After 3 years buying a new computer

S

strab

n00b
Joined
Mar 16, 2004
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8
Hello,

I guess such topics are made all the time, but I would be really glad if some could give me a little feedback. I think about buying it this month.

It is mainly for gaming, movies and digital design ( photoshop, a little bit 3d).

Here is the computer :

Intel Pentium 4 3,20 GHz HT 512KB L2 cache 800MHz Bus Socket 478 4540.-
Asus Socket 478 P4P800 DELUXE, Intel i865PE chipset, ATX 2090.-
Sapphire RADEON 9800XT 256MB DDR, TV-OUT & DVI 8090.-
Samsung 17" LCD-TFT SyncMaster 172X 8767.-
Logitech Speaker Z-640 5.1 50W RMS 1055.-
Antec ATX miditower Sonata EC MT 380W 2125.-
Corsair DDRAM PC-3200 400MHz 512MB CL 2,0 Twinx 2516.-
Microsoft BLACK Multimedia Keyboard PS2 ~400.-
Logitech Mouse MX500 689.-
Sony 3,5" 1,44MB black 110.-
Pioneer DVD-ROM 117 16xDVD/40xCD 590.-
Lite-On CD-RW LTR-48246S 48/24/48 0.- (have it)
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y120M0 120GB 7200rpm SATA 150 8MB 0.- (have it)

or, though I like the p4 more

AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (2000MHz) 1MB L2 cache inbox 4490.-
I have yet to do some research on a64 mobos, but I hear that the ones by Asus are good.

Is 380W enough ? Do I need more cooling ? Will it last 1-2 years ?

( All the prices are in Estonian kroons - 12,7 kroons = 1 dollar )

Thank you for your time
 
Terre terre! (pardon the spelling, just what I remember from talking w/ my dad's relatives). Don't have any input on the rig (kicks the butt of my main one, that's for sure), but had to say hey to a fellow Estonian.
 
The Antec 380 should be fine for that system. As for cooling make sure to get another 120mm fan to put in the Sonata if it only comes with one.
 
Also that is a lot to pay for an 9800XT. You might want to get a 9800 PRO for $200 instead.
 
you might want 1 gig of ram instead, 512 will last you for awhile but 1gig will definately be needed in the future
 
Ouch, $640 for a Radeon 9800XT.

I'd say try to save money on the vid card. How much are the 9700 or 9800 Pros in Estonia? The 9800 Pro will still be a very good card.

I agree with the RAM. If you're really hardcore into gaming and movie editing and 3D work, or you eventually will and won't be upgrading for a while, get two sticks of 512 MB RAM to run in dual channel.

Are you overclocking the proc? If not, I'd go more for an Intel board for stability, but the Asus is okay too (I prefer Abits and Intels).

And stick with the Northwood P4. If you do digital multimedia work, Pentium 4 is still the better choice over the Athlon 64.

And for your purposes, the True380 that comes with the Sonata will do very well; it's a great PSU.
 
yeah, like everyone else said, 1 GB of RAM over 512MB is more important than the 9800XT over the 9800pro. ESPECIALLY if you do digital design.

Besides that, it looks pretty good...
depending on how much money you have, you might want to think about getting the 3.0c instead, it overclocks to about the same speeds or slightly higher (and better memory bandwidth of course!)
 
Tervitused sullegi, pjaank.

Thank you for the feedback so far.

I added one 120mm fan to my list.

The prices listed at the top are not final, they are the avarage here in Estonia.
I know that the 9800xt here is severely overpriced, though I hope that I can get it for a decent price. I´d really like to buy the 9800xt.

About the ram thing, right now, I am at my limit - 30000 kroons.
To get 1gb, I would have to change the ram, because this one is quite expensive, but if i get the 9800xt cheaper, I´ll definitely pick up the extra 512mb, if not, there is always the possibility to buy it later. But I´ll think about it.
 
Yeah, it'd be nice to have the dual channel goodness. It's of course a perfectly viable solution just to buy another stick later.

Of course, if you want it now, there are some slight corners to cut. I'll agree that you could buy the 3.0Ghz C Northwood, the performance isn't much different from the 3.2 anyways, and it costs about $65 more for a 3.2 than a 3.0 here too, how much is the difference in Estonia?

