Tom's Hardware: Topic X-Mas System. P4 or XP
Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions.
Sign up now! Its free!
Okay, first off normally when doing a system it would be a no-brainer for me, AMD. Recently though, pentiums with the revised core are performing rather nicely. I will build this system exactly on or around the week of Christmas as a present to myself 
Basically I want raw performance. So it is between a P4 matched with rambus, or the not yet released Barton, which will have a better FSB, cache and I will match it with the nforce2. I'm thinking both will be close in price.. and maybe very close in performance. By the time I'm making this system barton will have been out for atleast 6 weeks, also will have been the nforce2. As well as P4's with HT, though I'm not worried about HT aince I see no reason for it yet. And I'm not counting on clawhammer for this system either. Most likely they will just be coming out, very high demand with low supply with equal high prices. Also the boards will just be coming out, way too expensive. I'll wait until March (my b-day) to make my new clawhammer system
Below is a list of what I will prolly want. I need your help with estimating what the unreleased products will be.. and of course input on components.
I currently have a AXP 1900+ with an AK31a and 256MB on PC2100, gf4 ti4200. I will be keeping the gf4 for now. This may change if the 9700's dive by xmas, as well as depending of what nvidia 30 looks like. Also I have a SB aud i'm keeping, and a case.
<b>THE ATHLON XTREME </b>
CPU: BARTON AXP 2800+ approx: $375 ?
COOLER: VOLCANO 7+ $25
BOARD: Something with NFORCE2, the non-intergrated graphics version approx: $150 ?
RAM: 512MB Kingston CL2 $130
HARD DRIVE: WD800JB 80GB/8mb 7200 $110
MONITOR: 17" undecided LCD approx $600
PSU: Enermax EG365P-VE (350w) $70
DEVICE 1: 16x DVD $40
DEVICE 2: 32X CDRW $50
SYS: $950
MONITOR: $600
$1550
---Or---
<b> The Pimpin' Pentium </b>
CPU: Pentium 4 / 2.66GHz $450 (maybe by Dec I'll get the 2.8/2.93/3GHz which might be only $300/450 by then ? )
BOARD: Asus P4T533 $180
RAM: 2/256MB Samsung PC1066 RDRAM $240
HARD DRIVE: 3WD800JB 80GB/8mb 7200 $110
MONITOR: 17" undecided LCD $600
PSU: Enermax EG365P-VE (350w) $70
DEVICE 1: FAST DVD $40
DEVICE 2: 32X CDRW $50
SYS: $1150
MONITOR: $600
$1750
"Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one"<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by nja469 on 09/03/02 09:25 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
| Quote : I thought CRTs are way better for gaming than even modern LCDs. You know, response time, non-native resolutions, and all that... |
Yes, but I don't care LOL! 
) I really like LCD's and I could use the extra space and the overall better look of them over bulky CRTs. There are very decent LCD's out now. Eventually though, I'll want a plasma screen... but I'm not making that kind of cash yet!
"Opinions are like assholes, everyone has one"
| Quote : Hmm...well, don't forget, Intel is going to likely have a Northwood 3.06Ghz by the end of this year, or early Q1 next year. Also, it's quite possible it will have hyperthreading enabled, which will more or less yield a performance gain (i'm not even going to guess, might be flamed). There's also a good chance the Granitebay chipset will be on time, nice DC DDR 266 or 333 support. Actually, to be honest, your system now is more than enough for at least a year or so for games, I think it's almost a waste to upgrade so soon. Not worth getting a "present" if you don't need it.
|
Granted in a few months this system will have aged a bit more, and undoubtely barton XP's and the fastest pentiums will bury it even further into the low end section. I want speed ) Also, I'm likely to add a graphics chip to the list, but I'm waiting to see if NV30 does blow the 9700 away, plus 25% and to see what prices are.
About hyperthreading; as I said in the first post, I don't see the point of HT yet. I'm sure someone can write a book sized post about how it could increase performance in certain apps, blah blah blah, but currently only in "certain apps," which I prolly don't even use.. and only a few percentiles of performance isn't worth the extra few hundred it will cost when it first comes out.
The raw system total should be around 1 grand (as listed above). I'm assuming the CPU I get will be around $375. This will either be a Barton XP, or a near top of the line P4. I'm waiting to see how the barton and nforce2 shape up. I'm betting they will kick total ass actually, but around x-mas who knows what intella might have out. As stated in my first post, clawhammers will be too high due to low supply and high demand, if even available around christmas. And who knows, intel's latest p4's, when paired with rambus, still might perform better than the athlon bartons. Another thing I'm figuring is the 2.8 or maybe even 2.93/3GHz chip (22x/22.5 mulitpliers if released) may cost around $375, which could be the same or e less than the latest AMD bartons with the nforce2 offering? It boils down to performance for me, because it seems AMD and Intel are closer than ever when figuring the price for a system.
LOL I'd love a stock 3GHz system! And to think it's less than a couple of months away and most people out there don't even have 1GHz+ systems. Yes, I know mhz isn't everything, but damn, <b>3GHz</b> ) And as for granite bay, it sounds like a clothing brand Target would offer.. lol. DETAILS? what is it, DC DDR for the p4 or amd.. and how is it supposed to perform??<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by nja469 on 09/03/02 08:58 PM.</EM></FONT></P>
AHHH!!!! 
You want us to predict what'll be out and around in 2 years??!!???!!??
<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i>
Newer LCD's with 25ms rates or less offer great overall gaming performance. While it doesn't look better than a CRT, most people, myself included think the performance of the LCD at these rates is exceptionally acceptable.
I hate huge CRT's.. it is my system and I want an LCD ) Everyone else can get CRTs if that's what they want!
nothing wrong with the XP1800+. i have one. a good solid reliable piece of silicon.
<b>Trust Me, Trust Yourself, Trust the Hamster. Anyone else - Shoot Them. </b> This sig was proudly brought to you by <i>Hammie</i> 
Please mind
You are about to answer a thread that has been inactive for more than 6 months.
If you still wish to proceed, please ensure that your posting is original and does not duplicate or overlap any prior responses to this thread.
Sponsored links
Ad
They won a badge
Join us in greeting them
- 01:00 underrated won the Freshman badge
- 01:00 caloypogi won the Freshman badge
- 01:00 aleksa2009 won the Freshman badge
- 01:00 Gesp won the Uniformed badge
- 01:00 elementality799 won the Uniformed badge
- 01:00 ekoostik won the Spy badge
- 03:12 Marcus Yam won the Sophmore badge
- 01:00 simple_inhibition won the Freshman badge
- 01:00 matrix311 won the Freshman badge
- 01:00 C0BRA won the Freshman badge