Proposed system for your consideration

S

Scapaflow

Upgrade time!

I do mostly internet and e-mail work, but want to build a machine
with sufficient power should I get the urge to engage in more
demanding applications. As follows:

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
AMD 2500+ Barton retail
2 - 256 meg Crucial DDR PC3200
Coolermaster Praetorian Silver Aluminum Mid-tower
Antec True430 430W psu

To these components I'll probably initially add the following from my
present system (Epox 8KHA+/1600+/512), subject to change:

2 - Maxtor D740X 7200 rpm HDs
Visiontek GTS-V video card
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
DVD-ROM and diskette drives
-----------------------------------------------------

It looks like the 2500+ Barton is easily OCed to 3200+ by changing the
FSB to 200 Mhz, which I'll probably try. I'm also considering RAID or
SATA configurations. The GTS-V obviously needs replaced. Also, hard to
know whether the reportedly excellent Asus mobo onboard sound or TBSC
is superior.

I thought about going with a P4 this time, but Pentium $$$ is tough to
justify. I also considered the Gigabyte 7NNXP and DFI LanParty NFII
Ultra-B mobos. The Praetorian case And Antec psu should be the last
ATX case I'll ever need. Opinions?
Dave
 
R

ray hartman

Upgrade time!

I do mostly internet and e-mail work, but want to build a machine
with sufficient power should I get the urge to engage in more
demanding applications. As follows:

Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe
AMD 2500+ Barton retail
2 - 256 meg Crucial DDR PC3200
Coolermaster Praetorian Silver Aluminum Mid-tower
Antec True430 430W psu

To these components I'll probably initially add the following from my
present system (Epox 8KHA+/1600+/512), subject to change:

2 - Maxtor D740X 7200 rpm HDs
Visiontek GTS-V video card
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz
DVD-ROM and diskette drives
-----------------------------------------------------

It looks like the 2500+ Barton is easily OCed to 3200+ by changing the
FSB to 200 Mhz, which I'll probably try. I'm also considering RAID or
SATA configurations. The GTS-V obviously needs replaced. Also, hard to
know whether the reportedly excellent Asus mobo onboard sound or TBSC
is superior.

I thought about going with a P4 this time, but Pentium $$$ is tough to
justify. I also considered the Gigabyte 7NNXP and DFI LanParty NFII
Ultra-B mobos. The Praetorian case And Antec psu should be the last
ATX case I'll ever need. Opinions?
Dave
Click to expand...


Dave:

The ASUS A7N8X has a VERY checkered history. Check the ASUS NG & you will
find tons of problem reports.

I just built-out a Ga-7VT600/Barton2600 ... the Bartons are fast! I'd
advise a full-tower case for easy parts replacement.
 
S

Stephen Austin

Dave:

The ASUS A7N8X has a VERY checkered history. Check the ASUS NG & you will
find tons of problem reports.

I just built-out a Ga-7VT600/Barton2600 ... the Bartons are fast! I'd
advise a full-tower case for easy parts replacement.
Click to expand...

What's wrong with the A7N8X Deluxe? I've been using one for about 9 months
and my machine has only ever crashed once that I can remember. That's with
M$ software running. That's pretty impressive. :D
With the XP2500+, you'll find it difficult to overclock it to 3200 speeds
if you buy a recent one. This is because AMD started locking (was it the
multipliers??) something to stop people overclocking it. They were losing
so much money because the 3200 is the same chip as a 2500 except clocked
higher.

Steve
 
C

Carbon

With the XP2500+, you'll find it difficult to overclock it to 3200
speeds if you buy a recent one. This is because AMD started locking (was
it the multipliers??) something to stop people overclocking it. They
were losing so much money because the 3200 is the same chip as a 2500
except clocked higher.
Click to expand...

Really? I built two nforce2 machines in the last couple of weeks and both
will run all day at 3200 with stock voltage.
 
S

Stephen Austin

Really? I built two nforce2 machines in the last couple of weeks and both
will run all day at 3200 with stock voltage.
Click to expand...

I must admit I was hazy about what I was talking about, but I just checked
on the alt.comp.overclocking.amd group, and yep, AMD started locking the
multipliers on the 2500 sometime back in late November. Have you
overclocked yours simply by upping the FSB to 200MHz? That would work if
you left the multiplier alone.

Steve
 
S

Scapaflow

I must admit I was hazy about what I was talking about, but I just checked
on the alt.comp.overclocking.amd group, and yep, AMD started locking the
multipliers on the 2500 sometime back in late November. Have you
overclocked yours simply by upping the FSB to 200MHz? That would work if
you left the multiplier alone.

Steve
Click to expand...
That seems to be what most guys are doing--successfully and with stock
cooling, I believe--though I'm not holding my breathe on that on. This
is why I chose PC3200 instead of PC2700 ram. If it doesn't work, I'll
probably just get a 3000+ XP. This assumes the motherboard won't be a
crashing nightmare.

Starting to think about some WD raptor drives in sata raid. I
understand this rocks.
Dave
 
S

Stephen Austin

Starting to think about some WD raptor drives in sata raid. I
understand this rocks.
Dave
Click to expand...

If you can afford it and aren't looking for a silent system, (not saying
they're mega noisy, just not silent) then a couple of 74Gb raptors in
RAID-0 is so absolutely amazingly fast compared to anything else except
perhaps SCSI. Wish I could afford it myself :D

Steve
 
S

Scapaflow

Steven,
How about 2 - 36.7 gig Raptors?

You mention Raid 0. Raid and serial HD configurations are something I
must study but I assume you are suggesting 2 Raptor drives in Serial
Raid 0 since the Raptor drives are SATA drives?
Dave
 
S

Stephen Austin

Steven,
How about 2 - 36.7 gig Raptors?

You mention Raid 0. Raid and serial HD configurations are something I
must study but I assume you are suggesting 2 Raptor drives in Serial
Raid 0 since the Raptor drives are SATA drives?
Dave
Click to expand...

2x 36.7 Raptors would be just as fast, only half the space tho.... also
half the price :D
I do indeed mean 2 Raptor SATA drives in RAID 0, there's no difference
between 'Serial Raid-0' and RAID-0, except for the drives used, you set it
up and use it in the same way.

Steve (sorry for the late reply, been trying to install Gentoo linux for
several days..... :D)
 
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