I would like to get a Pentium 4 with at least 2 ghz. I want to play big time 3D games and simulations. Which type of memory should I get: SDRAM or RDRAM. Which one is better for playing 3D games. Is there any additional things I should look for when buying a new motherboard?
Tek-Tips is the largest IT community on the Internet today!
Members share and learn making Tek-Tips Forums the best source of peer-reviewed technical information on the Internet!
-
Congratulations SkipVought on being selected by the Tek-Tips community for having the most helpful posts in the forums last week. Way to Go!
I need advice in getting a motherboard
- Thread starter Tom2002
- Start date
Definitely stay away from SDRAM. It will bottleneck your CPU and Graphics Card big time.
Consider AMD's Athlon XP as an alternative to Intel's P4 if you want to save money and invest it towards a better video card or hard drive. An XP 2000+ for example is comparable to the average P4 2.0GHz on many benchmarks and costs about $70 less.
If money is no problem and you insist going with the P4, then the decision will be between DDR and RDRAM when it comes to memory. DDR has been shown to bottleneck the CPU in only a handful of benchmarks, but is a very good alternative since it's much cheaper than RDRAM.
In either case, go to for in-depth motherboard reviews and comparisons:
~cdogg
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein
Consider AMD's Athlon XP as an alternative to Intel's P4 if you want to save money and invest it towards a better video card or hard drive. An XP 2000+ for example is comparable to the average P4 2.0GHz on many benchmarks and costs about $70 less.
If money is no problem and you insist going with the P4, then the decision will be between DDR and RDRAM when it comes to memory. DDR has been shown to bottleneck the CPU in only a handful of benchmarks, but is a very good alternative since it's much cheaper than RDRAM.
In either case, go to for in-depth motherboard reviews and comparisons:
~cdogg
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein
- Thread starter
- #3
If you go with the AMD XP CPU, you might be able to keep your old one. But chances are it is a 200-watt power supply or less. Newer systems are power-hungry and require at least a 250-watter (350 to be safe and 400 preferred).
As for a P4 system, I think you have to have a power supply with a different kind of connector. It uses different voltages I believe. Here are a couple articles on that:
(scroll down to the 3rd bulletpoint)
~cdogg
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein
As for a P4 system, I think you have to have a power supply with a different kind of connector. It uses different voltages I believe. Here are a couple articles on that:
(scroll down to the 3rd bulletpoint)
~cdogg
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein
You will pay quite a bit more for a P4 system overall and if you insist on Intel then go Northwood (these are the new 512 L2 cache models with improved performance, available as 2.2gig or higher)
But if gaming is what this is all about go AMD XP to save some money and go ballistic on a top end graphics card
(the geforce 4600Ti is the king at the moment but the new Radeon 9000 is just about to be released that is rumoured to beat the GF?
If Intel P4 you want a 533fsb motherboard with DDR ram based on the new 845E or G chipsets.
If AMD XP you want a via KT333 chipset motherboard also with DDRam.
As for make of the motherboard: Asus, Abit, MSI, Gigabyte, Soltek, FIC, all good, Raid maybe an advantage longterm but USB2, Firewire, Lan and 6 channel audio are desireable features that you should be looking for. Martin Please let members know if there advice has helped any.
But if gaming is what this is all about go AMD XP to save some money and go ballistic on a top end graphics card
(the geforce 4600Ti is the king at the moment but the new Radeon 9000 is just about to be released that is rumoured to beat the GF?
If Intel P4 you want a 533fsb motherboard with DDR ram based on the new 845E or G chipsets.
If AMD XP you want a via KT333 chipset motherboard also with DDRam.
As for make of the motherboard: Asus, Abit, MSI, Gigabyte, Soltek, FIC, all good, Raid maybe an advantage longterm but USB2, Firewire, Lan and 6 channel audio are desireable features that you should be looking for. Martin Please let members know if there advice has helped any.
Intel is going to be announcing another round price cuts very shortly when it releases the 2.6 and 2.8 CPUs. RIGHT NOW, the "sweet spot" is the 2.26. RDRAM is the best memory type currently. Yes it's a little more expensive. And yes it kicks DDR's butt. Using 512MB of Kingston PC-1066 RDRAM ,Giga-Bytes GA-8IHXP board and the 2.26 P4 you would pay $704 plus shipping thru NewEgg. ( recommend checking prices at and as well. ALWAYS check out a online retailer thru I am using the Asus P4T533-C board with that memory O/C at 1120 MHz and the 2.26 O/C at 2.38MHz right now. I like the features of the Giga-Byte board though.Another option is Asus's P4T533 board (NO "C"
. It uses 4200 RIMMS which can be used singley instead of in pairs like the previous versions of RDRAM. Samsung 4200 RIMM's are available now but 16-bit PC-1066 is not available from Samsung until sometime in September. Things are gonna change in the next couple of weeks though, maybe as soon as August 26th!
