Need some system suggestions

SonyGuy · 06-04-2002, 04:11 PM

Hey guys,
I want to start upgrading my system. Here are my specs right now-

800Mhz Celeron
Asus Motherboard(Cheap low end board)
384MB of PC133 RAM
20GB Quantum Fireball 7200 RPM
24MB built in NVidia TNT
8X/40X DVD drive
Creative 56K modem
10/100 Ethernet card
Creative SB Live!
Altec Lansing ADA885 Speakers
300W Power Supply
Windows XP Pro

This computer is running too slow for me...

Any suggestions for a motherboard that supports a fast P4 processor and high speed DDR memory? I want to go with an 8mb buffer WD drive and a 72x cd drive. I'm not sure on the video card, but I want either a ti4400 or ti4600(So many brands, Gainward, Visiontek, Siluro, etc...?). The rest of the stuff I want to keep unless I need a better power supply. Also, how will I need to deal with XP when I am swapping all of these parts out? Especially the hard drive. I have heard it doesn't really like too many components to be swapped or you have to go through registration again. Can anyone provide some more details on this? Thanks.

NuTs62 · 06-04-2002, 06:20 PM

Not sure if this is in the correct forum but anyways.

If your DVD drive suits you fine, dont change it. Buying just a CD-ROM is a waste of money IMO. At first I was like oooo ahhhh 72X.. but big deal. I'd rather spend my money on a nice CD-RW, DVD-R or DVD-ROM.

If you're really running out of space, get the extra HD, and add it as a secondary, keep your Quantum as a primary for your OS. As for the others, I don't really have an opinion on it.

Xrevision · 06-04-2002, 07:10 PM

hey is your celeron socket 370? cuz im running on a 533 celeron =( and if you upgrade i might be interested in it. Oh yea if you want a really fast computer get an 850 chipset motherboard with support for 533 mhz bus. Get a p4 @ 2.53 ghz and overclock it to something you can cool. Make sure to get the new RD 1066 ram, faster than 400 mhz which is what good 333 ddr ram runs at.

PoloM1 · 06-04-2002, 08:22 PM

Hey SonyGuy, what are you doing with you computer that you think it's running too slow? Looking at your current system specs, it doesn't seem like you're much of a gamer. I'm just wondering because I don't really see too much of a reason you need to upgrade, maybe you should just reformat the hard drive..... it's amazing how much faster a newly formatted computer can be. Just a thought.

Ladogaboy · 06-04-2002, 10:04 PM

Well, what is your budget? Judging by some of the parts you've listed, you can upgraded to a pretty high-end system.

If I were you ON A BUDGET:

P4 1.6A and Ti4200

If I were you with no budget:

P4 2.4+, RDram, Ti4600, etc, etc...

SonyGuy · 06-05-2002, 10:42 PM

Hey guys,
Recently I have been running Unreal Tournament. Not very high-end but I can see some flaws in the performance. I like to Play Diablo 2 a lot and tried installing Pool of Radiance. It ran like crap so I took it off. Kept skipping around the screen rather than scrolling. I optimize my hard drive frequently with Speed Disk and run various utilities to try and keep the computer in shape. My video card sucks and since it's built in and takes place of an AGP port, I wouldn't want to try and upgrade by going with PCI... So getting a new motherboard is the only fix for that as far as I'm concerned. Might as well get a new processor while I'm at it and so forth. I've got about a $1000 budget.

Quote:

hey is your celeron socket 370? cuz im running on a 533 celeron =( and if you upgrade i might be interested in it.

I'm not quite sure which socket it is. How can I find out? If I upgrade then I'll let you know about it though.

SonyGuy · 06-05-2002, 10:50 PM

btw, Ladoga. You mentioned RDram. I looked and saw there were pc600 and pc800 types which I assume stood for 600Mhz and 800Mhz memory speeds. If that's so than they are significantly faster than DDR memory? What kinds of motherboards are there that would support ram like that?

Ladogaboy · 06-06-2002, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SonyGuy
btw, Ladoga. You mentioned RDram. I looked and saw there were pc600 and pc800 types which I assume stood for 600Mhz and 800Mhz memory speeds. If that's so than they are significantly faster than DDR memory? What kinds of motherboards are there that would support ram like that?

RDram is something that Intel has been pushing. Xrevision also mentioned it in his post. I honestly don't know that much about RDram other than that it has a better memory bandwidth than DDR ram, but in every review I've seen, it doesn't outperform DDR ram in real world benchmarks.

