New gaming system

Methos · May 30, 2004

Im putting together a new gaming system for a friend of mine and was wondering what would be a good system to put together for him.
Neither system will be overclocked.
Processor:
Intel P4 2.8C or P4 3.0C, maybe the P4E versions instead of the P4C versions.
or
AMD A64 2800+ or A64 3000+
Motherboard:
P4 system I was thinking of the Abit IS7 motherboard.
What would be a good choice for the A64 board?
Memory:
2x512MB OCZ 3500 memory for the P4 system
1x1024MB for the A64 system. What is a good type of memory for the A64? I have heard that A64s are a little picky on the memory used.
The rest of the system:
floppy drive
120 SATA Seagate Hard drive
52X LiteOn CD burner
16X LiteOn DVD drive
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 soundcard
NZXT Guardian case
Antec True430 430 watt power supply

Overall what is everyones opinion on the above setup? Is it better to go with an AMD solution, or Intel?
I'm looking for a very stable running system and have had a lot of luck with the P4/IS7 combo in the past, but I want to keep my options open to get my friend the best system for his money. Any thoughts?

qquizz · May 30, 2004

Since you are not overclocking consider the MSI "K8T NEO-FSR for your AMD64, great bang for the buck (under $100). Only thing is you might possibly have to flash the bios with the OCZ, unless they now shipping with updated bios (i had to). MSI makes it pretty easy to flash. That would mean you would have to have another stick of DDR you can borrow to boot up. Otherwise go with Corsair XMS.(I have that too it works fine with this board.) DVD burners have gotten pretty cheap now. Consider the NEC 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model ND-2500A for around $80. I hear a RUMOR this drive can be hac... err, i mean adjusted to burn double density media. Besides that it gets great reviews especially in terms of reliablity and not being picky about the media it works with (less coasters).

To answer your question (and I have AMD and Intel boxes). I would go with the AMD64 since you are gaming... again more bang for buck and 64 bit OS support to boot. Also you should have some upgrade room to at least the AMD64 3700+ whenever it comes out for this socket.

Having said that a lot of people are waiting on the Socket 939 for AMD64 due out like next month.
Good luck

If you were to decide to overclock then my recommendation would be much different.

...patiently waiting for 10Ghz processors and immersible virtual reality.

qquizz · May 30, 2004

BTW what video card you gettin'? This board with a Sapphire 9800pro and AMD64 3200+ OCZ PC3500 with a 7% front side bus overclock scores 21,500+ on 3DMark2001

***patiently waiting for 10Ghz processors and immersible virtual reality***Edited by qquizz on 05/29/04 06:16 PM.

Methos · May 30, 2004

My friend already has a video card, a gainward 5900XT i believe. He got the card only to find his current system was woefully underpowered to handle the card or any new games. I will look into the MSI board. If i can possibly convince him to overclock his system at some point, is there a better option for a motherboard?
Thanks for you help

Methos · May 30, 2004

Sorry for got to ask, would it be better to go with the 2800+ or the 3000+. Does the 3000+ have a decent enough improvement over the 2800+ to warrent spending more on it?

qquizz · May 30, 2004

Since he has a good video card, 2800+ should be fine. There seems to be a bit of a price premium for the upgrade to 3000+ but it's not too bad. Additionaly, cpu's with lower multipliers, in this case the 2800+, are better overclockers percentage wise(historically). Overclocking or not the nForce3 250 chipset motherboards for AMD64 are very good. If you overclock an nForce3, the the PCI/AGP bus is still locked so your components don't get overclocked (unlike most/all of the Via chipset boards currently on the market(the MSI mentioned in my above post is Via). However VIA is working on that, and they may have some out now with the lock, but I imagine they are few and far between. The lack of PCI lock would also reduce the potential of your overclock, and could cause data corruption on your hard drive if the PCI bus is pushed too far. Also some have said that certain SATA onboard controllers limit their overclock for what it's worth.

