3Ghz HT 533/800?

[Shadows]

Im a gamer and I play a lot of AmericasArmy (a free game based on the UT2003 platform).

Currently I have a AMD 2000+, GF4Ti 4400 and an EIZO L565 17" LCD display (I use the digital connection). The LCD forces me to run in 1280x1024, it's nice with the high res. but it does hit FPS somewhat1

I get 20 FPS on the new "Bridge SE" map and I would like to improve matters.

Now I would like to build a new "dream" system and I have been eyeing the 3Ghz P4 w HT up for some time and also the ATI 9800Pro card.

Whats the best P4 M/B out there atm and shoud I wait for the 3Ghz/800?

When is AMD's 64bit cpu comming out and should I wait for that?

What memory should I buy?

Thanks

 

[dinkster9]

dude, you will die of old age before the a64 comes out. I'be been waiting for one too, but it seems that they can't make one with a mhz fast enough to be intel celery. Quite depressing really, being totally against intel (not sure why) i went with the 2500 barton. Retail version for 130us bucks is one heck of a deal. From all the reviews on intels 800mhz fsb (really 200mhz quad pumped) its no faster on the 200 buck motherboard, then a overclocked 533 mb (sorry can't remember which one, but read the recient article on THG). As of for now, the 3gig chip from intel is the fastest around, so if moneys no limit get the 9800 and that cpu, ...and for the love of god, get a decient PSU!

"sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick"
*grabs a stick and places it into the flames* mmmm, smores

 

[Shadows]

Thanks for the heads up,

Yes PSU is a bit of a consern? Whats the min I need? I was thinking of a config a bit like this:

Asus or Abit M/B (I think the asus is better, but I used Abit the last 2 times I re-build my PC).
P4 3Ghz/533 (anyone know a good quite HS/fan?)
ATI 9800 Pro (again is one more quite than another?)
Re use my Audigy Platinum
Seagate 120MB S-ATA HD (I think they are low noise?)
TV card
extra USB card (migh not be needed with new M/B)
DVD and CD-RW
1GB of memory (what type should I get?)
Is 350W OK or do I need more (again I want a quiet one).

Would a 430W PSU need less cooling compared to a 350W with the same load?


thx for any feedback

 

[dinkster9]

Well it sounds like you have endless pockets, so don't skimp on anything, 1 gig memory? corsair twinx1024pc3200llpt should do the job better than anything out there its about 285 on pricewatch. (from googlegear)

I'm an Asus man myself, always used them, never been dissapointed. How the heck would i know iff the 9800pro is quiet, you can't even buy one yet...lol, um sure, its so quiet it actually takes noise away from your system. (j/k).

PSU is very important, especially with a billion case fans and a huge video card like that, you NEED over 350 CLEAN watts man. Alot of people here seem to like Antect true, i think i got the name wrong though. I like enermax, its a bit less expensive (their 465W 430 actual i think) model is 99 bucks (around) and gives you wisper quiet fans with manual controls to turn it down even farthur if you want. anything over 400 true watts should keep you powered for the time being, maybe even the next upgrade.

With harddrives, its usually the spinning speed that makes the noise, which of course is also related to performance. IE: the new rapure drive that spins at 10,000rps is one heck of a fast drive, but probably sounds like a small jet, or you could get a old boring slow 5400 drive, probably can bairly hear it over your case fans. I've never complained or heard complaining about hard drives being too loud (unless they are about to die), infact i kind of like hearing the sounds of data being transfered in the computer...)

"sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick"
*grabs a stick and places it into the flames* mmmm, smores

 

[speeduk]

My advise is to get the 800fsb version, its out already and closely priced to the 533 version, if you can afford the canterwood boards that is...

Get corsair memory if you want pc3200 or pc3500.

 

[sabbath1]

As a PSU, I would *strongly* recommend Antec True Power as your Power Supply, as I have one myself, I actually own their top-of-the-line True PSU at 550 and it's damn quiet and extraordinary powerful. They offer 480, 430, 380 and 330 watt ones as well.

Recently, I've had nothing but trouble with ASUS boards, so I'd say go for a MSI board instead. Buy a Canterwood board with 800 FSB P4, as that would yield the very best performance. The 3.0 800 FSB P4 is certainly not much faster than the 533 FSB P4, but since you're upgrading from a slower CPU, and the fact that the 800 FSB P4's are very similar priced, go for one.

I just bought a Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro, and it's HSF is really quiet. The card is a reference ATI card. Highly recommended.

Don't know about Seagate HD's i'm sure they're good, I use a 80 Gb Maxtor one though, and it works fine. I believe Maxtor DiamondPlus 9 (or whatever the line is called) is among the fastest regular IDE drives out there.
If you go for a Serial ATA drive however, I would recommend the Western Digital Raptor, which was reviewed yesterday at Tom's Hardware. It's extremely fast, even battling pretty good against the Maxtor SCSI drive tested. Seemed awesome.

With 1 gb of memory I would recommend the TwinMos 512x2 memory with WinBond chips, as those seem to easily overclock to CAS 2.0 setting using normal voltages, thus offering similar performance to the Corsair XMS, at a much lower price.

 

[Shadows]

Thx guys,

P4 3Ghz/800FSB, 450W+ PSU, Canterwood M/B and Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro with some PC3200 Memory (400DDR) it is..

Should do as a MP3 player aswell

 

[sabbath1]

Could you wait two (and a half) week? if you do, prices may drop on the 3.0 since Intel will release the 3.2 on May the 21st.

 

[Shadows]

Yes, I will wait til I get my bonus paid end of may (25th)

Thanks for the tip!

So looks like perfect timing...

 

[sabbath1]

Sounds like a good idea. I'm not absolutely sure the prices will drop, but they probably will. And if nothing else, you could always get the very well priced 2.8 GHz, enriched with 800 FSB and HT.

My system: AMD Athlon XP 3000+ CPU / TwinMOS 1Gb DDR400 / Soltek 75-FRN-RL /
Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro / Antec True Power 550W / Maxtor 80Gb ATA-133 8Mb cache
(Including specs for tech support.)