comments on two systems

Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
M

merk

Distinguished
Nov 5, 2001
189
0
18,690
going to be upgrading...basically replacing, my current system. new case, mobo, cpu and memory. I put together an athlon system and pentium system with newegg. Just wondering if anyone has any comments on the two systems. Right now i'm leaning with the intel system. And i havent decided if i'll go with a 2.4 or 2.6ghz cpu. here's the two systems:

<A HREF="http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=316481" target="_new">P4 </A>

<A HREF="http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=316546" target="_new">Athlon </A>
 
I'm a cost savings kinda guy, so I would get rid of the remote control car with the P4 setup and save the $12. :)

On a serious note, I'd probably do a little price shopping some more. I usually start at pricewatch.com and go from there.

Some comments about each setup.

Case - Both setups have the same case. I recently put together a new system myself and got a bit better PS for less money. $33.65 10-Bay Black ATX Window Case w/400W Power Supply. (computergeeks.com) Sure it's not an aluminum case, but I haven't heard an argument that states the aluminum case is any better.

Memory
Intel Side
Kingston is a well known ram mfg, not terribly bad on price, but I have seen the same (not Kingston) for $29 plus shipping. Depends on how many places you want to piece together from and if the cost savings is worth it. Since Kingston is so well known, that isn't a bad price at all.

AMD Side
I'd stick with the Kingston. :)

Motherboard
Intel Side
A near perfect choice. One thing high on my personal priority list is RAID-1 (Mirror) I am a poor backer upper, so since the technology is there to let the system do my backup for me, I much prefer that. This motherboard at least what I read at your linked page says it'll do Raid-0 but doesn't mention Raid-1. Sounds like there's only the two IDE channels, which I prefer the 4 channel, two raid and two non-raid. Again, refering to the system I just put together, this is the first time in my life that I have 5 IDE devices setup in a PC and all working and still have 3 open 2 RAID and 1 non-raid. BTW-I only paid $29 plus shipping for that board, but it is also socket 423 and RDRAM. 🙁 If you can afford the more expensive boards, I've seen good raid boards for around $160.

AMD Side:
Only thing I can say about the AMD setup is no RAID, but other than that, the factor is right on target.

CPU
It's really tit for tat there. I am no longer partial toward either company, and they both seem to be comparable, the AMD is a bit cheaper (as AMD's always have been)

I see nothing on other devices, so I'll just comment that I am partial toward Western Digital on hard drives, just because they've proven to have better than average customer service. I would also put in at least ATA-100 drives if you do decide to go raid. The most common Integrated raid controllers can't handle anything below that. Well, at least the one I got on my board anyhow.

If your interested in seeing the setup I just purchased you can <a href="http://forumz.tomshardware.com/community/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&p=31440#31440" target="_new">read it here.</A>

I'm not sure that the html is going to work right, it doesn't on the preview, so you'll may have to find it in the Poll section under opinions and experiences (I think.)



Take Care,
RJ
 
I was wrong, it's under Other then Polls. But in any case, I see the html didn't work right, something else I'll have to figure out.

<BR><A HREF="http://www.iportalexpress.com">Testing.</A>

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
very basic, should work but doesn't, maybe it's a setting or option I don't have turned on.


Take Care,
RJ
 
fyi, html is disabled which is why it didnt work. You have to use the special forum tags.

anyhow, i bought the P4 system 3 weeks ago or so. So far its working well. I actually wanted that particular case, not just for the aluminum, but i liked the way it looked at $56 for a case with PS isnt bad.

I dont think i could have gotten a much lower price, unless i specifically looked for someplace outside of california, to avoid sales tax. The shipping was extremely cheap at $10. I went with the kington memory because i read some posts indicating some brands of ram possibly caused problems. So i picked one specifically listed by asus as compatible.

The asus board can support TEN devices :) it has the standard 2 ide controllers that will handle 2 devices each. It has a raid controller which can handle 4 drives (it can do both raid 0 and 1). And it has 2 SATA controllers which can each handle 1 device. Fortunately i dont have nearly that many devices. Just 3 HD's and 2 DVD drives.

As for ahtlon vs intel....the last reviews i saw said that the athlon3000 was in between the p2.4 and p2.6 for performance. So dollar for dollar, getting the p2.4 or p2.6 seemed like the better choice. Plus the intel runs cooler, so i dont have to worry about keeping the case inside my desk...it still remains nice and cool. The ahtlon1400 i had in there before would get a little warm.

And the amazing thing is i didnt even have to reinstall windows. I just did a repair install of my existing installation. Then i just had to re-download the security updates. Kept all my settings and installed programs intact.

Oh...and the RC car...come on...it was $12. I could drive it around the office and bug my friends with it, or let my ferrets go chasing after it :)
 
I'm curious, of the two systems, which one did you build?
I'd like to know about the noise level - I'm always looking for the quietest solutions. Noticed on the back of the case, the two fan exhaust outlets are somewhat restricted - did you cut them out fully? Why no firewire?

But Officer, I wasn't speeding - I was qualifying ...
 
i got the P4 system. Its not as quiet as i'd like. Seemed like it was quieter when i first got it, but maybe i just got used to the lower lvl of sound so now it seems just as loud again.

i'm not sure what you mean byfan outlets look restricted. They look fine to me. I havent installed any extra fans though. It never seems to get warm inside the case.
 
Just seems to me that the exhaust vents (series of holes) is some what restrictive vs a full cut out opening with a wire fan guard. A full cut out would allow more air flow with lower fan speeds (I think) and thus lower noise levels.
Seems those twin fans would have to spin pretty fast (noise) to push a lot of air out those small holes. Just my humble opinion. I was wondering why you didn't include a firewire connection?

But Officer, I wasn't speeding - I was qualifying ...
 
well the quietest fan is no fan at all :)

Most cases i've seen all that that same venting with the holes. However, i havent had any problems with heat with this setup. It seems to run pretty cool compared to the system i replaced it with. And thats pretty impressive since i have the case inside my desk so its in a semi-enclosed space (the back is open, sides, front and top is enclosed), and it still runs cool.

Its definitely quieter then my last system though because unfortunately the mobo in that new system seems to have died on me today. So i'm running the old machine and its definitely louder. So at least learned one way to really appreciate your new system. Use it for 2 weeks and then go back to the old one :)
 
maybe if you are doing some serious overclocking or loading the machine up with drives, but temp wise this setup has been fine. i dont even have fans at those back vents. Just ones it came with. front an side.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page

COMPANY
RESOURCES
FOLLOW
Top Bottom