Name: clay Date: February 19, 2003 at 18:57:23 Pacific Subject: Questions on new sys... OS: XP CPU/Ram: 1gig?
Comment:
I'll be buying a new system here soon and and have a few questions.
-I'll be getting a 3.06 and need mobo recommendations. -I'll be running a radeon 9700 pro so i need 8x agp
Second
-Whats the fastest and latest harddrives? I'll be running alot of games so i need recommendations on beastly hd's that feed gaming data well. Any new technology out there as far as Hd's go??
you DON'T need 8X AGP, since www.maximumpc.com can prove that the difference between 4x and 8x is minimal. Also, IBM 180GXp series are just as good as the western digital special editions
One more thing I do agree with n3985 on the 8x AGP thing. But Thats only with the games that are out know. If you plan on haveing this comp. for 2 or more years I would recomened 8x Because the games then will benifit from 8x AGP.
>>DONT get the P4 3.06. WATE tell AMD comes out with there new 64 bit cpu!!! If you can't wate go with the AMD 3000+.
Why? The AMD 3000+ got crap for reviews, and they practicly costs the same thing!? I WILL have this pc for 5+ yrs, so i'll probably get the 8x agp. Why the nock on intel?
I use AMD personally, and am very dissapointed in the new 3000+. Really doesn't compete with the p4. AMD needs to pay more attention to their preformance rating system. Just upping the L2 cache doesn't make it a faster processor. Look at the 2800+ t-bred benchmarks vs. the 3000+ Barton. Sure, get the p4, but i think the 2800+ is a much better buy. 8X AGP, why not? Better to buy it now rather than shoving out another $100 for a MB a year from now.
Let me start by saying that I use AMD exclusively... however, you will get greater memory bandwith on intel. This is a fact. The 64bit AMD may solve this, that remains to be seen. You will pay a premium for Intel chips too.
As far as HDD's are concerned, maxtor is the ONLY one to support ATA133 last I read. SCSI are good, but you will pay a high premium again. Rather than sink alot of money into SCSI, I'd go with better ram... ATA133 is plenty fast.
Last, and forgive me for saying it, it is highly unlikely you will have that machine for 5 years. 2-3 years is the average lifespan of a PC, at least for the leading edge ppl like us.
The trick is to balance the PC to reduce the performance bottlenecks. A P4 3.06 with slow ram is crap, so is fast cpu and ram with a crap HDD. I know I'm stating the obvious here, but sounds like you might be dropping alot of cheese on a few components and missing others. BTW... what mainboard are you looking at?
I use AMD processors exclusively also, but I think their 3000+ Barton isn't worth it. They should have rated it at 2800+ at the speed setting it's at now, or they should have upped the speed to 2.25ghz (at least!) to rate it a 3000+. If you want speed and don't care about price, go with the 3.06ghz P4. Notice that if you want to get the most out of your memory, you will have to get RDRAM, which is much more expensive than DDR is. If you want a good compromise between speed and value, the Athlon XP 2800+ is your best bet.
If money is absolutely no obstacle, get the P4 3.06ghz with a liquid-nitrogen cooling system and OC it to 3500mhz. Next, get 1-2GB of RDRAM, a mobo with 8x AGP (although this isn't much faster now, it will be). Wait just a little bit and get either the GeForce FX (not the 9700) or the newest card coming from ATI in April (I think that's right). Oh, and don't forget a sould blaster audigy for sound ^_^
Werd! I like the idea of the nitrogen cooler :) Moneys not that big of a deal, but my moniter is going to cost alot so im kinda looking to not go all out. I really want to get one of thoes dell 20" flat pannel. What do you guys think of gaming on a flat pannel?
Also any mobo reccomendations? After Dr. Octopuses recommendation ive decided on going for ATA133. I'm lookin for a mobo that supports ATA113, and 8x agp.
I like the system your going with. Even though I am a hardcore AMD guy, I am even looking at the new p4 3.06. As for the flat panel, I'm not really a big fan of them. I am a hardcore gamer, and I purchased a flat panel. I kept it for 3 days, then took it back. It just seems that I get a better picture with my 21 inch sony trinitron monitor. I also own an ATI 9700 pro video card, and I would recommend sticking with it. It is truly an awesome card.
