Proposed system

  • Thread starter Thread starter Pearlf
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Pearlf

I have some questions about hardware issues. Just for reference, the
proposed system:

1. ATX case with 350W PSU
2. Asus P4P800
3. Intel P4 2.6GHz, 800FSB, Hyperthreading, 3 year warranty
4. 2x256MB DDR RAM, Transcend brand (TS32MLD64V4F), life-time warranty
5. 120GB Maxtor SATA harddrive, 8MB cache, 7200RPM, 3 year warranty
6. Pixelview GeForce FX5600 128MB
7. Aopen CD-RW 48x24x52x
8. LG Studioworks 700S monitor

This amounts to ~$1250 after converting from South African Rand. The system
is meant to replace my current PC and will be used for +++ video/photo
editing, gaming, CD writing, watching movies, word processing and surfing
the net. I want a system that is fast as it can be within the limits of my
very tight budget.

About 3) --> I can save some money opting for a 533FSB. How will this affect
overall system performance?

About 4) --> Ideally I would like to buy one stick of 512MB rather than two
sticks of 256MB (works out cheaper in SA market). However, if two sticks of
DDR RAM will currently give me better performance than one stick, I would go
with two sticks. Is the difference in performance (2 sticks vs 1)
noticeable?

About 5) --> I can save some money here if I opt for ATA133 and a 2MB cache.
Will this slow down overall system performance significantly?

This system is being custom-built for me. Any comments/advice welcome.

TIA,
Pearlf
Cape Town, ZA
 
Pearlf said:
I have some questions about hardware issues. Just for reference, the
proposed system:

1. ATX case with 350W PSU
2. Asus P4P800
3. Intel P4 2.6GHz, 800FSB, Hyperthreading, 3 year warranty
4. 2x256MB DDR RAM, Transcend brand (TS32MLD64V4F), life-time warranty
5. 120GB Maxtor SATA harddrive, 8MB cache, 7200RPM, 3 year warranty
6. Pixelview GeForce FX5600 128MB
7. Aopen CD-RW 48x24x52x
8. LG Studioworks 700S monitor

This amounts to ~$1250 after converting from South African Rand. The system
is meant to replace my current PC and will be used for +++ video/photo
editing, gaming, CD writing, watching movies, word processing and surfing
the net. I want a system that is fast as it can be within the limits of my
very tight budget.

About 3) --> I can save some money opting for a 533FSB. How will this affect
overall system performance?

About 4) --> Ideally I would like to buy one stick of 512MB rather than two
sticks of 256MB (works out cheaper in SA market). However, if two sticks of
DDR RAM will currently give me better performance than one stick, I would go
with two sticks. Is the difference in performance (2 sticks vs 1)
noticeable?

About 5) --> I can save some money here if I opt for ATA133 and a 2MB cache.
Will this slow down overall system performance significantly?
Click to expand...

only one i can help with, but no. go for the larger 8mb cache. i`ve
benchmarked my maxtor ata133 2mb cache vs mates western digital (i think)
ata100 + 8mb cache. and even tho the maxtor had better seek time, the
western digital was faster.

hope that helps
tim draper
 
() |V| 3 G A said:
would

only one i can help with, but no. go for the larger 8mb cache. i`ve
benchmarked my maxtor ata133 2mb cache vs mates western digital (i think)
ata100 + 8mb cache. and even tho the maxtor had better seek time, the
western digital was faster.

hope that helps
tim draper
Click to expand...
About 3: Absolutely buy the 800 MB motherboard.

4: For Video Editing you will want lots of Ram. Maybe you
could start with 1 - 512 and add another
later.

5: The 8 MB drives are faster.
 
Definite improvement using two sticks of 256 (instead of one stick), it
allows you to use the ram in dual-mode. Gains a bit more than 5%, up to
about 10%, on most benchmarks. Ram prices being what they are, when you
have enough money for 2-512mb sticks, you can likely sell both of your
256's quickly. Make sure you get good quality PC 3200/DDR 400 (+) ram
sticks, in dual-mode stability is important, also, make sure they are as
identical as you can get them. (same manufacturer/model #) Looks like
you have that covered.
Nice system, mine is the same except for my mobo is MSI, and my vidcard
is ti4600. You might want to consider getting a fan/heatsink from a 3.06
or 3.2 Intel retail box CPU (I got a pair off Ebay), both are
"copper-enhanced" and do a lot better job of cooling than the extruded
aluminum unit that comes with boxed P4's up to 2.8.
ps: As for whether or not the difference is "noticeable" by using the
ram in dual-mode, it really depends on how picky you are. In normal, day
to day use, 5-10% might seem insignificant. No matter what, though,
stick with the 800mhz cpu. Nice gains over the 533mhz "equivalent".
Earl
 
E. Harris said:
Definite improvement using two sticks of 256 (instead of one stick), it
allows you to use the ram in dual-mode. Gains a bit more than 5%, up to
about 10%, on most benchmarks. Ram prices being what they are, when you
have enough money for 2-512mb sticks, you can likely sell both of your
256's quickly. Make sure you get good quality PC 3200/DDR 400 (+) ram
sticks, in dual-mode stability is important, also, make sure they are as
identical as you can get them. (same manufacturer/model #) Looks like
you have that covered.
Nice system, mine is the same except for my mobo is MSI, and my vidcard
is ti4600. You might want to consider getting a fan/heatsink from a 3.06
or 3.2 Intel retail box CPU (I got a pair off Ebay), both are
"copper-enhanced" and do a lot better job of cooling than the extruded
aluminum unit that comes with boxed P4's up to 2.8.
Click to expand...

Interesting to read your post in retrospect. The new PC is up and running,
with a few changes: ATX case with 500W PSU (instead of 350W), 1GB RAM (CAS
latency 3)dual channeled (Hynix), Pixelview GeForce Fx5600 256MB. Changes
were all within budget thanks to last minute retailer price cuts. The GPU
was at the same price as its 128MB equivalent.

Will do some 3DMark benchmarks soon. What are the values that I should
expect?

Only problems I've had this far is odd behaviour from monitor - screen
sometimes gets a light blue hue, makes a snap sound and returns to normal.
Also, noticed a couple of dead pixels (permanent black spots). Are these
signs of pending doom? There's a three year warranty on the monitor, so if
it keeps this up, I'll be taking it back.

The CPU temperature hovers around 40C during gaming and 33C otherwise. Do
you still think it's a good option to consider the P4 3.2 heatsink?

Pearlf
Cape Town, ZA
 
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