Buying new Computer [Need Help]

[DanGrease]

I am finally buying a new computer! This time I will buy all the parts and build it myself, as the way I want to. Its cheaper and I get a better machine that way. Here's what I have come up to:

-Chieftec Dragon FullTower Black, 360W
-Chassi Fan: Thermaltake A1869 X-Blower 2 Channel VR Fan Kit
-Motherboard, Asus P4C800 i875P
-Intel Pentium 4 (Here I have the option of getting a P4 3.2 800Mhz, 512KB Cache or a P4 3.0 800Mhz, 1MB Cache) Which one should I get? Both have HT technology
-CPU Fan: Zalman ZM-7000A-CU
-TwinMOS 2x512MB DDR400, PC3200
-Maxtor DiamondMax Plus9, 160GB 7200RPM, 8MB Cache
-LITE-ON 16X DVD/48X CD, Black
-Hightech Excalibur ATI Radeon 9800Pro, 128MB
-Creative Soundblaster Live! 5.1
-D-Link 10/100Mbit, PCI

What do you guys think? Should I modify something here? Is the Cache of the processor important? Since I am in doubt of those two CPU's. Thanks for listening

dan

[ryogenetic]

Sounds like a killer machine, I would definately opt for the P4 3.0 just for the 1MB cache. My only bias is its not an AMD based machine, BTW Whats the total for this #'s crunching Beast?

Ryo

[DanGrease]

Well I want Intel right now, I was thinking of going for an AMD Athlon64, but I think I prefer a P4. Also comparing the CPU's in one of Tom's benchmarks the P4 has better performance that the Athlon64. I have an AMD processor right now (AMD Athlon XP 2000+) and I'm not happy with it, the temperature of it is too high (near 60). I used to use a P3 before the Athlon XP and it was smoother and with a temperature not as hot.

Will I see better performance with a P4 with 1MB cache? What is the cache for by the way? I dont know much about all this thats why I am asking. I was leaning more to the 3.2 with 512KB cache, but now I really dont know.

The price is not that scary actually, $1700 converted to US dollars.

dan

[The_Saint]

Dan ...I wouls seriuosly think about getting a more powerful PSU. At least a 430W. The 9800 Pro wants a lot of power so get a bigger PSU. I have seen cases where the computer won't even start with a PSU such small as yours with this Video Card....

Nice beast.... congratz!

[DanGrease]

Thanks alot for that tip Saint! I didnt change the PSU since this one came with the case itself. Then I will have to buy one separately, oh well, nothing serious.

dan

[DanGrease]

*Changed motherboard to an Abit IS7-E i865PE
*Added a PSU, Antec True Power 480W ATX
*Changed CPU to an Intel P4 3.0 800Mhz, 512KB Cache

Price: $1583

[truckpuller]

AMD's tend to run hotter than pentiums from everything i have read i read somewhere that some of the amds well run as hot as 165 degrees my little duron 1200 runs 106 degrees.

Sounds like a nice unit though Dan wish i had the bucks to build something like that.

as i DROOL,,

[DanGrease]

^Bump
I have still a few days until I decide how my system would look before I buy it. I still have a few questions regarding some of the items. My first question is:
- Do I really need 1024MB of memory?

I know it depends on what I am going to do with the system, basically gaming, nothing like extreme multi tasking. Thats why I think its almost too much to go for 1GB of RAM. What do you think about that?

Also, since my budget is max near $1700, I was thinking of a cheap motherboard when deciding what I should get. What I found was the Abit IS7-E i865PE. Its half of the price of the other motherbard I was interested, which is the Asus P4P800 DELUXE i865PE. Should I only buy a 512MB stick and spend the money left in this motherboard, or should I stick with the Abit?

Also, going for the Radeon 9600Pro since its half of the price of the Radeon 9800Pro here, and I dont need a very powerful video card anyways.

dan

[davidamarkley]

OK, if I had only one recommendation, I'd say go for the ASUS P4P800 Deluxe. It just blows the Abit out of the water for stability, reliability, and features.

I don't know where you're planning on ordering it, but NewEgg.com has it for $119.99 US.

Don't look at 1GB as overkill. It will just give you some overhead in the future(and in the present). It will help with things like game installing, running and it helps by keeping the OS in RAM instead of having to cache alot of stuff and with 1GB you don't have to worry about a paging file. But, it's really just up to you, 512MB will still be nice. And with the speed of the rest of the system, you could get 512MB now, and then if you need more, just bump it up to 1GB.

But, remember... Asus!

Dave

EDIT: Re-read your post. I'd say that if it comes down to either 1GB RAM with Abit or 512 MB RAM with Asus. Get the ASUS. You won't be dissapointed, and it will save you headaches and problems.

EDIT2: I'd either get the 3.0Ghz P4 with 1MB cache, or just get the 3.2Ghz with 512K cache. Don't sacrifice Ghz along with cache.

[DanGrease]

Well david, I cant use Newegg unfortunately since they dont ship internationally, and if they did, it would still be too espensive and not worth it. I know things are cheaper in the US, but I have to deal with swedish prices though.

OK, then I will go with the Asus, and 512MB of RAM. What I will do if I need more memory is buy another stick in the future if needed that is. Memory is not that expensive, but my budget doesnt support right now going for 1GB.

I will go with a P4 3.0Ghz 800Mhz 512KB Cache after reading an article in Tom's Hardware about this. The Northwood (P4 with 512KB Cache) beated the Prescott (P4 with 1MB Cache) in terms of performing in gaming and benchmarks, but the Prescott won when burning DVD's or making large files into Zip format. Also there arent many motherboard yet that support the Prescott well. And because of that, you can have the risk of instability if the motherboard is not developed for the Prescott (few are today, since its a new processor) So I will go with the Northwood instead. Cheaper and safer IMO.

dan