Building a computer

[Nizmo]

I have a pretty slow comptuer now and im going to a swap meet on sunday. I just want to know if this setup is ok. Ive been told that if i get a comptuer to fast my old powersupply cant handle it and if i get a old motherboard the videocards recomended ram wont work with it.

I dont know if this website is the right site to put this on though but answers would be nice.

AMD 3000 64Bit 939 CPU
ASUS A7N8X-X Motherboard
Creative S-B Live 5.1 PCI Sound Card
Gecube Radeon 9600SE 128Mb
ddr400 512mb ram

the Hard drive Dvd/r and tower ill be using from my other comptuer.

will this setup work out or will soem parts be to old for the newer parts?

 

[roadworker]

If you really want that AMD 3000 64Bit 939,you need another motherboard......the 1 you've choosen supports only Socket A processors,up to the good old Athlon XP 3200,but definately no socket 939 64bit processors...

 

[Nizmo]

Oh whats the difference between a normal amd 3000 and the amd 3000 64bit 939 one.
Also i wanted to know if amd 3000 stands for 3.0ghz if not is there a converter site or a way to find out how fast the numbers for amd are?

 

[Nizmo]

oh and how did you know about the motherboard? Did you look on a website or did you hear of this one before? Would i be able to check the site if you used one? I just looked at the parts on itsupermarket.com.au. I was told they have cheap parts for australia

 

[roadworker]

Oh whats the difference between a normal amd 3000 and the amd 3000 64bit 939 one.
Also i wanted to know if amd 3000 stands for 3.0ghz if not is there a converter site or a way to find out how fast the numbers for amd are?

The "normal" 3000 is older,a tad slower and supports 32bit operating systems,which are still the most used.....the 3000 64 bit is ready for the next generation 64 bit programs and OS,but can handle 32 bit too....
the AMD numbers have nothing to do with the real processor speed,but are used by most people as a bit of a guidance to compare them with Intel's processors.....AMD has slower clockspeeds,but another core architecture.....
For example,a 3200 XP is "only" 2,197 Gigahertz,but sits in the same benchmark results range as Intel's "real" 3,2 Gigahertz....

oh and how did you know about the motherboard? Did you look on a website or did you hear of this one before? Would i be able to check the site if you used one? I just looked at the parts on itsupermarket.com.au. I was told they have cheap parts for australia

I know that range of motherboards....I have an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe....
If you want to verify my statement about your motherboard,you can check the Asus website.....most likely,you'll find the info you want ....

 

[Nizmo]

What will run games faster? intel or amd? If amds 3000 is only as fast as a 2.1 wouldnt intel be lots better?

 

[roadworker]

What will run games faster? intel or amd? If amds 3000 is only as fast as a 2.1 wouldnt intel be lots better?

It's a matter of personal taste....there are numerous debates on this subject,although most overclockers and gamers prefer Athlon because of it's overclocking potential....
I have a Intel P IV Mobile 3,06 in my laptop and an Athlon XP 3200 in my desktop....I prefer my Athlon anyday....
For games,the most crucial parts are the videocard and the RAM,the videocard you're planning to buy is not so great,rather a low-end and you'll be dissapointed if you're planning to build this new system only for playing the latest games...

 

[Nizmo]

im still in the middle of intel and amd not sure what i should get. but now nvidia vs radeon lol. I only want to spend around $700 on the whole comptuer. I looked at these video cards what one would be best?

Asus 9550, 128mb, TV-out, DVI
Gecube Radeon 9600 PRO 256Mb
Gecube Radeon 9550 256MB TV-DVI

or any other video cards under $200 australian?

If its not to hard would you be able to say the parts i should get?

you can skip that bit if you want

eg the video card i should get cpu mother board..

 

[Nizmo]

Also i dont really want to over clock the comptuer or anything like that

 

[roadworker]

IMHO,for gaming,the best of those 3 is the Radeon 9600 PRO 256Mb....
If you want to buy that Athlon 64bit,I would definately buy a mobo that supports PCI-Express,so that I can keep that mobo for a few years when PCI-Express becomes mainstream....

