My new system..any advice?
Last response: in CPUs
I am thinking of a new system. Do not want it to be the latest stuff, but want it cheap..At the same time, it really need to be able to play all recent (and mid to near future) games. Also wanna do some graphics/video editing..also I do engineering applications and simulations like matlab, ProEng..etc.
My suggestion are:
mobo: ECS, Socket A, VIA KT333, s1 AGP, 1 CNR, 5 PCI, w/ audio, LAN, promise RAID. Price=66.95$
proc: AMD XP2000 266Mhz BUS .18 MICRON INCLUDES - Heat Sink and Fan, 3 Year Warranty. Price=118.00$
ram: Kingston, Lifetime Warranty. 512MB 333MHz DDR PC2700 DIMM CL2.5. Price=135.00$
video: ATI, RADEON 8500 128MB DDR 32-bit 3D (OEM) w/ driver & S-video cable. Price=112.00$
Case+Power Supply: From nearby store, 250W (maybe 300W). Price=50.00$
CD Recorder: Mitsumi 40x20x48 CD-RW 485CTE IDE. Price = 60.85$
Total = 542.80$
I already have the rest of the stuff (HD, Keyboard, monitor...etc)...
What do you think?
Is the memory too much? or maybe enough? Is it good quality, or I can use faster?
Video card? Do you think it is enough for gaming? Do you recommend a better one?
CD Recorder: Do you think this one is ok? I did not make any extensive research, so if you think there are better ones, please tell me..
Do you think if I switched to P4, I cannot get the same performance with ROUGHLY the same money (maybe I can through additional 50$, but the performance need to be much better than this)...
Lastly, do you think this system will be enough for my applications...(above)....?
Any advices are welcome..
My suggestion are:
mobo: ECS, Socket A, VIA KT333, s1 AGP, 1 CNR, 5 PCI, w/ audio, LAN, promise RAID. Price=66.95$
proc: AMD XP2000 266Mhz BUS .18 MICRON INCLUDES - Heat Sink and Fan, 3 Year Warranty. Price=118.00$
ram: Kingston, Lifetime Warranty. 512MB 333MHz DDR PC2700 DIMM CL2.5. Price=135.00$
video: ATI, RADEON 8500 128MB DDR 32-bit 3D (OEM) w/ driver & S-video cable. Price=112.00$
Case+Power Supply: From nearby store, 250W (maybe 300W). Price=50.00$
CD Recorder: Mitsumi 40x20x48 CD-RW 485CTE IDE. Price = 60.85$
Total = 542.80$
I already have the rest of the stuff (HD, Keyboard, monitor...etc)...
What do you think?
Is the memory too much? or maybe enough? Is it good quality, or I can use faster?
Video card? Do you think it is enough for gaming? Do you recommend a better one?
CD Recorder: Do you think this one is ok? I did not make any extensive research, so if you think there are better ones, please tell me..
Do you think if I switched to P4, I cannot get the same performance with ROUGHLY the same money (maybe I can through additional 50$, but the performance need to be much better than this)...
Lastly, do you think this system will be enough for my applications...(above)....?
Any advices are welcome..
More about : system advice
I think you are pretty good with that system. I really like Gigabyte for a mobo, but up to you.
The processor is good, you can get it cheaper at newegg.com though, i think $107.
I would do CL2.0 instead if you can, it's faster memory.
You could also consider an ATI Radeon 9000 Pro, about the same price, newer technology, about the same speed, 8500 a little faster in some tests.
I would go with a Chieftec Case with a 350 or 400 watt power supply from Newegg.com, you can get that under $100, it's a full tower case with 2 fans.
<i> If your computer is your best friend, maybe you should rethink your life.</i> :wink:
The processor is good, you can get it cheaper at newegg.com though, i think $107.
I would do CL2.0 instead if you can, it's faster memory.
You could also consider an ATI Radeon 9000 Pro, about the same price, newer technology, about the same speed, 8500 a little faster in some tests.
I would go with a Chieftec Case with a 350 or 400 watt power supply from Newegg.com, you can get that under $100, it's a full tower case with 2 fans.
<i> If your computer is your best friend, maybe you should rethink your life.</i> :wink:
That all looks good but for cases I would go with the 917K. I'm not sure who makes it but if you type in 917K in the search section of Price Watch it will show up. Its $44.00 delivered with 300 Watt PSU. I have 4 of these cases and they work great for my XP 2100+, 2 1600+ and my 2000+. Inexpensive but the power supplies are good and they come with one case fan.
Hmm... here's a good setup:
EPoX EP-8K2A5+ - ~$110
XP2000+ - $118
512MB PC2700 Samsung CL2.5 - ~$150 IIRC
R8500 128MB is good, don't get the R900 PRO, cause it's probably about $110 anyways.
Antec PLUS1060 w/ TruePower 330W PSU - ~$100 IIRC
This'll be good enough for all the stuff you'll wanna do, a P4 will give better performance, but you'll have to overclock quite a bit.
<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i>
EPoX EP-8K2A5+ - ~$110
XP2000+ - $118
512MB PC2700 Samsung CL2.5 - ~$150 IIRC
R8500 128MB is good, don't get the R900 PRO, cause it's probably about $110 anyways.
Antec PLUS1060 w/ TruePower 330W PSU - ~$100 IIRC
This'll be good enough for all the stuff you'll wanna do, a P4 will give better performance, but you'll have to overclock quite a bit.
<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i>
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Very poor choices.
