What should I build??

[Bones453]

It has been a while since I built a system. The last system I built was a K6-750 Oc'd to 822 on an Abit MB with 512 MB PC-133 and a TNT2 Ultra. Times have changed.

So, here I stand at the precipice of a momentous price/performance decision. I see such eye candy as the Clawhammer and NForce3_250 boards out there and wonder if the extra cost is worth it vs. a Barton 2500+ on an Nforce2 board OC'd to 3200+ with dual channel DDR. Also, I am curious if Dual Channel DDR is really going to make a noticeable performance difference from single channel. And, is SATA 150 so much faster than ATA/133 that I will cry myself to sleep if I opt for the ease of the latter?

So, here is the heart of the matter. Nforce2/Barton 2500-->3200/DC-DDR vs. Nforce3 150/250/ 3200+ Clawhammer/ DDR400. Socket 754 is going to be supplanted by Socket 939 and prices will fall accordingly, but my impression is that Socket A is alive and well since Barton 3700+ is just around the corner.

So, Barton now and Clawhammer later or Clawhammer now??


PS This will be a gaming system.

 

[Obtuse]

From what I've read, AMD will support Socket 754 till the end of the year, then start with 939, which will support the new A64's and the A64FX's. I don't know about socket A, the new "Paris" value procs will come out for 754, but w/o 64 bit instructions. Personally, unless you need to run the newest games at the uberest resolutions, I'd go with he cheaper combo. You always get the best price/performance ratio with 2nd or 3rd generation stuff. I'm building my friend a new rig for gaming, threw a 3200 barton on an nforce2 chipset w/ 1 gig of ram and the HIS 9800 PRO and I think it should run Far Cry, Doom3, and HL2 just fine, as long as you don't need crazy resolutions with AF and AA enabled. As for dual channel, the AMD procs don't need that insane bandwidth, so it really doesn't make a difference. Same with SATA 150 vs ATA 100/133; modern drives aren't saturating the ATA bus right now, SATA is forwarding looking; it has extra bandwidth for when the drives of the future need it, but I can't see that happening for 3 or 4 more years.

 

[seezur]

I wouldn't reccomend building a 64bit system now with the new sockets just around the corner. If you need 64 bit just wait a little while. If 64 bit isnt that important to you then i would reccomend atlhlon 2500+ mobile and a board with good overclocking features.

SATA isnt any faster that ata133, the truth is there isnt a drive out there that can utilize ATA100's full potential so its really uneeded unless you want to do a RAID config or if you just like the sweet little cables.

ATi just released the X800 video card, which will have a pci-e version but 9600XT and 9800XT are the best vid cards for the money right now and they come with HL2 so its not a bad deal.

If you have the money to buy the new stuff when it comes out then do it because the A64 chips are monsters, but if you just want a good performing system for a decent price then stay a generation or 2 back.

My system specs: Athlon XP 2500+ barton, 512MB PC2700 RAM, MSI motherboard, WD 80GB special edition, ASUS radeon 9600XT

EDIT:
dual channel ram is nice but not very neccesary in a Athlon XP system, but would be good in a A64 system and even better in a A64FX system.<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by seezur on 05/21/04 03:17 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Bones453]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Having not built a system for a while I am still learning about the nuances of each processor. I have read here and elsewhere about building with a mobile Barton processor but I don't understand it's advantage over the standard desktop processor. Please enlighten me.

BTW, if I were to OC a Barton mobile, what IYHO is the best board for OCing it?

Thanks

Paul H.

 

[Bones453]

Yes, I have been reading many good things about the DFI nF UltraII Infinity/LANParty Rev.B. I will probably get that along with the Barton 2600+ mobile processor. As far as a heatsink/fan, are all Socket A fans compatible? Is there something else I should be aware of??

 

[Bones453]

Ok, here is how things are shaping up in my NewEgg cart:

ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR
AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2600+
Thermaltake W0013 Silent Purepower 480W
DFI "LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B" nForce2 Ultra 400
OCZ Performance Series Dual Channel Kit 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3500
Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD1200JD, OEM Drive Only
Speeze "WhisperRock II" CPU Cooler, for AMD/ Intel Socket A/ 370, Model "5F263B1M3G"
Pioneer Black 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-107, OEM
Thermaltake Blue Highest Xaser III Super Tower Chassis without Power Supply, Model "V1000D" -RETAIL

 

[Cybercraig]

A couple of mods to the Newegg cart:
Sapphire 9800 Pro instead of stock ATI- Cheaper and R360 XT core.

