My Next Rig (advice welcome)

would love tips on solid online venders and/or joints in NYC.

i know i can build custom myself, but im really not interested in putting energy into that anymore (was fine when i was younger, poor and stupid). i want system-oriented warranties. period. 1 # to call. 1 company to blame. :D

My benchmark for comparison is www.abspc.com right now. I'd love tips on other reputable venders.

As for systems, im toying with a 1.5-2k investment. Here's two rigs im thinking about, although im leaning towards amd/asus/nvidia right now.

$2093:
- Athlon 3200+/400 512 barton
- Asus a7n8x nforce2 mobo
- fx5900 ultra 256
- 1gig corsair pc3200 xms
- seagate 120g/7200 x 2

$1576
- Intel P-4 3.0GHz 512k 800 MHz FSB
- Asus Model P4S800 SIS 648 800/533MHz FSB HT
- radeon 9800 pro 128
- 1gig corsair pc3200 ddr400 xms
- western digital 120gb 7200 x 2

* no monitors with either, no sound card. also each has dvd/cdrw, xp home, wireless keyboard/mouse & 1 year warranty/parts.

5900 sucks, as does xp home.

i'd go with #2

5900 sucks

ok... and Valve makes the best video game engines, too, right? :D

ok... and Valve makes the best video game engines, too, right? :Dno, but the 5900 Ultra is rather overpriced, considering on a majority of benchmarks the 9800pro with less ram out benches it... Usually the 5900 wins on the synthetics..

but go with whatever you want...I wouldn't run a amd chip on stock cooling though... do they have hsf upgrades?


any reason why you aren't contemplating an athlon64 or EE?

no, but the 5900 Ultra is rather overpriced, considering on a majority of benchmarks the 9800pro with less ram out benches it... Usually the 5900 wins on the synthetics..

but go with whatever you want...I wouldn't run a amd chip on stock cooling though... do they have hsf upgrades?


any reason why you aren't contemplating an athlon64 or EE?

im not gonna touch 64bit stuff anytime soon...

as for fx5900, i just disagree but dont care to debate it. to me, frankly, it's neither here/there between the fx5900 and the radeon. if i go with amd, ill get the fx. if i go with intel, ill get ati (if you look at the rigs used for "competing" benchmarks, you'll see my logic). and as for the nvidia/ati fight, i dont really care. both are great companies. i think the dx9 hooplah is sillines.

BUT ANYWAYS!

im not familiar enough with the amd cooling issues. admittedly, im starting to re-consider building a system myself.

go with whatever you want, I dont know of many good custom pc companies with good support


The athlon64 is a bit expensive but is better at 32bit than the 3200+ chip... w/e i'm sure you'll be pleased with any solution you go with.

The 5900 doesn't suck. :rolleyes:

Go with the Intel rig. As much as I hate to admit it, they have the better value right now. 2.8C seems to be the sweet spot for the moment.

The 5900 doesn't suck. :rolleyes:

Go with the Intel rig. As much as I hate to admit it, they have the better value right now. 2.8C seems to be the sweet spot for the moment.are you saying its better than the 9800 pro, data?

what justifies the higher price?

are you saying its better than the 9800 pro, data?


im quite sure ive seen reputable comparisons using AMD rigs where the fx5900 p0wns the 9800 pro, hence why my personal consideration will prolly depend more on the mobo/cpu than any ati/nvidia commitment. i believe both companies rock, although, frankly, ati is the company banking on hype atm (then again, idiots said ati was dead a year+ ago)

ANYWAYS!

MSI 865PE Neo2-LS mobo looks rather sexy. id love to find a reputable joint online with a whole rig based on that.

reason?

http://www.tomshardware.com/motherboard/20030707/

I love my gigabyte 7VRXP

I will continue to buy gigabyte (other winner in that test)

That corsair memory is high quality, Ive had a 512 stick for a few months now. Wise investment at only 120 at newegg.

are you saying its better than the 9800 pro, data?

what justifies the higher price?

Of course not. It's still the best nVidia card on the market.

If you buy the AMD, get a Thermalright heatsink for it, best air cooling on the market.

Scuba']If you buy the AMD, get a Thermalright heatsink for it, best air cooling on the market.he wants something customish with a warranty, he prly voids it by switching HSFs

Shit, for the amount of money he is talking, I could build THE Pimp rig.

Scuba']Shit, for the amount of money he is talking, I could build THE Pimp rig.

im still toying with the idea of building... but covering all bases...

what cpu/mobo would you go with (and from where)?

the 'from where' part is rather important, even for doing parts. if i did parts and built it all myself, i'd still want to try to get almost everything from one joint.

build yourself = www.newegg.com

i just purchased all the parts needed for a complete system from them the other day, for a friend. i'll let you know how it goes. but they have a very good reputation.
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2121.html

For most parts, you can stick with Newegg, their customer service is good, and they ship a lot of their stuff free.

Asking for Mobo opinions is not really smart, people are biased. I am biased towards GigaByte, and would get a GigaByte NForce 2 Ultra board and an XP 3000+ (maybe 2800+ and OC it). Throw in a gig or more of QUALITY ram, a couple of good HDDs (i prefer WD), LiteOn DVD-Rom, and a LiteOn 52X burner. Add a good grafix card, whatever you prefer, and a SB Audigy2 card (for the awesome 6.1 sound).

I currently have an XP 3000+, on a GigaByte GA-7VAXP Ultra, but I am upgrading the MoBo to a GigaByte GA-7NNXP, NVIDIA nForce2 Ultra 400 chipset board.

build yourself = www.newegg.com

i just purchased all the parts needed for a complete system from them the other day, for a friend. i'll let you know how it goes. but they have a very good reputation.
http://www.resellerratings.com/seller2121.html\

rgr. i keep an eye on newegg. other sites im watching:

http://www.tcwo.com/
http://www.mwave.com/
http://www.pricewatch.com/ (more for just seeing prices)

and of course http://www.mwave.com/

im still shopping for a solid rig from one joint, but keeping a list of some dream parts in case i decide to dig right into making my own system starting this coming week :D

if i build custom, i will prolly get a "nice" system but not go too ape shit. basically doing a amd-3000/asus-A7N8X (and prolyl the fx5900, starting with 512ram and some nice drive)

mobo opinions really do vary a lot, but what's very key is the chipset used.

the two 'big' ones are VIA KT400 and nVidia nForce2 for AMD processor based systems at the moment, but anyone who knows anything would get the nForce2.

after that, it's really a matter of preference.

i don't suggest you get the GA-7VAXP though precisely because that's KT400 chipset. it's not a horrible chipset choice, but the nforce is simply better. VIA KT400 chipset is a case of 'too little, too late.' it's not even actually DDR400 and FSB200 capable. http://www.via.com.tw/en/apollo/kt400.jsp how's that for deceiving? someone came into #tech a while ago with a gigabyte board that i was trying to troubleshoot. i downloaded his mobo's manual and discovered that the BIOS was VERY stripped down. it was a 7n400e-l.

my personal preference is to go with Abit. I've had... 4 or 5 abit boards without a problem now, and have built abit motherboard based systems for tons of other people without problems.