thoughts on new system

[Sean]

Hi,

I've been a bit out of the hardware world for a while now and so much has
changed.. I currently have a P4 3ghz machine with 1gig ram and Radeon 9800.
Am noticing that games are starting to come out that I can't even play on
low settings (eg Gothic III - however I think in this case its probably lack
of memory) .. maybe time for an upgrade?

Had a quick squizz around.. looks like PCI-express and DDR2 are all the bang
now so I tentatively picked the following:

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Mobo: MSI K9N4 Ultra-F, NVIDIA® nForce 500 Ultra, 4x SATAII (with RAID 0, 1,
0+1), 1 x ATA133
Ram: OCZ 2gb DDR2 667
Video: Powercolor ATI Radeon X1950Pro 256MB Arctic Cooling Version. 2x DVI.
HDTV/VIVO PCIE

Questions, is this a good rig? (price and performance) .. will it be much
better than what I originally had? . .any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any info,

Sean

 

[Dave]

Hi,

I've been a bit out of the hardware world for a while now and so much has
changed.. I currently have a P4 3ghz machine with 1gig ram and Radeon
9800.
Am noticing that games are starting to come out that I can't even play on
low settings (eg Gothic III - however I think in this case its probably
lack
of memory) .. maybe time for an upgrade?

Had a quick squizz around.. looks like PCI-express and DDR2 are all the
bang
now so I tentatively picked the following:

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4200+
Mobo: MSI K9N4 Ultra-F, NVIDIA® nForce 500 Ultra, 4x SATAII (with RAID 0,
1,
0+1), 1 x ATA133
Ram: OCZ 2gb DDR2 667
Video: Powercolor ATI Radeon X1950Pro 256MB Arctic Cooling Version. 2x
DVI.
HDTV/VIVO PCIE

Questions, is this a good rig? (price and performance) .. will it be much
better than what I originally had? . .any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any info,

Sean

The weak spot in your current system is the video card. But it would be
kind of silly to buy a high-end video card in AGP format.

So I agree with your plan to rebuild. But right now, Intel is kicking the
crap out of AMD (for a change) in terms of both raw performance numbers and
bang/buck. If you are going to build anything, build core 2 duo. Oh, and
keep in mind that the latest RAM relies on clock speed more than other
timings (ie, latency) to boost performance. So buy the fastest clock speed
ram that your motherboard will handle, and don't worry too much about
latency. Or to put it simpler, a cheap DDR2 800 stick of RAM (of a good
name brand like OCZ) would be better than a low-latency stick of DDR2 667.

Oh, and don't forget to budget for a new power supply!!! You will need
t. -Dave

 

[Sean]

Thanks for the info.. I'll look into the core 2 duo.. I thought AMD were the
ones on top at the mo.. well, shows how out of the picture I am..

about the powersupply.. I have an antec 360W .. do I need to get something
different?

 

[John Doe]

Hi,

I've been a bit out of the hardware world for a while now and so
much has changed.. I currently have a P4 3ghz machine with 1gig
ram and Radeon 9800. Am noticing that games are starting to come
out that I can't even play on low settings (eg Gothic III -
however I think in this case its probably lack of memory) .. maybe
time for an upgrade?

Had a quick squizz around.. looks like PCI-express and DDR2 are
all the bang now

The PCI-Express is if you're talking about gaming and video cards.
There's no comparison in selection between PCI express and AGP, at
least not last time I looked.

so I tentatively picked the following:

CPU: Athlon 64 X2 4200+

I bought an Opteron 152 for $171 (total) from ZipZoomFly three months
ago and it's still a great price. Yea. Came stock with a heat pipe
heatsink.

Mobo: MSI K9N4 Ultra-F, NVIDIA® nForce 500 Ultra, 4x SATAII (with

I've had good luck with MSI mainboards. My last, before I bought ASUS,
had one channel of the onboard audio go out, no big deal.

RAID 0, 1, 0+1), 1 x ATA133

If you are into efficiency like I am, go for a lean and mean Western
Digital Raptor. But I guess you're not buying a hard drive.

Ram: OCZ 2gb DDR2 667

I think 1.5 to 2 GB is a good starting amount for a gamer/enthusiast.
Depending on how long you want to have the system, you might consider
leaving one slot open.