In order to look at RDram, you'll have to be going with an Intel system, and probably a P4 system at that. I know they made RDram boards for earlier processors, buy my friends who experimented with those boards ended up RMAing most of them. Also, I don't know if you plan on OCing, but I'm not sure how RDram reacts to overclocking.

I personally know more about AMD systems, but the reason I mentioned the 1.6a P4 is because it seems to be the best bang for the buck right now. It is easily overclockable to 2.4 GHz+, but I think that is on DDR boards.

Oh, and you still haven't mentioned whether or not you are on a budget.

SonyGuy · 06-06-2002, 10:35 AM

Quote:

I've got about a $1000 budget.

Thanks Ladoga. I think I'd go with a DDR based board then. I'll check on the 1.6a too. I may not get this stuff until I reach CA and that won't be 'til early July, but I figured I would start researching now and find as much as I can.

Ladogaboy · 06-06-2002, 10:39 AM

Oh, hehe, sorry, I didn't see that. Well, $1,000 should go a long way... And by July, a lot of things might have changed. Plus, the next AMD processors should be coming out by next week.

SonyGuy · 06-06-2002, 11:14 AM

I checked on the 1.6a Pentium 4 Northwood. Looks like a nice processor. Which processor is coming out next week from AMD?

sbp · 06-06-2002, 01:06 PM

Intel has been moving away from RDRAM.

On June 10th, AMD is releasing the Athlon XP 2200+ which uses the thoroughbred core. 0.13 micron Athlon XP's {thoroughbred core} use less voltage and run cooler than the current 0.18 micron AthlonXP's {Palomino core}.

shogan191 · 06-06-2002, 04:27 PM

June 10th or not, it might be a while before we see any of those chips. The first ones will go to the oem's. Even with that the chip will not be as fast as the 2.4 or 2.53 intel. Hope it's close though. I've got a 2000+ XP but the intel's oc'd to 3 gig are looking pretty good. Should be an interesting summer.

cross56 · 06-06-2002, 10:29 PM

I would go with the AMD 2100+. I don't know how people can say that Intel 2.53 beat the 2100+. I mean with a 800mhz advantage how do you consider that Intel beat the AMD? Check SharkyExtreme and read the 2.53 review. Yeah the Intel did pretty good. But with an 800mhz advantage, you would think that Intel would some day get things right even though it takes an 800mhz for Intel to actually beat the 2100+. Not only that but on Pricewatch the Intel 2.53 is going for 530 dollars and the AMD can be had for 177 dollars. So hows that for bang for the buck. Not to mention Intels history. Every time they come out with something faster in the way of a cpu, you have to go buy a new mother board. Can you imagine what the 1066 rdram is going to cost for the 2.53 cpu and chipset. But don't forget the Rdram has to be put in in pairs. One thing to consider for the Intel P4 is overclocking. The P4 has been overclocking pretty well. I must say, who doesn't like the idea of buying a 1.6 P4 and getting 2.0 and 2.2 with it. Bottom line- if you want your money's worth don't bother with the Intel, way over priced cpu and exspensive RDram which can only be placed in pairs.
But if you got to have the fastest out and have very very deep pockets lot toward the Intel P4 2.53 850E chipset when it is out for consumers. Just my 2 cents worth.

Ladogaboy · 06-06-2002, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cross56
I would go with the AMD 2100+. I don't know how people can say that Intel 2.53 beat the 2100+. I mean with a 800mhz advantage how do you consider that Intel beat the AMD? Check SharkyExtreme and read the 2.53 review. Yeah the Intel did pretty good. But with an 800mhz advantage, you would think that Intel would some day get things right even though it takes an 800mhz for Intel to actually beat the 2100+. Not only that but on Pricewatch the Intel 2.53 is going for 530 dollars and the AMD can be had for 177 dollars. So hows that for bang for the buck. Not to mention Intels history. Every time they come out with something faster in the way of a cpu, you have to go buy a new mother board. Can you imagine what the 1066 rdram is going to cost for the 2.53 cpu and chipset. But don't forget the Rdram has to be put in in pairs. One thing to consider for the Intel P4 is overclocking. The P4 has been overclocking pretty well. I must say, who doesn't like the idea of buying a 1.6 P4 and getting 2.0 and 2.2 with it. Bottom line- if you want your money's worth don't bother with the Intel, way over priced cpu and exspensive RDram which can only be placed in pairs.
But if you got to have the fastest out and have very very deep pockets lot toward the Intel P4 2.53 850E chipset when it is out for consumers. Just my 2 cents worth.

