new pc spec - comments welcome

scargill

would just like your thoughts on following PC spec please:
It'll be used mostly for gaming


CPU: Intel Pentium 4 530 3.0 GHz Boxed Socket LGA775, 1MB cache €179
Motherboard: Abit AS8 Mainboard for S775, DDR400 I865P,SATA,ATX,LAN,Dual-DDR,AGP8x, Raid €112
RAM: Corsair TWINX1024-3200XL DDR-DIMM 1024MB Kit w/two matched CMX512-3200XL DIMMs €250
Disk1: Western Digital Raptor 74GB S-ATA 8MB cache 10000RPM €175
Disk2: Maxtor DiamondMax 10 250GB S-ATA 16MB cache 7200RPM NCQ €159
Case: Antec Sonata Miditower, Black w/380W PSU €119
DVD: NEC DVD recorder ND-3520A IDE Black Bulk,DVD+R/+RW/DVD-R/-RW (Dual layer) €67

Total: €1067

I already have an Audigy2 ZS Sound Card and an ATI Radeon 9800PRO video card. I'll also hang onto my 19" CRT for now.

aaf

CPU and motherboard are different socket numbers. Case and DVD-RW are excellent. You might also want to check out jes-computer.de

scargill

aaf wrote:

CPU and motherboard are different socket numbers.

doh! thanks aaf - corrected now

bringitdown

You could take full advantage of RAID 0 (for performance) or RAID 1 (for backup) and get 2 similar sized SATA disks rather than 2 dissimalar sized ones.

More info here: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1558,364798,00.asp

scargill

bringitdown wrote:

You could take full advantage of RAID 0 (for performance) or RAID 1 (for backup) and get 2 similar sized SATA disks rather than 2 dissimalar sized ones.

my logic of the the disks i've chosen is to have a fast disk for the OS and a larger slower disk for general storage ? but i'll read up on that website, thanks

SwampThing

Well Boss!

Just a thought - the mobo chipset isn't the latest and greatest.

Personally, I'd opt for the 875i - but that's just my opinion.

You've more RAM there than a Wicklow farmer, ya bastard!

Is the 380W PSU enough for all the stuff you'll be putting in it - DVD writer, ZIP, CDROM etc. etc.

jozi

SwampThing: I think the psu will do grand, friend has same psu 2 drives, 2 hd, 3fans. Never heard him get random crashes or what ever. Also its antec they do what they state.
Nice case btw, i have it and love it its so shiney

Jozi

scargill

swampthing....post up a link of where i can get an 875i

Praetorian

I suggest you go for an Athlon 64 based system, especially if you play computer games. You get more bang for your buck!

scargill

what about this mobo:

Abit AA8-3rd Eye Mainboard for S775 I925X,SATA,ATX,GbLAN,Dual-DDR2,PCI-Ex16 €162

I'd have to get DDR2 RAM also...

Corsair Twin2X 5400 DDR2, 1024MB PC5400 Kit w/two matched CM2X512-5400C4 Dimm's €319

brings the price up by around €100

but the CPU and Mobo operate at 800mhz and the RAM operates at 667Mhz?


i suppose I should get a mobo with PCI-Express ?

SwampThing

scargill wrote:

swampthing....post up a link of where i can get an 875i

Do a quick search on the Komplett site - 9 results...

This could be yer man...

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=117442&cks=SER

bringitdown

scargill wrote:

what about this mobo:

Abit AA8-3rd Eye Mainboard for S775 I925X,SATA,ATX,GbLAN,Dual-DDR2,PCI-Ex16 €162

I'd have to get DDR2 RAM also...

Corsair Twin2X 5400 DDR2, 1024MB PC5400 Kit w/two matched CM2X512-5400C4 Dimm's €319

brings the price up by around €100

but the CPU and Mobo operate at 800mhz and the RAM operates at 667Mhz?


i suppose I should get a mobo with PCI-Express ?

