Best Spec???

[LeBodge]

I'll like just an opinion on the main elements of a PC spec I think I've sorted out, if anyone sees any problems please let me know:-

Asus A7N8X Deluxe
Crucial PC2700 256Mb DDR x 2
Seagate Barracuda 80Gb 7200 UDMA100
AMD XP2500+ 333FSB
Leadtek Geforce Ti4200 8xAGP

Any comments welcome



LeBodge.

"I know what I like and I like what I know"

 

[cdogg]

As with any setup, each choice for each component is based on several factors:

1) Price (i.e. looking for the most bang per buck or wanting top-of-the-line)

2) Usability (i.e. concerned about games, fast benchmarks, overclockability, etc)

3) Reliability

There's nothing necessarily wrong with your picks. However, there is room for improvement in several areas including the video card, hard drive, and even processor.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[LeBodge]

Thankx for the advice, what components do you think I should change that would make a good all round system with an equal balance between business software (eg word,excel etc) and a good game playing PC (eg Solider of Fortune)

With so many graphics cards, hd drives on the market - only you guys can give me the final verdict.

As for processor, AMD all the way, I would never consider an INTEL at any cost







LeBodge.

"I know what I like and I like what I know"

 

[paparazi]

Your choices are pretty sound for a good fast PC without going over the top, of course you could better this spec but at a cost, at this price point your choices are good.
You are set on AMD so here are some alternatives and the reasons why I give them:
Gigabyte GA-7N400pro instead of the Asus A7N8X deluxe, after sending twelve of the Asus motherboards back for instabillity problems I just don't think it's all what it's made out to be! if you stick with the Asus make sure you get a revision 2.
Leadtek I love! they are just the best manufacture of video cards only thing is the GF4 4200Ti is getting on a bit nowadays, it has all the HORSEPOWER you need and is still a damn good card but lacks Direct 9 support for the latest crop of games releases.
One of the Radeon or FX cards that does support DirectX 9 maybe a better bet, they are no more powerfull but have the extra features to take advantage of DX9.
Some may question your choice of a Seagate Barracuda, it's just that the Western Digital SE's and Maxtor Diamond Max plus nine are slightly quicker alternatives BUT! I am a bit of a Barracuda fan, they are without dought the most reliable 7,200 rpm drive out there! as well as being the quitest, for the little differance there is in speed personally I would choose reliability every time.
As you have only given us the specs for HALF A MACHINE, I would just say: don't go cheap on the power supply and get a decent case with good air flow.
Martin

Replying helps further our knowledge, without comment leaves us wondering.

 

[cdogg]

Hard drive - Just make sure you get one with an 8MB cache. Maxtor and Western Digital have two very popular 80GB models on the market right now for under a $100.

Video card - Opinions will fly on this one, but are you going to be concerned about new game releases like Half Life 2 or Doom 3 (scheduled to be out in early 2004)? If so, you need to make sure you grab a card that is DirectX 9 rated. I used to be a huge Nvidia fan, but ATI has accomplished a lot with both the ATI Radeon 9700 and 9800 Pro models. The 9700 model should be under $300 by now. If that's too much for you, the 9500 or 9600 Pro models will do nicely along with Nvidia's GeForceFX 5600/5800 series.

CPU - Again, this is a matter of preference. The XP 2500+ should be more than enough horsepower for the tasks you mentioned. Since you're sticking with AMD, there's not a whole lot of room for you to move higher.

Motherboard - I'll stay away from this one. I've used so many different models that I've never heard complaints about, so it's hard to say which is more reliable.


~cdogg
[tab]"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources"
[tab][tab]- A. Einstein

 

[Fishguy]

For the most part I agree wholeheartedly with the advice given, but I wish to add a few things:
1)The AMD Athlon XP 2500+ with the stock AMD heatsink can be overclocked relatively easily to speeds of up to 3000+ equivalent(2.167GHz) and remain stable and at a respectable temperature.

