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Help me spec my graduation rig

R

ryanjg11

Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2002
Messages
772
I'll be graduating soon and I'm looing to build a new system... This Barton 2500 @ 3200 just isn't getting the job done anymore. Feel free to voice suggestions, as I am not a fanboy of any particular brand. I am not opposed to an AMD setup, but please recommend a processor/motherboard/memory combo as an alternative.

Monitor: Dell 2001FP
Case: Antec Sonata
Processor: Intel P4 3.2E
Motherboard: Abit IC7-MAX3
Memory: Corsair XMS DDR500 512MB x 2
Hard Drives: Raptor WD740GD x 2, WD2500JD x 2
Heatsink: Thermalright SLK-947U
Video: ATI Radeon 9800XT

I have not really been keeping up with the latest trends (too busy with work and school), so if there is something really cool that I am missing, let me know. I have no problem going with AMD, but I want equivalent or better performance.
 
> Processor: Intel P4 3.2E

While I myself plan to get a 3.4E (when I can buy one, aaaargh), Prescotts aren't for everyone yet. You'll probably be happier with a 3.4C.

> Hard Drives: Raptor WD740GD x 2

You could, you know, boot from SCSI.
 
Damn thats pretty nice. If you choose to go AMD, there's always the AMD FX5100. Nice 64bit chip in your comp! Just a suggestion.

-Logiks
 
Are you graduating from high school or college? Congratulations either way. I would go with Athlon64, of course, I'm biased because I have one, but it is quite fast.

If not that, get some fast, PC4300 or something RAM, and a Pentium4 2.4 or 2.6c and overclock.

Or get a Via Epia! Quiet!
 
Heatsink: Thermalright SLK-947U
why not an SP-94?

Also I'd suggest a P4c over a Prescott, they run cooler and seem to be just as fast if not faster. The prescott needs higher speeds to be able to work with its long pipeline.
 
I recommend something A64 based, its faster than any P4. also what the hell are you doing that 3200+ isnt fast enough anymore??
 
Looks like a nice system.

Graduation is awesome, my dad decided to buy me an LCD for grad. :D
 
Wanna play with overclocking? Get a Mobile 2400+ and a nice cooling solution. the SP97 or whatever was suggested above is wicked, slap a panaflow high on it and you'll have a relatively quiet cooling solution.

The RAM is overkill, too expensive. Get some nice DDR400 or 433 and you'll be okay... the mobiles are unlocked, and there ARE dividers for Intel setups.

Everything seems super expensive, you like spending other people's money? Lol. I'd be much more conservative if it was a gift, rather than if it was my own money.

Hey, you graduated, you should be making big bucks now!

Lol, sorry about lecturing. I'l lshut up now.

I'd get a single 36GB raptor, or maybe 2 to raid them in raid 0. Do you *really* need more than that for windows and installation? Then get 2 big 160GB+ for storage and that's it! No need getting 2 74GB ones, that's just a waste of money IMHO.

If you wanna try your hand at overclocking, and get one of those mobile bartons as I said before, get a Lanparty or 8rda3+.
 
Originally posted by KevC
Wanna play with overclocking? Get a Mobile 2400+ and a nice cooling solution. the SP97 or whatever was suggested above is wicked, slap a panaflow high on it and you'll have a relatively quiet cooling solution.

The RAM is overkill, too expensive. Get some nice DDR400 or 433 and you'll be okay... the mobiles are unlocked, and there ARE dividers for Intel setups.

Everything seems super expensive, you like spending other people's money? Lol. I'd be much more conservative if it was a gift, rather than if it was my own money.

Hey, you graduated, you should be making big bucks now!

Lol, sorry about lecturing. I'l lshut up now.

I'd get a single 36GB raptor, or maybe 2 to raid them in raid 0. Do you *really* need more than that for windows and installation? Then get 2 big 160GB+ for storage and that's it! No need getting 2 74GB ones, that's just a waste of money IMHO.

If you wanna try your hand at overclocking, and get one of those mobile bartons as I said before, get a Lanparty or 8rda3+.
Click to expand...

The thing is, he already has a mobile barton oc'ed to 3200+. For whatever reason, that's not enough and so he's upgrading and I don't think he's looking for a duplicate of his current rig.
 
theres gonna be some new tech out by the time you graduate.

i would get a radeon x800 pro, an athlon fx-53 for socket 939, and some prometia cooling.

and unless you really need the 1600x1200, it would probebly be better to get dual 1801fp monitors for the same price as a 2001fp. i use a 2001fp and it really is a great monitor though
 
for that kind of money, i can't help but recommend a dual opteron setup (don't get an FX, unless you loathe SMP with a passion. but i doubt that, since you're getting a p4 with SMT).

but, knowing your uses would be VERY much appreciated and helpful in recommending a setup.

however, getting an AMD64 capable processor would open up a big huge window for free future speeds boosts - anywhere from 40% to 100%; regardless of your uses.
 
