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Mobo & CPU choices?

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fariss   10-30-2003 at 12:23:44 AM

I'm presently replacing an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe 2.0 w/ XP 2400+. The mobo has died and the XP is going into a different machine. My choices (certainly subject to change) are DFI LanParty Pro875B w/ Intel 3.6 CPU and DFI LanParty NF2 Ultra w/ XP 3200+ Barton. I also wish to use the Zalman CNPS7000-Cu but I'm not really sure if that cooler will fit on either board. I'd appreciate any feedback about the choices w/ recommendations for memory, other cooler options, memory and HDD (RAID?SATA etc). I'm curious if anyone has the setup I'm contemplating and how it has worked out for them.
TIA

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Snorkius   11-02-2003 at 02:22:14 PM
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The 3200+ Barton is a really bad choice. I'd get an A64 instead.
Where did you see a 3.6 P4?

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The farce is ended; draw the curtain </font color=blue>

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fariss   11-02-2003 at 03:39:43 PM
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My bad. 3.06 P4.
64 bit is kinda cost prohibitive right now.

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pitsi   11-02-2003 at 04:40:00 PM
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Why did you choose DFI? I'm really curious about that.

Anyway, my opinion is that you should go for a Pentium 4 2.8c which will be cheaper than the 3.06GHz and faster as well! Or at least as fast as the 3.06. Now about the mobo. Two excellent choices are the Asus P4P800 Deluxe or the Abit IS7. You can't go wrong with anyone you choose. As far as the memory goes, get TWINX512-3200C2. For a HDD go with WD1200JB. That's the 120GB 8MB Buffer Ultra ATA100 model from Western Digital. If you like, you can get the Serial ATA version (WD1200JD) for a few extra dollars but don't expect any noticable increase in performance because of that.

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Snorkius   11-02-2003 at 04:58:43 PM
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If you care about cost, get a 2500+ Barton. It's dirt cheap, and you can easily OC it to 3200+ levels.

If you don't care all that much about cost, get a 2.8C(800 MHZ). It's a much better buy than the 3.06.

<font color=blue>
The farce is ended; draw the curtain </font color=blue>

Reply to Snorkius
fariss   11-02-2003 at 05:01:55 PM
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The DFI boards have gotten good reviews and I like the features of the LanParty versions. RAID 1.5 caught me eye. Dual LAN also. But I'm seeing issues w/ Corsair memory. I've always had good luck w/ Samsung but I'm building another computer w/ the parts left over from the defunct ASUS system & the Samsung memory is earmarked for that one. My ASUS A7N8X only lasted a year and that prompted me to check into the DFI LanParty series. Intel's price drops have made some of the higher end processor's attractive.

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fariss   11-02-2003 at 05:04:50 PM
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I'm looking for the higher BUS though.

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Snorkius   11-02-2003 at 05:19:16 PM
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The 2.8C has an 800 bus. The 3.06 has a 533 bus. The Barton 2500+ has a 333 bus, but you should be able to oc it to 400 w/o problems.

<font color=blue>
The farce is ended; draw the curtain </font color=blue>

Reply to Snorkius
pitsi   11-02-2003 at 08:34:10 PM
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For me it's obvious that you don't know exactly what you are looking for. Although you say you want higher bus, at the same time you choose 3.06 over the 2.8c which has a higher bus. On the other hand if you meant frequency, you should know that these two processors perform the same, despite the lower clock speed of the 2.8c (which in fact is faster in some cases). Also you are one of the few persons in the whole world that would prefer DFI over Asus and Samsung over Corsair. Anyway, it's your money so you and only you can choose how to spend it.

My advice though is to do a little research before making your final decision, since clearly you can't really accept suggestions from others.

Reply to pitsi
pIII_Man   11-02-2003 at 10:46:10 PM
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dfi's nforce based board is faster (per tomshardware) and more feature rich than the a7n8x, so i would bite your tounge.

Although i agree about the bus speed stuff, 800mhz bus has really helped the p4.

Also it must be clarified that corsair's ram has trouble running at advertised speeds on 865/875 based chipsets, but its still good memory, it just doesnt have as much PAT head room as some other higher latency memory modules have.


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy

Reply to pIII_Man
Patchworkblue   11-02-2003 at 11:49:32 PM
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For me it's obvious that you don't know exactly what you are talking about. Not only has the DFI board been rated way better than any nforce2 board ASUS makes, but it is the more popular of the 2 nforce2 boards, as well.

Women--can't live with them, can't have heterosexual same-species intercourse without them.

Reply to Patchworkblue
pIII_Man   11-03-2003 at 12:45:59 AM
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Quote :

it is the more popular of the 2 nforce2 boards


I wouldnt go that far...but dfi still makes damn good mobos. I have also heard they are pretty good for overclocking...


If it isn't a P6 then it isn't a procesor
110% BX fanboy

Reply to pIII_Man
AtolSammeek   11-03-2003 at 09:05:15 AM
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So is P4 3.2 with L3 2 megs $950 to $1000 a chip

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pitsi   11-03-2003 at 11:48:23 AM
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Quote :

... but it is the more popular of the 2 nforce2 boards, as well.


It seems I am not the only one who doesn't know exactly what he is talking about!

Reply to pitsi
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