Which System

[hello23518]

Hi,
I want to build a new system for gaming,video editing and other stuff. Also I want to use it for another two or three years. Please help me to build a computer.
Please give me some advice. Thanks.


System # 1


Intel Pentium 4/ 3.4C GHz 800MHz $417
ABIT i875P Chipset Intel Socket 478 CPU, Model "IC7-MAX3" $189
Corsair Value Ram 1.2GB PC3200 $267
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800XT Video Card $412
Two 80GB and 40GB hard drive ( My old hard drives )
RAIDMAX Silver 10-bay Case with 420W Power Supply $49
Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive $35
SONY 16X DVD-ROM Drive $29
SONY Beige 1.44MB 3.5Inch Floppy $10.50

Total = $1408


System #2

AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 $778
ASUS K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 940 CPU, Model "SK8V" $190
Corsair XMS 1GB(512MBx2) ECC Registered DDR PC-3200 $399
ATI Radeon 9800 pro 128Mb ram ( I have it )
Two 80GB and 40GB hard drive ( My old hard drives )
RAIDMAX Silver 10-bay Case with 420W Power Supply $49
Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive $35
SONY 16X DVD-ROM Drive $29
SONY Beige 1.44MB 3.5Inch Floppy $10.50

Total = 1483

[Mr. Anderson]

I would go with the AMD 64 system. And I would also swap out the Sony DVD player to a NEC 2500a DVD burner, for about $60.00 more and you should be set for a couple of years.

[DanGrease]

I would go for system #1 but I would stay with the video card you have, the Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB. I dont think you need the 9800XT, so save that money and spend it in something else. Use that money for the Corsair XMS memory instead.

dan

[samwichse]

Yeah, I would agree with Anderson, I don't think the performance differential between the Radeon 9800xt and 9800pro is worth 412$ at all.

However, I would go with an Athlon64 3200+ or 3400+, which are 270$ and 404$ at newegg.com right now.

with a 3200+, that would make system #2 come in at under 1000$ for a loss of 0.2 ghz.

Sam

[rastorize]

I'd go with system #1. For about $70 LESS than the AMD system, you can get everything AND the new video card...but then keeping your old card as suggested, makes system #1 less than a $1000. I'd take the extra money and upgrade your ram, and get some serial ATA's. There's no 64 Bit OS yet, no ATI drivers for it either...save the extra bucks and get the Intel system.

[HeadBand]

I would go with system 1 and also say definatley not go with the 9800xt you could go with the 6800U or the x800xt or pro when they come out and if you need the system ASAP theres nothing wrong with using the 9800 pro for a while

[fpantovich]

First thing, I agree with most as you should keep your 9800 Pro, not much of a difference between that and the XT version....atleast not very noticable difference....second, if you are going to spend over a thousand, then there's a few things that are musts...

1GB Corsair XMS, yes atleast...

Athlon64/FX, I would go with AMD personally, but it's a preference thing....as for which to go with, the performance difference as of right now between the A64 and AFX is not as noticable as it will be when we have strictly 64-bit programs....but for my own personal system, I would buy the A64 3200+ or 3400+ and spend that extra $350-500 on either a couple SATA Hard Drives to setup as RAID or one very large hard drive that's SATA or even on more RAM....up to you....

DVD ROM Drive...no....spend the extra $50-60 and get a DVD Burner, no sense in getting a DVD Drive that's not a DVD Burner anymore when the prices have dropped so much....

CDRW Drive...yes...always a must to have this, until they boost the burning speed of DVD RW's....when they do this, then there's no need for CDRW's, heh...


As for the 64-bit OS, there are a few....I do not know why people keep saying there isn't...there's a Linux 64-bit OS that fully support 64-bit and there's a Windows XP 64-bit version that's in public release right now and has less problems then XP had when it originally was released to the public...As for support for your video card, the following is directly from ATI....



ATI driver information for Windows XP 64-bit Edition
The information in this article applies to:
Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems Customer Preview
CATALYST display driver support
The beta release versions currently available for Windows XP 64-Bit Edition for 64-Bit Extended Systems Customer Preview includes ATI display driver support for several RADEON series graphics board products. Moreover, the drivers bundled in beta release versions of Windows XP 64-bit Edition offer native support for DirectX.

Beta CATALYST drivers, with OpenGL and Control Panel support, are available only to ATI CATALYST beta testers.

For more information on the ATI CATALYST CATCH Beta Tester Program, click here.

ATI will release full CATALYST drivers publicly when Microsoft releases the final production level Operating System.




Also, with a rig this powerful, you might want to consider putting a little more money into a more powerful/reliable Power Supply...maybe from Thermaltake....enjoy...

[Shabow]

System #1, but trade in the 3.4 GHz for a Dual Xeon 2.4 GHz chips and it will cost roughly the same as the 3.4GHz and get a MSI mobo.

[fpantovich]

well, now, if you include Dual Xeon 2.4's in the choices, then I might have to agree, that's a rather tough choice, but wow, that would be a hella nice system....but with either system I would still get the Corsair XMS over the Value Series any day....but, then again, I wouldn't get either of them, heh...I prefer Geil Ultra Golden Dragon Series RAM

[decayed]

amd go with it
im running painkiller and urt2k4 with no lag at 800*600 res
with this old card which i plan on updating may when the new ati comes out