UPGRADING ADVICE

[TCSP]

Hello everyone. Im new here and have found a great wealth of information on this site. Unfortunately, im not heavily into building computers, though my knowledge is limited, I do have some experience.

Im interested in putting together a 'relatively' new pc with some specific requirements.

Im currently looking to put together a mid-range graphics/rendering/dv editing computer.

curently i have two... one just died. it was a 550mhz intel pIII. the motherboard was a ledgen qdi advance 10e. without getting into the whole issue, I flashed a bios and it messed everything up. now normally i would try and fix it but i simply removed the new 1ghz chipset and dropped into my old 800mhz and its running fine so im happy. the pIII/550 is just gona get trashed and id like to re-build in that mid-tower.

SO! heres my question... ive searched around this site and all the information is a little beyond me.. what i would like is if someone could tell me a little about what kinda of motherboard and chipset i should be focusing on as well as any compatibility issues that may come up. I work alot in 3ds max, bryce 3d, photoshop, flash/director and the like.

my price range is around 500, for both the mainboard and chipset... i have some components i can re-use but im guessing that new RAM will also be a concern.

any and all advice would be very apreciated

thanks in advance.

YT
TCSP

ThunderChurch
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[TCSP]

bump

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[dinoX]

I suggest getting a newer Asus board, either an A7V266 one or the new A7V333 (i think it is). Thats an Athlon mobo, so I suggest either an Athlon XP 2000+ or higher CPU (the A7V266 motherboard can support up to an XP 2600+ cpu after BIOS updates). As for RAM, you can't go wrong with a 512 MB stick of Crucial PC2100 DDR RAM, for around $120. DDR RAM is a bit cheaper on the price range than the RAMBUS for Intel-based motherboards. But if you want the name Intel in your system, and want to pay more and not have any extra cash to spare, by all means go for Intel CPU, Intel-based Mobo and some RAMBUS RAM...

[If loving AMD processors is the path to the Dark Side, consider me a Sith Lord. (dinoX aka Black Dog)]

 

[TCSP]

thanks dinox

thats the kind of advice im looking for... problem is, i dont know the difference between athlon and intel.. seriously, aside from the name and price differences, what is the seperation between the two in terms of quality or compatability?

also, is asus my only option? a friend was mentioning how abit tends to test the heck out of newer via advancements before puting out their boards whereas asus tends more towards packaging it right away and dealing with issues after the fact... any advice on that?

i read a little on the RAM.. i dont think its an issue, ill get whatever will work after i get the mb and chipset... the faster the ram the better but really, in my case, its going to all about processor power... multiple 10000+ polygon meshes rendered realtime and so on...

YT
TCSP

ThunderChurch
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[o1die]

I suggest you check out the new albatron PX845PEV board ($94 shipped Mwave- reviewed at anandtech. It's about half the price of the asus version. The 2.4B p4 (about $194 at newegg) offers value and performance without having to overclock. Add some samsung pc2700 memory (about $155 for 512 megs) and a new case with p4 approved power supply (antec refurbished $70 newegg or Fung Kai black (with great cooling- $50 refurb) and your total will be right in the ballpark.

 

[piasabird]

I see no difference between going with the Intel-based or AMD-Based system. Just keep in mind that Intel CPU requires Intel MB and the AMD CPU requires an AMD motherboard. While AMD has its heat related issues INTEL has higher prices on the CPU's to some extent.

They still make some motherboards that use Rambus RAM, but the majority of all Intel and AMD motherboards use DDR RAM. PC2700 RAM is not supported by all the motherboards. It is a little faster but costs a little more. If you are cheap, or just want to save a few dollars you could opt for the PC2100 wich costs a little less.

Lately the Asus motherboards have had an excellent reputation for stability and quality; however, there are a few other manufacturers that are pretty good. Some people swear by Gigabyte, some by Abit, some other brands. If you go to www.motherboards.org they have a motherboard rating system and it shows Asus and Abit neck in neck as far as quality goes. I have had some good use of both Gigabyte and A-Open motherboards. Some people like the INTEL chipsets and the INTEL CPU's just to stay away from the VIA chipsets with their 4-in-1 driver issue for the video cards. You may want to look out for the 8X AGP motherboards. They tend to be more expensive.

Hard drives are another issue. Many people are advocating the 80,100,120 gig special edition hard drives from western digital due to an 8Meg cache which speeds up the computer a bit. Also some motherboards have options for Serial ATA hard drives. I havent seen these for sale yet, but they should be coming soon. The only real advantage I see is a really narrow data cable for the drives, which would improve air flow inside the case. For digital cameras look for motherboards with Firewire ports built in. A lot depends on your camera equipment and what type of ports are on the camera if that is an issue. Some people just use a video captures card also. That can be an advantage if you want a combo video capture TV tuner card.

An added benefit from INTEL CPU's is they are available with large Cache size of 512k and some of the processors have a 133 bus speed making the quad pumped value of 533 for a total possible bus speed. There are also older versions with 100 bus speed for a quad pumped value of 400. You could opt for the cheapest possible 533 bus speed which would mean slightly faster video editing speeds. AMD has recently made some faster CPU's with faster BUS speed but they are a bit pricey and they are hard to find; but when compared to the fastest Intel chips are still a good price deal.

I also recommend checking out
www.adamant.com
They have a weekly CPU/video card pricing guide which is kind of handy. They also review motherboards and video cards similar to toms hardware and have a forum too.

A good site to look at prices is
www.newegg.com/
Their site has lots of pictures of their equipment. Especially their computer cases.


when you see smoke is that a good sign?

 

[TCSP]

thanks piasabird...

ive been scoping out the abit at7-max2... at www.abit-usa.com it speced to support the athlon and duron processor... of course the faster the better...

im going to make some calls today and most likely run out and get what i need later on this afternoon.. oh, and thats along with a new tower too...

thanks for all your help folks

ThunderChurch
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