Well, you are right about the XP 2100 being the best bang for the buck if you don't feel like overclocking. However, if you do feel like overclocking, I think the 1.6a is a much better deal.

Also, don't forget that there are P4 boards that use DDR instead of RDram...

SonyGuy · 06-07-2002, 12:50 AM

Yeah, the 1.6a is looking good to me right now. I love AMD's though. Just somethin' about them. Maybe it's the fact that they don't have to brag too much about their speed. Anyways, I got a Logitech Cordless USB mouse today! The sensor for the mouse plugs into the USB port. It's a really nice mouse and I'm happy with it. Also bought a nice pair of wireless headphones for the computer which will also work with the DVD player hooked to the TV. And a 24x/12x/40x CD burner. I have been needing a new one ever since I had to part with my Plextor drive. Man I loved that thing

It's always a great feeling when you put some good parts in your computer isn't it?

shogan191 · 06-07-2002, 06:22 AM

cross56 I agree with you completely but the bang for the buck situation is getting closer and closer with the intel 1.6 oc situation. Would like to see AMD pull from a nose behind to a neck up. Winning the race is the important thing not how much you pay for the horse. I think they would agree that they are in the race. The competition has sure been good for us little guys.

Sonyguy I'm not sure what their next processor is going to be or when it is going to get here. Every time I read an artical I get different info. Right now I'm just waiting to see what comes out. There are certainly enough motherboards to choose from though. I think sometime next week is the soonest date I've seen and that was for a 2200+. All the hype has sure got me excited.

06-04-2002, 04:11 PM	#1
SonyGuy Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: NC Posts: 903	Need some system suggestions Hey guys, I want to start upgrading my system. Here are my specs right now- 800Mhz Celeron Asus Motherboard(Cheap low end board) 384MB of PC133 RAM 20GB Quantum Fireball 7200 RPM 24MB built in NVidia TNT 8X/40X DVD drive Creative 56K modem 10/100 Ethernet card Creative SB Live! Altec Lansing ADA885 Speakers 300W Power Supply Windows XP Pro This computer is running too slow for me... Any suggestions for a motherboard that supports a fast P4 processor and high speed DDR memory? I want to go with an 8mb buffer WD drive and a 72x cd drive. I'm not sure on the video card, but I want either a ti4400 or ti4600(So many brands, Gainward, Visiontek, Siluro, etc...?). The rest of the stuff I want to keep unless I need a better power supply. Also, how will I need to deal with XP when I am swapping all of these parts out? Especially the hard drive. I have heard it doesn't really like too many components to be swapped or you have to go through registration again. Can anyone provide some more details on this? Thanks. Last edited by SonyGuy : 06-04-2002 at 04:13 PM.

06-04-2002, 07:10 PM	#3
Xrevision Ensign Join Date: Nov 2001 Posts: 22	hey is your celeron socket 370? cuz im running on a 533 celeron =( and if you upgrade i might be interested in it. Oh yea if you want a really fast computer get an 850 chipset motherboard with support for 533 mhz bus. Get a p4 @ 2.53 ghz and overclock it to something you can cool. Make sure to get the new RD 1066 ram, faster than 400 mhz which is what good 333 ddr ram runs at. Last edited by Xrevision : 06-04-2002 at 07:13 PM.

06-04-2002, 10:04 PM	#5
Ladogaboy Admiral Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Hiding amongst the minnows Posts: 6,843	Well, what is your budget? Judging by some of the parts you've listed, you can upgraded to a pretty high-end system. If I were you ON A BUDGET: P4 1.6A and Ti4200 If I were you with no budget: P4 2.4+, RDram, Ti4600, etc, etc... __________________ It is not enough to merely touch the face of god; you also must open your eyes so that you may see your palm.

06-06-2002, 04:27 PM	#13
shogan191 Plebe Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: S.W. Florida Posts: 3	June 10th or not, it might be a while before we see any of those chips. The first ones will go to the oem's. Even with that the chip will not be as fast as the 2.4 or 2.53 intel. Hope it's close though. I've got a 2000+ XP but the intel's oc'd to 3 gig are looking pretty good. Should be an interesting summer. __________________

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06-04-2002, 06:20 PM	#2
NuTs62 Vice Admiral Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: San Francisco Posts: 4,763	Not sure if this is in the correct forum but anyways. If your DVD drive suits you fine, dont change it. Buying just a CD-ROM is a waste of money IMO. At first I was like oooo ahhhh 72X.. but big deal. I'd rather spend my money on a nice CD-RW, DVD-R or DVD-ROM. If you're really running out of space, get the extra HD, and add it as a secondary, keep your Quantum as a primary for your OS. As for the others, I don't really have an opinion on it.