Lite-On or NEC 2500A DVD. The NEC can be firmware upgraded for dual-layer burning. I think the Lite-On can too. Both will save you bucks over Pioneer.

The OCZ Performance ain't that hot. I couldn't nudge my PC-3500 past a 218mhz FSB. It locked up tight at 2.8vdc. If you don't need more speed than this, OK, but it is pricey for what it delivers at $245.00/GB. Stock Crucial PC3200 would probably beat it for less money. Memory prices for DDR are starting to come down due to the appearance of DDR-2 and the anticipated new platforms. Shop wisely!




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

 

[jammydodger]

What is it with you and crucial?

<font color=blue>P4c 2.6@3.25
512Mb PC4000
2x120Gb 7200.7 in RAID0
Waterchill KT12-L30
Abit AI7
Radeon 9800Pro
</font color=blue>

 

[Cybercraig]

The Crucial Man sends me a Pepsi bottle cap every time I mention Crucial. Pretty soon I will have enough to build my Pepsi bottle cap clubhouse! Other than that, it's faster stock stuff than Samsung and Kingston.


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

 

[Bones453]

Thanks for the tips! I have been reading that the graphics chipset can be flashed to make the 9800Pro essentially into a 9800XT. If this is true, how do you do this?

 

[Bones453]

The new Cart:


SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR
AMD Mobile Athlon XP 2600+
Thermaltake W0013 Silent Purepower 480W
DFI "LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B" nForce2 Ultra 400
Mushkin 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3500 Level One Dual Pack
Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD1200JD, OEM Drive Only
Speeze "WhisperRock II" CPU Cooler, for AMD/ Intel Socket A/ 370, Model "5F263B1M3G"
NEC 8X Silver DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model ND-2500A
Thermaltake Blue Highest Xaser III Super Tower Chassis without Power Supply, Model "V1000D"
LINKSYS 54Mbps Wireless-G PCI Ethernet Adapter w/ Speed Boost, Model WMP54GS


Looks to be shaping up nicely! T- 3 Weeks and counting....

 

[Cybercraig]

Do some rooting around <A HREF="http://softmod.ocfaq.com/download.php" target="_new">here.</A> Also double check to make sure you get the 256bit bus on the Sapphire. They have released a de-tuned card with a 128 bit bus they are calling the Atlantis. It's more of a 9800SE Pro that will be slower than the retail 9800 Pro. :frown:

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

 

[Cybercraig]

I just read some of the most recent reviews and the guys are poppin' the heatsinks off of their new Sapphire 9800 Pro's to find the stock 350 cores. Looks like a crap shoot as to which core you get anymore. Bones will just have to "roll the bones".

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

 

[Bones453]

Actually, I have read the LanParty board is not a great overclocking board and I have vascilated between it and the N7F-S because I would like to overclock the bus to yeild an equivalent clockreate to 2.2 to 2.4 GHz. I'm still researching this and I will address this issue on another thread.

Thanks for your input....and back away slowly fomr that case of Mountain Dew ! ;-)

 

[Bones453]

I have read some of the things you have mentioned regarding the SATA issue. Still, though, if there is not a significant cost hit then I would rather have it and RAID capability so I can make this build as upgradeable as possible.

Are you overclocking your CPU you and if so, what are your settings?

 

[ChipDeath]

My card is a Sapphire Atlantis 9800Pro, and I have a 256-bit bus, so to say the atlantis range only has 128-bit would be wrong. I guess they might have changed this recently but I can't see why they'd do that.

It's also a R350 Core sadly, but it still does 420Mhz so I'm at >XT speeds.

I agree that Crucial el-cheapo RAM is decent stuff. I've got some crucial PC2100 (DDR266) that is perfectly happy at 175Mhz (DDR350). Impressive considering I only bought it because it was cheap.

---
Epox 8RDA+ rev1.1 w/ Custom NB HS
XP1700+ @205x11 (~2.26Ghz), 1.575Vcore
2x256Mb Corsair PC3200LL 2-2-2-4
Sapphire 9800Pro 420/744

 

[Obtuse]

I would always trust crucial. They have a rock-solid rep to protect so their customer service is very good. They might not be as flashy as Corsair or Mushkin, but their stuff is quality. As for the graphics card, I personally like the HIS Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB. Has a nice heatsink/fan combo that is quiet and keeps the board very cool. Nice card to buy and then oc with no need to add an after market cooling solution. Sure it takes up 2 slots but it's not a leaf blower like NVidia cards and who uses all their PCI slots these days anyway.