Extension Cables

[jnichols]

Im going to be using a Radeon X800 XT Plat.Ed in my new
system, but I need to use an extra 10ft monitor cable extension to hook the X800 XT Plat card to my 4yr old Viewsonic P21" monitor, will there be any issues with picture quality or FPS? Whats the pros and cons on the issue?

 

[TheRod]

Longer cable will probably add sume "bluriness" or ghost noise to your display. It will be evident at high-res and/or high refresh rate. So, it's not the best idea.

There is actually no pros... Why do you need to put your moniter far from your computer?

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What's the <b><font color=green>AMD Mobile Athlon 64</font color=green></b> overclocking potential? <b>It's huge!</b> Humm... Maybe not that huge...

 

[jnichols]

Thanks "TheRod".

My new system is using a Chenbro-RM311 Rackmount case installed under a large built-in desk.

http://www.gnd.com/rm311.htm

I plan on adding extra WD-raptor 10K drives so I wanted a chassis design that would also give the the extra cooling Ill need.

Image quality is paramount to me, so I guess Ill have to re-think the whole case issue and go to a tower unit that I can sit right next to the monitor.
Thanks for your comments!

 

[TheRod]

Wow! What a Mammouth case you want to have. Is there any reason you buy this kind of case. It's usually not necessary for home users?

By the way, most monitors come with a 6 foot long cable, it might be enough to reach your case?



--
What's the <b><font color=green>AMD Mobile Athlon 64</font color=green></b> overclocking potential? <b>It's huge!</b> Humm... Maybe not that huge...

 

[jnichols]

Thanks for asking...
Actually I chose this case because of several reasons.
1. Ease of use. All I have to do is pull on it and it slides out , locks in place and everthing's wide open to work on or replace/upgrade.
2. Cooling. Ill be using a P4-3.4EE processor, a gig or two of highest possible speed memory, 4 or more WD-raptor drives, X800 XT Plat, Audigy 2zs card, a DVDRW, a DVD drive and a much larger "redundant" 550+watt power supplies. All of which require more cooling. The larger "metal" case, extra fans and the design of this case are perfect for cooling.
3. I wanted to put the case somewhere out of the way so all I have in front of me was the monitor and wireless keybd/mouse. I figured a rackmount case can be bolted under the desk with about a 5.5" x19" footprint, instead of sitting a large tower case on the floor to bang my knee's into. Ouch!

You're right, the monitor does have a built-in 6' cord. But to reach the rackmount case AND be able to slide it out will require another 6-10ft of cable.

I don't suppose they make any kind of signal booster that would do the job huh?

I appreciate your interest, TheRod.
Thanks!

 

[TheRod]

Cooling. Ill be using a P4-3.4EE processor, a gig or two of highest possible speed memory, 4 or more WD-raptor drives, X800 XT Plat, Audigy 2zs card, a DVDRW, a DVD drive and a much larger "redundant" 550+watt power supplies. All of which require more cooling. The larger "metal" case, extra fans and the design of this case are perfect for cooling.

I see that you have money to burn! Are you sure you want the P4EE, which is quite expensive and don't offer much than classic P4C/E. And you can get an Athlon FX-53 for lot less money!

But, from what I read, money is no abject and you want an Intel system. Because P4EE buyer's are only avid Intel fans, becaue everone knows they offer the worst price/performance ratio on the market!

But to reach the rackmount case AND be able to slide it out will require another 6-10ft of cable.

Maybe not, if you can make your VGA cable easy to plug/unplug you will be able to slide your rackmount case without having to buy a VGA extension cable. If you buya good quality monitor, you will be able to unplug the monitor cable in the back of the monitor, so if your cable is a bit thight... You can easily unplug it from the back of your monitor, slide your case out, mess with your stuff, slide it back in and then reconnect the VGA cable. It's not very complicated.

Or you can add a VGA extension only when you mess a lot with your hardware and when you are done, you could remove it for sharper image.

--
What's the <b><font color=green>AMD Mobile Athlon 64</font color=green></b> overclocking potential? <b>It's huge!</b> Humm... Maybe not that huge...

 

[jnichols]

Great reply, "TheRod".
Thanks again for your input.

You're right on every count. But, I don't really have money to burn. My idea is to find the best products, then shop around for the best price for each of those products. The downside is always the same though. The best products are usually the newest ones, which means theyre gonna' cost $$$$!

To answer your questions, I chose the P4 over the AMD, eventhough, as you pointed out, the price is much higher, because of some compatiblity issues with AMD processors Ive run into in the past. And I think I remember THG running an article on P$vsAMD and the P$ actually got better numbers under "certain" conditions. I know the point could be argued several ways, so I just made a personal decision to go the intel way. Thanks for the advice though.

And on the monitor cable extension, I may just take you up on that idea. Ill try to figure out if I can move the case just close enough to where the monitor will plug in. Just hope I dont forget about having to unplug it and yank it out of the motherboard by accident! Ouch!

I throughly agree with you on the point about the Price difference on the CPU platforms. And also thanks again for the suggesting of not using the extension cable.

 

[TheRod]

because of some compatiblity issues with AMD processors Ive run into in the past.

Today, if you puy a good MB, any AMD based PC will be as reliable and compatible as any other P4 systems. In the past, many people paired AMD CPU will low cost or budget MB, this was the major cause of "incompatibility" and crash.

And you are right about the P4EE is doing better than AMD-FX in some applications. But, you have to ask yourself what you will do with your PC? If you mostly do Audio/Video the P4EE may be worth the extra money. But if you mainly build this PC for gaming (with an X800, I think you will play a lot), then the P4EE will not beat an Athlon 3200+ (in many games) and the Athlon 64 3200+ only cost 255$US (You can buy 4 A64 3200+ for the price of 1 P4EE).

If you really want to waste money, go for the P4EE, but don't cry in a couple of months when you will have to buy a new MB/CPU/RAM because your P4EE don't support 64bit Windows. You have to think about this issue too! When you buy a 1000$US CPU you must expect ROI (Return On Investment) in the long run and the P4EE might not give you this because it don't support 64bit.

I'm not telling you to not buy the P4EE, but think about those issues before getting that CPU. The platform is almost obsolete, the CPU is not 64bit ready, it cost a lot more and don't perform well in games compared to an AMD CPU that cost only 255$US... And so on...

Just hope I dont forget about having to unplug it and yank it out of the motherboard by accident! Ouch!

This will not happen if you don't screw the connector behing your case.

--
What's the <b><font color=green>AMD Mobile Athlon 64</font color=green></b> overclocking potential? <b>It's huge!</b> Humm... Maybe not that huge...