P4P800 Dlx CPU / RAM help!

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PerryM

I need some help deciding the best way to go. I have 2 Maxtor 160GB SATA
drives...so I will run RAID on them. I am considering getting a fast large
EIDE and install the OS on that.

I play a little with OC'ing...but I will not be able to afford new graphics
yet. Currently have a Leadtek GForce2 Ti.

But I am thinking of getting a 2.4, 2.6 or 3.0 P4 HT processor and would
like to match it up with 1GB (2x512) RAM. I have read some CPU's are more
overclockable and CL2 is better than CL2.5 or 3. But the RAM choice is
especially confusing....the list on ASUS site is old and I would appreciate
suggestions and possibly good place to buy the product. (I look thru
pricewatch and I tend to buy most of my stuff thru newegg).

TIA,
Perry
 
Get the cheapest P4(c) you can find, i.e. a 2.4.
Overclock the hell out of it. The higher frequencies tend to have a
lower overclocked to advertised frequency level. You get more bang for
your buck with the cheaper ones. You might get 3.0GHz out of a 2.4,
but only, maybe, 3.3 out of a 3.0. For, maybe 10% more performance,
you're paying about another $100 these days.
Find the cheapest PC3200 512MB RAM, buy two identical sticks, and run
in dual channel mode. Recent articles have shown nearly undetectable
performance increases with CAS 2 vs 3 modules. But, going dual mode is
worth it. Of course, for more money, you could get the PC4000 rated
sticks, and maybe be able to overclock more. But, I don't think the
bang for the buck is there.

Why not put your OS on the RAID drive?

Gene
 
Thanks for the feedback....

I have an Abit IT7-Max / 3 IBM 60GB Deskstars in RAID0 on XP Pro. Lost the
whole thing one day...corrupted HAL.DLL. Tried to repair it everyway I
could think of. No go. Plus, my Audigy2 Platinum card crackles to high
heaven. I have heard issues w/ HPT374 controller. Plus can't use Ghost to
image raid drive.

Not into heavy Oclocking...so probably look into a higher speed CPU (2.6 or
2.8). It's the memory that is the tough part to choose... Always seem to
find someone having problems w/ a brand that some else recommends.

I have run into issues with memory before on my SuperMicro boards (PIIIDME).
What a headache to find memory that worked.

Perry
 
PerryM said:
Thanks for the feedback....

I have an Abit IT7-Max / 3 IBM 60GB Deskstars in RAID0 on XP Pro. Lost the
whole thing one day...corrupted HAL.DLL. Tried to repair it everyway I
could think of. No go. Plus, my Audigy2 Platinum card crackles to high
heaven. I have heard issues w/ HPT374 controller. Plus can't use Ghost to
image raid drive.
Click to expand...

NOT true in my experience. I have the P4P800Dlx, with 2 160GB Maxtor IDE
drives in a RAID 1 configuration on the Via controller. I have ghosted them
several times onto another HD in the system on the 1st (Main, not RAID) IDE
channel. Can't speak to RAID "0" as I haven't used one. Speaking only for
myself, a RAID "1" seems to be the most limited choice. If you lose one
drive, you have lost everything. With RAID 0+1, at least you can salvage
it, but that config. requires 4 disks.

Ghost recognizes the disks in a mirrored RAID 1 as "dynamic disks," but they
are fully ghostable.

ken
 
NOT true in my experience. I have the P4P800Dlx, with 2 160GB Maxtor IDE
drives in a RAID 1 configuration on the Via controller. I have ghosted them
several times onto another HD in the system on the 1st (Main, not RAID) IDE
channel. Can't speak to RAID "0" as I haven't used one. Speaking only for
myself, a RAID "1" seems to be the most limited choice. If you lose one
drive, you have lost everything. With RAID 0+1, at least you can salvage
it, but that config. requires 4 disks.

Ghost recognizes the disks in a mirrored RAID 1 as "dynamic disks," but they
are fully ghostable.

ken
Click to expand...

'scuse me for stepping in here, but I have been thinking about RAID1. If one
were to get a corrupt HAL.dll as the OP experienced on one of the RAID1
disks, wouldn't that same corruption be present on the second disk?

