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Paralysis

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 17, 2002
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I had 2 quick questions on some parts I will be buying this week.

For my video card I have decided that Sapphire is the brand I want to go with (no changing my mind there!). Should I go with the 9600XT 256MB DDR or 9800Pro 256MB DDR2? I'm leaning more towards the 9600XT due to the clock running 120MHz faster. Although the memory speed is 80 MHz less. And not DDR2. But, will DDR2 really make that much of a difference?

Also, is the Athlon64 3200+ a better buy than the Barton 3200+? I don't really see a difference in getting the 64 unless I had a lot of 64-bit applications. Would there be any kind of speed boost to the 32-bit applications due to having twice as much L2 cache? I do want the DFI Lanparty MB though. So the Barton was more my choice.

This is an entirely new system I'm building other than my sig. I know this is a lot to ask, but any help would be appreciated.
 
The 9800 pro is the best buy IMO, The 9600 XT has a high gpu speed because of the lower ram b/w, the 9800 pro would still own the 9600 xt, any day. Yes the DDR2 will make a difference, b/w wise, but other than that there's no real difference (like u need anything else, I mean what's it gonna do calculate e=mc^2 for you?).

Really the 64bit 3200+ is worth it IMO because of 1. the dbled cache and 2. the 64bit support which will be usefull in the "near" future to run windows xp 64 bit ed. However, for a hundred dollars or so more, it's a question of whether the increase in performance to price ratio is good enough to warrant you spending your money on it (depending on your monetary situation).

my 2 cents

Edit: I just noticed something... why would you get an over clocking motherboard when the cpu you're buying is close to the top of the line for that Barton core? If you go athlon XP and expect to OC I'd just go with a 2400+M or 2500+M and get the DFI.

~Adam
 
I'm not even thinking about overclocking. It's just given the best speed at stock that I've seen so far. Plus, it's a badass looking MB.
 
Yea you have XP home edition.. you aren't the OCing type, 3200+ it is then buddy.

GL

~Adam
 
And just to give an idea this is what I'm going to go for this week.

DFI Lanparty NFII Ultra B
AMD Athlon 3200+ "Barton"
Thermalright SP-97 HS
Vantec Tornado 80mm Fan
Kingston HyperX Dual Kit 1GB(2x512MB) DDR PC-3500
(2) WD Raptor 36.7GB HD
Sapphire Ultimate ATi Radeon 9800Pro 256MB DDR2
ENERMAX Noisetaker Series 470W Power Supply "EG475P-VE-SFMA"

And there's a bunch of other things here and there, but that's the main core of the thing.
 
Originally posted by CleanSlate
Yea you have XP home edition.. you aren't the OCing type, 3200+ it is then buddy.

GL

~Adam
Click to expand...
Thanks for the help! Much appreciated!
 
DFI Lanparty NFII Ultra B
AMD Athlon 3200+ "Barton"
Thermalright SP-97 HS
Vantec Tornado 80mm Fan
Kingston HyperX Dual Kit 1GB(2x512MB) DDR PC-3500
Click to expand...

now since he isnt the overclocking type, shouldnt he just go with pc 3200 and be fine with that, and why does he need a thermalright on a chip he's not goin to overclock, and since he is gettin that thermalright shouldnt he go with a 92mm tornado instead of the 80mm ?

just my 2 cents
 
ouch! yeah, if you're not the overclocking type, just get the retail HSF version. It should work fine, with a lot less noise than that vantec!

BB
 
Originally posted by BB Gun
ouch! yeah, if you're not the overclocking type, just get the retail HSF version. It should work fine, with a lot less noise than that vantec!

BB
Click to expand...

Seconded. There's no point in getting another heatsink. The stock one will work fine. It comes with the 3200+, so it can handle it sufficiently. And since you're not overclocking, you really don't need to worry about heat.

Also, PC3200 is all you need, no point in going to PC3500. It'll run underclocked.
 
Because I want to have the best heatsink period, if I ever move it to something else. And I don't care about noise. I run my Volcano 9 right now at 5150RPMs all the time.

It sounds right to have the 3200 but I've just been leaning towards the 3500 for some reason. Is there a big performance hit by underclocking? My guess would be the timings wouldn't be as tight?

I was wondering about the fan being 80 or 92. But, I wasn't sure which would fit exactly. I can't even really tell from pictures of the SP-97 how the fan even goes on there. I'd get the Tornado either way though.

I hope you understand my logic in this upgrade.
 
Getting the Vantec will be your worst regret. Everytime i power on my computer I cringe. :(
 
yeah, i have no personal experience of how loud a tornado is, but i decided to just go with a panaflo ultra from here on the sale/trade forum, i should be able to live with 40dB
 
get a mobile barton. overclock it. chances are, it will beat the shit out of your 3200.

dump the extra 140 bucks you saved into something else, like booze and/or hookers.
 
Originally posted by Garage81
get a mobile barton. overclock it. chances are, it will beat the shit out of your 3200.

dump the extra 140 bucks you saved into something else, like booze and/or hookers.
Click to expand...
I already said I wasn't overclocking.
 
Originally posted by Paralysis
is the Athlon64 3200+ a better buy than the Barton 3200+? I don't really see a difference in getting the 64 unless I had a lot of 64-bit applications. Would there be any kind of speed boost to the 32-bit applications due to having twice as much L2 cache? I do want the DFI Lanparty MB though. So the Barton was more my choice.
Click to expand...
Even the A64 3000+ would be a better buy than the XP3200.

A64 has:

1 - On-chip memory controller

2 - HT (hyper transport) bus to the north bridge (if I'm not mistaken)

3 - SSE2 instructions
 
Originally posted by Paralysis
I had 2 quick questions on some parts I will be buying this week.

For my video card I have decided that Sapphire is the brand I want to go with (no changing my mind there!). Should I go with the 9600XT 256MB DDR or 9800Pro 256MB DDR2? I'm leaning more towards the 9600XT due to the clock running 120MHz faster. Although the memory speed is 80 MHz less. And not DDR2. But, will DDR2 really make that much of a difference?

Also, is the Athlon64 3200+ a better buy than the Barton 3200+? I don't really see a difference in getting the 64 unless I had a lot of 64-bit applications. Would there be any kind of speed boost to the 32-bit applications due to having twice as much L2 cache? I do want the DFI Lanparty MB though. So the Barton was more my choice.

This is an entirely new system I'm building other than my sig. I know this is a lot to ask, but any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
for ur vid card, the 9600 has a faster clock but it does have LESS pipelines. i think the 9600 has 4 and the 9800 has 8
 
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