I won't stand in your way if you want the 9800XT, but I'm amazed that the Sapphire is so expensive (not even the ATi branded one, does that cost an arm?). The 9800 Pro for all intents and purposes is a winner and is at a nice price point in the US (dunno about Estonia, again).

You could OC the chip to 3.2 with a quick FSB bump, and you'd also have a higher FSB, which would always be good.

Well, it's your call, but if you'll buy another stick eventually, it'll be a very very solid system. It's very good as it is now, but P4s are memory bandwidth hungry and begs for dual channel. ;)
 
Yea, if it saves you enough money, the 3.0C would probably be better. Also, have you thought about a Canterwood motherboard? Nothing against Springdale of course. Will 120Gb be enough for what you do? Also, as you haven't mentioned a cooler, I'm guessing you're going with the Intel stock one. Not a bad choice unless you really want to overclock, and then the Canterwood would also probably be a better option.
 
Thank you for the feedback, and sorry for replying so late.

I think that 120gb will be enough for me.

But about the springdale, canterwood thing, do you think I should change the p4p800 to a p4c800 ? Or something else ? All of the reviews about the p4p800 have been excellent.

And the cooling, I suppose I´ll use the retail fan.
 
a little feedback concerning your comment on the AMD A64. i would highly recommend it. see in my sig that is what i have. i love my Abit board but i know the Asus board is very good too. like said before 1 gig RAM would be better, but i understand the money limit too! i would consider losing the floppy drive unless you need it. everything else looks great!:D good luck
 
The level of performance that both choices provides is more than enough for most people. I would argue that the P4 platform may be the better choice due to the strict validation process it has passed and that would equate to less potential for issue like compatibility problems and the like.

I would take the advice of the gang and go to a 9800 pro or wait a little longer (the next gen vid cards wll arrive and the 9800xt will drop in price. with the new cards coming it makes no sense to drop that kind of money when the same money would buy next generation hardware in just a few short weeks.

Oh and I vote for Asus. I have used them all and I have yet to find a board that is of higher quality and stability.
 
I'd stick with a 9800Pro and a 3GHz P4C, the ones you note are a lot more expensive and offer only small performance gains.
 
yeah, id go for a 9800 pro instead of teh XT, and use the money saved to upgrade the ram

its a much smarter choice in my oppinion

and id also go for a 3.0c GHz, i whent for the 3.2 and spent the extra cash, but its a very mininmal increase in performance for the price, and the 3.0 will still last you a long time
 
Thank you again for the feedback.

The final computer should be this :

Intel Pentium 4 3,20 GHz HT 512KB L2 cache 800MHz Bus Socket 478
Abit Socket 478 IC7-G, Intel i875PE chipset
Sapphire RADEON 9800XT 256MB DDR, TV-OUT & DVI
Samsung 17" LCD-TFT SyncMaster 172X
Logitech Speaker Z-640 5.1 50W RMS
Antec ATX miditower Sonata EC MT 380W
Antec 120mm Blue LED Case fan
Corsair DDRAM PC-3200 400MHz 512MB CL 2,0 Twinx
Microsoft BLACK Multimedia Keyboard PS2
Logitech Mouse MX500
Pioneer DVD-ROM 16xDVD/40xCD Black
Lite-On CD-RW LTR-48246S 48/24/48
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y120M0 120GB 7200rpm SATA 150 8MB

Two more questions:

Is the onboard sound on the ic7-g enough for the z640 5.1 system ?

About the ram, I´ll take 512 at first, and a second one some time later I think. But Corsair DDRAM PC-3200 400MHz 512MB is the one I am going to buy, but I see that there are different versions of it LL , CL2.0, XMS, TwinX. Could someone tell me which one is the best for my system - I will go dual channel later on.
 
Originally posted by strab
Is the onboard sound on the ic7-g enough for the z640 5.1 system ?
Click to expand...
It will work. Only you will know if it's good enough for you.