 

[Nizmo]

Would a

AMD 3000 64 bit
Gigabyte GA8i915P-Duo,P4 M-B,Lan,PCIExpress
Gecube Radeon 9600 PRO 256Mb

work any good or not? or should i just dumb the 64 bit thing and get a Intel P4 2.8Ghz Prescott or stick with AMD but get a different sort like 2800 or something?

 

[roadworker]

Gigabyte GA8i915P-Duo,P4 M-B,Lan,PCIExpress

That's a mobo for Intel Pentium IV.....it would work great with an Intel PIV,socket 775......Just be shure that you go for the Pentium,and NOT the Celeron if you decide to go for Intel's 2,8 Gigaherz CPU...
If you go for the AMD 2800,the Sempron family is a budget line,but you can spend more money on a decent videocard and the cpu will do it's job...

As you see,it's hard to suggest a good setup,because there are still a few parameters you have to fill in...
you 1st have to ask yourself a few questions before you buy:

-Are you planning to buy a good mobo and cpu for a mid-range system to last several years?
-Or is this a temporary setup and will the hardware be upgraded or expanded within a short time?
-Are you planning to buy PCI-Express components within a short time?
-Are you interested mostly in gaming performance?
-What's your preferred processor platform,Intel or AMD?
-Is 64bit architecture important for you,knowing that Linux has already 64bit versions and that windows will release a 64bit XP operating system around this summer?
-?

 

[Nizmo]

I just want the parts so i can play some games. Not really for the latest games though. So just a bit better than normal computer setup would be good. One that run faster than the one i have now.
Right now i have a intel 2.0 gigabyte titan motherboard and tnt2 video card. And its not running the new stuff any good.

 

[VIPER_1069]

@NIZMO .... in addition to whats been said above heres some pretty standard advice to all upgraders

.......


You really need to get a good dx9 agp graphics card to do any good for gaming the key factor with games is a good DX9 compatible card with as much memory on it as you can afford

The price is a factor here when buying a good card get the largest memory onboard on the card as you can stretch to with your budget allowed the more memory you have the faster the graphics will be processed


I would say your 2 gb processor is adequate enough for most games

The other thing is more system ram

As with the graphics card the more memory the computer has to play/process with the faster /better the game is going to run so again get as much as you can afford to add to the system the more the better

 

[roadworker]

Well,you have several options:
1/If that 2 GHZ is a Pentium IV,you can stay with your setup,and fork a bit more money out for a Nvidia GForce 6600 GT videocard than you planned for that ATI card.....the Nvidia card costs about 220 US $ and improves your gaming experience with 400-500% compared to that TNT card,even with the same processor...
2/You can buy the Athlon 64bit ,a suited motherboard,like THIS ONE and the ATI 9600 Pro and being prepared for the future.......the performance for video converting will be improved,but you won't gain much extra performance for gaming,compared to your Pentium IV with a Nvidia 6600GT.....although the performance for daily use will increase....
3/You can go for the socket 775 Intel Pentium IV 2,8 GHZ,the Gigabyte GA8i915P-Duo mobo and the Radeon 9600 Pro.......a decent mid-range system that will last a while and has also PCI-E support for future card upgrades...average gaming experience .
4/Athlon Sempron with a bios update for your mobo or if there's no bios update to support the Sempron,an ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe mobo and the ATI 9600 Pro......not recommended.....cheapest solution,but you won't gain much,compared to option 1.....


If it was for myself,I would go for option 1 and wait a bit longer to save money untill a PCI-E board like the Gigabyte K8NXP-SLI Ultra PCI-E and an Athlon 64bit 3500 became in my budget range.....that rig will kick *ss for it's price with a Nvidia GF 6600 GT.....

 

[LTR12101B]

My advice... wait, or buy readybuilt - I fear you may come expensively unstuck!

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Everest_Home/1086844970/1 - Grab a copy of Everest, and examine your current system with it, or maybe
http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc advisor

Try the Everest report wizard, System summary only, plaintext, and then attach it or paste it here.

If the rest of your system is adequate, then the TNT2 video card is holding it back (for games) - the TNT2 is a perfectly decent card for office apps, so if those are slow, it may be something else.

In AMD, there are 3 distinct possibilities for building now:
1. The "old guard"
Socket A motherboard (good ones are very reasonably priced now), with a Socket A CPU (Duron, Sempron **not 3100**, Barton), and a decent AGP card that doesn't cost an insane amount (maybe a Radeon 9800, anything other than SE model).
This is a dead end system, but it will still be a while before it's left too much behind.