It looks okay. but why not get SCSI for that much money? i mean,. sata x 2? for what, RAID? get a clue.

or ask me for advice.
 
Originally posted by DeepFreeze
It looks okay. but why not get SCSI for that much money? i mean,. sata x 2? for what, RAID? get a clue.

or ask me for advice.
Click to expand...

Out of curiosity what is your objection to SATA? I was planning on buying a couple later this summer and would love to hear why it may be a bad idea.

James
 
Originally posted by pat
Don't forget power supply :)
Click to expand...

Comes with Sonata, and if the True380 isn't enough, I can always pull from the True430 I'm using now.

Are you graduating from high school or college? Congratulations either way. I would go with Athlon64, of course, I'm biased because I have one, but it is quite fast.
Click to expand...

Graduating from college... University of Washington.

Also I'd suggest a P4c over a Prescott, they run cooler and seem to be just as fast if not faster. The prescott needs higher speeds to be able to work with its long pipeline.
Click to expand...

Is there any benefit to the Prescott right now, over the 3.4C? I'm not adverse to overclocking, and if I was going to go that route I would probably choose a 2.6C and OC it to about 3.4. Also, how do the Prescotts OC?

The RAM is overkill, too expensive. Get some nice DDR400 or 433 and you'll be okay... the mobiles are unlocked, and there ARE dividers for Intel setups.
Click to expand...

You are right--the RAM is overkill if I go with the current processor. More realistically, I would go with a 2.6C @ 3.4ish speeds, otherwise there is no point in DDR500 and a $45 heatsink. Unless you guys can sell me on Prescott or A64...

theres gonna be some new tech out by the time you graduate.
Click to expand...

Good point... I'm not graduating until June, but I thought I would lay the groundwork now.

It looks okay. but why not get SCSI for that much money? i mean,. sata x 2? for what, RAID? get a clue.
Click to expand...

I would prefer SATA right now because it is clean... This may sound like a stupid reason, but when you have more than a couple hard drives, optical drives, floppy drives, etc, the case gets clogged up quickly. And SCSI would still be prohibitively expensive, even over the 74GB Raptors, and probably overkill for my application. (But then again, this would system is overkill, probably.)

Edit: And just to clarify, these two Raptors will be used in RAID (obviously).
 
[matoch]
> Out of curiosity what is your objection to SATA?

SATA supersedes IDE; I'm building a SATA RAID-5 mass storage array myself. But SCSI is in another league altogether.

[phatnadz]
> Is there any benefit to the Prescott right now, over the 3.4C?

It's slightly faster at some things, slightly slower at others. The processors are more or less equivalent (they are equivalently priced as well).

> And SCSI would still be prohibitively expensive

No, it's not. Common misconception.

Adaptec 29160N host adapter (i.e. SCSI card): $99
3-position twisted-to-flat SCSI cable with termination: $25
Fujitsu MAS3184NP 18.4 GB: $161
Fujitsu MAS3367NP 36.7 GB: $229
Fujitsu MAS3735NP 73.5 GB: $491

That's a minimum of $285. "Prohibitively expensive" - hah.

And RAID-0 screams, "please kill my data".
 
No, it's not. Common misconception.
Click to expand...
If you want any decent storage, it's far from a misconception, which is where I think many of those comments are coming from.

I'd say for most of what you may be doing (original poster) the Northwood would be faster and a better choice than the Prescott. Much more efficient anyway, and no slower.

However since you're not graduating yet then as you said, you'll get to wait and see what comes out. Right now the Prescotts are pretty bad IMO, but as the new socket and hopefully higher clocks come, they might stop sucking.
 
[emorphien]
> If you want any decent storage, it's far from a misconception

SCSI isn't for mass storage, unless you have a whole lot of cash to burn.

All you need is a SCSI boot drive. 18 GB will work just fine; 36 GB is pretty large as far as those things go.
 
Originally posted by STL
[emorphien]
> If you want any decent storage, it's far from a misconception

SCSI isn't for mass storage, unless you have a whole lot of cash to burn.

All you need is a SCSI boot drive. 18 GB will work just fine; 36 GB is pretty large as far as those things go.
Click to expand...