Hope this is helpful!
Wolf
. It uses 4200 RIMMS which can be used singley instead of in pairs like the previous versions of RDRAM. Samsung 4200 RIMM's are available now but 16-bit PC-1066 is not available from Samsung until sometime in September. Things are gonna change in the next couple of weeks though, maybe as soon as August 26th!Hope this is helpful!
Wolf
As far as video cards go, the ATI Radeon 9700 (starting to show up in Alienware systems) is the full-force blowout to graphics extreme. It is the[i/] top of the line as of right now. Now, have you decided if you are going with the P4 for sure? If so, go with the RDRAM if those are your only two choices. I strongly recommend you go with a board that supports DDR. But once again, it is extremely recommended you go with an AMD chip/board combo due to the cost/performance ratio. If you want to good specs on an AMD loet me know your price range and I can give you some suggestions. If you go with AMD, keep in mind you don't need to have the top AMD chip right away. 1800-1900 are excellent choices for gaming. Pair these chips with some DDR 333 and a good top-end graphics card (Radeon 8500, Ti4600, and if you really want it ATI9700), and a good throughput hardrive (ATA 100, 7200 RPM...ATA 133 is better yet). Jay ![[infinity]](/data/assets/smilies/infinity.gif "[infinity] [infinity]")
"If the words up and down were reversed, would you trip and fall or trip and fly?"
"If the words up and down were reversed, would you trip and fall or trip and fly?"
Sorry about the italics, kinda got away from me. The original subject was recommendation for a motherboard. I recommend the Asus A7V333, or the Soyo Dragon Ultra.
Go to for complete reviews. Jay
"If the words up and down were reversed, would you trip and fall or trip and fly?"
Go to for complete reviews. Jay
"If the words up and down were reversed, would you trip and fall or trip and fly?"
If you are serious about performance, and want the Best Video card out there you may want to wait for the release of 8X AGP mothreboards and video cards. The new ATI Radeon 9700 8X AGP video cards will be available soon. They are the best video cards for playing games at high end resolution. However, they Cost around $300.00. Asus is coming out with 3 new motherboards with 8X AGP and the new Serial ATA.
The new Serial ATA Hard Drives are not available right now, but they will probably be released in the next few months. From what I have read just the narrower cables would be worth getting. They only have 7 wire data cables and send and receive in a stream of data at serial speed with one cabel per drive.
If you do not want to wait, I suggest going with a P4 system with 533 Bus and 512k L2 Cache and DDR RAM. The DDR RAM is the preferred memory type for cost and availability. The Asus SIS chipset motherboards look like a preety good price match for excellent quality. For improved performance shell a little extra cash for the Western Digital Special Edition hard drives with the 8 Meg Cache. If you like dvd and video editing consider an ATI Radeon 8500 All in 1 Wonder with TV out and a TV Tuner card that can record MPEG video straight to your hard drive. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.
The new Serial ATA Hard Drives are not available right now, but they will probably be released in the next few months. From what I have read just the narrower cables would be worth getting. They only have 7 wire data cables and send and receive in a stream of data at serial speed with one cabel per drive.
If you do not want to wait, I suggest going with a P4 system with 533 Bus and 512k L2 Cache and DDR RAM. The DDR RAM is the preferred memory type for cost and availability. The Asus SIS chipset motherboards look like a preety good price match for excellent quality. For improved performance shell a little extra cash for the Western Digital Special Edition hard drives with the 8 Meg Cache. If you like dvd and video editing consider an ATI Radeon 8500 All in 1 Wonder with TV out and a TV Tuner card that can record MPEG video straight to your hard drive. If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.
I know this is off the subject, but being the resource hound I am, where can I find some info on Serial ATA. I'm talkin' some decent facts.
We now continue with your regularly scheduled program...... Jay
"If the words up and down were reversed, would you trip and fall or trip and fly?"
We now continue with your regularly scheduled program...... Jay
"If the words up and down were reversed, would you trip and fall or trip and fly?"
Jay, have you been out to in a while? Here's a recent article they had on Serial ATA:
~cdogg
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein
~cdogg
"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein
![[lol]](/data/assets/smilies/lol.gif "[lol] [lol]")
Jay - Status
Similar threads
- Locked
- Question
- Locked
- Question