Author Topic: okay, time to bite the bullett (Read 458 times)

filadawg · « **on:** July 17, 2001, 09:03:00 PM »

I am tired of messing with my pos computer. You cant do anything with it anymore. I am now ready to build one with an amd processor. You tech heads help me out. I want a 1.4 thunderbird but need help on picking out mobo and all the rest of the goodies. I already have the vid card so thats not an issue. I want a screamer, something that im not going to have to worry about upgrade issues in the near future. Give me some names of mobos good hard drives etc. Kind of a dream machine if you will.

Thanks guys
Fila

Eagler · « **Reply #1 on:** July 18, 2001, 09:07:00 AM »

I just went from a abit be6 with a p3 800 to an IWill kk266 with a AMD 1.33 T-bird. Using pc133 ram, 512mb. Also swapped my 20gig IBM ata66 hd for a 40gig IBM ata100 hd. Just started installing it yesterday after work, several hours yet to go, but it's pretty snappy so far. The video is a geforce2 ultra 64mb. Let you know how AH goes when I get there.

[ 07-18-2001: Message edited by: Eagler ]

1776 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 18, 2001, 02:08:00 PM »

Well, I bought an Intel P4(flame me if ya want) 1.7 gigs, PNY GeForce 3. All the parts are about to be put together. Am on vacation this week(hardly done any AH) so this is an ideal time to hammer and nail a new system

I love playing with all that wrapping they put the parts in. Any eco-nazi would have a heart attack!!

bloom25 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 18, 2001, 05:45:00 PM »

Asus A7M266 would be the fastest MB currently available, but overclocking is not really an option on this board. This one is kind of expensive though. For a cheaper board that is pretty fast IF you use PC2100 DDR ram the Asus A7A266 is pretty good. For future upgradability do go ahead and buy a board that takes DDR ram now. It is no more expensive than SDRAM now, and does give a slight boost to performance.

For the hard drive (unless you go SCSI) the fastest and best right now would probably be the IBM 60GXP series drives. (These are the replacements for the also excellent 75GXP series.) They are quiet, cool running, and FAST.

I really do feel sorry for those who bought P4s already instead of waiting until the end of the year until the socket transistion and DDR ram support is available. Just about everything in the current P4 systems is useless in a few months.

You made the right decision to go AMD, since with Intel right now you CAN'T upgrade in a few months. The AMD is faster and cheaper as well.

Eagler · « **Reply #4 on:** July 18, 2001, 09:03:00 PM »

Quote

Originally posted by Eagler:
I just went from a abit be6 with a p3 800 to an IWill kk266 with a AMD 1.33 T-bird. Using pc133 ram, 512mb. Also swapped my 20gig IBM ata66 hd for a 40gig IBM ata100 hd. Just started installing it yesterday after work, several hours yet to go, but it's pretty snappy so far. The video is a geforce2 ultra 64mb. Let you know how AH goes when I get there.

[ 07-18-2001: Message edited by: Eagler ]

So far so good, fps up to screen res or 60 fps limit if so set. Setting at 60 fps, i get a rock solid 62 no matter what i do or the scene though i haven't made it over a fleet yet..

Nifty · « **Reply #5 on:** July 19, 2001, 09:45:00 AM »

the newer Asus boards don't OC very easily/well??? The older A7 boards were hailed as good OC'ing boards, or at least I thought I read that. I don't have the cooling for mine (specs below) to OC it. It already runs over 50 C, and that's with several case fans. Though it's just with the heatsink and fan that came with the processor and not a good heatsink.

SunKing · « **Reply #6 on:** July 19, 2001, 10:20:00 AM »

I to am about to build myself a new gaming pc. Maybe my choice will give you some ideas. The price of my machine should be relatively low, and it should o/c easily with simple cooling.

ANTEX SX-830 ATX Case / 300watt PS
Amd T-Bird 1.2 mhz cpu
Abit KT7A-raid MB
256 PC-133 MB CL-2
Raideon vivo 64 mb DDR retail version V/Card
40 gig IMB 7200 ATA/100 HDD
SB Live Sound Card

and when released Saitek X45 Flight stick

I'd suggest get the 1.2 over the 1.4 and o/c if you're on a budget. I hear the 1.4's go real hot when o/c or dont go at all. Check out www.sharkyforums.com its the holy grail for anyone needing info when putting together a new system.