Originally posted by strab
About the ram, I´ll take 512 at first, and a second one some time later I think. But Corsair DDRAM PC-3200 400MHz 512MB is the one I am going to buy, but I see that there are different versions of it LL , CL2.0, XMS, TwinX. Could someone tell me which one is the best for my system - I will go dual channel later on.
Click to expand...
LL is Low Latency which I think would be pretty close to CL2.0, because CL is just one the measurements of latency.

XMS is just the name Corsair gives to their enthusiast RAM.

TWINX means that you get 2 identical (twin) sticks. So you have to decide if you want 2 x 256MB or 1 x 512MB. You want to run in dual channel, if at all possible, so I'd say go with 2 x 256MB. But if you're upgrading to 1GB soon, you could just get 1 x 512MB and 1 more later. If not, get 2 x 256MB now and another 2 x 256MB later - only bad thing about that, is it will cost a little more in the long run, and you'll have all 4 DIMMS full.

I still think you should get the 3.0C and 1GB RAM now. You will not notice the difference between 3GHz and 3.2GHz and you can always overclock it a little if you want.

Also, you're crazy for buying a 9800XT when the new cards come out next month. You can get a 9800 Pro for $200 and you'll have 90% of the performance for 50% of the price.
 
Eh, buying the XT is indeed a little too much maybe, but I don´t know,,, I´ll still probably buy it, ah. I just don´t want to wait anymore to buy a high-end comp, in fact I have waited for years, and my birthday is coming up,,,

Anyway, I´ll see how much see price difference is between now and this :

Intel Pentium 4 3,0 GHz HT 512KB L2 cache 800MHz Bus Socket 478
Abit Socket 478 IC7-G, Intel i875PE chipset
Sapphire RADEON 9800XT 256MB DDR, TV-OUT & DVI
Samsung 17" LCD-TFT SyncMaster 172X
Logitech Speaker Z-640 5.1 50W RMS
Antec ATX miditower Sonata EC MT 380W
Antec 120mm Blue LED Case fan
2x Corsair DDRAM PC-3200 400MHz 512MB CL 2,0 Twinx ( dual channel )
Microsoft BLACK Multimedia Keyboard PS2 või Logitech Elite Keyboard
Logitech Mouse MX500
Pioneer DVD-ROM 16xDVD/40xCD Black
Lite-On CD-RW LTR-48246S 48/24/48
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y120M0 120GB 7200rpm SATA 150 8MB

If the last one is as much, it should be a bit better. I assume the 0.2 ghz difference isnt as much of as 512 vs 1gb ram.

Thank you.
 
Originally posted by strab
Eh, buying the XT is indeed a little too much maybe, but I don´t know,,, I´ll still probably buy it, ah. I just don´t want to wait anymore to buy a high-end comp, in fact I have waited for years, and my birthday is coming up,,,

Anyway, I´ll see how much see price difference is between now and this :

Intel Pentium 4 3,0 GHz HT 512KB L2 cache 800MHz Bus Socket 478
Abit Socket 478 IC7-G, Intel i875PE chipset
Sapphire RADEON 9800XT 256MB DDR, TV-OUT & DVI
Samsung 17" LCD-TFT SyncMaster 172X
Logitech Speaker Z-640 5.1 50W RMS
Antec ATX miditower Sonata EC MT 380W
Antec 120mm Blue LED Case fan
2x Corsair DDRAM PC-3200 400MHz 512MB CL 2,0 Twinx ( dual channel )
Microsoft BLACK Multimedia Keyboard PS2 või Logitech Elite Keyboard
Logitech Mouse MX500
Pioneer DVD-ROM 16xDVD/40xCD Black
Lite-On CD-RW LTR-48246S 48/24/48
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 6Y120M0 120GB 7200rpm SATA 150 8MB

If the last one is as much, it should be a bit better. I assume the 0.2 ghz difference isnt as much of as 512 vs 1gb ram.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
Don't want to run this into the ground, but don't get a 9800XT!! There is NO reason to pay $400 for a card when you can get almost the same thing for $200. And when the new cards come out, sell your 9800 Pro and get one of those. You'll spend the same amount of money in the long run and you'll end up with a faster card (R420 vs 9800XT).

Your decision.

Also, if you don't need there extra features (4 SATA slots, etc) of the IC7-G, checkout the AI7, which is only around $100. I've owned both and the AI7 is a very nice board.
 
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