System Advice/Comments

[Murdoc]

Hey all,

I am thinking about what system to build (hopefully, soon) to replace
my Celeron 300.

I was considering the following:

AMD 3200+XP CPU (Maybe duals, or even 64-bit. Still undecided here)
2G DDR RAM (PC3200)
[ Unsure about motherboard. Comments? ]
2x 200G SATA HDDs (1 for data/MP3s, 1 for RedHat Linux with VMWare
booting Win2K, WinXP, etc).
128Mb/256Mb 3D Graphics Card [ Comments regarding chipset, brand, etc? ]
Sound Blaster Audigy2 Platinum

21" TFT Screen [ Sony, I think. ]
Logitech Natural Keyboard/Mouse Combo

Maybe a DVD burner, but I really have no use for one at the moment, so
my 52x24z52x burner will do. I may get a DVD-ROM drive, though again, I
really haven't got a use for it, yet.

Any comments or suggestions (or even some component that I have not
listed) would be appreciated.

Basically I was after a machine that'll last a while (as in, not be
outdated in three days, ).

Thanks,

--
Murdoc
; ===========================
"Morality cannot be legislated but behaviour can be regulated. Judicial
decrees may not change the heart but they can restrain the
heartless."-- Martin Luther King.
"Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not
here. And when it does come, we no longer exist." --Epicurus

 

[kony]

Hey all,

I am thinking about what system to build (hopefully, soon) to replace
my Celeron 300.

I was considering the following:

AMD 3200+XP CPU (Maybe duals, or even 64-bit. Still undecided here)
2G DDR RAM (PC3200)
[ Unsure about motherboard. Comments? ]

Depends on what CPU/platform you decide on. "In general" for someone with
the budget you appear to have I'd advise either a P4 ~3.2GHz, or an
Athon64 3200.

2x 200G SATA HDDs (1 for data/MP3s, 1 for RedHat Linux with VMWare
booting Win2K, WinXP, etc).
128Mb/256Mb 3D Graphics Card [ Comments regarding chipset, brand, etc? ]
Sound Blaster Audigy2 Platinum

21" TFT Screen [ Sony, I think. ]
Logitech Natural Keyboard/Mouse Combo

Maybe a DVD burner, but I really have no use for one at the moment, so
my 52x24z52x burner will do. I may get a DVD-ROM drive, though again, I
really haven't got a use for it, yet.

Any comments or suggestions (or even some component that I have not
listed) would be appreciated.

Basically I was after a machine that'll last a while (as in, not be
outdated in three days, ).

Thanks,

Building a REALLY good machine that'll last a while, centers around
putting each step in perspective. Typical the part you need first is the
case, perhaps including the power supply.

It's unlikely your present case was designed with these higher power/heat
components in mind, and even less likely the power supply is. I would
usually advise to get the case and power supply now then focus on the
rest, but given your consideration of dual CPUs, you need to focus on that
first, make up your mind as that'll likely affect which power supply you
need, choose.

Otherwise the compents look good so far, should make for a good system
though only you can know if you really need 2GB of memory... but then
again if you plan on using the system as long as you did the current one,
you'll likley, eventually, make use of it.

On the other hand, you would most likely have a higher average performance
level year-on-year by buying more mid-grade parts and upgrading more
often... doesn't do much good to have a really fast system for a year then
be slower than the industry expects for OS, games, etc, for the last 4
years of use. Then again you don't mention the use of the system, if you
were getting by till now with the Celeron 300 do you really need high-spec
parts or would you be happier focusing more on minimal noise levels? Of
course you can have both but it takes a lot more work and expense than
with median-performance parts.

 

[Murdoc]

Hey all,

I am thinking about what system to build (hopefully, soon) to
replace my Celeron 300.

I was considering the following:

AMD 3200+XP CPU (Maybe duals, or even 64-bit. Still undecided here)
2G DDR RAM (PC3200)
[ Unsure about motherboard. Comments? ]

Depends on what CPU/platform you decide on. "In general" for someone
with the budget you appear to have I'd advise either a P4 ~3.2GHz, or
an Athon64 3200.

2x 200G SATA HDDs (1 for data/MP3s, 1 for RedHat Linux with VMWare
booting Win2K, WinXP, etc).
128Mb/256Mb 3D Graphics Card [ Comments regarding chipset, brand,
etc? ] Sound Blaster Audigy2 Platinum

21" TFT Screen [ Sony, I think. ]
Logitech Natural Keyboard/Mouse Combo

Maybe a DVD burner, but I really have no use for one at the moment,
so my 52x24z52x burner will do. I may get a DVD-ROM drive, though
again, I really haven't got a use for it, yet.

Any comments or suggestions (or even some component that I have not
listed) would be appreciated.

Basically I was after a machine that'll last a while (as in, not be
outdated in three days, ).

Thanks,

Oh year, and I forgot the Gigbit ethernet card. (They're only about $AU
60 anyways).

Building a REALLY good machine that'll last a while, centers around
putting each step in perspective. Typical the part you need first is
the case, perhaps including the power supply.

It's unlikely your present case was designed with these higher
power/heat components in mind, and even less likely the power supply
is. I would usually advise to get the case and power supply now then
focus on the rest, but given your consideration of dual CPUs, you
need to focus on that first, make up your mind as that'll likely
affect which power supply you need, choose.

Otherwise the compents look good so far, should make for a good system
though only you can know if you really need 2GB of memory... but then
again if you plan on using the system as long as you did the current
one, you'll likley, eventually, make use of it.

On the other hand, you would most likely have a higher average
performance level year-on-year by buying more mid-grade parts and
upgrading more often... doesn't do much good to have a really fast
system for a year then be slower than the industry expects for OS,
games, etc, for the last 4 years of use. Then again you don't
mention the use of the system, if you were getting by till now with
the Celeron 300 do you really need high-spec parts or would you be
happier focusing more on minimal noise levels?

Eh, noise doesn't really matter. The switch I am using to share my net
connection is loud (but I got it for nothing, and it works fairly well).

My current machine will be delegated to the Firewall/Proxy/Router
machine for the small LAN here (2 machines).

I will be using the system for gaming, and for software development
(this is the reason for Linux with VM Ware).

--
Murdoc
; ===========================
"Morality cannot be legislated but behaviour can be regulated. Judicial
decrees may not change the heart but they can restrain the
heartless."-- Martin Luther King.
"Death does not concern us, because as long as we exist, death is not
here. And when it does come, we no longer exist." --Epicurus