SunKing · « **Reply #7 on:** July 19, 2001, 10:28:00 AM »

Forgot to mention. I'm gonna hold out on a Geforce3 card till late fall. Right now you can get a really good card for around $150.00 ( Raideon ) that will hold its own for sometime to come. I'm hoping that the xmas season will also bring the usual price war and drop the gf3 prices. By that time games will coded to use all the capabilites of the GF3 card. IMHO right now you'd be buying a really expensive card and not be able to utilize its full potential. Better to wait for the price to fall and the games to catch up.

skernsk · « **Reply #8 on:** July 19, 2001, 11:05:00 AM »

I heard that Abit MB's are not too good. Of course this was from a computer dweeb who wanted me to buy a Asus A7V.

What MB should a guy go for? I already know I want the 1.2 gig T-bird..have a vid card etc.

Lephturn · « **Reply #9 on:** July 19, 2001, 01:17:00 PM »

I've "heard" others say that Abit has a high error rate. However, I personally have used many Abit boards, and I have not had one single bad one. I'm talking close to a dozen machines that I either built, or speced out and helped friends build. All Abit, none bad. As far as overclockability and tweaks, nothing beats Abit boards. The only two brands of mainboards I will consider are Abit and Asus. Even then, I read reviews and make sure the particular model I want is a good one before I buy or recommend a board. I'm still running a dual-celeron Win2k server on an Abit BP-6, and my current classic Slot-A Athlon runs on an Abit KA-7-100.

Ok, well there are only two things I would recommend right now. 1. Get a DDR RAM system. It's just as cheap as PC133. 2. DO NOT get a RAID board unless you really plan to use the RAID features.

You don't want to go with the RAID boards unless you have the proper drives to use it right. Otherwise it's just more money and sucks up more IRQ's and such on your mobo.

Check this out: http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/abit/kg7/

I don't think this one is quite ready yet... give it some time. However, it's just showing that the DDR platform has some nice advantages. The Iwill K266 board has been very well received, although I have never used one of their boards. If you are waiting a couple months, you'll see lots more DDR boards out this summer and that market should stabilize. nVidia should be rolling out their mainboard chipset in the next few months too, and it has the potential to bring higher performance.

If you don't want to go DDR for some reason, you can't beat the Abit KT7E. Sweet, sweet little blue board. No frills, it's low priced, and quality. It will OC well too. http://www.hardocp.com/reviews/mainboards/abit/kt7e/

I've recommended that board to a few folks now, and helped build machines. It is a sweet board, OC's well, no big IRQ problems, and it's got 6 PCI slots. Did I mention it's very competitively priced? In Canada it's about $100 cheaper than a the other good quality Socket A boards.

DamnedATC · « **Reply #10 on:** July 19, 2001, 01:46:00 PM »

On any research on any component, I suggest Tom's Hardware:
http://www7.tomshardware.com/

It has excellent reviews on the latest and greatest.

ATC

bloom25 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 19, 2001, 04:40:00 PM »

The reason the A7M266 does not overclock well is because the AMD760 (761) chipset doesn't allow multiplier changes.

It has nothing to do with brand in this case. The A7A266 being an ALi chipset does have this ability, but performance is not as good.

The older A7V133 and A7V were excellent OC boards, but they are SDRAM only. (They both use the VIA kt133a, and kt133 chipsets respectively.)

The board I REALLY want, but is not yet available, will be called the A7N266. This one will use the Nvidia nForce chipset and supports dual channel DDR ram and a whole bunch of other performance enhancing features.

skernsk · « **Reply #12 on:** July 19, 2001, 04:54:00 PM »

Ok Bloom. A7V and A7M are on the shelf side by side.

I am not an overclocker and can't see myself ever doing it in the next....year or two..IF I even figure out hjow to do it.

Which one should I buy?