spec a new machine.

[pritch]

OK, so it's time for a new PC in the pritch household.

What I would basically like to know is what you think is sensible to build around AMD's Quantispeed 2Ghz processor which will run XP home. When I mean sensible I mean complement the features, and price, of the processor. I'm looking for the works, here. Motherboard, size of RAM and type of RAM, video card, sound card, DVD-rom, Re-writer, bits 'n' pieces, the lot. I guess makeing it for what would be about $2,500 or less is the idea. Thanks...

[Zaldron]

$2500 or less?
Go nuts.

If you have that kind of money don't even dare to buy stuff intended for running DOOM. If you can afford a GF3, good, if not, just go with a GF2 DDR or MX 400. It should last enough.

Go for 512 megs of RAM or more.

[Fredrik]

$2,500

If I had that much money to spend on a computer, I would pick the most expensive parts and not care any further.

[pritch]

oh, but you don't know how our prices are inflated over here, do you?

The ultimate case: Coolermaster 101
in brushed aluminium
Athlon XP 1800 + CPU
512 MB DDR RAM PC2100
80 GB 7200 rpm hard disk
Plextor Burn Proof 24 x CDRW
16 x DVD Drive
64 MB GeForce 3 Titanium 500
Audigy sound - Firewire IEEE 1394
56 K internal modem
The ultimate monitor: 19" Iiyama Visionmaster Pro 453 with DVI & USB

That would be about $3,500.

Go down to an ordinary 17", 32MB ATI Radeon or possibly Geforce2, and 256MB RAM or 40/60 GB HD and that would be more like $2,500.

[Zaldron]

There's no good reason to buy a GF3 Ti when the GF4 will be out in a couple of months. There should be a drastic price drop...

[nxn]

AHH!!! cut down on those gigabytes and get yourself a better modem!!

[Crendowing]

Spend the money on a broadband service. It'll be worth every penny.

[pritch]

I'm afraid if I do that I'll definitely drop out of university... :)

Because cable modem also happens to be a fucking rip-off in this country 56k's are offered as a matter of course on pretty much all machines.

So, GeForce4 is coming out. Did you mean wait for Ge3 price drop that will ensue?

[nxn]

I'm pretty sure he did.

[Zaldron]

Yeah, just take a look at today's GF2's prices. Or you could buy a next-gen Radeon, wich is always cheaper than it's Nvidia counterpart. It will probably be inferior to the Geforce in terms of raw performance, but at least it supports every single feature needed for next-gen games.

[pritch]

yes, the mid-range come with 32MB ATI cards. However, following literally today's price cuts I'm gonna just hang out a little longer for a GeForce3 to get a little cheaper. That supports/will have support for next gen. stuff, yeah? HD prices have just fallen again.. 80GB now costs what 60GB did just a few days ago, lol. Mmm...

AMD XP 1800+
-OR-
Pentium 4 1.8GHz?

I know the Athlon runs at something like 1533Mhz but they claim it is 21% faster than a 1.8 on business apps. Does it matter? Hell, no, probably. Zaldron?

[Zaldron]

Depends on what you're planning to do with the CPU.

Athlon is good for gamers because games run faster than the Intel counterpart. This has some exceptions, specially Carmack's engines. Intel, on the other hand, is the perfect choice for coders and artists. Intel's a really big company, and part of it is dedicated to releasing P3 and P4-optimized patches for the top development programs.

An example? When calculating volumetric lighting, what would take MAX 26 seconds on a P4 or a AMD takes 16 seconds after applying the P4/SSE patch.
IMO we won't see the real power of P4's until a new version of Developer Studio gets released with automatic support for P4 on compiling.

[Shaviro]

Get the P4 Northwood 2.2

[pritch]

I'll have to get a job first :(

btw, what inspired your polls-forum post-rush? Worried that orion will overtake you? ;)

[Shaviro]

I'll have to get a job first :(

btw, what inspired your polls-forum post-rush? Worried that orion will overtake you? ;)

what? nah. I saw Lüt was failing at "keeping the threads alive" so i stepped in.

[pritch]

ok, so new budget consideration. :(

What's the bestest, cheapest way to make a P2 Celeron 333Mhz, 64MB RAM, 8mb ATI RAGE, P14 Excellent mb last another 6 months?

Overclocking? More RAM? Help.

[fodders]

let Scan do you a quote

[pritch]

heh, what I wanted came out at over £2000. It seems pricey on that site...