barton 2500 (AMD Athlon64 3000+)</li><li>ASUS A7V8X Deluxe (ASUS K8V)</li><li>1GB PC3200/4000 DDR (or 1.5 if you go with PC2700)</li><li>ATi Radeon 9500 Pro, 9700 Pro, 9600XT (in order of cash-to-performance)</li><li>2-4 UDMA/100 drives, set up as Striped</li><li>350-400W PSU</li></ul>
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