building a new computer

Richard Thomas wrote:

Ok guys. You were invaluable in my last venture to build my present
computer 5 years ago but the time has come to build another. As I have
gotten a job and don't have time to stay up to date on motherboards,
video..etc. Please give me your recommendations on a sweet hombuilt
system. mobo...etc. What's hot now?
Thanks!


As someone else said, what are you wanting to do with it?
--

Stacey

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 12:27:34 GMT, "Richard Thomas"
wrote:

Sorry about the lack of information in my last post but here it goes. I
would like a computer that is quite good at games but not all out expensive.
Of course I would like a 3 Ghz screamer but don't think I have the cash for
that. Good video, 8xAGP would be nice. Don't need a RAID as it doesn't have
to be that fast but I may do some molecular modeling on this machine so it
needs to be fast enough to not get bogged down when calculating. The P3-450
I'm using is just barely able to function while calculating.
Sound is no big deal for me so an OB sound board would be sufficient.
Small amount of database work as well but what I would really want is a
solid stable system that will last about 5 years or so without becoming too
obsolete. (Til I put together another.)

Whats your Budget?



Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"There's a light at the end
of the tunnel" says the optimist.
"It's probably a train coming
stright at us" responds the pessimist.

Richard Thomas wrote:

Sorry about the lack of information in my last post but here it goes. I
would like a computer that is quite good at games but not all out expensive.
Of course I would like a 3 Ghz screamer but don't think I have the cash for
that. Good video, 8xAGP would be nice. Don't need a RAID as it doesn't have
to be that fast but I may do some molecular modeling on this machine so it
needs to be fast enough to not get bogged down when calculating. The P3-450
I'm using is just barely able to function while calculating.
Sound is no big deal for me so an OB sound board would be sufficient.
Small amount of database work as well but what I would really want is a
solid stable system that will last about 5 years or so without becoming too
obsolete. (Til I put together another.)


One of the Abits NF7 seires boards would do you or the Asus equivalent,
If you go for the lower models they are a good price and they do not
miss much off, they are 8xAGP.
Saying that, do you want an AMD or Intel CPU?
The boards above are AMD, as the AMd chips offer good value for money.
I suggest going for a 2500 Barton, it seems to do the job ok and can be
overclocked if you want.

I think a good Geforce 4 card would do you fine for the graphics, there
are loads of makes out there. I use a Xabre 400 Based card, the chip is
made by SiS, it may not be the fastest, but it was cheap and as long as
it can play the few odd games like Quake 3 that I play, then I do not
mind.

You also need new memory as well, because it is all DDR now.
As for prices, well, in the UK, the boards are from 70UKPOUNDS with the
top model Abit being 99UKPounds or cheaper. A 2500 bearton is around 80
UK pounds with heat sink and memory can be from 50 UKpounds and above
depending what sixze and speed you get.


The best thing is to look at the prices in your country.

Richard Thomas wrote:

Sorry about the lack of information in my last post but here it goes. I
would like a computer that is quite good at games but not all out expensive.
Of course I would like a 3 Ghz screamer but don't think I have the cash for
that. Good video, 8xAGP would be nice. Don't need a RAID as it doesn't have
to be that fast but I may do some molecular modeling on this machine so it
needs to be fast enough to not get bogged down when calculating. The P3-450
I'm using is just barely able to function while calculating.
Sound is no big deal for me so an OB sound board would be sufficient.
Small amount of database work as well but what I would really want is a
solid stable system that will last about 5 years or so without becoming too
obsolete. (Til I put together another.)


One of the Abits NF7 series boards would do you or the Asus equivalent,
If you go for the lower models they are a good price and they do not
miss much off, they are 8xAGP.
Saying that, do you want an AMD or Intel CPU?
The boards above are AMD, as the AMd chips offer good value for money.
I suggest going for a 2500 Barton, it seems to do the job ok and can be
overclocked if you want.

I think a good Geforce 4 card would do you fine for the graphics, there
are loads of makes out there. I use a Xabre 400 Based card, the chip is
made by SiS, it may not be the fastest, but it was cheap and as long as
it can play the few odd games like Quake 3 that I play, then I do not
mind.

You also need new memory as well, because it is all DDR now.
As for prices, well, in the UK, the boards are from 70UKPOUNDS with the
top model Abit being 99UKPounds or cheaper. A 2500 bearton is around 80
UK pounds with heat sink and memory can be from 50 UKpounds and above
depending what sixze and speed you get.