2)In terms of your video card choice; Go with a budget DX9 card. I would reccomend the ATi Radeon 9500Pro or 9600Pro, they are relatively inexpensive cards when compared to their bigger brothers and again, both offer great overclocking potential.

3)Paparazi is bang on with his statement on power supplies and cases, "I would just say: don't go cheap on the power supply and get a decent case with good air flow" I would reccomend an Enermax power supply that puts out at least 350W. As for a case, that really depends what you are going for, but a personal favourite of mine is the Aspire X-Dreamer, it is a sturday steel case with room for 5 fans and it comes with a nifty built-in thermal monitor that displays the case temperature.

As far as everything else goes, It looks good. I hope that everything works out for you.

-----------------------
Fishguy

 

[Bbw76WSP]

I should mention a voice card and a monitor specs. perhaps also modem possibility either classic, or dsl; Think also to firewall or ethernet systems

 

[tempo21]

you should be able to pick up a Serial ATA drive for very little extra cash.

T3/\/\p()
tek-tips UK branch!
_________________

http://www.tempocentral.com

 

[nlm9802]

hmm

1. case, I like the chieftec look, big and lots of room for fans.
2. power supply, as suggested above enermax, I'd go 400+, mine is a 550.
3. CPU, I am an intel fan, amd just cant touch the P4c's 800 fsb. but if you're going amd, at least get a 333 fsb barton.
4. motherboard, soyo has some nice boards out for both sides of the fence, and many nice extras in the bios, as well as onboard 5.1 with a 6.1 connector, overclocking via BIOS, and onboard raid as well as sata support.
5. ram, pc3200 is good for intel's 2600 should be a good match for 333 amd's
6. video, a radeon 9000 pro will cost you maybe 90$, and is fast enough to run most current games with minimal if any slowdown. for a little more performance, try looking for a 9700 (non pro), it will be about double the cost, but performance will increase noticably.
7. hdd, no matter how you do it, it's always best to get 3 hard drives. first, a smallish (40GB) 7200 rpm 8MB cache ata 133 for your OS, this you put on it's own IDE channel. Next 2 80 GB (or larger if you need the space) 7200 rpm 8MB cache ata 133 in the motherboard's raid slots, then set them up as raid 0 for optimum speed. if you go saa, 1 drive should be all you need, price will be comparable to 2 ide.
8. keyboard/mouse, logitech has a nice wireless combo out there for 40$ very nice
9. monitor, tossup, you can go CRT and 19"+ or LCD and 18" or so. I prefer CRT's for a more realistic picture, but there's noone here who would take a 23" CRT over a 20" LCD when they're carrying them up 3 flights of stairs

in closing, I'd advise you to take a look at intel's p4c's, just because amd is the underdog doesnt mean they're better, and just because they put 3000+ on the box doesnt mean it can outperform a 2.4 GHz P4c

Nick
Computer Support, no not just hardware.. I support everything

 

[nlm9802]

as far as your original configuration..

Asus A7N8X Deluxe good mobo
Crucial PC2700 256Mb DDR x 2 may consider upping to dual 512
Seagate Barracuda 80Gb 7200 UDMA100 decent hdd
AMD XP2500+ 333FSB pretty fast
Leadtek Geforce Ti4200 8xAGP good all around video card, I would probably go with an ATI just because ATI's driver support seems to have improved greatly from the old days of the rage pro etc.

also fixing a couple typos in my last post..
5. ram, pc3200 is good for intel's 2600 should be a good match for 333 amd's, thats pc2700.

btw, how much are you looking to spend? It's usually much easier to recommend systems with a set price in mind. By the looks of it, if you are starting with nothing (no case, power supply etc), you're looking at about $850 with no monitor or 1050+ with

 

[LeBodge]

Thanks for all the responses, I will send a new post to the forum when the new "beastie" is built and running

Thanks again



LeBodge.

"I know what I like and I like what I know"