HELP - Building a Comp

[dannyaa]

Hi all,

Haven't been around for a while, and I've lost track of all of the Ram & Mobos & Processors & what goes where w/what... it seems to get more complicated all the time! Could someone set me straight?! Here's what I want, I will be getting it in a month or so (after the P4 3.2 GHz is available):

P4 2.8 or 3.06 GHz 800MHz FSB w/HT (depends on price)

P4 Mobo - OK, need some help here. I need something of good quality (I'm guessing Asus, Abit, or MSI?) That supports 800MHz FSB and will allow me to someday upgrade my processor to a faster speed if I so desire. What are some specific full model name mobos to look for that meet these requirements? What would you guys recommend? Please include approx price info.

1GB RAM - Oh wow, here's where I'm lost. DDR333, DDR400, PC2700 - PC3500, etc etc... someone help! I want the fastest, highest quality, lifetime warranty, best RAM available, either in a 1GB DIMM or two 512MB DIMMS. Obviously it will be for use with a P4 system... What specifically should I get, and what kind of price am I looking at?

As for the other components, I'm good... but if I could get some help on the above it would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks so much,

Dan


PS - I forgot to mention that I will *NOT* be doing any overclocking, at all...


<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by dannyaa on 05/06/03 02:49 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Prof133]

* Canterwood chipset motherboard for this build. A lot of options out there.

* At least PC3200 memory for use with a 800MHz FSB processor. I recommend Corsair XMS. Two 512MB DIMMS.

 

[dannyaa]

Thanks for the help! I was actually hoping I could get a bit more detailed response though... I was wondering what specific, full model name mobos you guys recommend and their approx prices - plz see my post above for details on what I need.

I was also wondering a bit more about the RAM - the difference between the pc3200 & 3500 & 2700 and what it means, what it does, etc... - and then what the 400 vs 333 MHz is about, DDR-Ram & what happen to RDRAM? or is that a thing of the past? And what's this about dual memory channels & RAM that is designed for mobos with that?? Any more thoughts on the specific RAM I should pick up?

See my original post, above, for what I'm getting & other questions I had....

And again, thank you!

Dan



<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Dannyaa on 05/06/03 06:39 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Maverick494]

a little ddr info for ya. PC2100(DDR266), PC2700(DDR333), PC3200(ddr400), PC3500(DDR433). PC3500 isn't fully supported by the people at JEDEC(I think that is the acronym) yet, to my knowledge. The PCXXXX refers to GB/s bandwidth the memory will attain. 2100 = 2.1GB/s, 2700=2.7GB/s, etc. The 266,333, etc. is the effective MHZ of the RAM. DDR = Double Data Rate which means that the RAM does work on both the freq. cylces (up and down). so PC2700(DDR333) would be 2x166mhz. The more bandwidth allowed by the memory the better the performance (most of the time, there are other factors like chip latency and such, but that gets to be a really long post). The mainboard makers you have mentioned already make fine products. I would look at one from each and see which has the most features that you want.

Just a computer junky

 

[Prof133]

Thanks for the help! I was actually hoping I could get a bit more detailed response though... I was wondering what specific, full model name mobos you guys recommend and their approx prices - plz see my post above for details on what I need.

At this point there's no clear winner. The canterwood boards have just recenly arrived. So, it's hard to tell which one is the best. That's why I was not specific.

what happen to RDRAM? or is that a thing of the past?

Now that dual-channel DDR is the norm I honestly don't see a place for RDRAM. I know of only one RDRAM board coming out in the near future (Abit SI7) but it doesn't support 800MHz FSB processors.

And what's this about dual memory channels & RAM that is designed for mobos with that??

I'm still learning about Dual-Channel DDR so as not to take a risk at saying something incorrect I'll just say that the end result is more memory bandwidth. There's paired RAM available that is supposedly packaged specifically for Dual DDR operation but you could easily just buy two sticks of non-paired ram.

Any more thoughts on the specific RAM I should pick up?

I would buy two Corsair XMS PC3200 CAS2 memory modules.

 

[shadus]

The ABIT IC7-G is getting pretty good reviews as is the ASUS P4C800, both look to be really nice boards stable and overclockable... also you may want to look into the Intel 875 board (forget the name but it has 875 in it)... it's rock solid, but is missing alot of overclocking features. The paired memory (eg: Twinx from corsair) is tested to verify it will work in a dual ddr situation. That's it. Takes a bit of the worries out but realistically if you buy decent ram (kingston, corsair, mushkin, etc) you won't have a problem as long as the two chips are the same (eg: xms3200c2) with the i875p chipsets they're suggesting you avoid the LL designated corsair ram because of intermitant stability issues on the chipset.

Shadus