The best thing is to look at the prices in your country.

oh forgot a PSU to look at, the new seasonic is the most efficient PSU
currently available.

"Richard Thomas" wrote in message
...
Sorry about the lack of information in my last post but here it goes. I
would like a computer that is quite good at games but not all out
expensive.
Of course I would like a 3 Ghz screamer but don't think I have the cash
for
that. Good video, 8xAGP would be nice. Don't need a RAID as it doesn't
have
to be that fast but I may do some molecular modeling on this machine so it
needs to be fast enough to not get bogged down when calculating. The
P3-450
I'm using is just barely able to function while calculating.
Sound is no big deal for me so an OB sound board would be sufficient.
Small amount of database work as well but what I would really want is a
solid stable system that will last about 5 years or so without becoming
too
obsolete. (Til I put together another.)

$430 Motherboard Bundle - www.Mwave.com (stable)
Intel D865PERL Motherboard
Intel P4 2.4Ghz 800MHZ 512K Northwood Socket 478 CPU
Kingston 512 Meg DDR PC-3200 Memory

$60 Hard Drive - www.Ebay.com (quiet, Not available retail anymore)
Seagate Barracuda ATA IV 40GB ST340016A Hard Drive

$50 Video Card - www.Newegg.com (inexpensive)
Biostar GeForce 4 MX440se Fanless Video Card

$90 Compact Disc Read Write Drive - www.Newegg.com (solid)
Plextor Black PX-W4824TA 48x24x48 CD-RW

Reliable, quiet, expandable, flexible.

But not the system to get if your into overclocking and tweaking etc.

Christopher, AD C, Wooducoodu, Terry Wilson
Thanks for your input. Really appreciate your insights into parts and
prices. I have been doing some looking as well and, well, they pretty much
parallel what you have told me. Thanks for the recommendations and I'll look
into it.
You guys rock.
"Richard Thomas" wrote in message
...
Sorry about the lack of information in my last post but here it goes. I
would like a computer that is quite good at games but not all out
expensive.
Of course I would like a 3 Ghz screamer but don't think I have the cash
for
that. Good video, 8xAGP would be nice. Don't need a RAID as it doesn't
have
to be that fast but I may do some molecular modeling on this machine so it
needs to be fast enough to not get bogged down when calculating. The
P3-450
I'm using is just barely able to function while calculating.
Sound is no big deal for me so an OB sound board would be sufficient.
Small amount of database work as well but what I would really want is a
solid stable system that will last about 5 years or so without becoming
too
obsolete. (Til I put together another.)

"Richard Thomas" wrote in message
...
Ok guys. You were invaluable in my last venture to build my present
computer
5 years ago but the time has come to build another. As I have gotten a job
and don't have time to stay up to date on motherboards, video..etc. Please
give me your recommendations on a sweet hombuilt system. mobo...etc.
What's
hot now?
Thanks!

Asus Motherboard A7N8X Deluxe Retail $129
AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB $99 (overclocks)
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM $102
Buffalo Technology 512MB 6 Layer PC3200 $89x2
ATI RADEON 9500 PRO 128MB DDR DVI AGP RETAIL $205

Seems to be what everyone is buying at newegg

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 01:44:23 GMT, "rAD" wrote:


"Richard Thomas" wrote in message
. ..
Ok guys. You were invaluable in my last venture to build my present
computer
5 years ago but the time has come to build another. As I have gotten a job
and don't have time to stay up to date on motherboards, video..etc. Please
give me your recommendations on a sweet hombuilt system. mobo...etc.
What's
hot now?
Thanks!

Asus Motherboard A7N8X Deluxe Retail $129

You might think about whether you really need the Deluxe version.

AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB $99 (overclocks)
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 120GB 7200RPM $102
Buffalo Technology 512MB 6 Layer PC3200 $89x2
ATI RADEON 9500 PRO 128MB DDR DVI AGP RETAIL $205

Here I disagree. Get the 9600pro instead. Or FX5600ultra.
Haven't tried either, myself sofar, but they support DX9.


ancra

On Mon, 04 Aug 2003 02:46:05 GMT, "Richard Thomas"
wrote:

Ok guys. You were invaluable in my last venture to build my present computer
5 years ago but the time has come to build another. As I have gotten a job
and don't have time to stay up to date on motherboards, video..etc. Please
give me your recommendations on a sweet hombuilt system. mobo...etc. What's
hot now?
Thanks!

