Simviation Forum - Sold some of my PC components, replacement ideas ?

Jul 10^th, 2005 at 3:32pm

4_Series_Scania Offline
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Disregard my sig! I'm currently back on an aged pIII 667 (power!)

I've sold my p4 2.6c also, my motherboard and Geforce 6800LE.

I have a budget of £400 to replace the above components, if it were you, what would you get?

I'm leaning towards an Athlon 64 3200 Sct 939 / Nforce 4 mobo & 6800GT, AGP as its £40 cheaper than the PCI-e variant, possibly a p4 Prescott 3.2ghz, but, as I play games & little else, I'm finding it difficult to justify the p4's cost / performance.

Any thoughts, ideas welcome.

Paul.

Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!

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Reply #1 - Jul 10^th, 2005 at 4:03pm

Dan Offline
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You've SOLD the LE? Paul you... words fail me... Wink

Justifying the extra cash for a P4 is, as far I know isn't necasary because AMD is better for games.

Unless you unlock the GT then you won't see much difference to the LE, but I'm sure we can fix that! If you don't want to OC the CPU then these Sad-Diego's sound like a good idea, otherwise a aVEnice. I think X2 would be out of your budget.

BTW I'm surfing with PIII 500mhz power!
Dan

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Reply #2 - Jul 10^th, 2005 at 5:28pm

Skligmund Offline
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Well, the 90nm Venice core also supports SSE3 instructions, so if you can get a Venice, I would, but the 90nm Winchesters are great cores anyway.

The GT is a good card, and is basicly identacle to the Ultra, other than stock clock speed.

I wouldn't go the Pentium route, but then again, I haven't owned a Pentium since the PII 400 was considered top of the line.......

MSI has some good motherboards, but if you can afford it, I'd go with either an ASUS, or one of the new DFI's. And just so you know, the K8T800PRO chipset has a working PCI/AGP lock, so overclocking is not difficult. Infact, I overclocked my computer only 5 minutes after my initial windows installation..... But thats how I am. Tongue

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum&&Athlon64 3700+ San Diego (2200) @ 2750 MHz&&1024MB PC3200 @ 500 MHz (Mushkin V2)&&GeForce 6800GT OC (BFG)&&(2) 80G SATA Seagates RAID0&&(1) Maxtor 250Gb 16MB Cache ATA133&&19

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Reply #3 - Jul 11^th, 2005 at 1:42am

Scorpiоn Offline
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Graphics: 6800GT
CPU: AMD Athlon64, as fast as you can afford!
MoBo: Meh, any decent one. I have an MSI.

The Devil's Advocate.&&

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Reply #4 - Jul 11^th, 2005 at 4:40am

Mehdi Offline
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Hi Paul...!

For motherboards, you really can't go wrong with DFI LanParty ones... 8)... Shocked

...! Some of them can be pricey but well worth the dosh!

As for the graphics card, why don't go just that little bit further and go for a Radeon X800 XT PE? It'll outperform the 6800GT in just about every game; however, if you go for PCI-Express with the DFI mobos, then you should go for the X800 XL instead... about the same price as the 6800GT (it's probably cheaper)... it should trounce the ol' LE... Grin

...!

For the processor... what more can I say... AMD! The 64 3500+ with the Venice core is at a spiffing £170 over at Overclockers... 8)...

...!

All of these components will add up to a more enjoyable life with your computer... and a better experience with PC gaming... Wink

...

...!

Cheers Paul...!
Mehdi.

&&&&My Specs&&Intel P4 3.2GHz with HT&&ATi Radeon X800XT&&1GB Corsair RAM&&160GB Maxtor HDD&&17" TFT

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Reply #5 - Jul 11^th, 2005 at 9:33am

congo Offline
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I saw a dual cored 4600+ at the PC shop ........... Grin

I also can get 512mb of PC4000 Ram pretty cheap here, (46.5 pounds or $109 Aussie dollars), so keep an eye out for it if you plan on o/clocking a lesser cpu such as a 3200+. Or just get a faster CPU if you can't get the overspec ram cheap enough.

http://www.umart.com.au/pro/products_listnew.phtml?id=10&id2=28&&bid=2&sid=11287

Hey, all the cards here are cheaper in PCI-e, so what gives? Make sure you've shopped around and verify that the AGP is cheaper, it just sounds wrong as that's reverse of what I've seen so far. Silly prices are all over the place with trends different geographically for no apparent reason huh?

EVERY single quality nForce 4 SLI or Ultra chipset based mainboard I've seen has been PCI-e only and I think it would be a big mistake to choose a board/chipset based on price difference of AGP - PCIe alone, as I can't imagine the price gap being that wide! (especially when the reverse is true here!). Even so, you'll sacrifice the better chipset, which is more important in the long run.

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #6 - Jul 11^th, 2005 at 4:15pm

the_autopilot Offline
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My recommendations:
gfx: the 7800 gt (it will be out very soon) and will put a 6800 gt SLI to shame.
mobo: nforce4 s939 mobo (possibly SLI, if you want future proof)
cpu: an athlon64 4000 (venice core)

You'll be set with these components.

Since all you do is game, then an Intel CPU won't help you.

I definitely don't recommend an AGP mobo and gfx card mainly because thats obselete now and with prices coming down, there's no reason for a new computer to have AGP.

Link to sig:&&Click here&&(Cannot post signature here due to current forum restrications on linked images).

