OT: Help buying a new computer

[Renegade 13]

Hows this look for the specs for a new computer:

- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor
- 1 GB RAM
- 3.5" Floppy Drive
- 60-80 GB Hard Drive
- GeForce 6600 128 MB video card
- DVD-RW
- Mouse & Keyboard
- 17" CRT Monitor
- Windows XP Home

[Captain Kwok]

I'd go for the WinXP Pro if possible. It's only a few bucks more.

[NullAshton]

Go for a faster computer, too. Better to get the processing speed now, while you can. Most people just get a new computer rather than just a new processor.

[Will]

NullAshton said:
Go for a faster computer, too. Better to get the processing speed now, while you can. Most people just get a new computer rather than just a new processor.

Ummm... did you see the processor he picked? Sure, the 3200+ isn't the fastest Athlon64 out there (IIRC, it's the 4000+ right now), but that small step up isn't worth the $300 or so more you're gonna pay for it.

For your memory, be sure to get DDR 400 Dual Channel. Your board supports it, might as well use it.

Also, be sure that the video card is a PCI express card. Your board has no AGP slot, and video cards are usually of the AGP variety.

And, finally, you need to get a non-standard powersupply, with a 24-pin mobo power connector. Most come with a 20-pin and a P4 4 pin.

And I would reconsider the XP Home choice. It'll make things easier on you.

Overall, looks like a nice upgradable system. You have the on-board 8-channel sound, so you won't need a seperate sound card unless you want a really, really nice one. 4x SATA will let you set up a good reliable 0+1 RAID in the future (you'll probably want to go full tower for that though )

[Atrocities]

Tell me is this a good CPU? LINK?

Whats the differance between a Athlon 64 3200 939pin RevE CPU and a Athlon 64 3200+ 939pin

Is this a good MB?

Or is this Intel CPU better?

And is this a good price on XP-Pro?

is this a good case or how about this one? What about this one?

[Thermodyne]

Atrocities said:
Tell me is this a good CPU? LINK?

Whats the differance between a Athlon 64 3200 939pin RevE CPU and a Athlon 64 3200+ 939pin

Is this a good MB?

Or is this Intel CPU better?

And is this a good price on XP-Pro?

is this a good case or how about this one? What about this one?

1) Yes but that price is high.

2} I quote Pkoronix: "A few months ago, AMD refined their Socket 939 line of processors with the E3 and E4 revisions, codenamed Venice and San Diego, respectively, to replace the D0 Winchester. The Venice and San Diego features the improved memory controller, and most notably, AMD doubled the amount of L2 Cache for the San Diego compared to its Venice counterpart. The San Diego immediately attracted large attention among the enthusiast crowd for its enormous L2 cache; in fact, the Athlon 64 FX-57 is based upon the San Diego. While the San Diego looks great on paper, premium performance also comes at a premium price, and the cheapest San Diego, the 3700+ at 2.2GHz, runs around $330, while a Venice 3500+ running at the same clock speed is $275, and the cheaper versions of Venice 3200+ or 3000+ often overclock easily to 2.6GHz and beyond. Is the price premium justified? Does the extra 1MB L2 Cache help that much in real world performance? Just how well do these two cores compare clock-for-clock? In this review we will be running two of these CPUs at 2.0, 2.2, and 2.6GHz to see the performance difference between the two AMD cores."

3} Nope.

4} About $5-10 too much.

5} They are all ok, for a show-off case, I like this one
Kandolf

For a more reasonable case I like these
Lian Li

[Fyron]

Atrocities said:
is this a good case or how about this one? What about this one?

Personally, I think the second two look like crap. I like a more austere design, without all of the fancy baubles and shiney lights and side windows. I think Alienware, for example, makes some of the worst looking cases. But that's just me. The first one isn't bad, if you get rid of the lighted fans, but is definitely overpriced if that is just for the case. Go for cases that have sliding drive bay mounts, rather than just screws. They make life a lot easier.

I especially dislike cases that look like that Kandolf one... But again, its all personal taste and style.

If you are spending more than 60 or 70 dollars on just a case (including the fans that take a few cents to manufacture), I'd say you are buying the wrong merchandise, from the wrong places...

[Thermodyne]

Imperator Fyron said:

Personally, I think the second two look like crap. I like a more austere design, without all of the fancy baubles and shiney lights and side windows. I think Alienware, for example, makes some of the worst looking cases. But that's just me. The first one isn't bad, if you get rid of the lighted fans, but is definitely overpriced if that is just for the case. Go for cases that have sliding drive bay mounts, rather than just screws. They make life a lot easier.

I especially dislike cases that look like that Kandolf one... But again, its all personal taste and style.

If you are spending more than 60 or 70 dollars on just a case (including the fans that take a few cents to manufacture), I'd say you are buying the wrong merchandise, from the wrong places...

LOL, you can't run them this hard in a $50 case.
Sandra CPU

[parabolize]

- AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor
- 1 GB RAM
- 3.5" Floppy Drive
- 60-80 GB Hard Drive (what model)
- GeForce 6600 128 MB video card (try uping it to GT or save some $ and get a 6200)
- DVD-RW (what model)
- Mouse & Keyboard
- 17" CRT Monitor
- Windows XP Home (eww!)
Whats your motherboard?

[Argitoth]

don't screw yourself over by getting a motherboard *without* pci express x16. get a 939 socket motherboard. by the way, SLI was invented to make people buy more nvidia cards. For the money you'd pay the advantage is outrageously priced.