Whats your budget?



Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"There's a light at the end
of the tunnel" says the optimist.
"It's probably a train coming
stright at us" responds the pessimist.

-
Ancra stood up at show-n-tell, in , and
said:

On Wed, 6 Aug 2003 07:30:29 -0500, "Strontium"
wrote:

-
Ancra stood up at show-n-tell, in
, and said:

On Wed, 06 Aug 2003 01:44:23 GMT, "rAD" wrote:

ATI RADEON 9500 PRO 128MB DDR DVI AGP RETAIL $205

Here I disagree. Get the 9600pro instead. Or FX5600ultra.
Haven't tried either, myself sofar, but they support DX9.


HERE, I'LL DISAGREE! The 9600 PRO has only 4 pipes, period. The
9500 PRO has all 8 pipes, with four disabled. They can be enabled
through a hack. The 9500 non PRO has all 8 pipes enabled, by
default, but uses the 128 bit interface. The 9500 PRO uses 256 bit
interface. The 9600 series of cards is a joke. It should have been
called 9400, for all intents, an purposes. The 9500 PRO whips the
**** out of the 9600 cards.

Do your homework before you suggest a hardware purchase that is in
the $200 USD price range.

Don't gloat so much, it's unbecoming. But in one respect you're right.
I ignorantly assumed the 9500 didn't fully support DX9. Don't I feel
silly now. ;-)
And it takes a lot out of my argument. Thankyou for questioning it.
Still:

? It's the 9500 that has four disabled pipes. The 9500pro has all 8
enabled.
And all 9500 gets by with the 128 bit interface.
??? ...or I'm totally confused?

Well, to confess, I'm a bit confused myself. But, the impression I have is
that in real-world performance, the 9500pro is a better deal than the
9600pro. Buddy had the 9600pro (ATI version), for 2 days. He returned it,
and put his 9500pro back in.


9600pro memorybandwidth is 9.6 GB/s
9500pro memorybandwidth is 8.8 GB/s
9600 has a more complex GPU with more than 40% more transistors per
pipeline. And it runs at 400MHz rather than 275MHz of the 9500. So
despite its 8 pipes, the 9500pro doesn't "whips the **** out of the
9600 cards". It only marginally outperforms the 9600pro. ...On old
Direct3D games.

Old? Most games I'm playing, atm, are D3D. Have yet to see a truly DX9
game, either.


While I must confess I don't know anything, I have a strong suspicion
that the 9600 does some DX9 stuff faster than the 9500.
On some newer D3D games, check the 'Splinter Cell' HiQ benchmarks, and
on OpenGL, the 9600pro outperforms the 9500pro. Some indications of
better intelligence.

I can't dispute this. As I haven't played an OpenGL game since 1999! The
term 'old' springs to mind?



If you can get a 9500 and truly succeed in hacking it to a 9500pro,
then that should be good deal. But finally, you can get the 9600pro
for $150. and the 9600 for $125. I haven't seen the 9500pro for under
$200.

The ATI version of the 9600pro is selling for about $200, here locally.
I've not even priced (another confession) the 9500pro as noone seems to have
been stocking them, when I had the cash to buy a card. Hell, noone was
stocking the 9700 pro/nonpro, either. I had to buy online. My knowledge of
the 9500pro comes from a buddy that owns one. Which is why I went straight
for the 9700 non pro @ $200 (pricewatch.com). More bang/buck. However, the
flakiness of the 3rd party vendor's PCB is leaving a sour taste in my mouth.
Next time, I'm gonna bite the bullet and shell out the extra cash.


On basis of current benchmarks, I have to give up my original stand.
The 9500pro at $205 doesn't look worse than the 9600pro at $178.
I'd still buy the 9600pro though.

To OP, get a 9700 NON PRO. Your money will be well-spent. And, not
much price difference.

Another good point. (But I trust the 9600/9800 OpenGL better,.. and
Nvidia even better, I suppose.)

Again, "what is OpenGL"? g



ancra

--
Strontium

"It's no surprise, to me. I am my own worst enemy. 'Cause every
now, and then, I kick the livin' **** `outta me." - Lit