jlc Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 I've sold my xeons and I'm currently only looking to spend on the following configuration. Asus A8V Deluxe v.2.0 (supports DDR 400/333/266) VIA K8T800 Pro I currently have two sticks of DDR 266 @ 512MB So I can either stay with that ram for now and get: AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512K L2 90nm 939 pin Or AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K L2 90nm 939 pin or the 3000 for a little less (been shown w/ that mobo to hit 3500 speeds) and a 1GB of DDR 400 maybe 433 for a little more cash. What would you do, 3500 and older ram and wait tell more cash comes along for better ram or go with the slower cpu (still fast, i'm sure) and better ram now? Brain is saying faster CPU, but it seems that CPU's fall in price pretty fast but the RAM doesn't, but you really only need one cpu and I can always grab 1GB (2x512) later and than add another 1GB later on, on top of that. Along with all that, like I said, 3500+ w/ no ram is cheaper. OR 3200+ no /ram and save some more money. /me smacks his head on monitor so he'll stop thinking so much. thx for any input. Yes, Linux only, you know the way I am ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ixthusdan Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 I'd improve the ram. At these speeds, cpu difference is not noticable. But the ram can be more noticable! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Or I could go sane, put all my good stuff in my overclocked xp-2500, and save or put the $500 or so in the market for some other investments. damn if the addiction to speed and Linux isn't getting to me :unsure: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qchem Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 What do you actually want the machine to do? That would be a big factor in the decision for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gowator Posted November 4, 2004 Report Share Posted November 4, 2004 Just checking prices from CNET: It seems from a XP2000+ ($80) there is a slow increase in price/perf up to XP3000+ @ about $120. After this we go through a dual XP/64 price range up to the 3200+ mark at about $200! After this mark we go through 3400+@$250, 3500+@300 untill 3700+@$460. So the question for me would be is the 3200->3700 equivalent worth more than doubling the price. (after that we step into FX ranges of $700+) Second question for me is... that early top-range processers are usually less reliable and suffer from heat and power probs... the manufacturing process is way outthere and not stable and so you get less chance to play... overclocking leading edge AMD's is dangerous as they are already pretty close to tolerance... Hence you might get a 3200+ operating like a 3500+ or even a newer 3000+... I once did a whole loada research on AMD chips when I had a problem... it turned out to the the power requirements of an early leading edge 1400+ :D (which was then 1250Mhz) ..strangly a later duron 1300 took 1/2 the power and a XP2000+ I replaced it with about 1/2!!! I bet I could get that late 2000+ up to 3000+ since it is operating so far inside tolerance. So I'm telling you what you already know!!! 3200+ If you really want speed then get rid of AMD and go IBM... Those G5 Mac's are pretty much outs the league... on the memory: I'd see if I could trade it up....perhaps with the processor purchase? It's going to be easier to realise some value on it now than later so trade up to those faster timing RAM earlier? This way you get rid of em and trade up to something faster while they are still in some sorta demand? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarissi Posted November 5, 2004 Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 (edited) Aren't decisions 'fun'?? :D I recently decided to break down and get a second tower case. Trying to make a decision with all the different ones is not easy. Now I have 2 computers, though I still lack a 2nd monitor and mouse (and keyboard). Eventually, I will probably be building a 64 bit system. I had to make a similar decision as you, Cybrjackle: 2 x 1 GB DDR333 or a combination of ram and what not. I ended up getting an XP 3000+ 333 Mhz FSB for $150, 2 x 512 MB DDR333, and something else. Edit: I will looking for a dvd burner for my GP box, though not NEC. It is your decision, so take things into consideration before spending the money. Edited November 5, 2004 by Sarissi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 5, 2004 I think I'm going to hold off a little longer and see what goes on for a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 (edited) crap'O'la I'm still priceing parts and looking through newegg and monarchcomputer and ran across $500 rebate on Alienware Auroa box's Super Sexy case! Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply ABIT AV8 - VIA K8T800 Pro Motherboard AMD Athlon™ 64 3500+ Processor with HyperTransport Technology 1GB Dual Channel DDR PC-3200 SDRAM at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB ATI RADEON™ 9550SE 128MB w/Digital and S-Video Out AlienIce™ Video Cooling System 80GB Seagate® Barracuda 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache NEC® ND-3500 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Recorder Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS High Definition 7.1 Surround Firewire $1,156.00 after $500. rebate. :o I know, the vidieo card isn't very good and hd, blah blah blah But from Monarchcomputer.com I'm at $902.00 for: Aspire ATXA8NW-BK/500 X-Navigator E-ATX Case w/500W PS Asus A8V Deluxe (v. 2.0) K8T800 Pro No-WiFi/Audio/GB-LAN/IEEE/USB/SATA/DDR-400 Athlon 939-pin AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 90nm 939pin 1 GB Corsair XMS 2x512 ram Thats it, no vidieo/hd/dvd_+rw Looking like quite the deal going on. /me is still torn on his desicion...... Edited November 8, 2004 by cybrjackle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FX Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 With the Alienware box are you able to subsitute the ATI for a nVidia card. I know at Dell you are able to when you setup a box that you want to order. If you could do that I would go with the Alienware. FX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FX Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Welp just went there and seen what you was looking at cybr and I swapped out the ATI for a nVidia and the price only went up to 1,292.00 which isn't bad. I also added the dvd burner. Yea the hard drive isn't the greatest, but its still workable. FX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 Yeah, you can +/- a lot of different stuff durning the config. I was showing just about the basic model. But heck, the just plain one is $899 and it looks like quite the box. I still have my Nvidia FX 5700 ultra that I figured I would drop in it if i got the box and put the ati in a different one. ibuypower.com isn't to bad either for a nice 64 3500 is around 1200. who knows, maybe I'll just go back to my p200 and forget about all this crazy horsepower, sell my Sierra w/ 350 and get a metro or something. ;-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpikeyKlitske Posted November 8, 2004 Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 AMD Athlon 64 3500+ 512K L2 90nm 939 pinOr AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 512K L2 90nm 939 pin or the 3000 for a little less (been shown w/ that mobo to hit 3500 speeds) <{POST_SNAPBACK}> When I purchased my equipment I read many reviews on hardware especially cpu's. Test showed that AMD 64 +3200 cpu was the best value for your money. Like suggested before, I defiinately would spend my money on more and faster RAM than the CPU. In the top range, it only matters a slight increase in frame rates whereas faster and more RAM would almost double your rates. Easy choice I would say. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 When I purchased my equipment I read many reviews on hardware especially cpu's. Test showed that AMD 64 +3200 cpu was the best value for your money. Like suggested before, I defiinately would spend my money on more and faster RAM than the CPU. In the top range, it only matters a slight increase in frame rates whereas faster and more RAM would almost double your rates. Easy choice I would say. Were you able to boot off of your Asus/SATA drive to install Linux? Some of the boards I've been reading can't boot off the SATA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 OCZ Gold Edition Rev3 Dual Channel Kit 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3700 - Retail ASUS "A8V Deluxe" VIA K8T800 Pro Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU -RETAIL AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz, 512KB L2 Cache 939-Pin 64-bit Processor - OEM $592.25 @ newegg See, this is tuff. or $899 on a case/blah/blah/3500+/blah computer with stuff from Alienware Aurora. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jlc Posted November 8, 2004 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2004 If I really wanted to spend the money, there are these sexy little beast: http://pctorque.com/9860.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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