I tend to hold onto my money, probably because I don't have much! :lol: I'll need a nice PC for college, and was planning on building something along these lines. I need some power, partially because I'll be a Computer Science major and partially due to the W?BIC! principal.
Here are the parts I'm considering. Please suggest any changes or additions you feel would help me build a better system. Just keep in mind that I don't want to spend a lot of money on this. ops:
-Intel P4 2.6Ghz / 512k Cache / 800Mhz FSB / HyperThreading
Could get a 2.4 and save some money, and could just stay at the 533 FSB, but... :lol:
-DFI - 648FX-ALE - Socket 478 ATX Motherboard / AGP 8X, USB 2.0 / Hyper-Threading
Again, I just like the idea of a 800 MHz FSB. Has anyone had experience with DFI?
-Western Digital Caviar SE 40GB / 7200 / 8MB / 8.9 / EIDE Hard
Drive
I don't download music or play a ton of games, so 40 should fit me just fine. Do I need 8MB? Would 2MB be enough?
-Premium 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory
I might add more later, but I think 512 should be a good place to start. Do I need PC3200?
-I'll add a cheap GPU and nice case, too.
So parts will be about $580. XP Pro will add about $150
What do you think? Is this overkill? Should I spend more in certain areas and less in others?
Don't buy it before you have checked with your university. My uni has a deal with Microsoft (they are members of MSDN Academic Alliance), so we get ALL MS software but Office for free!!
-Intel P4 2.6Ghz / 512k Cache / 800Mhz FSB / HyperThreading
Could get a 2.4 and save some money, and could just stay at the 533 FSB, but... :lol:
My suggestion is to get the P4 2.4 BPH (800mhz, H/T) and add extra 512 of PC3200 RAM. On most memory intensive applications, this combination will be significantly faster than a 2.8 with 512 of RAM.
And stay away from the FSB 533mhz systems (mobos, processors) ....
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-DFI - 648FX-ALE - Socket 478 ATX Motherboard / AGP 8X, USB 2.0 / Hyper-Threading
Again, I just like the idea of a 800 MHz FSB. Has anyone had experience with DFI?
Why not take a look at the ABIT IC7 (faster, intel 875, USB 2, firewire, SATA, 6 channel audio, IrDA, etc. etc. etc.? if you have spare money, go for the IC7 max3.
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-Premium 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory
I might add more later, but I think 512 should be a good place to start. Do I need PC3200?
If you have a DDR400-capable motherboard and a 800 FSB processor, you should go with PC3200. The 800mhz FSB will love the 2x400mhz DDRs. :wink:
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-I'll add a cheap GPU and nice case, too.
Perhaps an NVIDIA FX5600 Ultra flipchip version (chaintech A-FX71, PNY verto, etc.)? quite outdated, but I think it has the best price/performance right now. If you choose this chipset, make sure to buy the flipchip ultra (400 mhz engine core, 800 mhz memory) instead of the 'regular' ultra (375 mhz engine core, 700 mhz memory)
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So parts will be about $580. XP Pro will add about $150
What do you think? Is this overkill? Should I spend more in certain areas and less in others?
Thanks for your suggestions!
Don't go with Pentium. It is proven that AMD Athlon, at a slower speed ie. 1.6ghz runs faster than a Pentium @ 2GHZ.
And if you want speed with your CPU, go with the Athlon 64, its pricey, but then again it would last you a long time. FSB is good, the faster the better.
The more memory the better as well, you can close down and open programs much much faster. 512 should be enough to last you a while, since you wont be doing too much downloading. (yeah right! )
Don't go with Pentium. It is proven that AMD Athlon, at a slower speed ie. 1.6ghz runs faster than a Pentium @ 2GHZ.
That doesn't mean the P4 is useless. In fact, the Athlon is rated using a "+" moniker to match the P4 speeds -- so an Athlon XP 2400+ has similar performance metrics to a P4 2.4GHz, even though the 2400+ runs at a lower clock rate... that said, David, make sure you compare the pricing with an equivalent Athlon XP setup to see if you can save a few $.
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And if you want speed with your CPU, go with the Athlon 64, its pricey, but then again it would last you a long time. FSB is good, the faster the better.
You might notice he's working on a budget...
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The more memory the better as well, you can close down and open programs much much faster. 512 should be enough to last you a while, since you wont be doing too much downloading. (yeah right! )
Agreed, although I fail to see how it has anything to do with downloading... I have 768MB at home and 1GB at work, although I multitask a lot.
Again, I just like the idea of a 800 MHz FSB. Has anyone had experience with DFI?
Not in the last 10 years... I used to use DFI products back when they actually called themselves "Diamond Flower Inc." 8O.. they were decent then. I use Intel mobos for P4s nowadays, but that's because I've gotten conservative about mainboards. (For Athlons, I use mostly ASUS products.)
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I don't download music or play a ton of games, so 40 should fit me just fine. Do I need 8MB? Would 2MB be enough?
40GB should be OK, although you might find yourself using more space than you considered. The 8MB cache is really nice, and I do recommend you go for it, as Windows is fairly disk-intensive.
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-I'll add a cheap GPU and nice case, too.
Maximus has a good suggestion. You might also want to see if you can get an ATI Radeon 9000/9600/9700 for a good price, now that the 9800s are out... I prefer a better GPU myself, since I game a lot.
Building a PC, need advice!
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