component advice

quozl

Hi guys,
I'm looking to replace the core components of my system, a p4 1.7 with 768 pc800 rambus. All my rambus slots are full, so it's as expensive to go from 768 to 1024 rimm as to buy a gig of pc4000 ddr ram. So I figure it's time to ditch the damn thing

What I'm looking at buying is
Abit IC7-MAX3 Mainboard so I can have raid0 small fast disks for the OS and games with big load times. Is the raid chip on this ok, anyone got one?
3.0 ghz prescott p4
OR
3.2 ghz prescott p4
I'm looking for decent bang/buck so not sure if I should pay the extra 50e for the 3.2, any opinions? Will the 3.0 nearly as well as the 3.2? Or is it likely to be a chip that failed tests at 3.2?

1gb (512*2) pc-4000 ddr cas 2.5(this ok?) ram from shop4memory.co.uk
1Gb kit DDR PC-4000 Dual Channel - GeIL Ultra Platinum 500Mhz, 184 pins, 64 bit, CAS 2.5, 7-4-4 rating, 3.5ns
It's not since the days of rambus and sdram that i've been uptodate on memory tech. So I can't choose between the different pc4000 2*512 offers on shop4memory. Is this one ok? The memory timing ratings seem to vary hugely between them all, but i don't know which of them is the most important ones. I will want to overclock the ram.

And finally, I wouldnt get as good bang/buck and future proofing with a amd64 would I? I remember the socket change with the early p4's ****ing ppl who bought motherboards for the early sockets. And while I'd like the 64bitness for linux, I do my gaming in windows so that's where I care about performance.
thanks a lot lads,
Greg

jk2001

Hiya,

If you're looking to overclock your PC4000 mem then you may want to consider a P4 2.4 or something similar. You'd need to raise your FSB fairly substantially to overclock that memory and you may be able to do this easier with a 2.4.

jayo

Stephen

If you're building a games system then I would recommend an Athlon64. It kicks the P4's around apparently, even when running 32bit apps. I would wait until the new socket boards (can't remember the name) come out sometime soon though.

You're also going to need a decent graphics card. If you have loadsamoney, go for one of the new next gen ones - ATIX800 Pro or nvidia 6800 Ultra (they come in a few different flavours), if you're on a bit more of a budget go for an ATI 9800 Pro.

Lidl are actually selling a fairly decent A64 machine next week, Athlon 64 with a 9600XT/All in wonder, check out their website for it: http://www.lidl.ie

Col_Loki

At the min the Socket939 AMD64 is comming out. Its dual channel (where the Socket754 isint) and is going to be the performance socket of the AMD64 range while the 754 falls into the more budget one.
If you want futureproofing thats the best way to go ............ currently anyway (BTX and PCI-E comming out in a few months)
The Motherboards will prob be €150-200 with the lowest spec chip 3500+ being €400-500 .

If thats out the door then you have a choice between AMD64 (socket754) and P4.

The AMD64 v P4's on stock the AMD64 is a better performer in all games, P4 better for encoding. Overclocking wise the P4's are pretty good , AMD64's are gettin better with the newer stepping and AGP/PCI lock.

If your overclocking then the IC7 is a great choice (the best IMO) , Pc4000 Ram would need a 2.6c or 2.8c with decent cooling to take advatage of it........ mabye a Zalman7000alcu OR Thermalright . The 2.8c would be a good choice as the CPU & Memory limits will prob be comming close.

On the AMD64 side of things, The motherboard to get is one with a NF250 chipset (AGP/PCI lock). The AMD64 are multi unlocked downward so you can run High FSB easily and take advantage of all memory speeds. The newer newcastle chips (like the 2.2ghz version of the 3200+ on komplett) are the ones to go for IMO.
Also mabye Zalman7000alcu for a heatsink