No, it isn't for mass storage. But many people need that more than they need 15k drives with 3ms access times. The Raptors happen to be a pretty nice compromise for many people.
 
Originally posted by STL
[matoch]
>And SCSI would still be prohibitively expensive

No, it's not. Common misconception.

Adaptec 29160N host adapter (i.e. SCSI card): $99
3-position twisted-to-flat SCSI cable with termination: $25
Fujitsu MAS3184NP 18.4 GB: $161
Fujitsu MAS3367NP 36.7 GB: $229
Fujitsu MAS3735NP 73.5 GB: $491

That's a minimum of $285. "Prohibitively expensive" - hah.

And RAID-0 screams, "please kill my data".
Click to expand...

For equivalent storage, it *is still* too expensive. The MAS3735NP is almost $500--more than twice the cost of two Raptors of the same size.
 
I happen to agree that those scsi drives are just hugely expensive.

I also COMPLETELY disagree with someone saying that scsi is just for boot drives and not for mass storage

For 1 mass storage requires longevity, the main thing scsi drives are known for (other than speed) is what? Longevity, and reliability. For mass storage the best solution is and always has been scsi IMO.

For 2 IDE and SATA drives are NOT made specifically for longevity (like scsi drives).

Citing these two huge speed bumps in the path to longevity and radical reliability scsi is the easy winner IMO. Which is why scsi drives should be cheaper for private use instead of private business use. Right now scsi drives are at a ludicrise ~$10/gig which.. compared to the >~$1/gig for IDE drives it's just a complete shame. The price is the ONLY thing that prohibits scsi from being the mass storage king IMO.

Also to toss IMO on chips.. an A64 is a damn good deal right now, but I hate to recommend it for you to buy VIA mobo... I hate VIA and I'd never wish their motherboards on anyone. Thus, until the new nvidia chip comes out for A64.. stick with your nice 2500+ @ 3200+ and wait to upgrade to A64.

~Adam
 
[emorphien]
> No, it isn't for mass storage. But many people need that more than they need 15k
> drives with 3ms access times.

True.

> The Raptors happen to be a pretty nice compromise for many people.

73 GB is hardly mass storage. (After all, they make 15 KRPM drives that large, and in June, you'll be able to get 146 GB 15 KRPM drives from Fujitsu.)

Mass storage is a WD2500JD, or a 7K400, if you can buy the latter (hah).

[phatnadz]
> For equivalent storage, it *is still* too expensive.

Repeat after me: SCSI is not for mass storage. 18 GB is plenty for a boot drive; I'm currently using 13.5 GB of my X15-36LP 36 GB.

[CleanSlate]
> I happen to agree that those scsi drives are just hugely expensive.

$285 isn't expensive.

> I also COMPLETELY disagree with someone saying that scsi is just for boot drives and
> not for mass storage

I love how you say this, after saying that SCSI is "hugely expensive".

A Seagate 10k.6 146 GB drive is $649. A WD2500JD is $219.

Maybe YOU have the money for SCSI mass storage. I sure don't, and I'm building a multi-thousand-dollar computer.

> For 1 mass storage requires longevity, the main thing scsi drives are known for (other
> than speed) is what? Longevity, and reliability. For mass storage the best solution is
> and always has been scsi IMO.

Certainly - IF you have the money for it.

SATA RAID-5 is a reasonable compromise otherwise.

> I hate VIA

Hear hear.
 
You're also building a waste of a computer, STL. But this argument is going nowhere, you're not listening to what we're saying, so lets drop this before it gets out of hand.
 
Originally posted by emorphien
You're also building a waste of a computer, STL. But this argument is going nowhere, you're not listening to what we're saying, so lets drop this before it gets out of hand.
Click to expand...

the machine isnt future proof, or it would have SCSI.

we told you certain things, because the thread says, HELP ME....
yet you make excuses for opposing our advice. why ask US [H] for [H]elp?

good day.

end this.:rolleyes:
 
if i may ask again for what your uses will be, i think we could help you iron out such problems as prescott verse northwood, amd verse intel, sata verse scsi, etc.
 
Originally posted by MTB2Live,Live4Comps
if i may ask again for what your uses will be, i think we could help you iron out such problems as prescott verse northwood, amd verse intel, sata verse scsi, etc.
Click to expand...

lol the STL thread has spilled into mine...

The computer will be used for a variety of things... I say I'm a gamer but I really don't have the time to do any real intense gaming. I will be doing some video editing, graphics work, web dev, and gaming.
 
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