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Reply #7 - Jul 12^th, 2005 at 1:17am

Skligmund Offline
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I would have to disagree, at the point you need PCI-E, you'll get something different anyways. AGP is plenty sufficiant for the current standards of CPU and RAM systems. I have AGP for that reason, it was cheaper for the motherboard, and cheaper for the card. That was a $100 I saved that I used on a set of CH rudder pedals.

As for 512MB of PC4000, DON'T. I wish I had a gig of RAM, cause I CAN SERIOUSLY TELL THE DIFFERENCE between 512MB of really fast RAM (560 DDR) and 1024MB of slower RAM (370DDR). Loading times are reduced significantly on games such as FS9, Far Cry, Half Life 2 ect. Also, there are times in FS (and other games) that 512 isn't enough, and the RAM 'forgets' say my wing view after a minute, and has to reload the wing textures when I look from the 2D cockpit view again. Thats one thing you'll notice, the constant reloading of textures that were forgotten by the RAM because you didn't look at something for 30 seconds. Absolutely go 1024MB of RAM, I am learning the hard way.

BTW, anybody here want to buy some OCZ Dual Channel 512MB (2X256) PC4000 (DDR500) RAM?

http://www.ocztechnology.com/products/memory/ocz_el_ddr_pc_4000_gold_revision_2

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum&&Athlon64 3700+ San Diego (2200) @ 2750 MHz&&1024MB PC3200 @ 500 MHz (Mushkin V2)&&GeForce 6800GT OC (BFG)&&(2) 80G SATA Seagates RAID0&&(1) Maxtor 250Gb 16MB Cache ATA133&&19

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Reply #8 - Jul 12^th, 2005 at 5:38am

congo Offline
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I wasn't recommending 512mb in total Skligmund, merely pointing out the fact that budget o/c ram exists.

PC4000 runs at 500mhz Paul, and that means the FSB can be moved up from 200mhz to 250mhz without a divider if the cpu will handle it.

Here is the CPU table.

http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041221/images/cpu_table_amd_big.gif

If you chose, say, a 3200+ with a 10x multiplier, the ram I spoke of should take that cpu to over 4000+ levels........ Isn't that fast enough? Roll Eyes

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #9 - Jul 12^th, 2005 at 12:41pm

4_Series_Scania Offline
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As for my RAM, I have 4x 256MB GeIL 3200 DDR 400 from my old p4 so thats not an issue.

As for graphics, I don't see the point in paying extra for a PCI-e board and card when both tend to cost considerably more than their AGP variants whilst offering no performance boost, compare an AGP 6800GT to a PCI-e 6800GT, you'll see what I mean.

I'm probably going to end up with a Gigabyte K8NSC and A64 3000+ Sct 939 - I've been offered both for just under £125 ! - leaving plenty spare for the GFX card.

Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!

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Reply #10 - Jul 12^th, 2005 at 5:50pm

the_autopilot Offline
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Quote:

I would have to disagree, at the point you need PCI-E, you'll get something different anyways. AGP is plenty sufficiant for the current standards of CPU and RAM systems. I have AGP for that reason, it was cheaper for the motherboard, and cheaper for the card. That was a $100 I saved that I used on a set of CH rudder pedals.

Getting PCI-e futureproofs your investment cause current generation hardware is coming only in pci-e like the 7800 GTX, gt, and ati r520 cards.
AGP is no longer standard and died with the last generation of vid cards (the 6800 ultra, x850, etc.)

Now of course, most of you will be playing last generation games like half life 2 and doom 3, fs2004 etc., so yeah, AGP is perfect for those. But in the future video cards will be PCI-e.
BTW, unlike the 6800 ultra which was pci-e only for show, the 7800 GTX actually has the power to handle all of the data the PCI-e bandwidth can carry. And trust me, games will be looking to use that bandwidth, just look at games that are coming out late this year and early next year like alan wake, and games from epic (that based on the unreal 3 engine).

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Reply #11 - Jul 12^th, 2005 at 9:53pm

Skligmund Offline
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Congo:
I wasn't implying anything about your post, I was just letting out my knowledge of having 512 vs 1024. Tongue

He is trying to justify cost/performance. Hvae you seen the pricing on the 7 series geforces? By the time one really needs that card (in a year) I think that more things will have changed (RAM specs ect.) that you would have wished you waited another 6 to 8 months before unloading a lot of cash on the 'old' version of something.

For cost/performance and the idea even more than the AGP/PCI-E spec will change in the near future, I still believe AGP is the way to go. I'll get a PCI-E card next time I upgrade my computer, when DDR600 become the standard for 184 pin DIMMS, and dual core processors become the norm. Too many things happening now to waste extra money on for the short term. SATAII hard drives?

While I'm at it, I think they should get rid of IDE all together, and make serial connections or something more efficiant for optical drives.

MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum&&Athlon64 3700+ San Diego (2200) @ 2750 MHz&&1024MB PC3200 @ 500 MHz (Mushkin V2)&&GeForce 6800GT OC (BFG)&&(2) 80G SATA Seagates RAID0&&(1) Maxtor 250Gb 16MB Cache ATA133&&19

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Reply #12 - Jul 16^th, 2005 at 12:09pm

4_Series_Scania Offline
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slowest.
Stoke on Trent England U.K.

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Settled on an AMD 64 3000+ Sct 939, Gigabyte GA-K8NSC-939 Motherboard
Leadtek 6800 GT 256MB - £165! 8)

20774 on 3D Mark 2001 SE, more tests to follow.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k1=8650851

Posting drivel here since Jan 31st, 2002. - That long!

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