Whats Your Opinion?

[Guest]

Ok, so I have a limited budget for a new PC (£1000). I like gaming but need the computer for graphical design as well. Is technology advancing so fast with the Palomino chip that I should really wait a few more months, or will an Athlon 1.3DDR stay ahead of the game for a while? Will prices drop considerably?

The problem is that I cant afford to keep buying a new computer every year or two.

My second problem is: Should I go for raw speed (1.3DDR + 128DDRram + GF3 and a 14" monitor) or should I go slower 1Ghz and get some extras ? ( - 19" monitor, 256mb SDram, and only a GF2 GTS)

Will the second option last more than 3 years?

Thanks. I appreciate your input!

 

[funkdog]

I think the curve is two years for top of the line right now.

Personally, Geforce 2 Ultra, nice flat 17" monitor, and an Athlon 'C' 1200 with DDR, and crank that baby to about 1.4 - 1.5mhz



<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."

 

[Renegade87]

funkdog is right,

If you do Graphical Design why would you even consider a 14 or 15" monitor ? Anyway the new 19" monitors are cheap enough to fit into your budget, and as funkdog said, a quality 17" should be easily affordable. Anything over a 1GHz system should be ok for at least 2 years, as it usually takes the software industry that long to catch up.

"This was no boating accident"

 

[Stick_e_Mouse]

Holy Cow!! 14" monitor??!!!!

Now, I don't know how much that is exactly, but for $1000 USD, you can easily build a complete system with a 19" monitor, geforce 2 gts or radeon based card, a 1.0ghz overclocked to 1.4ghz, and 256mb RAM . This should easily last you more than 2 years.

<font color=blue>Your mouse moved. WINDOWS NT must restart for changes to take affect. Restart Now?[OK]</font color=blue>

 

[HolyGrenade]

NO! NOPE! NOOOOOOOO! NA-AH!

Do NOT get a 14" monitor. Especially as you want to do graphics design. You want a 17" monitor at minimum. You also want to make sure that it does at least 1024x768 @ 85Hz (preferebly 1280x1024 @ >85Hz)

Also, if you want to do more graphics design than gaming, you'll probably want to get a radeon rather than a GF2, Unless you're getting the GF3 that is.

Heres what I quickly found at <A HREF="http://www.dabs.com" target="_new">http://www.dabs.com</A>:

cpu 1.4GHz TBird(FSB133) £172.72
ram: Crucial 256MB CAS2 PC2100 £37.00
g/c elsa gf3 £303.14
monitor hansol 710D 17" £193.87
(max res: 1600 x 1200 / 75 Hz)

total: £706.73

The problem is, it leaves you with only £293.27 for your motherboard, Audio, HDD, DVD/CD, case, Keyboard and mouse. Which stretches it a bit but isn't impossible.

You probably could find cheaper stuff if you look around a bit more. also for a tiny bit extra, you probably can get a 19" monitor.



<font color=red><i>Tomorrow I will live, the fool does say
today itself's too late; the wise lived yesterday

 

[funkdog]

Why in the world would you suggest buying a 1.4 ghz Athlon, when he can easily buy a Gig 'C' for alot cheaper and reliably run it at 1.3ghz with stock cooling.

Here would be my suggestion, and is what I have in my rig at present (shows how much I like my rig)

1 ghz Athlon 'C' = 81
256mb Mushkin Rev 1.5 Cas2 Pc133 sdram = 71
Antec SX8030 case = $80
Iwill KK266 Kt133a mobo = $100

use the onboard sound 4.1 compatible.

bought a 32mb DDR Radeon for $70

comes to about $450 for the guts, and a case can be made for a DDR setup, I just don't know how stable these boards are as I've not used one yet, so I have no experience.

My inards are stable as hell.

as for a monitor, I read in Computer Shopper I believe it was that Cornerstone makes a great 19" monitor for like $269, but it's not a short neck, so you'll need some decent desk space.

Then you add in the rom drive or drives, and you can put together a killer sytem that will last just on the edge of 2 years, for just about 1000 US dollars.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."

 

[HolyGrenade]

A lot of people (newer users) feel uneasy about overclocking. Hence my decision. He can however get a 1.33GHz TBird for £144.52 saving £28.20, and leaving him with 321.47 quid spare.



<font color=red><i>Tomorrow I will live, the fool does say
today itself's too late; the wise lived yesterday<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by holygrenade on 07/16/01 03:43 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[funkdog]

If he's building his own then I think he should know how to operate a bios, and with good ram all you need is a raise in FSB.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."

 

[HolyGrenade]

A lot of people don't like raising the fsb. I think the doing the pencil trick and then raising the multiplier is more reliable.


<font color=red><i>Tomorrow I will live, the fool does say
today itself's too late; the wise lived yesterday

 

[funkdog]

now we are off on a tangent....lol, I still say clock for clock dollar for dollar his best bet is the 1ghz Athlon. as always read my sig.

<b>"These are my thoughts, your mileage may vary."

 

[dhlucke]

Wow, 14"? My secondary monitor is 20". Holy shite....I haven't used a 14" monitor in years. I've seen ATM's with bigger screens.

Get the 1 Ghz. You don't even have to O/C it right now. In the future you could if you feel comfortable with it. Get 256 MB of memory and at least a 17" monitor. I've seen some 17" monitors that are really nice. Just try to get one with a huge viewable and if you can get a trinitron. Personally I think the monitor is pretty damn important.

<font color=red>Yeah, I took a crap on your lawn. Whatcha gonna do about it?</font color=red>

 

[ChrisLudwig]

Funkdog is right. That would be your best option. If you shop around you could even through in a 19".

- I got a board too: http://www.impactsites2000.com/cgi-bin/ikonboard/ikonboard.cgi

 

[Guest]

Brilliant, thanks guys - this is what I have come up with:
1.3GHz Athlon DDR
256Mb PC2100 DDR RAM
40Gb ATA 100 7200rpm HDD
64Mb GF2 MX
12x DVD ROM

and... the monitor. Right, this is my second annoying question:
I can get a 17" Trinitron for 245 pounds. (o.24 pitch)
OR
I can get a 19" normal curved screen for 210. (0.26 pitch)

What do you think is best?

Thanks again.

 

[FatBurger]

It's a close call, so look at both for a while and see which you like better.

BTW, get a GTS instead of that MX. It'll do a lot better for you, and not much price difference.

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Whoever thinks up a good sig for me gets a prize