Putting together a new system

[motoman303]

I'm going to be putting together a new system soon using some of the parts off my old comp and a new motherboard and ram. I've already decided on the motherboard - Asus P4C800-but i can't for the love of me decide what kind of ram i want (so many worthy and unworthy manufacturers). I'm going to get two sticks of 512 and my price range will be about $50 to $75 a stick (higher if it's really worth it.) Here's my specs

P4 1.6 gHz (will be upgrading about a month after to 3.0 gHz)
Asus P4C800 mobo
2 sticks of something
GeForce 4 Ti 4400
Windows 98 SE (also will be upgrading a month after to XP pro)

I'm a big gamer so I want something awesome with games. Also, there's an off-chance I can't upgrade the OS and CPU. In that case, would you guys recommend even putting in the new mobo and ram and if you would, what should i get with the old 98 SE and 1.6 gHz? Sorry, I have lots of questions.

-Dad, you just killed zombie Flanders.
-He was a zombie?

 

[Crashman]

You could offset that added cost by getting a P4P800 instead. Read the latest reviews at Anandtech, the Abit IS7 and Asus P4P800 ARE the fastest boards!

Anyway, you'll want the best memory you can afford. Luckily, they have a memory comparison too!

<font color=blue>Watts mean squat if you don't have quality!</font color=blue>

 

[HardWareBoss]

Go with 2000 Pro instead of XP Pro. From what I've been reading it's better for gaming.

 

[smitbret]

What? Everything I've ever heard, is exactly the opposite.
-Brett

>Go with 2000 Pro instead of XP Pro. From what I've been reading it's better for gaming.<

 

[pIII_Man]

ya 2000 takes some persuasion to run some games...but i havn't found a game that i couldn't get to run after i spent some time on it. Anyhow it is not enough to make me wana go back to xp pro uck! I know that alot of people like xp and i am just expressing MY opinion but...once you take the skin away from xp and all of the "cool" graphics (which annoy me) you essentually have windows 2k. Also you really notice how much faster win 2k is than xp when you are running it on an older system (my faithful pIII 700 @784)..but i suppose to 1.6ghz processor that should be fine on xp...

 

[motoman303]

Hmm I'll think about 2000 Pro for games (can anyone back this up?) Thanks for the advice.

But back to the ram question, what should I get guys? I'm seriously without any direction toward a specific Ram type (except I know it will be PC3200.) Does anyone know a quality ram at 512 a stick for my specs?

-Dad, you just killed zombie Flanders.
-He was a zombie?

 

[HardWareBoss]

Go with Corsair XMS PC3500 or Kingston HyperX PC3500.

 

[HardWareBoss]

So you got rid of all the eye candy that came with your XP PRO? You don't like eye candy? You are better off with out it.

 

[pIII_Man]

No i find the eye candy gets into my way. If you are used to windows 98 you will feel right at home with 2000...if you are used to nt4 you will really like 2000. The eye candy makes it take longer for me to get where i am going (both physically and also takes away cpu clocks). I am not saying it is impossible to remove...but once you take it away you are essentually left with a bloated version of win 2k.
Also the eye candy isn't really what i call candy...IMO windows XP is the fruityest operating system ever released...an example... you do a search and you are greated by a dog on steroids (you want a good looking os...mandrake or redhat). Not to mention it ALWAYS is acessing the internet! Always always always!!! It just pisses me off...so especially for a win 98 persion 2k is a very good choice however xP pro will get the job done but drive you (well at least it does this to me) crazy. Stay away from ME or home edition of XP.
About stability...2000...XP Pro...they are all about the same.
Memory...for that price i would get some oem samsung modules.

 

[pIII_Man]

Well first i got rid of the eye candy...then i just decided to buy 2k Pro. I just hated the fact that xp is always acessing the internet...big bro M$ if you ask me...

 

[Guest]

Ya whatever you do doooont go with 98, it will waste half your ram on nothing..2k pro is really steady but i also like xp pro for my multimedia stuff

 

[pIII_Man]

Its just a matter of preferance...the best way to choose is to go to circut city or any other store that sells computers and play with win xp (on a display computer) for a while...if you decide that win xp has a great good looking user interface...fine buy it...if you feel that the interface gets into your way and you like the feel of win 98 better then go for 2k.