Desktop Sys, need feedback

Hey all,


Well I have been looking around/researching for awhile now and I need some info on two possible desktop setups both from:

www.cyberpowerinc.com

AMD base is a:

Xtreme Gamer Platinum Pro (http://www.cyberpowerinc.com/highendsystem/xtremegamerplatinum.htm)

which I modified a bit:

Aluminum SX1030 SOHO Server Tower Case 425Watt w/MOD "See-Thru Window" & Neon Light
AMD Athlon XP-2600+ 333FSB CD203
ASUS A7N8X nVidia nForce-2 8X AGP w/USB 2.0
1024 MB PC3200 400MHz DDR
(Free upgrade to CORSAIR High Performance Mem w/Heat Spreader)
Thermal Temp LCD Display w/3x Fan Controller
AMD Cert CPU Fan & Heatsink + 3 Extra Case Fans
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM ATA 100 8MB Special Ed
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 8X AGP 128MB DDR w/TV-OUT & DVI (though I will probably down-grade to save cash)
White SONY 16X DVD-ROM
White 48x16x48x CD-RW EIDE (? Brand)
White SONY CPD-E440 19" FD Trinitron
Creative Labs SB AUDIGY X-GAMER 5.1
*BLACK Creative Labs Inspire 5200 5.1 Subwoofer Speakers System
Microsoft USB Optical Intelli Explorer
MS Windows XP Home
Std. 2 USB Ports + 2 Extra USB Port Connectors

(~$1,980 US)

v

Intel model:

CyberPower Royal Xtreme (http://cyberpowerinc.com/highendsystem/INTEL2.htm)

which I modified a bit:

CoolerMaster ATC-710 SOHO Server Case w/420Watt
Inel P4 2.53 533FSB
Shuttle SIS 648 AS45 Mainboard w/8x AGP 533FSB & USB 2.0 -(their other option is)- MSI 648 MAX-L SIS648 MB w/ATA 133 8x ABP & USB 2.0, LAN
1024 MB PC3200 400MHz DDR (requires KT400)
From standard memory to CORSAIR High Performance Mem w/Heat Spreader
Intel Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink + 3 Extra Case Fans
Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM ATA 100 8MB Special Ed
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro 8X AGP 128MB DDR w/TV-OUT & DVI (though I will probably down-grade to save cash)
White SONY 16X DVD-ROM
White 48x16x48x CD-RW EIDE (? Brand)
White SONY CPD-E440 19" FD Trinitron
Creative Labs SB AUDIGY X-GAMER 5.1
*BLACK Creative Labs Inspire 5200 5.1 Subwoofer Speakers System
Microsoft USB Optical Intelli Explorer
MS Windows XP Home

(~1,997 US)




(Note: No I don't take you guys for idiots, I typed out the list as-is on their order form in case you guys wanted to check it out at their site, I tought it would be easier for you if I wrote it all out.)

How will the AMD fair compared to the INTEL system, does one hold an advantage in this case? What about speed, performance, and stability? I will be using it for downloading and uploading on the net as well as games and graphics programs. I dont not know that much about computer hardware so any information concerning the setup would be great. Your opinions on the mobo would be appreciated as well. Please check out the site itself to see what options they allow in the system. Again any knowledge about the above components or any usefull info would be greatly appreciated. I have spent some time looking all this up, but the knowledge you guys have is limitless. thx.

P.S. where all should I post this for best results?

peace,
-=i3lue}{orneT=-


<font color=blue>--------------------------------UPDATED--------------------------------
Also, how upgradable will they be? Mobo? What will be options for upgrading to later? What do I need to be carefull about as far as putting myself into a system that won't upgrade well/what sould I watch out for? Why?</font color=blue>

thx for all the help.



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by BlueHornet on 02/01/03 02:19 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

I'm not that sure with the 800MHz FSB P4s comming out in a couple of months and the still increasing power usage that isn't supported by all mobo's.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dimms when I turn it on

Um I disagree with Silverpig, the SB Live has much more problems in WinXP than Audigy. Audigy came out around the WinXP times, it has more compatibility. The SB Live is known to be a buggy and weak card.

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...what about the rest of the two setups, does it look compatible, will I have any issues with it? thx.

peace,
-=<font color=blue>i3lue}{orneT</font color=blue>=-

Dude if it were up to me, I'd post somewhere else, you are in the really wrong forum.
This is an off-topic relaxing forum, we try as much to distance outselves from any hardware talks. Your best bet is in the CPU forum.

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The R9500PRO mind you, the R9500 is a total waste.

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Unless you happen to get a Saphire 9500 128MB and enable the other four pipes

<font color=blue>There are no stupid questions, only stupid people doling out faulty information based upon rumors, myths, and poor logic!</font color=blue>

Are you sure they even used the same silicon on both cards?
I thought they really have a seperate silicon, with the 4 pipes not included.

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Supposedly the other four pipes are stopped up by the driver, which detects that it's a 9500. The fix is a hacked driver file. I've seen ATI do this in the past as well, I own a Radeon LE, which is a Radeon DDR with a slower clock rate and the Z buffer disabled. I reenabled the Z-buffer in software and saw imediate results, then overclocked it to Radeon DDR speed.

<font color=blue>There are no stupid questions, only stupid people doling out faulty information based upon rumors, myths, and poor logic!</font color=blue>

Really? that sound allmost too good to be true!!!
the 9500's are of an affordable price here, unlike the 9700's.

sounds very tempting to the owner of a geforce2pro

<b>My Computer is so powerful Sauron Desires it and mortal men Covet it, <i>My Precioussssssss</i></b>

I can see where you're comming from, but I know from experience you're wrong. I can install any driver I want for my Radeon LE, yet it still comes up with no Hyper Z. Yet when I enable Hyper Z manually, my performance improves. You see, the same driver is used for ALL cards with my chip, all you're changing when you force a driver change is the driver revision or the name of your card. The driver "sees" that Hyper Z is supposed to be disabled on my card, and so disables it. Knowing that ATI has done this with MY card, I can see where they can shut off four pipelines using similar methods. The four pipelines are still there, the driver simply refuses to use them. Like in my case, Hyper Z is still there, but the driver refuses to use it until I do a little hacking.

<font color=blue>There are no stupid questions, only stupid people doling out faulty information based upon rumors, myths, and poor logic!</font color=blue>

Crashman are there any ways to enable AGP Sideband Addressing on i440BX mobo's? According to Rivatuner and/or WCPUID it is supported but disabled and I can't find an option inside the BIOS.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dimms when I turn it on

Change the layout? Have you looked at Saphire's 128MB 9500 non-pro? It's the 9700 layout. Identicle. Same PCB.

Supposedly ATI puts the resistor in a different place to instruct the card as to whether it's a 9500 or 9700 chip, so that 9700 BIOS won't work on a 9500 card. Anyway, the driver only looks at the BIOS, so if you can force the driver to believe it's seeing 9700 BIOS, the trick should work on an identicle card. And there's where the problem lies, you need to make certain you get a 9500 Non-Pro on a 9700 PCB

<font color=blue>There are no stupid questions, only stupid people doling out faulty information based upon rumors, myths, and poor logic!</font color=blue>

Svol based on general public opinion and experience, Sideband addressing does more harm than helps.

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Well that explains much... I'm not going to waste more time on a non-existing option.

My dual-PSU PC is so powerfull that the neighbourhood dimms when I turn it on