Which mobo? which CPU? which RAM? Is the new system worth it???

P

padiq75

This is what i have at the moment:::

Windows XP installed
Abit AW8-MAX mobo
Pent4 CPU 3.4Ghz
4GB Value Corsair RAM 533Mhz
1 x 74gb 10,000rpm HD
2 x 200gb HD
1 x 400gb HD
ATI x1300 Graphics card 512mb
17" CTX pv720

Basically i want to increase the speed and power of my machine....alot

I dont want to spend lots of money if its only going to have a 10%
difference...

So far this is my proposed config... what do you all think???

------------------------------------------

Vista Ultimate

Abit 32X MAX wifi socket 775 mobo

Q6600 Quad-core Intel CPU

OCZ 2GB pc2-6400 800Mhz --> or Patriot pc9200 (2gb) -->1150Mhz<-- Will
the mobo support this?

Hitachi 1tb HD

[keeping 1 x 500 and 1 x 75gb]

[Keeping the old x1300 graphics card...i think]

22" Samsung 226BW

------------------------------------------

This will all cost roughly just over £1000 (exc. VAT).

I have a few questions about the new proposed conifg:

1) Is it going to be much faster than what i already have?
2) Will all the components work together perfectly?
3) Do you think its worth it?
4) Will 2gb of fast ram be better than 4gb of slowish ram

Thankyou.....
 
J

John Weiss

This is what i have at the moment:::

Abit AW8-MAX mobo
Pent4 CPU 3.4Ghz
4GB Value Corsair RAM 533Mhz
1 x 74gb 10,000rpm HD
2 x 200gb HD
1 x 400gb HD
ATI x1300 Graphics card 512mb
17" CTX pv720

Basically i want to increase the speed and power of my machine....alot

I dont want to spend lots of money if its only going to have a 10%
difference...

So far this is my proposed config... what do you all think???

------------------------------------------

Vista Ultimate
Abit 32X MAX wifi socket 775 mobo
Q6600 Quad-core Intel CPU
OCZ 2GB pc2-6400 800Mhz --> or Patriot pc9200 (2gb) -->1150Mhz<-- Will
the mobo support this?
Hitachi 1tb HD
[keeping 1 x 500 and 1 x 75gb]
[Keeping the old x1300 graphics card...i think]
22" Samsung 226BW

------------------------------------------

This will all cost roughly just over £1000 (exc. VAT).

I have a few questions about the new proposed conifg:

1) Is it going to be much faster than what i already have?

Faster for what? How do you measure that 10% (or more) increase?

What apps do you run? What background utilities do you run? Will they change
when you downgrade to Vista?

You're getting a Quad system but keeping an old Gfx card... Should we assume
you don't do anything that requires high Gfx performance, and that you're NOT
going to install the Vista Aero interface?

You're saving a bunch of old HDs and not considering RAID. If you're after
performance, why not at least consider RAID 10 for the OS and apps?


2) Will all the components work together perfectly?

Likely not. You will probably have driver problems with Vista if you do not
buy a system with Vista pre-installed. You may be able to overcome them
reasonably quickly, but that's a gamble...

You already have questions about a basic MoBo/RAM compatibility. If you're not
sure if it will work at all, how can you expect it to work "perfectly"?!?


3) Do you think its worth it?

Define "worth it"! What do you expect from it? What doesn't your current
system do, that this new one is supposed to do?


4) Will 2gb of fast ram be better than 4gb of slowish ram

From what I've read, 2 GB is a "minimum" amount of RAM for Vista if you expect
any performance at all. if you're not happy with XP running on 4 GB, you
likely won't be happy with Vista on 2 GB.
 
P

padiq75

This is what i have at the moment:::

Abit AW8-MAX mobo
Pent4 CPU 3.4Ghz
4GB Value Corsair RAM 533Mhz
1 x 74gb 10,000rpm HD
2 x 200gb HD
1 x 400gb HD
ATI x1300 Graphics card 512mb
17" CTX pv720

Basically i want to increase the speed and power of my machine....alot

I dont want to spend lots of money if its only going to have a 10%
difference...

So far this is my proposed config... what do you all think???

------------------------------------------

Vista Ultimate
Abit 32X MAX wifi socket 775 mobo
Q6600 Quad-core Intel CPU
OCZ 2GB pc2-6400 800Mhz --> or Patriot pc9200 (2gb) -->1150Mhz<-- Will
the mobo support this?
Hitachi 1tb HD
[keeping 1 x 500 and 1 x 75gb]
[Keeping the old x1300 graphics card...i think]
22" Samsung 226BW

------------------------------------------

This will all cost roughly just over £1000 (exc. VAT).

I have a few questions about the new proposed conifg:

1) Is it going to be much faster than what i already have?

Faster for what? How do you measure that 10% (or more) increase?

What apps do you run? What background utilities do you run? Will they change
when you downgrade to Vista?

You're getting a Quad system but keeping an old Gfx card... Should we assume
you don't do anything that requires high Gfx performance, and that you'reNOT
going to install the Vista Aero interface?

You're saving a bunch of old HDs and not considering RAID. If you're after
performance, why not at least consider RAID 10 for the OS and apps?

2) Will all the components work together perfectly?

