It's new computer time soon...

Long time no post for me. Glad to be back

I'm pondering a new computer, or at least a major upgrade of parts this year. I'm seriously leaning towards an Intel chip, but trying to figure out what would be best for me.

I'm looking at maybe $600-800 at most to spend. I don't need a new Video card, I'll just keep my Radeon 8500 for the moment (I don't do enough 3D to need too much more at the moment). I definately need a new HD, want at least 512MB of ram, probably 1GB if it's reasonably priced. Either a new sound card or use the onboard audio to save some money. Not sure if I want a DVD Burner, I may hold off on that.

CPU: Should I hold off for a few months for the next Intel chip and some refining on the Athlon 64? Should I look for a Prescott chip, or are the old Northwood cores still viable? I don't intend on overclocking, though having the posibility wouldn't upset me.

HD: Should I look for SATA or stick with IDE?

MB: How is the IC7-Max3 from Abit? Any others I should look at?

Mem: Anyone know a good price on a good brand? 2 256 moduals of 2 512 moduals?

Soundcard: Any particular one I should look into? Or is onboard not a big deal if I don't mind the slight performance hit?

DVD Burner: Should I bother? I probably at least want a newer CD Burner (My current one is 24x10x40) and a 16X DVD player (I think my current one is a 4x, it was free though)

As always, thanks in advance for your help.

If ignorance is bliss, then why is everyone so miserable?

The only real benefit from S-ata right now is the cable. But i look at it in the way that there isn't a limit in bandwidth so if it somehow has the possibility of going higher than there is nothing limiting it, although there isn't a drive out right now that utilizes S-ata higher transfer speeds.
Although i know most S-ata hd's have 8mb caches now and are only 5 dollars more.

I'd say you can either go real cheap right now , enough to hold out for a year and a half. Or just wait it out 4-6 months. Prescott's aren't looking good and Microsoft hates AMD. I wouldn't want a A64 till new motherboard's come out for awhile, buying first batch cpu's scare me.



<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=275920760" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=275920760</A>
Figured i'd do it too..reality my ass.

Wait until you actually need the upgrade, or upgrade now. The new board technology won't be completely introduced for at least another 6 months.

Athlon 64 boards are still imature.

IC7-Max3 is overpriced, for P4 buyers I always recommend the IS7.

Right now I'd go with an Athlon XP2500+ and overclock it to 3200+, simply because it's a great value.

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

The 2500+ is one of the best CPUs ever, IMO. I just ordered mine. Along the lines of one of the celeron models which I forget allready or the 1700



A long long time ago, but I can still remember, how that music used to make me smile... <A HREF="http://www.nexus.hu/zonix/DIGGER.MID" target="_new"><b><font color=blue>Digger rulz</font color=blue></b></A>

I found an IC7-Max3 for $110 shipped, that was why I was looking at it. I'll look into the IS7.

New board tech in 6 months, as well as second gen processor runs make is sound like I should hold off for a bit.

What do you recomend on the other stuff? I don't expect the HD or Sound Card to be reinvented in 6 months.

If ignorance is bliss, then why is everyone so miserable?

Got proof? What 64 bit apps am I going to need in the next few years? I don't think I'll need more than 1 GB of ram, let alone more than 4. And why shell out the money for a new OS when I have all the licences I need for all the other windows versions I have?

I don't trust the first run of the AMD CPUs yet.

BTW, I'm not an AMD Basher, I have an Athlon XP 1600+, and have been quite happy with it. It's just time for a complete system rebuild/reinstall, and I figure I should just start with a fresh new machine, and it's been a few years since I upgraded, so it fits right in my schedual.

If ignorance is bliss, then why is everyone so miserable?

The thing is, this is a VERY bad time to invest in the NEWEST technology, because platforms will be replaced entirely next year. AGP and PCI will give way to PCI-Express, DDR will give way to DDRII, and new sockets will be introduced. I don't expect it to be completely settled down until around January of next year, but the tech will all be introduced before then.

So if you need a system right now, build for now. You can always sell your system a bit earlier than planed if you really need one now, but want the newer tech later.

Right now the best value is the XP2500+ on the Abit NF7-S with some high quality PC3200 (or standard quality PC3500) overclocked to 3200+ speed. The second best value would be the P4 2.8C and Abit IS7 with the same memory requirement. A 2.8C at around 3.4GHz would be a much better performer than a 2500+ at 3200+ speed, but would also cost more, and to do it right you'd want PC4000 or better RAM!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

You could just replace that 1600+ with something newer.( to tide you over till Prescott 64) If the current mobo only supports 266 fsb, the 2400+ would still be a good upgrade for < $100.