Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Hardware and Software => Topic started by: JBA on August 05, 2003, 01:34:00 PM
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What specs. would be the most important?
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processor,video card, RAM, motherboard
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All I know is Intel so for Intel I'd get the Pentium 4 2.4C (800MHz FSB) of course you'll need a MOBO to support this.
From the reviews I've read (Tom's hardware guide), the Gigabyte GA-8KNXP (Intel 875P) and MSI Neo 2 (Intel 865PE) are the ones to go with.
The MSI is actually the fastest on the tests they ran (no games were tested) but doesn't have an AGP PRO slot so it may not be the best for gaming, but I could be wrong.
Then you need RAM, two sticks of 512MB (256MB if you're strapped for cash) DDR-400 for optimum performance.
Disclaimer: I could be wrong, shop around, look for user reviews.
Edit: Just checked the tests, they did test the boards on Comanche 4 demo (Direct X) and Quake 3 Arena (Open GL) and the MSI was fastest.
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As i understand through some research I've done on CPU, MB's and Vid cards one of your best (as in cheapest for the money with up to date top preformance) choices would be
An AMD Barton 2500 which can be overclocked to run like a 3000+
A Geforce Ti-4200 for $120 or under which runs about as fast as the newer more expensive model and can also be easily overclocked to run like a $200+ card
And the most popular motherboards are the Asus a7n8x and MSI K72g Lines of boards from 82.00 to 140.00 as found on Pricewatch.com
ZX
Best cheap memory might be Pc2700 but unsure as of right now since I'm just starting to investigate the issue
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Don't skimp on the RAM, especially if you plan on running WinXP.
1 GB, minimum.
I always shake my head when I see people trying to save money by taking away RAM. Bad idea. Better to wait and upgrade when you can afford to do it right.
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i just finished a system rebuild, got xp home, p2.4 gig 800mhz, 2x256ram sticks (need two to enable dual channel), new 30 gig hard drive, and an abit is7-e mobo for $515 at googlegear.com. Ran the system last night, never came off 75 fps (monitor max) in 32bit, 1068x762. Also ran at max res for my 19" monitor, monitor max refresh of 60, never came off..well, toggled 59/60 fps. I am running a gforce4 ti200, 1st run of 3dmark hit 11600. No overclocking or tweeking. mobo uses intel's 865pe chipset with lan, sound, no raid.
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Looking for new eyeballs, so I can see frame rate and graphics improvement. Any Ideas what to get? :D
Thorns