Likely not. You will probably have driver problems with Vista if you do not
buy a system with Vista pre-installed. You may be able to overcome them
reasonably quickly, but that's a gamble...

You already have questions about a basic MoBo/RAM compatibility. If you're not
sure if it will work at all, how can you expect it to work "perfectly"?!?

3) Do you think its worth it?

Define "worth it"! What do you expect from it? What doesn't your current
system do, that this new one is supposed to do?

4) Will 2gb of fast ram be better than 4gb of slowish ram

From what I've read, 2 GB is a "minimum" amount of RAM for Vista if you expect
any performance at all. if you're not happy with XP running on 4 GB, you
likely won't be happy with Vista on 2 GB.

Thankyou.....you kind of brought me to my next question.

I don't actually want Vista to be honest. I just assumed it was the
right thing to do.

I love XP and will stick to it if you think its the right thing.

The machine will be used for Photoshop, Premiere, Some games such as
Counterstrike source etc.
My current system is great but its just quite slow most of the time.
 
G

GHalleck

This is what i have at the moment:::

Abit AW8-MAX mobo
Pent4 CPU 3.4Ghz
4GB Value Corsair RAM 533Mhz
1 x 74gb 10,000rpm HD
2 x 200gb HD
1 x 400gb HD
ATI x1300 Graphics card 512mb
17" CTX pv720

Basically i want to increase the speed and power of my machine....alot

I dont want to spend lots of money if its only going to have a 10%
difference...

So far this is my proposed config... what do you all think???

------------------------------------------

Vista Ultimate
Abit 32X MAX wifi socket 775 mobo
Q6600 Quad-core Intel CPU
OCZ 2GB pc2-6400 800Mhz --> or Patriot pc9200 (2gb) -->1150Mhz<-- Will
the mobo support this?
Hitachi 1tb HD
[keeping 1 x 500 and 1 x 75gb]
[Keeping the old x1300 graphics card...i think]
22" Samsung 226BW

------------------------------------------

This will all cost roughly just over £1000 (exc. VAT).

I have a few questions about the new proposed conifg:

1) Is it going to be much faster than what i already have?

Faster for what? How do you measure that 10% (or more) increase?

What apps do you run? What background utilities do you run? Will they change
when you downgrade to Vista?

You're getting a Quad system but keeping an old Gfx card... Should we assume
you don't do anything that requires high Gfx performance, and that you're NOT
going to install the Vista Aero interface?

You're saving a bunch of old HDs and not considering RAID. If you're after
performance, why not at least consider RAID 10 for the OS and apps?

2) Will all the components work together perfectly?

Likely not. You will probably have driver problems with Vista if you do not
buy a system with Vista pre-installed. You may be able to overcome them
reasonably quickly, but that's a gamble...

You already have questions about a basic MoBo/RAM compatibility. If you're not
sure if it will work at all, how can you expect it to work "perfectly"?!?

3) Do you think its worth it?

Define "worth it"! What do you expect from it? What doesn't your current
system do, that this new one is supposed to do?

4) Will 2gb of fast ram be better than 4gb of slowish ram

From what I've read, 2 GB is a "minimum" amount of RAM for Vista if you expect
any performance at all. if you're not happy with XP running on 4 GB, you
likely won't be happy with Vista on 2 GB.


Thankyou.....you kind of brought me to my next question.

I don't actually want Vista to be honest. I just assumed it was the
right thing to do.

I love XP and will stick to it if you think its the right thing.

The machine will be used for Photoshop, Premiere, Some games such as
Counterstrike source etc.
My current system is great but its just quite slow most of the time.

With CPU speeds starting to push 4.0 GHz at standard clocking, 3.4 GHz
might be considered "slow". But the increment to 4.0 GHz is not really
that significant. But if one is considering over-clocking a 4.0 GHz
CPU and provided that the applications still function properly whilst
over-clocked, then go for it.
 
J

John Weiss

I don't actually want Vista to be honest. I just assumed it was the right
thing to do.
I love XP and will stick to it if you think its the right thing.

I would not go to Vista right now unless I was forced to for some reason.

The machine will be used for Photoshop, Premiere, Some games such as
Counterstrike source etc.
My current system is great but its just quite slow most of the time.

While a new dual-core CPU like the Core2Duo may help things quite a bit, I
doubt you'll see much incremental improvement with a Quad rig. I'd go for the
fastest Core2Duo/Extreme you can afford, and upgrade the Gfx card to something
more powerful (X1950Pro?).
 
J

John Doe

(e-mail address removed) wrote:

....
I don't actually want Vista to be honest. I just assumed it was the
right thing to do.

I love XP and will stick to it if you think its the right thing.

The question isn't whether you should stick with Windows XP, it's
whether you have a pressing need to use Windows Vista.

Pointless and counterproductive to use a different operating system
until your applications and/or peripherals require it. Even then,
given current hardware, you would take Vista's slower performance into
consideration.

Eventually we'll have to pay our personal computer user dues, but
don't rush it.

Good luck and have fun.
 

Ask a Question

Want to reply to this thread or ask your own question?

You'll need to choose a username for the site, which only take a couple of moments. After that, you can post your question and our members will help you out.

Ask a Question

Top