Video: Powercolor ATI Radeon X1950Pro 256MB Arctic Cooling
Version. 2x DVI. HDTV/VIVO PCIE

If you want a more reliable/polished product, you might want to
spend a few more dollars on NVIDIA. For example, the technical
features of the 7950 GT look very good IMO compared to its
competition. Drivers can make a whole lot of difference. I had some
trouble with the ATI x1600 Pro (upgrading from a GeForce 3). You
might consider a 7900 GS, they have been doing lots of rebates. I
avoid rebates like the plague, but maybe it's an indication that the
prices will fall. When I stop hearing about driver and fan issues, I
will give the competition a try again, maybe next time.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Sean]

If you are into efficiency like I am, go for a lean and mean Western

Digital Raptor. But I guess you're not buying a hard drive.

Thanks for all the info.. i've had good results with ati so I may stick with
them for the mo.. as for the raptor.. I've got a 74gig one.. had it for ages
now .. they're really nice drives..

 

[Sean]

Core2duo 6300

Foxconn P9657AA-8EKRS2H, Intel® P965

GEIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC-6400 800MHz DDR2 RAM KIT

Powercolor ATI Radeon X1950Pro 256MB Arctic Cooling Version. 2x DVI.
HDTV/VIVO PCIE


hmmm.. a little more expensive but is this a better way to go?

--
Sean

 

[Dave]

Thanks for the info.. I'll look into the core 2 duo.. I thought AMD were
the ones on top at the mo.. well, shows how out of the picture I am..

Don't feel bad. AMD was kicking Intel's ass for many years, in terms of
both performane and bang/buck. But that changed relatively recently. So
you are not that far out of the picture.

about the powersupply.. I have an antec 360W .. do I need to get something
different?

Yes. Good deal right now is an AMS mercury 460W on newegg for about fifty
bucks. Other good brands are Seasonic, Fortron and Enhance, though some of
those might be a little more expensive. Oh, and 460W should be -minimum-
you should aim for, assuming your power supply IS a really good brand.
Antec is better than most, but 360W is inadequate. -Dave

 

[Dave]

Core2duo 6300

Foxconn P9657AA-8EKRS2H, Intel® P965

GEIL 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC-6400 800MHz DDR2 RAM KIT

Powercolor ATI Radeon X1950Pro 256MB Arctic Cooling Version. 2x DVI.
HDTV/VIVO PCIE


hmmm.. a little more expensive but is this a better way to go?

No, I don't think you'll be happy with that. You'll end up with budget
performance. The core 2 duo is good, but the one you picked is low-end. If
you are trying to save money, go with a less expensive video card. Bump up
to an E6600, even if that means you have to drop a notch or two on the video
card and start with 1.5GB of RAM. Otherwise, you'll get an awesome video
card that will be held back by a slow processor. -Dave

 

[Sean]

No, I don't think you'll be happy with that. You'll end up with budget
performance. The core 2 duo is good, but the one you picked is low-end.
If you are trying to save money, go with a less expensive video card.
Bump up to an E6600, even if that means you have to drop a notch or two on
the video card and start with 1.5GB of RAM. Otherwise, you'll get an
awesome video card that will be held back by a slow processor. -Dave

Looking at the reviews I disagree.. I've decided to change the mobo to an
Asus P5B-E and overclock the crap out of the the E6300 .. apparently it's an
incredibly overclockable chip and some ppl have even managed to get it
stably to 3.6Ghz .. that's almost twice as fast.
At least if I can't do this, I'm all set up to upgrade to a better CPU in
the near future when prices drop a bit more..

Thanks so much for the help. I wouldn't have considered Intel otherwise.

Regards,

Sean

 

[OSbandito]

Dave, staff in hand, emerged from the trees and boomed:

<...> "..don't forget to budget for a new power supply!!! You will
needit." -Dave


Dave, you are the Saint Francis of power-supplies. Your persistence is,
I wager, saving many people headaches with their builds.

 

[Inlaw Biker]

Looking at the reviews I disagree.. I've decided to change the mobo to an
Asus P5B-E and overclock the crap out of the the E6300 .. apparently it'san
incredibly overclockable chip and some ppl have even managed to get it
stably to 3.6Ghz .. that's almost twice as fast.
At least if I can't do this, I'm all set up to upgrade to a better CPU in
the near future when prices drop a bit more..

Thanks so much for the help. I wouldn't have considered Intel otherwise.

Regards,

Sean

I've been researching upgrading my P4 2.4ghz. You're on the right
track. I would add that the E6400 also overclocks great and is only
about $30 more than the E6300. The P5B-E is a good choice because it
supports the quad-core chips, which right now are just way too
expensive. In a few years when you're ready to double your speed they
should be affordable.

Greg

 

[Dave]

Dave, you are the Saint Francis of power-supplies. Your persistence is,
I wager, saving many people headaches with their builds.

I hope so. -Dave