dryphone said:
Hi everyone...
I'm planning to build a computer from scratch... I need first to select
the mainboard, processor, etc. But I need some help...
First I was thinking in building a computer with improvement options...
I mean, that it can be at least a little bit upgradable... I was
thinking in the Intel 915PGN for the affordable price, or in a intel
mainboard socket 478 but this lat one wouldn't be so upgradable, isn't
true? Or what about other motherbord brands Mach Speed, Asus, Biostar,
PcChips... (any comments???), I'm a student so I can't afford any
expensive options...
I found a bundle "Intel D865GVHZL Intel Socket 478 MicroATX
Motherboard and an Intel Pentium 4 2.80GHz OEM Processor" any opinions
about this??? price is $ 159...
Another option is Intel BOXD915PGNLX LGA775/915P/A&L/ATX Motherboard -
$ 93 but the processor selection then becomes complex... more modern,
more expensive???
what about celeron D 3.06 Ghz processor?? I heard it wouldn't be useful
for engineering tasks...
celeron D 3,06 Ghz, and an Intel Pent. 4 2.8 Ghz... which is better?
what about AMD processors?
Any suggestions about this possibilities?
Thanks a Lot...
Peter (Dryphone)
The difference between Celeron and Pentium, is the amount of
cache. The P4 probably has enough for the job, while the Celeron
doesn't. You have to select a faster Celeron, to compensate for
the difference in the cache.
If a program stays in a tight loop, it can run code out of the
tiny L1 cache forever. Some computational tasks, as a result,
would be insensitive to the amount of L2. Other tasks have a
larger code footprint, and a larger L2 helps them. My personal
opinion, is about 512KB L2 seems to be enough, and the 1MB/2MB
caches of the more expensive netburst processors might be a
bit of overkill. My opinion would be that the P4 2.8 will run
rings around the Celeron 3.06, both due to the cache, and due
to Hyperthreading (which probably isn't present on the Celeron).
Of the two choices you gave, I'd use the P4 2.8 (and I happen to
own one
).
The main benefit to Intel processors, at this time, is the
"blowout pricing". Intel has a lot of old processors they need
to get rid of, because the new stuff is coming. For a student
type computer, these blowout processors are good enough to
get the job done. Some of the current processors burn up a
lot of power, but you probably aren't paying the power bill
right now
I'd say you should shop for a processor that
gives you the right bang for the buck.
If you were a gamer, I'd have a completely different suggestion
for a platform. But for a student computer, wasting money
on gaming features is kinda pointless, unless you are a rich
guy. So a decent processor, and enough RAM, is what you are
looking for. Disks are big enough and cheap enough, that
unless you are planning on downloading all the movies and
MP3s on the planet, a single cheap hard drive is good enough.
There are plenty of benchmarks here, so you can compare the
processor types available.
http://www23.tomshardware.com/cpu.html?modelx=33&model1=238&chart=58&model2=212
If you want more help, stating your available budget would
help. In the other post, Chris is right in suggesting a
pre-built computer, if bottom dollar is important. It is
difficult to buy parts and match the prices of prebuilt
computers. A big company gets more than a 30% discount for
large quantities, so it is easy for them to make a cheap
machine.
About the only warning I'd have about a prebuilt computer,
is make sure it has a video card upgrade slot in it. The
cheapest computers use built-in (chipset) graphics, which
suck. Then, when you take the side off the computer, and
expect to slap a $50 video card in there to fix it, there
is no video card slot. If buying prebuilt, verify that
a slot specially for a video card is present. (Same goes
for your home-built machine, except more of the motherboards
you'll be shopping for, will have a slot. You should still
check for it though.)
If you want an example of a "blowout" processor, this
dual core 805 has great potential. It is $124 and has
two processing cores. Compared to a Celeron, this thing
rocks. Socket is LGA775. A lot of overclockers have
been playing with this thing.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116001
I tried checking the supported processors on your Intel D915PGN,
but no dual cores are listed. It doesn't look like a dual
core would work on that board. I see one Intel motherboard with
a 945 chipset, does list the Pentium D 805 as supported. Likely
would cost a few more bucks.
http://developer.intel.com/design/motherbd/gn/gn_proc.htm
This board from Asus, will run the 805. The one customer
review is actually for running the board with an 805. There
is a manual overclock setting in the manual, but that
section of the manual is not well written. The reviewer
probably missed that part of the manual.
ASUS P5P800-VM Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 865G Micro ATX $55
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131008
A manual for the Asus board - it has an AGP slot and uses DDR
memory, not the PCI Express and DDR2 which you'd find on a
lot of the Intel boards that could run the 805.
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5P800-VM/e2538_P5P800-VM.pdf
This is a list of all Asus boards that will run an 805.
http://support.asus.com/cpusupport/...05 (2.66 GHz, 533 FSB, revB0)&SLanguage=en-us
And this is the cheapest Asus board that uses an Intel
chipset and has conventional PCI Express and DDR2 memory
slots. I selected this purposely, to avoid all the chipsets
from VIA, SIS, ATI etc. This was selected for stable
predictable performance.
ASUS P5LD2-VM DH Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 945G $115.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131006
The DH part is pretty meaningless. The motherboard has "quick resume",
and that seems to be about it. Motherboard box accessories are
minimal to say the least. Here is a manual:
http://dlsvr03.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/socket775/P5LD2-VM DH/e2464_p5ld2-vm_dh.pdf
Both of the above example boards have build-in graphics. Both
have video card slots. The first board is an old AGP slot,
the second a PCI Express x16 slot. You can start by using the
build-in graphics, and if you are unhappy with them, spend
$50 and get a cheap video card of the right type.
There are likely a ton of boards that will also do the job,
but check their CPUsupport list before you buy.
Paul
