Atolsammeek

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Ok the question I have is this. When I run my system I seem to run at 100% and I can t do anything else. Amd 1800 with 1.5gb of ram gf 3 ti 500 and 320 gb of hard drive space. Now if the program only use once CPU if I still get a dual cpu computer I can run more stuff. Meaning more software on the other cpu like Winamp and other software and give the other cpu More power.

I m looking to build a system like dual Amd 64 4000+ with 1.5gb of ram better video card better sound card and the hard drives I have from the old computer mybe another 160 gig but with 8 megs of cache to speed it up. so that will be 480 gigs of space. two 160 gigs and two 80 gigs

I know the amd 64 are now out and the 4000+ are not out but I want a Monster system.
 

Mephistopheles

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The A64´s aren´t out yet... they´ll be around only at the end of the year. What will be released shortly is Opteron, which is a server CPU that should be rather expensive, and can be used in multiprocessor configurations. I really don´t expect them to be a good desktop alternative, because of their price... Could be wrong, though, if they are out-of-this-world performers on generic software that hasn´t been written for them... I´m waiting for the benchmarks...

If you want the most powerful dual-cpu configuration and you want it now, you might go with dual 3.06Ghz Xeons on the 7505. If you want the most powerful dual-cpu configuration and you are willing to wait for opteron, I´d say they really should be good performers... But none of these options are cheap.

If you want a truly powerful desktop, I´d say you should wait a few weeks and get a Canterwood (i875) mobo with 800Mhz FSB, dual-channel DDR400 with optimised memory controller, Serial ATA and AGP 8x support and a 3.2Ghz, 800Mhz, HT-enabled Northwood P4. That´ll aready cost you some (not as much as top dual-cpu rigs), but it´ll be a killer system.
 

jclw

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Or get another 1800 and drop them in a <A HREF="http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=344&MODEL=MS-6501" target="_new">MSI K7D Master</A>

*Dual PIII-800 @900 i440BX and Tualeron 1.2 @1.74 i815*
 

stable

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First, we build IA-64 Systems. If you want to go that way, great. Get out your checkbook, let's make a deal.

On the other hand, if you want to use what you have, I'd go with the above posters' recommendation of a good Dual Athlon MB.

After that, what you will really be after (by the sounds of it) is a really fast RAID array. This should really enhance your performance. 320GB of disk space is great, but getting it through the bus can be a problem. A RAID controller with many striped drives spinning (instead of one large drive) will really make a difference. If you want to go beyond that, I would look at a SATA RAID solution utilizing 10,000RPM IDE Drives. Once the prices come down a tad I think you'll see this as mainstream.

Finally, while you may have 1.5GB of RAM, what kind of RAM is it? What frequency is it running at? Are we talking about CAS2 Low Latency RAM like a Low Latency Version of Corsair's XMS RAM? I've found that over 1GB, you really aren't adding much in terms of performance, even with major multi-tasking (unless your data files aren't larger than 500MB that is); however, if you are using CAS 2.5 or CAS3 RAM with non-aggressive timings changing to something like this will make a real difference in performance.

Just my two cents (sorry, out of wooden nickles)
Steph

Stable Technologies
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