How Good Is My Comp.?

Well, it's better, but I still recommend the A64FX CPU.
Actually it's way better, and you can run Morrowind with max settings and high framerates.

Yes an A64FX processor would be better. It would also cost about $500 more. The FX series of 64's isn't worth that much more. my roomate and I have just about the exact same setup. Me with an A64 3200+ and him with a 64FX. He gets about a 5% performance in the games we play. The A64 3400+ performs about the same as the FX and is still $300 cheaper.

"Synch out of range" is most likely an error displayed by your monitor, nothing to do with your computer as such. It may give this error when there is no signal (computer off), a flaky VGA cable or when you specify a too high refresh rate in windows. I sure hope that was not the only reason you upgraded  

= The views stated herein are my personal views, and not necessarily the views of my wife. =

CPU :
Would have got 2.4GHz or 2.6GHz and overclocked it instead of buying a costly 3.0GHz.

RAM :
Maybe DDR 433/450/466/500 would have been a better choice to overclock your P4 chip.

HDD :
Would have not changed the HDD since you only changed from 60 to 80 Gigs. Or you should have buy a Seagate Barracuda 7200.7+ 120 or 160Gigs for high performance/low-noice.

GPU :
Would have got a Radeon 9600 PRO or XT or a GeForce FX 5700. You would have got better 3D performance.


MY OPINION :
You haven't buy the best price/performance piece of hardware, but, of course, you will notice big improvement in performance. But you could have got more your money by choosing other components.

And at this time, if you mostly play games with your computers. I mean, if you buy a PC to run games smoothly, the best price/performance is the Athlon 64 3000+ or low speed P4C (2.4 to 2.8).

On the GPU side, ATI Radeon 9600/9800 PRO/XT offers better performance in most today's games. You can read this <A HREF="http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/ati-nvid..." target="_new">X-bit labs article</A>.

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Would you buy a GPS enabled soap bar?<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by TheRod on 03/18/04 09:27 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

Looks good. Enjoy your new Puter. what brand ram did you buy?

Yes, I agree with TheRod on the graphics card. The fx5600 is not powerful enough to truly make use of 256mb, only 128. At any rate though, it is outclassed by other cards and it is not the best buy, even for a midrange card. Beside the xbit article, you can also head down the forum to the graphics cards section and take a look at the faq.

sounds like a piece

<A HREF="http://kevan.org/brain.cgi?michael " target="_new"> You Want To Click Me, Go Ahead  </A>

Too much money, too little gain. For games at any rate, you could have got more by getting only a topend video card, and saved some major money.

I bought a BFG 5900 non ultra for $200 brand new, and it overclocks like a dream. Works very well in games, can run all games at 1280x1024 with AA and AF. Aquamark score is over 57,000. 3dMark 03 is somewhere around 7150, so I cant complain. You can pick up one of these cards for about the same price as a 5700ultra, so why not?

PIV 2.8 @ 3.37, 2X256 Geil Platinum PC4000 @ 1:1, 240fsb, SP-94 with 92mm Tornado, IC7, (2)Raptors in raid 0, BFG5900nu flashed to 5950ultra bios, 500 watt psu.