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[BojTrek]

I have a custom built PC that runs OK, but is getting a little quirky and I am thinking of getting a new PC probably from Best Buy or other electronics store... My current PC is 1.2 Ghz processor and I have 640MB of RAM.

Alright I haven't decided on that too... I might go custom again and add on video cards and other add-ons...

Do I go with Athlon XP or Pentium? What is the latest and greatest for processors that I would want in a new PC...

What is the type of RAM I want also?

You don't have to go into specifics... what do you feel is the best as of today or by February?

 

[The Bookerman]

Athlon 64 owns your soul

 

[Bregor]

Do I go with Athlon XP or Pentium?

Neither, Athlon 64 or Athlon FX.

 

[tedtropy]

Yeah, if you're even remotely considering it for gaming, Athlon 64 is the way to go...

 

[BigGreenMat]

I would personally suggest getting an Athlon 64 3000 939 90nm winchester core. You can easily clock it up to 3500+ speeds on stock cooling if not 3800+ speeds. For february thaat might change to the 3500+ 939 90nm core depending on price changes.

 

[BojTrek]

I actually meant to type Athlon 64 and NOT Athlon XP...

There are no Pentium's that are 64-bit ready? Is that what the Athlon 64 is, it is ready for 64-bit?

 

[Bregor]

I actually meant to type Athlon 64 and NOT Athlon XP...

There are no Pentium's that are 64-bit ready? Is that what the Athlon 64 is, it is ready for 64-bit?

The 64 bit part doesn't really matter yet, as 64 bit Windows isn't really ready for prime time yet.

The Athlon 64 can also run as a 32 bit processor, and as it happens, the best one currently available.

 

[Sander]

Listen to BigGreenMat.

 

[gohepcat]

Listen to BigGreenMat.

Listen to Sander

 

[Shogmaster]

I have a custom built PC that runs OK, but is getting a little quirky and I am thinking of getting a new PC probably from Best Buy or other electronics store... My current PC is 1.2 Ghz processor and I have 640MB of RAM.

Alright I haven't decided on that too... I might go custom again and add on video cards and other add-ons...

Do I go with Athlon XP or Pentium? What is the latest and greatest for processors that I would want in a new PC...

What is the type of RAM I want also?

You don't have to go into specifics... what do you feel is the best as of today or by February?

After the holidays, the only combo that makes sense is an nForce 4 mobo (SLI would be bonus), 939 pin Athlon 64 (for budget conscious) or Athlon FX (if you got money to spare) with at least 2 DIMMs of 512MB PC3200 in dual channel.

 

[Crow]

Im personally holding out until Dual Core processors hit the market. Even if they are too expensive, they are really going to knock all the other prices down.

 

[VPhys]

Isn't BTX hitting the market anytime now. Perhaps it's best to wait.

We have been through the graphics change. PCI-Express The Socket change: 939


But still remaing are Dual Channel DDR and BTX.

 

[retardboy]

Centrino or wait for dual cores

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Centrino?

I'm waiting for dual core CPUs as well...

No point in dropping all that dough unless what you currently have is a dinosaur.

 

[retardboy]

Yeah, there's a sexy mini itx centrino board out there for desktops. Gives you great performance in a small quiet package.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

OK... Someone bring me up to speed on all these new form factors. Last I checked it was ATX and mini-ATX.

 

[retardboy]

http://www.mini-itx.com/



Been around for a while. Usually Via stuff, but there are a handful of Intel ones too.


http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS7620458175.html

That's what I was thinking about... Very sexy.

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Wow.

 

[retardboy]

Haha, well if you like that, check out that mini-itx site.

Haha, I love these things!

And also check out what's next from Via... Dun dun dun dun... The nano-itx!

I'm surprised I'm the only one who likes these things. Hehe

 

[DaCocoBrova]

Some obvious questions:

1. Heat... How hot do these things get?
2. Noisy?
3. Primary use?

 

[retardboy]

1. Heat isn't much of a problem with these. They're meant for being in small enclosures and they're not meant to be beasts like the P4s.
2. These babies are very quiet. Especially if you opt to get the fanless ones. (Although these are weaker)
3. People usually use these as HTPCs. Connect them to your TV and watch some movies and listen to music. (All the Via boards have hardware Mpeg2 acceleration) If you get one of the slower ones, then you might not be able to play divx and xvid files all that great, but if you get the 1.2ghz ones, they run just fine. You can also use it as just an office computer to surf the net, use MS office, and crap like that. Just fine for most of you computing, unless you want to be playing games. You can, however, get an mpeg2 encoding tv card and you will be able to run Windows Media Center 2005 on one. At least, that's what I'm told.