Suggest reading:

http://www20.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20040420/index.html

Also, I like the internet community support that nForce has developed; it is far superior to VIA's in my opinion.

check here...make sure you also check the forum link on the left side bar, this site does nForce2 and nForce3 and more.
http://www.nforcershq.com/

PS I am sure you know that almost always get better price for parts on the internet from places like Newegg.com, ZipZoomFly.com and even AccuPC.com
Depending on what state you are in and they are in, you probably pay no sales tax either. In my case that's 9.25% discount on top of the already good prices. Anyway, I'm rambling, I'm sure you already know that. Check out those links above

***patiently waiting for 10Ghz processors and immersible virtual reality***Edited by qquizz on 05/29/04 07:25 PM.

Methos · May 30, 2004

cool thanks. I had heard good things about the Nforce3 250 boards and was thinking about the Gigabyte GA-K8NS PRO. Its a little bit more expensive than the MSI but seems to have a lot of nice features on it.

qquizz · May 30, 2004

Well, after a little research apparantly the VIA K8T800 PRO chipset is now hitting the stores, this second generation now has PCI lock. So with that added in the mix, I hope now to thorougly confuse the matter with more decisions...doh! Personally, if I were buying today I would most likely stick with nForce3 250.

***patiently waiting for 10Ghz processors and immersible virtual reality***

Methos · May 30, 2004

too many choices..heh. Well i think i have it narrowed down to this:

AMD A64 2800+
GIGABYTE GA-K8NS PRO Nforce3 250 motherboard
1GB memory (still determining a type to buy that goes well with this board)
floppy drive
120 SATA Seagate Hard drive
52X LiteOn CD burner(might replace with NEC DVD burner)
16X LiteOn DVD drive
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 soundcard
NZXT Guardian case
Antec True430 430 watt power supply
Gainward 5900XT video card

Does this look good?

trooper11 · May 30, 2004

if your on a budget id say go for the Chaintech VNF3-250

it is a great board, it just doesnt have the bells and whistles like firewire or the nivida gigabit or firewall. it uses the non-GB nforce 3 250 chipset

Methos · May 30, 2004

Ill have to take a look at the chaintech board a little more, it does have a nice price.

HardWareBoss · May 30, 2004

Looks good for the P4. Your call between P4 and Amd.

Snaggle · May 30, 2004

Check out <A HREF="http://anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2063" target="_new">http://anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=2063</A> The msi k8n neo platimum will set you back only $150 and will have all the bell and whistles including an onboard firewall or for a value mobo the foxconn 755-a01 based on the sis 755 chipset and with: gigabit lan;firewies and 4 drive sata raid all for $90.It however is diffinately not for overclocking and has no vdimm adjustments=get plug and play ram like crucial with it.I would wait for the nforce3 250 chipset,as nvidia has optimized it for their GPU and the msi mobo will have cool n quiet which will prolong the cpu's life and cut power costs a lot.Amd 64s also have some more advantages over p4s,the 64 bit operating system and cpu based virus protection with xp sp2(enhanced virus protection).

Crashman · May 30, 2004

Anyone not overclocking should consider the ECS 755-A2. Better chipset.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Snaggle · May 30, 2004

Crashman why the ecs 755-a2 over the foxconn 755 A01? They've identical chipsets and the foxconn has firewire,gigabyte lan and support for 4 sata HD and the two cost almost exactly the same.

Crashman · May 30, 2004

Because I've never seen Foxconn boards in the U.S. But you're welcome to search for me!

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

trooper11 · May 30, 2004

foxconn are avialable in the US, just check out pricewatch and youd find them.

i still think youd be better off with the chaintech baord if your on a budget. and if you do decide to overclock, it has great potential there. but if you just have to have all the bells and whistles, then id say the msi neo platnium would suit you fine.

georgebeee · May 31, 2004

newegg.com has the exact foxconn board you're talking about

Crashman · May 31, 2004

Great, didn't see it ANYWHERE last time I looked, but it's been a while since the last time I looked.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

New gaming system

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