I just put a P4P800 (non-deluxe) together for a friend- didn't think the
minor differences justified the price- and used Kingston PC3200 CL3
KVR400X64C3AK2/512 dual channel kit. I had issues with these until I bumped
the RAM voltage up to 2.75 and it's been smooth sailing ever since. I opted
for a P4 2.4 on this because the price was right. I easily clocked it to 3.2
using the stock HSF at 5:4 and 2.8 at 1:1.

Dave

P.S. I too have an IT7 (non-max) with two drives in a RAID0 array on the
HPT374 and have had no issues with Ghosting to or from them...remember that
the HPT374 has its own BIOS. Ghost only has issues with software RAID
(dynamic disks). I once had my OS on a partition in a RAID0 array but had
some corruption and learned the hard way that a Ghosted OS "partition" won't
restore with Windows XP. You have to Ghost the entire drive on which the OS
resides...you need the boot sector. So, I settled for a small, fast HD for
just the OS and Ghost it to file and keep a Ghost boot disk on hand...much
cleaner and safer this way. The one thing I noticed once I put the OS on an
IDE drive is slower boot times compared to a RAID0 array, but after that,
there was little, if any, difference in application firing, etc. In fact,
file transferring from IDE drive to RAID0 array is much faster now, which is
really what one wants in the first place.
 
David Shorthouse said:
'scuse me for stepping in here, but I have been thinking about RAID1. If one
were to get a corrupt HAL.dll as the OP experienced on one of the RAID1
disks, wouldn't that same corruption be present on the second disk?
Click to expand...


We are getting way beyond my competency here. Isn't Hal.dll a system file?
I've not used RAID except for data. I don't see the utility, at least for
me, in RAIDing a system disk. I'd much rather keep the system disk small
and ghost it. If you are talking RAID1 (vs. RAID0, and RAID0+1) by
definition you are mirroring so I think, yes, you'd have the corrupt file on
both disks. Just my take on this, someone with more knowledge may have more
to add.
I just put a P4P800 (non-deluxe) together for a friend- didn't think the
minor differences justified the price- and used Kingston PC3200 CL3
KVR400X64C3AK2/512 dual channel kit. I had issues with these until I bumped
the RAM voltage up to 2.75 and it's been smooth sailing ever since. I opted
for a P4 2.4 on this because the price was right. I easily clocked it to 3.2
using the stock HSF at 5:4 and 2.8 at 1:1.

Dave

P.S. I too have an IT7 (non-max) with two drives in a RAID0 array on the
HPT374 and have had no issues with Ghosting to or from them...remember that
the HPT374 has its own BIOS. Ghost only has issues with software RAID
(dynamic disks). I once had my OS on a partition in a RAID0 array but had
some corruption and learned the hard way that a Ghosted OS "partition" won't
restore with Windows XP.
Click to expand...

I've ghosted and restored ghosted partitions a number of times with W2K.
Cannot speak for XP as I've not yet used it.


You have to Ghost the entire drive on which the OS
 
RAID on this board is a VIA 6410 controller.
I just finished cloning my RAID using Norton Ghost 2003.....

Gene
 
We are getting way beyond my competency here. Isn't Hal.dll a system file?
I've not used RAID except for data. I don't see the utility, at least for
me, in RAIDing a system disk. I'd much rather keep the system disk small
and ghost it. If you are talking RAID1 (vs. RAID0, and RAID0+1) by
definition you are mirroring so I think, yes, you'd have the corrupt file on
both disks. Just my take on this, someone with more knowledge may have more
to add.
Click to expand...

This is exactly how I thought a RAID1 (mirroring) would work. It prevents
physical drive failure from messing up access to files, but corrupt files (I
think) in the event of a "software" malfunction would be on both disks in
such an array.

I've ghosted and restored ghosted partitions a number of times with W2K.
Cannot speak for XP as I've not yet used it.
Click to expand...

Indeed, resurrection a Ghost file/partition for MS OS' pre-XP work just
fine. XP's new marriage to hardware means a restored partition doesn't boot
past the welcome screen...been there, done that. Only cloning or Ghosting to
file from the whole physical disk (all partitions included) where the OS
resides works.
 
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