Need some hardware advice please! :D

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kristel

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Okay :) As I've mentioned before I'm thinking of doing a massive system upgrade Around Q4 this year, as I start a new uni course then and want a fresh system to install all my programs on as my current set up is starting to need hand cranking! :D

I'll be taking my Graphics card (ti4400) and soundcard (SonicFuryXG) with me from the old system, as they are still what I'd consider good, although not cutting edge.

Budget isn't a major problem as I've set aside some cash for this in my budget (yes I am organised lol).

The Opteron looks very appealing, as it has some lovely architectural improvements that would lend themselves well to the way I use my PC (ie I have a shed load of stats packages and databases that will need to be open in memory at once and they will all be very memory hungry. It would easily be doable on 32bit mind you, but the memory limit isn't the consideration as much as how efficiently it manages what it has).

However, I don't want to be stuck with the new day equivilent of a P60, and would still like to play games well. Would the Opte... I mean AMD64 be suitable for this sort of thing or would I be better off going with whatever the current athlon series churns out?

Memory confuses me too. I understand the concept of DDR, and the 266,333,400 numbering system, but when I come to look at places that sell memory I get PC2700 and similar numbers thrown at me. What do these mean?

If I did get an AMD64 solution, does that mean I'd have to buy RAM in pairs like we used to have to do in the "olden days" ;)

Also, does anyone know if current HDDs would work on the SATA interface or do you have to get a special drive to work on that (I'd presume a performance hit if it would work at all). And I heard rumours of IDE drives now with spin speeds of 10K+ that really rival SCSI - is this true? If so what model / brand are they? Is anyone up on this?

Thanks for your advice :)
 
Here’s a few links explaining the memory issue, some a little more complicated than others:

Ace’s Hardware

Crucial

Crucial2

Elite Guild

As for Intel systems, I have not a clue, I’m afraid I’m really not very fond of them. Sorry bout dat :D

You can use an IDE drive on a serial interface but you’ll need an adaptor card, they’re available at www.kustompcs.co.uk and probably elsewhere, but that’s the only one I’ve noticed.

Memory labels:

FSB Speed: DDR RAM Speed: Names:

100Mhz 200Mhz PC-1600 or DDR 200
133Mhz 266Mhz PC-2100 or DDR-266
150Mhz 300Mhz PC-2400 or DDR-300
166Mhz 333Mhz PC-2700 or DDR-333
200Mhz 400Mhz PC-3200 or DDR-400
216Mhz 433Mhz PC-3500 or DDR-433
225Mhz 450Mhz PC-3600 or DDR-450
233Mhz 466Mhz PC-3700 or DDR-466
 
Ahh! Very useful! Thank you very much.

As for intel, they lost favour with me a long time ago because they offer terrible value for money compared to AMD, so I've never been interested in their products particularly ;) I'll see what they come up with before I buy of course, but can't see them breaking the trend.
 
Kristel, looks like Floppybootstomp's sorted your memory question out, but if you're thinking of upgrading in Q4, then obviously a lots going to happen in both hardware developments (things like more SATA-compatible stuff) and prices before then. There are some SATA HDDs out but very few. Maxtor do a 120Gb one, but from looking at reviews it doesn't really perform that brilliantly compared to standard RAID configs, so u might be better off RAIDing any existing drives or adding to them with a cheaper big drive. The 10,000rpm drive you're thinking of is probably the Western Digital 'Raptor', but it's only available as a 36.7Gb at the moment and relatively expensive at that. By end of the year i'm sure they'll have bigger ones, but i'd be surprised if they offer real value for money even then.

Personally, I'd look to getting an Athlon XP2700 asap because they're far cheaper than Barton's and far better vfm...out-performing bartons in many tests. I think AMD are going to have to rethink their new core significantly, but in the meantime they're trying to push people into buying Bartons by withdrawing the better T'Bred's (like the XP2800). If anyone can find a UK source for one let me know!

I'd also just bang in 1Gb of PC2700 (DDR333) RAM...even branded stuff is really cheap now.

So...
If upgrading now, even if money was not a problem, I'd go for XP2700 T'bred cpu, 1Gb PC2700RAM and an Asus A7N8X (version2) mobo, plus aWestern digital or maxtor 120Gb 8Mb cache 7200 HDD (or possibly 2x80Gb in a RAID for speed or backup).

If you're upgrading later, maybe the same mobo will be the way to go, plus keep an eye on Western Digital raptor and maxtor for SATA HDDs...and hopefully something like corsair XMS3200 CAS2 RAM will be cheaper in Q4. You'll probably find barton cpu's like the XP3200+ will be a lot cheaper too and T'beds won't be available or very rare.

I could be talking a load of bollix, or 64bit systems will be all the rage by then...who know's, but i'm sure someone will tell me if i am wrong.

:D:spin:
 
I think that answers all my questions :) Thanks to you all!

I think I'll look at getting a system in the summer, to keep me amused in the mean time and upgrade then to the next gen at a later date :)
 
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