ECS boards have a bad track record for sub-par quality. MSI, Asus, Abit, and Aopen all have boards in that price range (give or take $5). I'd suggest something with the SiS 745 chipset.
You don't need PC2700 unless you plan on overclocking. The performance difference on a stock CPU bus of 2100MB/s (266) is negligable.
There's a version of the 8500LE at Newegg that's 250/275 and overclocks to retail speed nicely, but doesn't support the DVI to CRT adapter for the second monitor if you need it. If you don't, it only cost $87. If you do, the Gigabyte 8500LE includes the $30 adapter for $99, and overclocks from 250/250 to 275/275 easily.
<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>
ECS boards have a bad track record for sub-par quality. MSI, Asus, Abit, and Aopen all have boards in that price range (give or take $5). I'd suggest something with the SiS 745 chipset.
You don't need PC2700 unless you plan on overclocking. The performance difference on a stock CPU bus of 2100MB/s (266) is negligable.
There's a version of the 8500LE at Newegg that's 250/275 and overclocks to retail speed nicely, but doesn't support the DVI to CRT adapter for the second monitor if you need it. If you don't, it only cost $87. If you do, the Gigabyte 8500LE includes the $30 adapter for $99, and overclocks from 250/250 to 275/275 easily.
<font color=blue>You're posting in a forum with class. It may be third class, but it's still class!</font color=blue>
Using the faster memory doesnt improve performance to where it'll be noticeable....maybe in bench marks, but there we're talkin 3 percent increases. I don't believe any board officially supports the 333 bus of the upcoming AXP's. The "KT333" doesn't mean it supports Athlon 333 FSB processors, it means it supports 333DDR Ram. I saw a picture somewhere of a board w/ the 166 option in the BIOS to run the new XP's at 333, but I forget where.
This sig runs too hot.
This sig runs too hot.
yes... most of the modern chipset support 333fsb, at least unofficially.
i know my epox 8k3a+ can easily run at 333fsb speeds. i did that with my old unlocked tbird chip.
using 333mhz ram with the 266mhz bus speed does have some minor advantages over 266/266, but the real benefits are being lost until the 333fsb tbreds and barton cpu's arrive.
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!![:eek:]( ":eek:")
</b>
i know my epox 8k3a+ can easily run at 333fsb speeds. i did that with my old unlocked tbird chip.
using 333mhz ram with the 266mhz bus speed does have some minor advantages over 266/266, but the real benefits are being lost until the 333fsb tbreds and barton cpu's arrive.
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!
</b>
well, i know for a fact that the majority of current kt333 chipsets can. all of the kt333's have the 1/5 divider for operation at 333 speeds, but some of the cheaper ones cant handle the high speed.
my epox 8k3a+ has no problems though, nor would its replacment, the 8k5a2 or 8k5a3
other boards like the MSI, abit, or soyo are also good choices.
so thats what im planning on doing. sit pretty with my XP1800+ and PC3200 ram then upgrade to a nice 333fsb barton when it arrives
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!![:eek:]( ":eek:")
</b>
my epox 8k3a+ has no problems though, nor would its replacment, the 8k5a2 or 8k5a3
other boards like the MSI, abit, or soyo are also good choices.
so thats what im planning on doing. sit pretty with my XP1800+ and PC3200 ram then upgrade to a nice 333fsb barton when it arrives
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!
</b>
well for a number of reasons...
1. i overclock, so ram with extra headroom is allways nice
2. very fast ram means that hard memory timings are no trouble.
3. i prefer paying extra for high quality components
4. the black ramsink on this ram is SOOOOO cool
at the moment my ram is running at 175mhz, and with the hardest memory timings i can give it on this 8k3a+ mobo. even then it still needs 2.8v for perfect stablilty.
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!![:eek:]( ":eek:")
</b>
1. i overclock, so ram with extra headroom is allways nice
2. very fast ram means that hard memory timings are no trouble.
3. i prefer paying extra for high quality components
4. the black ramsink on this ram is SOOOOO cool
at the moment my ram is running at 175mhz, and with the hardest memory timings i can give it on this 8k3a+ mobo. even then it still needs 2.8v for perfect stablilty.
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!
</b>
no... not all. some of the cheap ones made my DFI or shuttle and others probably wont be able to handle the high FSB.
of course thats CURRENT chipsets. when the 166FSB cpu's come out invaribly new boards will arrive that have been CERTIFIED to run 166fsb.
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!![:eek:]( ":eek:")
</b>
of course thats CURRENT chipsets. when the 166FSB cpu's come out invaribly new boards will arrive that have been CERTIFIED to run 166fsb.
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!
</b>
yaa... a modernboard that supports the 333fsb (really 166) should be able to handle any cpu to the end of the K7 product line. (with a bios update)
as for 2 years... well given the pace of change i dont think ANY current system will last 2 years... not if you want to keep on the leading edge and play the latest and greatest games. apps on a 2 year old system will run fine, if a bit slowly... games... well that all depends on how much you can upgrade the graphics card.
one year, yes
18 months kinda yes
2 years, debatable
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!![:eek:]( ":eek:")
</b>
as for 2 years... well given the pace of change i dont think ANY current system will last 2 years... not if you want to keep on the leading edge and play the latest and greatest games. apps on a 2 year old system will run fine, if a bit slowly... games... well that all depends on how much you can upgrade the graphics card.
one year, yes
18 months kinda yes
2 years, debatable
<b>My CPU cooler is so Massive it bends Space and Time!
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