Hey

I was just wondering, I need to pimp out my computer, and I want to replace my mobo, processor, ram and gfx card.

I was just wondering if I should buy now, or if the new stuff (PCI-X, DDR-II, new processor pin connectors, are so much better that they are worth the wait and higher price.

peace

1337

Unless your goin to have a ****load of money then I say wait. This stuff still wont be out for a little while but when it does come out expect it to be very expensive. Unless yoru system now is ok and does what you need it to do I say you wait. Also you may decide not to get all that new stuff when it comes out and can get the older stuff for cheap.

I would say it depends on your current system...

He has a p3 right now I think so it isnt that great..worth a upgrade.

Now is a perfect time to upgrade...parts are really cheap right now, and the things you mentioned above won't hit the market for the next 3-6 months...maybe even longer.

AMD:

I'd go with the following:

Abit IS7 motherboard
AMD 2500+
512MB Corsair XMS (if you're overclocking)
Zalman 7000a CPU cooler
Seagate or WD SATA HDD, 120GB, 8MB cache
LG 16x DVD
LG 52x Burner
Antec Power Supply
Radeon 9600XT
Generic case, completely modified.

Should cost about a grand (US) before taxes.

SATA will be obsolete in a few months when SATA2 is released, plus SATA holds NO performance difference over IDE, it just costs a lot more;

Get the following from newegg.com

Barton 2500+
2x256mb PC-3200 XMS TwinX
Thermalright SLK-900a or Swiftech 462-V w/ 92mm fan (Panaflo or Enermax) or the Zalman flower
Abit AN7 mobo
Antec Case that comes with PSU (PSU ###w is in the spec area of case description)
Total: $475

Look in the Sunday ads, last week I saw the following;
ATI Radeon 9600 XT :: $150
120gb 7200rpm HD :: $50
16x DVD :: $20
52x24x52 CD-RW :: $20
Total: $240

Grand Total :: $715

Quote: Originally Posted by pimp_joose Abit IS7 motherboard AMD 2500+

How much for the adapter to fit the AMD proc into the Intel socket? Any performance enhancement with that?

Quote: Originally Posted by putwig How much for the adapter to fit the AMD proc into the Intel socket? Any performance enhancement with that?

That might cost extra. (whoops)

That would be the Abit NF7-S or the AN7 ... my bad...

Quote: Originally Posted by Arkangyl SATA will be obsolete in a few months when SATA2 is released, plus SATA holds NO performance difference over IDE, it just costs a lot more

EVERYTHING is going to be obsolete in a few months. Welcome to the computer industry.

As far as SATA and performance goes, you are sadly misinformed. I find SATA to be a HELLUVA lot faster than PATA. I just built 2 identical machines here (p4 2.8, 512MB RAM, Intel mobo, integrated graphics) with the exception of the hard drives. One is a WD 120GB SE PATA drive (8MB cache) and the other exactly the same, but SATA. The SATA drive boots from power off to XP desktop in exactly 13 seconds, where the PATA drive takes 27 seconds.

Here's a comparison of PATA to SATA drive prices: (Ya I know the prices are Canadian)

http://www.canadacomputers.com/storage.html#hdd

WD 120 GB PATA: $132.00
WD 120 GB SATA: $149.00

$17.00 difference to shave off 14 seconds of boot time? Sounds like a good deal to me...

For me;

120gb IDE-100 :: $50 (after MIR at BestBuy etc...)
120gb SATA :: $105

Are both drives 7200 RPM?? I doubt it because nither drive is able to saturate the ATA-66 spec..

IIf you doubt me look in the latest MaxPC (the one with the MachL on the cover) in their upgrade section they say the same thing, so do several other websites and boards around the net (no URL's offhand)

Im not really good at the case modding, but some of my system is ok, I have a new TT case, new PS and i just got a new 160gb HD, so I was thinking of

AMD 2500+
Nforce2 (maybe 3 depending on how much cash i have)
Audigy 2
Radeon 9800 non pro bios flashed to XT
New RAM im not really sure what type yet, but kingstons worked good for me in past


Also, I had a question about the new AMD 64 bit procs.

My friend said that, qhile they are 64 bit, they actually clock slower for gaming than just a normal 2500 or intel 2.4

Is this true?


thx


1337

There is only one choice when it comes to ram right now and that is mushkin pc3500 Level II. It uses the BH-5 chips which are the chips that were used in the corsair v1.1's. These bad boys can take massive voltage, oc like hell and run at low low low timings.

Quote: Originally Posted by 1337 Im not really good at the case modding, but some of my system is ok, I have a new TT case, new PS and i just got a new 160gb HD, so I was thinking of AMD 2500+ Nforce2 (maybe 3 depending on how much cash i have) Audigy 2 Radeon 9800 non pro bios flashed to XT New RAM im not really sure what type yet, but kingstons worked good for me in past Also, I had a question about the new AMD 64 bit procs. My friend said that, qhile they are 64 bit, they actually clock slower for gaming than just a normal 2500 or intel 2.4 Is this true? thx 1337

If you're going to get an NF3 board, you'll have to get a new A64 processor too.

As far as gaming performance of the A64, a good indicator is the 3DMark2001 scores. The A64's coupled w/ Radeon 9800XT's are pulling scores in the 21,000 point range, where the fastet P4's (not overclocked) are in the high teens.