2. The "orphan" - Socket 754
64 bit (or 32 bit if loaded with the cheap Sempron 3100+ CPU) - operating at a standard DDR400 memory / FSB speed with a single memory bus.
Not much expected of this budget platform - the Sempron 3100+ on this is faster than anything you can do with Sopcket A, and is aimed at the Budget market with the eventual demise of socket A, but all the more exciting stuff is reserved for the 939.

3. Socket 939
With a DUAL memory bus, this has potentially double the memory bandwidth of 754 - though this currently only adds a few percent in real performance.
The most expensive AMD platform, but "future proof" until the next change.

 

[Nizmo]

ok so i should get amd insted of intel?
Hows sempron cheaper than normal? does it not work as good or something?

hows this comptuer?

AMD 64bit 3200 socket 939
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI SATA Motherboard
Gecube Radeon 9800 Xtreme R360-D3 128bit, 256MB

would that be any good?

 

[LTR12101B]

Not a lot in it between AMD and Intel - they each have their followers

Close, but not quite - that Motherboard is PCI-Express - actually with TWO 16x slots, to take a pair of Nvidia graphics cards in SLI mode, if the performance of one is not enough.

So it would requre a PCI-Express graphics card - and as far as I know, the 9800 has never been made in that format, only in AGP (which the motherboard does not have).

http://www.hexus.net/content/reviews/review.php?dXJsX3Jldmlld19JRD05NjQmdXJsX3BhZ2U9Mg==
Wow! that's a beast of a motherboard!
Onboard 8 channel audio
Onboard dual Ethernet controllers
10 USB 2.0 (4 backplate, 6 need cables to front panel ports or extra slotplates)
Two SATA controllers, 4 ports each, including RAID 5 on one (use 3 or 4 drives, get the capacity of 2 or 3, extra speed, and tolerate one drive failure)
Standard ATA133 capabilty - 2 ports, 4 drives
2 PCI express 1x and 2 standard PCI slots for any other expansion, plus a full set of legacy ports as well.

Am I drooling? YES!
Though a look at the price tempers my enthusiasm - I like power, I like features, but what I really like is BUDGET power and features.

One other thing, on a Socket 939 (dual memory bus) you want a pair of identiacal capacity (preferably also identical specification) DDR400/PC3200 DIMMS - or better than PC3200, for overclockers.

This would be a good motherboard if you're shooting for the best possible AMD system, but for a price/performance balance, it's a frightening price.

 

[roadworker]

This would be a good motherboard if you're shooting for the best possible AMD system, but for a price/performance balance, it's a frightening price.

That's why I advised him to wait a while and go for a 64bit 3500 .....
AMD mobos with PCI-E support aren't cheap....


IMHO;it's a waste of money to spend 700 AUS $ for an upgrade to a mainstream computer,if he can upgrade his own system for less than half that price with just buying a decent videocard....
AGP still isn't dead,and the performance difference with a PCI-E graphics card is very low ATM,so if he decides to save his money for getting a real decent system,his videocard is no waste of money,and will do fine in a next machine....PCI-E is interesting if you want to run dual graphics cards or if you with a next upgrade buy new cards that support it ...reason I suggested a PCI-E capable board,is that it is ready for the future...it will last a while before he needs another mobo upgrade...

As speaking for a Sempron 3100 socket 754,good performance,but the price is a bit to high to rectify the use of it in a midrange system,especially since a 2800 64bit for socket 754 mobos costs only 10$ more......

AMD 64bit 3200 socket 939
Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLI SATA Motherboard
Gecube Radeon 9800 Xtreme R360-D3 128bit, 256MB

would that be any good?

Not bad,but I think it costs a lot more than you originally wanted to spend ATM....

The videocard is decent,but a Nvidia GF 6600GT is better for around the same $....

 

[Nizmo]

So how many years do you think it will be till my intel 2.0ghz gets to slow to handle anymore?

how about if i buy a 2.6ghz and spend more on the graphics card and get 1gig of ram and a motherboard that will be good enough for now? does motherboard make any difference in performance?