Upgrade recommendations

[need4sp471]

I am looking to upgrade my CPU/Motherboard/Memory/HD. I was looking at getting a Athlon 64bit 3200+. Motherboard I was looking at the Asus K8V. Memory 1GB of DDR 400. HD looking at the WD Raptor SATA 36GB or 74GB 10000RPM. Now if anybody has any recommendations and what would be better I would be very open for suggestions. Thanks

 

[El_Jefe_77]

hm. well, are you going to be serving and using HD a whole lot?

if not, I wouldnt get a raptor. sucker isnt quiet and heats up system. HD really is the last thing that could ever slow a person down. with a gig of ddr400 ram, you would not be using the hd much during normal usage.

I would consider socket 939 if you can afford it. I cannot so I wont and stick with the same rig you are getting and a Samsung p80 silent drive just possibly using that board or kv8 pro by Abit.

 

[Mr5oh]

I'm gonna go out on a limb and disagree with el_jeffe. (Sorry el_jeffe). While the raptor drives are the quietest thing on the market, they are by means going to be the loudest thing in the case. Also, in my expierence, my raptor drive doesn't run any warmer than my 7200 RPM 80 gig.

I contimplated about whether or not to upgrade to a raptor drive for a while, and finally just bought one. I was impressed. Even my boot up times decreased, the seek time is essentially cut in half, so everything is sped up. I personally opted for the 36 gig, to use as a boot drive, and use a 7200 RPM, for backup and extra data.

In the end you will have to decide if the performance/price ratio is worth it to you on the raptor drive. I personally thought it wouldn't be, but after buying one, I have since decided it was worth it.

I would get a full gig of ram, even though it is likely you won't use all of it.

My Desktop: <A HREF="http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html" target="_new">http://Mr5oh.tripod.com/pc.html</A>

 

[El_Jefe_77]

Hey thats ok.

I mean, I could see for many a nice new raptor would be a great deal. For me, I noticed the only thing I would use its speed for is for a monthly Norton speedisk. I hardly ever turn my PC off, it runs my MUD script which is why I MUST go cool and quiet and also wait for mbile a64 to be delivered, power and heat are a big factor for my tastes.

I just noticed that my friend has a system with a 133mhz 5400 120 gig drive in it as a server and it does really well, now compare that to a 8 meg 7200 rpm 133 drive or sata, and well, Im not sure I personally would ever use the hd speed. I install a big game or app like once every 1 or 2 at max. However, I use the crude out of my chip and ram and video board.

I wish i could test out a raptor, nice to know they dont scream

 

[pauldh]

I believe the 74GB raptors are quieter than the older 36GB ones.

ABIT IS7, P4 2.6C, 1GB Corsair XMS 4000 Pro Series, Radeon 9800 Pro, Santa Cruz, TruePower 430watt

 

[raretech]

I agree with Mr5oh, the raptors are definetly a big performance boon to my system. Faster boot times, faster app load times. I haven't noticed these drives being any louder than my other drives. I don't notice any heat problems with them either. That's my experience anyway.

<i>Forget AMD and Intel, those are for fanboy lusers. The C3 is where it's at. Via Rulez!</i>

 

[trooper11]

yeah actaully, both the 36gb and 75gb models were revised to cut down on the sound issue, so you shouldnt be concerned about that.

 

[endyen]

I Have the K8N-E Deluxe board. It works very well.
As to the raptors, they do little or nothing for gaming, but if you intend to do a lot of large file exchanges. the raptor is the one.

 

[need4sp471]

This wont really be a server. I use this computer for video editing and dvd burning. How does the rest of my setup sound (processor and motherboard).

 

[endyen]

Many people here have had problems with via chipsets. Most would recommend the nforce3 250 boards. I like the Asus K8N-E Deluxe.

 

[Linxor]

I personally like the MSI K8N Neo Platinum.


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