06-04-2002, 08:22 PM	#4
PoloM1 Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: With your mom Posts: 125	Hey SonyGuy, what are you doing with you computer that you think it's running too slow? Looking at your current system specs, it doesn't seem like you're much of a gamer. I'm just wondering because I don't really see too much of a reason you need to upgrade, maybe you should just reformat the hard drive..... it's amazing how much faster a newly formatted computer can be. Just a thought.

06-05-2002, 10:50 PM	#7
SonyGuy Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: NC Posts: 903	btw, Ladoga. You mentioned RDram. I looked and saw there were pc600 and pc800 types which I assume stood for 600Mhz and 800Mhz memory speeds. If that's so than they are significantly faster than DDR memory? What kinds of motherboards are there that would support ram like that?

06-06-2002, 10:39 AM	#10
Ladogaboy Admiral Join Date: Jan 2000 Location: Hiding amongst the minnows Posts: 6,843	Oh, hehe, sorry, I didn't see that. Well, $1,000 should go a long way... And by July, a lot of things might have changed. Plus, the next AMD processors should be coming out by next week.

06-06-2002, 11:14 AM	#11
SonyGuy Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: NC Posts: 903	I checked on the 1.6a Pentium 4 Northwood. Looks like a nice processor. Which processor is coming out next week from AMD?

06-06-2002, 01:06 PM	#12
sbp Chief of Naval Operations Join Date: Dec 1999 Posts: 11,037	Intel has been moving away from RDRAM. On June 10th, AMD is releasing the Athlon XP 2200+ which uses the thoroughbred core. 0.13 micron Athlon XP's {thoroughbred core} use less voltage and run cooler than the current 0.18 micron AthlonXP's {Palomino core}.

06-06-2002, 10:29 PM	#14
cross56 Lieutenant Junior Grade Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Hamilton, Michigan Posts: 88	I would go with the AMD 2100+. I don't know how people can say that Intel 2.53 beat the 2100+. I mean with a 800mhz advantage how do you consider that Intel beat the AMD? Check SharkyExtreme and read the 2.53 review. Yeah the Intel did pretty good. But with an 800mhz advantage, you would think that Intel would some day get things right even though it takes an 800mhz for Intel to actually beat the 2100+. Not only that but on Pricewatch the Intel 2.53 is going for 530 dollars and the AMD can be had for 177 dollars. So hows that for bang for the buck. Not to mention Intels history. Every time they come out with something faster in the way of a cpu, you have to go buy a new mother board. Can you imagine what the 1066 rdram is going to cost for the 2.53 cpu and chipset. But don't forget the Rdram has to be put in in pairs. One thing to consider for the Intel P4 is overclocking. The P4 has been overclocking pretty well. I must say, who doesn't like the idea of buying a 1.6 P4 and getting 2.0 and 2.2 with it. Bottom line- if you want your money's worth don't bother with the Intel, way over priced cpu and exspensive RDram which can only be placed in pairs. But if you got to have the fastest out and have very very deep pockets lot toward the Intel P4 2.53 850E chipset when it is out for consumers. Just my 2 cents worth.

06-07-2002, 12:50 AM	#16
SonyGuy Lieutenant Commander Join Date: Nov 2000 Location: NC Posts: 903	Yeah, the 1.6a is looking good to me right now. I love AMD's though. Just somethin' about them. Maybe it's the fact that they don't have to brag too much about their speed. Anyways, I got a Logitech Cordless USB mouse today! The sensor for the mouse plugs into the USB port. It's a really nice mouse and I'm happy with it. Also bought a nice pair of wireless headphones for the computer which will also work with the DVD player hooked to the TV. And a 24x/12x/40x CD burner. I have been needing a new one ever since I had to part with my Plextor drive. Man I loved that thing It's always a great feeling when you put some good parts in your computer isn't it?

06-07-2002, 06:22 AM	#17
shogan191 Plebe Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: S.W. Florida Posts: 3	cross56 I agree with you completely but the bang for the buck situation is getting closer and closer with the intel 1.6 oc situation. Would like to see AMD pull from a nose behind to a neck up. Winning the race is the important thing not how much you pay for the horse. I think they would agree that they are in the race. The competition has sure been good for us little guys. Sonyguy I'm not sure what their next processor is going to be or when it is going to get here. Every time I read an artical I get different info. Right now I'm just waiting to see what comes out. There are certainly enough motherboards to choose from though. I think sometime next week is the soonest date I've seen and that was for a 2200+. All the hype has sure got me excited.

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