Oh yes, I'm only talking about the Via cpus here. You want to go get a P4 one or something, then its different.

http://www.whiningdog.net/Reviews/PCs/Motherboards/20040425-InsightP4-ITX/index.php

 

[DaCocoBrova]

I never knew they made CPUs.

No PCI slots?

 

[retardboy]

They usually come with one. I think there are some with more than one though or with risers. They started making low power consuming CPUs after they bought Cyrix. They were way underpowered compared to like 3 ghz P4s though, so they aren't usually publicized. They've found their niche these last couple years though for mini pcs that consume little power and are tiny. You should check out the customizing scene. They put these boards in like NES, Genesis, Atari, Dreamcast, ect.... cases. Haha they also put them in toasters and basically whatever you can think of. They have like a cult following.

 

[teh_pwn]

"I would personally suggest getting an Athlon 64 3000 939 90nm winchester core. You can easily clock it up to 3500+ speeds on stock cooling if not 3800+ speeds. For february thaat might change to the 3500+ 939 90nm core depending on price changes."

While that's very true, look at the context of his post. He's going to buy it at Best Buy (lol). I doubt he knows very much about computer, let alone how to overclock.

If you don't want to learn anything about computers, you're best option is probably Dell. If you want to learn a little bit more, go to something like Cyberpowerpc.com. If you want to build yourself, newegg.com.

That thing above isn't a PC. It's an abomination. An old lady's email checker if you will.


Right now, the best mid line CPU is AMD 64 3500+. Intel's still a bit behind in performance, despite their E0 stepping.

 

[AntoneM]

If you don't want to learn anything about computers, you're best option is probably Dell. If you want to learn a little bit more, go to something like Cyberpowerpc.com. If you want to build yourself, newegg.com.

Right now, the best mid line CPU is AMD 64 3500+. Intel's still a bit behind in performance, despite their E0 stepping.

you're saying that AMD has the best bang for the buck (and they do) but then advise to go with Dell, a company that doesn't offer any PC with an AMD CPU... make's no sense. I know HP/Compaq offer AMD 64's but I'm not sure who else does.

 

[EviLore]

This is what I seem to be building:


Athlon 64 3500+
939 mobo tbd
WD Raptor
Media HDD
ATi Radeon x800 XL (or x800 vanilla...or 6600 gt. all depends on availability/price in january)
1GB 2-2-2 ddr 400
Antec Sonata case/psu (subject to change)



Probably finished in the next month or so. Video card will probably come last, with the new models hitting so soon.

 

[teh_pwn]

Yes, the 3500+ the best bang for your buck. But prebuilt systems are not no matter what the processor is.

 

[AntoneM]

indeed, do-it-yourself (or have a shop put together the pieces you choose) >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pre-built

 

[BojTrek]

Everything in my basement is SONY... so... I bought...

Sony RS720G w/Pentium 4 Processor 530 w/Hyper Threading from Best Buy.

Yes, I could have built another PC (like my current one) but finding the shit I wanted would have been a pain in the ass living in Chicago. There are no stores for PC parts in the city, I am lucky to find a Best Buy in the Chicago area.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...50007&productCategoryId=cat01173&type=product

It has everything I need... DVD burner, Giga Pocket to transfer VHS tapes, good processor for a couple of years... I don't need 64 bit right now.

I will have to get some memory and video card... for now, it serves its purpose...

Rip on me now PC geeks!

 

[Shogmaster]

Everything in my basement is SONY... so... I bought...

Sony RS720G w/Pentium 4 Processor 530 w/Hyper Threading from Best Buy.

