Skadar

Can anyone give me any opinions on this potential system? I'm an advanced PC'er, but I'm inexperienced with overclocking. I'm also new to AMD... having been an exlusive Intel user for all these years.

Here are my potential major components:

Antec PLUS860
Gigabyte GA-7VRXP or MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU
(I'm not sure which is better)
AMD ATHLON XP 2000+
256M PC2700
Maxtor 40 or 60 gig 7200

Possible Pentium System:

Antec PLUS860
SOYO SY-P4S DRAGON ULTRA SiS645
P4 2.0Ghz
256M PC2700
Maxtor 40 or 60 gig 7200

Any comments? Thanks a bunch!
Skadar

spigidygak

I would also check out the soyo dragon plus and also look into getting a seagte drive.

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Cantacuzene

Definitly more RAM. I can't live on a computer with under 512. Also, you may not be a gamer, but what 3d card you getting might I ask?

xsiled2

dont buy this.

it is a waste of money.

equal sis 645 mobos are under $80.

if you want it because its red get the MSI.

Skadar

Cantacuzene:

Yeah, I'd definitely be gaming on this system. I already have a GeForce3 Ti200 in the mail. I figured it was probably the best bang for the buck right now.

With this new system, I have two main areas where I lack sufficient knowledge...

1) Whether or not I should go for an AMD solution, or a P4 solution.
2) Which motherboard to use with either route.

I guess it's just going to take a lot of research to answer those questions. Can anyone point me to any resources that might help answer these questions?

Thanks very much!
Skadar

Ladogaboy

IMO, go with the AMD, and as for which motherboard to get, I suggest getting one with a KT266a chipset. Other than that, just make sure to look through the features offered on the board, because some boards, like the Soyo DRAGON+, come with a lot of stuff built in.

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Cantacuzene

Ask 2 people about their preferenc eon and and pentium and get 3 answers, perhaps more.

On another note, I seriously think you should get the AMD and use the extra money to buy another 256 stick of ram. I think most people agree with me that 256 is not enough. I have 768 and sometimes I wish it was more.

THC

If you are buying your system today I would recommend getting an Intel system. If you can wait a little AMD will come out with a competitor to the Northwood line.
In addition, Intel will drop prices shortly:
http://www.theinquirer.net/04040215.htm
http://www.theinquirer.net/09040211.htm

Don't know if you meant that you were going to overclock or not, but the 1.8A overclocks pretty much to the same speeds as the 2.0A, thus saving you some money for an extra stick of RAM.

Also, if you go with Intel, I think Rambus is the way to go. It is about the same price as PC2700.

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“I'm an excellent driver"

Skadar

>>Intel will drop prices shortly:
>>http://www.theinquirer.net/04040215.htm
>>http://www.theinquirer.net/09040211.htm

What does this actually mean? If Intel is "dropping their prices" today, does that mean I can order a CPU today for less than I may have yesterday? How long typically do "dropped prices" filter into the marketplace?

Skadar

link626

for the price of a soyo mobo, you can get an abit th7ii raid board.
I'd take abit's board over soyo's any day.

xsiled2

get the msi 645 ultra if you want the p4, screw soyo, they are hella expensive for equal proformance.

THC

I think so :-))

I'm by no means an expert on this but I think retail prices follow the chip-manufacturers list price pretty quickly. I do know that sometimes retail prices even go down earlier than the actual "price drop" due to the anticipated future lower prices. That way retailers can clear their shelves before the new cheaper/faster stuff comes in.