Not if your 9800Pro is AGP - you'll need an AGP slot, not a PCI-E. (or go for one with both if you like)!

scargill

SwampThing wrote:

Do a quick search on the Komplett site - 9 results...

This could be yer man...

http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=117442&cks=SER

grand....but this is socket 478....i'm fairly confused with the Intel numbering!!
is 775 better than 478 or is it just different ?

bringitdown

775 is the newer pin configuration from Intel, 478 the older. Not sure if they are different apart from the obvious 775 won't fit in a 478 and vice-versa.

Some more info of interest here: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=152842

scargill

bringitdown wrote:

775 is the newer pin configuration from Intel, 478 the older. Not sure if they are different apart from the obvious 775 won't fit in a 478 and vice-versa.

ok....so the newer Socket 775 board i originally mentioned has an older chipset (865).

but the older Socket 478 board mentioned by swampthing above has a newer chipset (i875)?



suggestions as to the best mobo,cpu and RAM (1gb) combination (in or around €600 total) welcome!

scargill

Upgrade Kit Intel P4 3.0GHz S775, Motherboard, 1024MB DUAL RAM, CPU Fan.

think i'll just go for this bundle on komplett website....sold as a bundle....so if i get any grief i can get back to them handy enough

SwampThing

one last thing scargill.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that board doesn't look like it has the SATA RAID you're after.

This one does - Intel Desktop Board D915PBLL - mainboard - ATX - i915

Have a look at
http://www.elara.ie/products/detailsfull.asp?productcode=ECE940438&productID=

scargill

i'm not going for RAID

bringitdown

FYI: The AS8 supports RAID 0, RAID 1 so it does!

Anyhew sounds like a solid enough choice. Best of luck with the build....

SwampThing

bringitdown wrote:

FYI: The AS8 supports RAID 0, RAID 1 so it does!

Anyhew sounds like a solid enough choice. Best of luck with the build....

Sorry 'bout that, but I meant the Intel board in scargill's last post. I could STILL be wrong - it has been known.

scargill

also....

am i fooling myself with the performance gain from using at 10,000 RPM disk as my main OS drive.

should I just buy the 250GB Maxtor and not bother with a second drive until i fill it up (in a fortnight or so!!) and save 175 quid for the moment (don't want to hurt the credit card too much so soon after christmas)

Bruish

Howdy Scargill, good to see your still using your CRTC name. I remember you were happy on a 486 playing 3D wolf ! How things change .....

scargill

bruish.... i played wolf3d on a

Wang 486 - 33mhz
8MB RAM
40 MB hard disk.
(and would u believe it cost the guts of IR£2,000)

wolf3d installation took up a whopping 3 MB (or less!!)

pcs are miles faster with huge capacity.....but HL2 takes up 5GB ??!

Bruish

Yeah I remember it well , The machine was a legend in its day but is only an antiques by todays standards . Don't know if you get could more fun out of the games today than you and C.B. got out of wolf3d...

slave1

would you not consider the Adli medion pc for a grand, see another post in bargains

astrofool

u're better off with 2 of those 250gb drives in raid 0, or even seperate. The raptor has very little on them, and loses in benchmarks as often as it wins due to the 16meg cache on those (+ u get ALOT of extra space).

Best bang for buck now is an a64 3000+ and an nforce4 board and 6600gt pci-e graphics card. You save a bit by getting ddr instead of ddr2 ram.

The p4 3.0 prescott is worse than a 3.0 northwood now + you have ALOT more heat, + the a64 3000+ 90nm overclocks as well as, if not better and easier (due to no low multi locks), than a p4 3.0 would.

scargill

I'm gonna go with the Maxtor 250GB DiamondMax 10 having read this review which compares the Maxtor to the Raptor coincedently enough !!

Hard Disk Review: Western Digital Raptor vs Maxtor DiamondMax 10


it'll save me €180 - i can just buy another Maxtor when I run out of space.