Looking for feedback on a DIY new computer

[FoolsErrend]

Greetings All,

I have decided I needed to upgrade my machine and did a little research on toms hardware on what was on offer these days.

I made up 2 systems and am torn which to go for. So I would welcome any feedback (alterations to make, or preference for the systems). These 2 machine are basically the same price point. I want the machine mainly for playing a few games and kicking about on the net, watching a few movies.

The pro on the pentium is that is should have a slightly better performance.

The pro of the asus with the 64 AMD is the S754socket will support later versions of the AMD 64s meaning you have more chance to do a CPU upgrade if you wanted (even thought by end of year 394 socket will become the next gen standard socket) and supports the 64 core for when this becomes more
standard.


Pentium 4 Setup
Intel Pentium 4 3,00GHz HT 800MHz Boxed (incl. Cooler)
ASUS P4P800 i865PE 2ChDDR400 AGP8X Snd5.1 GLAN SATA
Maxtor DM+9 120GB 7200RPM ATA133 FDB 8MB (6Y120P0) (3J Gar.)(Already have)
Kingston Valueram 512MB PC3200 DDR LFT Warranty
Antec Solution SLK2650 Black Quiet Mid Tower 350W
NEC ND-2500A DVD-RW/+RW Black OEM
Floppy drive 1.44MB Beige, Black, Silver 
Geforce4TI4400 128Meg Ram (Already have)

AMD 64 Setup
AMD AMD64 3000+ 512KB S754 Boxed (incl. Cooler)
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 400FSB 2cDDR400 AGP8X Snd5.1 GLAN SATA RAID 1394
Maxtor DM+9 120GB 7200RPM ATA133 FDB 8MB (6Y120P0) (3J Gar.) (Already have)
Kingston Valueram 512MB PC3200 DDR LFT Warranty
Antec Solution SLK2650 Black Quiet Mid Tower 350W
NEC ND-2500A DVD-RW/+RW Black OEM
Floppy drive 1.44MB Beige, Black, Silver
Geforce4TI4400 128Meg Ram (Already have)

One question, what is the difference with ATA and SATA? my harddisk is ATA133, but the motherboards are SATA, does this make them compatable?

Apprecite your feedback or any suggestions on alterations to make to the setup!!

FoolsErrend.

 

[DonnieDarko]

AMD AMD64 3000+ 512KB S754 Boxed (incl. Cooler)
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe nForce2 400FSB 2cDDR400 AGP8X Snd5.1 GLAN SATA RAID 1394

That is a socket A mobo. You need a socket 754 mobo if you go with the a64.

AMD64 2800+
MSI Neo-Fis2r
512mb Kingmax ddr400
Sapphire 9800pro 128mb
10K WD Raptor

 

[DonnieDarko]

One question, what is the difference with ATA and SATA? my harddisk is ATA133, but the motherboards are SATA, does this make them compatable?

Every mobo will allow you to put ata drives in your computer. But if you wanted to raid them you would have to either buy a pci raid controller or get a mobo with PATA raid support.


AMD64 2800+
MSI Neo-Fis2r
512mb Kingmax ddr400
Sapphire 9800pro 128mb
10K WD Raptor

 

[FoolsErrend]

Thanks for the feedback on that.

switched to a

ASUS K8V K8T800 S754 DDR400 AGP8X Snd5.1 GLAN SATA RAID

Any preference on performance of the two do you think? or future upgradeability?

Fools

 

[pengtao]

just a note.
~~if you choose Kingston Value Ram DDR 400, Please Check it's Chip for the best.
I'm think the Kingston Value Ram with the Chip have the best perform:
1,Winbond BH-5
2,Infineon CT-5

(My English is very poor,sorry)

 

[Cybercraig]

Not enough ram and the wrong MB. Thou art headed for disaster!

"I am become death, the destroyer of worlds. Now, let's eat!

 

[Crashman]

A64 3000+ sounds fine. I'd match that with an MSI K8N Neo Platinum. You were considering the A7N8X-E, well, that's a better board than the A8V, so you'd be taking a step down in boards in order to get the right socket type, I suggest you stick with your plans of getting a good board.

ND-2510A replaced the ND-2500A, should cost the same, and supports dual layer media.

The MSI K8N Neo Platinum's chipset supports ATA and SATA both, and allows both to be RAIDed, and even allows you to mix both ATA and SATA drives within an array!

<font color=blue>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!</font color=blue>
<font color=red>Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!</font color=red>

 

[Spitfire_x86]

Get the AMD based setup.

Recommended mobo: MSI K8N Neo Platinum
DVD Burner: LiteOn SOHW-832S (or LiteOn SOHW-812S, if you don't need dual layer)

------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

 

[FoolsErrend]

Thanks gents for the feedback. I checked out that mobo and it is indeed very good. It is a tad more expensive than I had in my budget, but worth the stretch I think.

AMD64 seems to be getting the most feedback. I have always used AMD for my home pc, so I was thinking hard about if I should try the P4 for a change. Performance of both appear to be quite similar where the P4 has the hyperthreading, but the amd is already on the 64 bit.

Thanks again
Fools.