Which PC would you prefer ? Very Urgent!

[SillyFunkyDevil]

Hello All.


Which system will be the best for gaming? I mostly play Flight Simulator 2002.


System 1:

AMD 2100+
1024 MB RAM
40 GB IBM Hard Drive
128mb GeForce4 Ti4200 AGP Nvidia with TV Out
16x DVD ROM
AOpen Motherboard
Creative Sound Card (on board)
LAN ready



System 2:

AMD ATHLON XP2400 Processor
120Gig Ultra-133 8.4Ms 7600RPM IBM Hard Drive
MSI KT4 DDR333 XP2600+ Motherboard
256Mb DDR333 PC2700 184Pin SDRAM
CD-RW/DVD ROM Drive
Geforce4 DDR Graphics Card + TV Out


Before I buy the PC, I need your help, so which PC do u think is the Best for gaming... ?

Please Reply soon!

 

[cdogg]

I'd put my money on System 2, but it also depends on the video card. You said it has a Geforce4 DDR Graphics Card + TV Out, but you'll want to see if it's an MX card or a Ti model. If it's MX, then that might actually hurt performance and make System 1 more appealing.

Also, what's the price of both systems. That would be the other deciding factor...


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[SillyFunkyDevil]

Don't worry about the Price


System 2 has a 64MB Gefore 4 MX!

But what's the difference between GF4 MX and GF4 Ti ?

BTW: System 1 has 1GB PC 133 RAM.

Which system will have the BEST overall performance?

 

[Win98User]

Out of curiousity, what operating system are you going to be running under?

 

[SillyFunkyDevil]

Windows XP Pro

 

[cdogg]

OK, based on the fact that System 1 has PC133 SDRAM and System 2 has DDR333 SDRAM, I would most definitely choose System 2 (with price aside).

The GeForce4 MX doesn't have the same 3D technology that the GeForce4 Ti has. It is able to run older games very fast, but will not play newer DirectX 8.1 games with all the detail that the devolopers wanted you to see. This is no big deal at the moment since over 90% of the newer games out there don't use DirectX 8.1 shader technology. But in the near future, many more are going to start.

Since the GeForce Ti 4200 is a relatively cheap card in terms of price (only around $140), you can always upgrade that later...


~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[SillyFunkyDevil]

System 1 has 1GB PC133 RAM

System 2 has 256MB DDR 333MHz RAM

Will you still go with the S2 ?

 

[cdogg]

It depends on what you plan on using it for. Having that much memory will only help you if you plan on doing a lot of video or audio editing (with software like Adobe Premiere).

However, it will only give you an advantage in a small number of cases. The 256MB of DDR333 memory would work faster in most situations and you could always upgrade it at a later date. The memory is becoming cheaper. A 256MB stick currently will be under $100.


Bottom line: More isn't always better. However, XP does like to have 512MB, so you'd want to upgrade in the near future after prices continue to fall. ~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[cdogg]

Advantages of System2 over System1:
- faster CPU by a good margin
- much faster memory
- 3 times the storage (120 GB vs. 40GB) and probably better access time (8.4Ms)
- room to upgrade the processor (motherboard takes Thoroughbred B versions and will probably go as high as 3000+).

Disadvantages of System2 over System1:
- not as much "pep" in the video card
- only 256MB of RAM (which is still sufficient, but 512MB would be preferred)


The advantages clearly outweigh the disadvantages. Games will play just fine on either machine, however. ~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[SillyFunkyDevil]

Is the Geforce 4 MX 440 any good? or is it just C*** ?

 

[cdogg]

Good enough to get you by for now. You'll probably want to wait until early next year to upgrade to an ATI 9700 Pro or GeForce4 Ti 4600, because they'll both probably be under $200 by then. ~cdogg

"The secret to creativity is knowing how to hide your sources."
- A. Einstein

 

[paparazi]

Are these two sets of specs writen in stone?
Can you ask for say a 2.2XP in System two and the differance in price would then pay for the 4200Ti card.
Anyhow if it's for gaming I wouldn't go for the cut down GF4 440MX, the 4200Ti is MUCH MUCH BETTER.
System two is much better anyway because it is obviously a newer motherboard using faster DDR2700 memory even if it's 256mb compared to 1gig, as far as gaming is concerned 256mb is plenty but you would do better getting the Ti card if you can. Martin Please let members know if there advice has helped any.