Yes, I could have built another PC (like my current one) but finding the shit I wanted would have been a pain in the ass living in Chicago. There are no stores for PC parts in the city, I am lucky to find a Best Buy in the Chicago area.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...50007&productCategoryId=cat01173&type=product

It has everything I need... DVD burner, Giga Pocket to transfer VHS tapes, good processor for a couple of years... I don't need 64 bit right now.

I will have to get some memory and video card... for now, it serves its purpose...

Rip on me now PC geeks!

Eh... It's your money.

 

[Bigfoot]

This is what I seem to be building:


Athlon 64 3500+
939 mobo tbd
WD Raptor
Media HDD
ATi Radeon x800 XL (or x800 vanilla...or 6600 gt. all depends on availability/price in january)
1GB 2-2-2 ddr 400
Antec Sonata case/psu (subject to change)



Probably finished in the next month or so. Video card will probably come last, with the new models hitting so soon.

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'll just bump this one. Anyways, I'm thinking about building something similar to the above (A64 3200, 939, and 6600 GT). I've just noticed that the 6600 GT comes in AGP and PCIe... PCIe is new to me... is it better than AGP?

 

[Lil' Dice]

Everything in my basement is SONY... so... I bought...

Sony RS720G w/Pentium 4 Processor 530 w/Hyper Threading from Best Buy.

Yes, I could have built another PC (like my current one) but finding the shit I wanted would have been a pain in the ass living in Chicago. There are no stores for PC parts in the city, I am lucky to find a Best Buy in the Chicago area.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...50007&productCategoryId=cat01173&type=product

It has everything I need... DVD burner, Giga Pocket to transfer VHS tapes, good processor for a couple of years... I don't need 64 bit right now.

I will have to get some memory and video card... for now, it serves its purpose...

Rip on me now PC geeks!

Goddamn! $1600?!

 

[teh_pwn]

Everything in my basement is SONY... so... I bought...

Sony RS720G w/Pentium 4 Processor 530 w/Hyper Threading from Best Buy.

Yes, I could have built another PC (like my current one) but finding the shit I wanted would have been a pain in the ass living in Chicago. There are no stores for PC parts in the city, I am lucky to find a Best Buy in the Chicago area.

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage...73&type=product

It has everything I need... DVD burner, Giga Pocket to transfer VHS tapes, good processor for a couple of years... I don't need 64 bit right now.

I will have to get some memory and video card... for now, it serves its purpose...

Rip on me now PC geeks!

First off, buying a PC for the Sony brand was a no no. There's nothing Sony in that PC aside from maybe an optical drive or mem stick drive.

Not to be rude, but you got anally raped there. Integrated video? 512 MB or RAM, basically 256 after you take away mem for video? This thing is going to choke just running windows applications, let alone games.

Here's a real PC that'll I'll build with relatively the same money:


AMD 3500+ $272
MSI K3N Neo2 Platinum motherboard $148
1024 MB of PC3200 RAM, Corsair XMS $198
BFG 6800 Ultra OC $509
Audigy 2 ZS sound card $93
Klipsch 5.1 Ultras $339
160 GB Seagate Barracuda SATA HDD $110
Lite-on DVD Burner $64
Case of your choice (preference really) $100
Windows XP Pro without built in Sony programs/ads $140

Bonus: No tax on online transactions.


Your system has slow ass integrated video, this has the fastest video card on the market, which is probably > 10 times faster than yours.

Your system does not have enough RAM to run the essentials, this has enough to run high end games.

Your system has a generic integrated audio processor with some crappy stereo speakers, this has a good audio processor with the best PC speakers on the market.

I built a lavish computer, that is easily 5 times yours overall, yet I only spent a couple hundred more...And I could match what you bought, for about $600.

Have a nice day!

 

[Shogmaster]

I didn't want to start a new thread, so I'll just bump this one. Anyways, I'm thinking about building something similar to the above (A64 3200, 939, and 6600 GT). I've just noticed that the 6600 GT comes in AGP and PCIe... PCIe is new to me... is it better than AGP?

PCIe is the new spec above AGP. PCIe (short for PCI Express) comes in in 2 flavors: PCIe 16x for graphics cards, and PCIe 1x for other peripherals. 6600GT for PCIe is usually $50 less than the AGP version.

You should build an A64 system using an nForce 4 mobo (around $130 without SLI) so that you could use the PCIe video cards.