Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

[stretch0069]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

Hey Per...I trust your opinion. I've heard both sides, but your right about the OCing and tweaking. Not sure I'd need to go down that road.


Well.....I found the Abit AT8 32X for $185 shipped. I suppose I'll put the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo on it for $450 and then 2 sets of C13-2922 Corsair Value Select Dual Channel 2048MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) for $300.

Does anyone see anything bad or wrong with that combo??

Damn this is tougher than I figured.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

Not anything wrong but as was said before both AMD and Intel are changing architectures... So in 6 months that system will not be possible to upgrade...

[linuxguru]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

The old dilemma - if you keep waiting for the new new thing in PCs, you'll end up never buying anything. That said, both the AMD Socket AM2 platform (with DDR2) as well as the Intel Merom-Conroe-Woodcrest family seem to be fairly significant improvements, so it's probably worth waiting for them. The AM2 intro is not more than a few weeks away.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

Nah, the AMD AM2 socket will not bring any performance at all, just an upgrade path...

The Intel Conroe will however bring according to current test, a performance leap of 20-30% plus a reduction in power and heat, to say the least an impressive improvement, but last I heard it was Q3...

Makes me wanna want a Intel system again, my Last one was a Pentium 200MMX OC:ed to 250Mhz Been an AMD fan ever since...

[stretch0069]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

From what I read...AM2 will give the AMD's DDR2. Seems to me like that should be a big plus, but maybe not.

Ugh......this is really giving me a headache.

[Per Hansson]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

You can read reviews on Anandtech how much the performance will increase, on avg ca 1-2%...

The AMD Athlon arcitecture has never been a memory hog like the P4 arcitecture...

[stretch0069]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

Well.....thanks for all the input. I took some aspirin, ate some food, and am about to have a .

All other things being the same, I've narrowed it down to these two:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ Toledo, Abit AT8 32X, Corsair Dual Channel PC3200 DDR 400MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) $935

Intel Pentium D 930 Presler 800MHz FSB LGA 775 Dual Core Processor, ABIT AW8-MAX, CORSAIR XMS2 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Unbuffered Dual Channel (2 x 1024MB) $800

....$135 buys a gallon and a half of Jack Daniels.......

[linuxguru]

Re: Itching to put together another computer..opinions?

> Makes me wanna want a Intel system again, my Last one was a Pentium 200MMX OC:ed to 250Mhz Been an AMD fan ever since...

My migration was in the reverse direction - my last Socket-7 units (still functional) were a K6-2 450 and a K6-III+ 450. I skipped Slot-1, except for a few used 440LX/BX systems that I got for very little money around 2001/02. I went with mostly Socket-370 systems, skipping the PII and going straight for the PIII. I found very good value in the Mendocino, Coppermine and Tualerons (still the best deal in CPUs today) matched with 440LX/BX, i810e and i815e. I tried out the Via C3/733, and have been very happy about its overall stability and durability. I skipped Slot-A, but I did get a used S-462 AMD T'bird 1400, but it has had capacitor/stability issues. I skipped Netburst almost entirely, but I got a Northwood 2.6 and an Intel i845 cheaply last year - and the mobo failed recently. Now waiting for AM2 so that I can switch back to AMD and get 64-bit in the bargain. However, the Conroe transition forces a re-evaluation - but in the interim, I'm forced into a decision between S-370, S-462, S-478, LGA-775, S-754 and S-939. Guess which wins? S-370 + Tualeron, purely on value considerations; all six are dead-ends from an upgrade POV. However, the S-478 ATI RS300 comes close, but only if you have a bunch of inexpensive Northwoods & Prescotts lying around - which may happen in the next 12 months.

I've never been as confused by the choices going forward as now - the issue isn't performance, but platform stability and durability. My Socket-7 P200 still runs fine 24/7 as a router, about 10 years after it was introduced. It will run for another 10 years, unless I can longer get cheap PATA drives or AT PSUs. Which of the available choices now is going to be running fine in 2016 or 2026? Difficult call - we know next to nothing about the long-term stability and reliability of AM2 or Conroe platforms. We know that S-478, S-462 and LGA-775 rarely run reliably for more than 12-24 months. That leaves S-370, S-754 and S-939, all dead-ends. Of the dead ends, Socket-939 + dual-core Opteron has the highest performance, while S-370 + Tualeron has the best bang for the buck. S-754 + Sempron-64 deserves honourable mention for price/performance.