Sorry your browser is not supported!

You are using an outdated browser that does not support modern web technologies, in order to use this site please update to a new browser.

Browsers supported include Chrome, FireFox, Safari, Opera, Internet Explorer 10+ or Microsoft Edge.

Geek Culture / Before I buy my new computer...

Author
Message
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 7th Oct 2005 23:53
Link
i was going to buy and build a computer. it costs around 560$

with the following specs:

Pentium 4 3.0ghz (800mhz)
256mb Radeon 9600PRO
1024mb DDR SDRAM
160gb HD
and the rest is not that important

that was around 2 weeks ago.

now, they have changed the package (it still have same price though) to this:

AMD Athlon64 3200
256mb GeForce 6600
512mb DDR SDRAM
200gb HD
and the rest is same as above, but still not that important to show.

now i was wondering if it really is a good choise..
i got a shock when i noticed they have changed the contents. but i still need a new computer. and i want a SM3.0 gfx card.
but to change 1024mb to 512mb RAM is too much

what do you guys think?

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Undercover Steve
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 6th Jun 2005
Location: Vancouver, Little Canada(Washington)
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 05:40
Link
do it...and where is this site $560 for all that...
Back to top
Profile PM
dre
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Jan 2005
Location: West Side
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 07:00 Edited at: 8th Oct 2005 07:24
Link
Well you can play most games well, but many newer games, like Battlefield 2, will run better with 1 gig that 512 mb. Ram isn't that expensive, about $100 for good dual channel 1 gig set. By the way, good choice on the AMD, they kill the P4s in gaming and calculation-intensive apps . Also, i would suggest you get a 6600gt instead of a 6600 because the GPU is much more powerfull, even though it has less Ram. Maybe you should wait up, because the new Radeon X1600 series looks pretty good, and maybe isn't showing its best since ATI probably didn't have enough time to optimize the drivers for games ect yet so I expect more from the R520s. Just my suggestion here, the choice is yours. By the way, look for Kingston Hyper-X dual channel ram, its very cheap and has faster timings than other Ram of its price. 2-3-2 timings are near best performance, so you shouldn't worry about the speed of that Ram.

Athlon 64 X2 4400+, nForce 4 Ultra chipset, 1 gig ddr400 d-channel, GeForce 7800 GTX OC,2 WD 74 gig Raptors in RAID
Back to top
Profile PM
Ian T
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 12th Sep 2002
Location: Around
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 07:11
Link
Check the speed of the RAM. Obviously it's DDR these days, but if it's slow, that's a bit of a ripoff. Make sure the motherboard is capable of decent transfer speed and has at least two slots. If so, you can buy your own off newegg. Just don't settle for the package deal if there's a bad component.

Blog is death. How? NO idea. But is murder. REVENGE!
Back to top
Profile PM
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 10:47 Edited at: 8th Oct 2005 11:08
Link
im buying off of a new small norwegian computer company.
its about 40mins from where i live so i save some extra bucks if i drive there myself (well mom or dad drive me). so that is why im buying from them.

here is their webpage and all their computers i can buy: http://jmdata.as/byggesett.htm
note: it is norwegian...

i was thinking.. if im lucky, and get the chance to borrow 100$ from my parents.. i can get one of these computers:
# GeForce 6600GT GDDR3 (PCI-Express), TV Out/DVI
# AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (Socket 939)
# 1024 MB PC3200 RAM
Price: 6290,- (629$)

or i could get a P4 computer:
# GeForce 6600GT GDDR3 (PCI-Express), TV Out/DVI
# Intel Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz (800 MHZ FSB)
# 1024 MB PC3200 RAM
Price: 6595,- (659.5$)

both have 1g ram and GeForce 6600GT (exactly what i want)
so the main thing i have to choose is what processor i want.
P4 3.2 GHZ or A64 3200.

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
=ChrisB=
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 23rd Jun 2005
Location: starring into a viewfinder
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 11:01
Link
Tooo confusing !

I may not be good in school, may not hae had a girl for a while, ma not had a social life in years, BUT I"M STILL THE ONLY ONE IN SCHOOL WHO KNOWS HOW TO MAKE GAMES!!!

Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
dre
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Jan 2005
Location: West Side
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 20:05 Edited at: 8th Oct 2005 20:07
Link
Trust me, AMDs are the way to go, wether you're playing games or modelling or programming, AMDs give better results most of the time. For gaming performance, hands down, AMD owns, you can even check on techreport.com to see that Intel's $1100 P4 EE gets beat by $350 AMDs. Also, make sure you pick up a Venice core AMD Athlon 64 3200+ because if you do, you can get yourself a Zalman 120mm fan and overclock your CPU to about 2.6 ghz, to speeds of around the AMD Athlon 64 4000+. And for the motherboard, make sure the chipset is a nForce 4 (Ultra if you can), because these chipsets own anything else. Good luck with your buy

Athlon 64 X2 4400+, nForce 4 Ultra chipset, 1 gig ddr400 d-channel, GeForce 7800 GTX OC,2 WD 74 gig Raptors in RAID
Back to top
Profile PM
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 20:33
Link
yeah, thanks man. but what you say sounds too expensive. id rather not spend 350$ on one processor. not when i can get a whole computer for just 300$ more... know what im saying?

but yeah, since all my friends and all you guys say that AMD beats Pentium im quite sure what processor i will get.

also if you where in my position. you have 562$ and it might be possible that you could borrow another 100$. what would you choose?

* 512mb ram and 6600
* 1024mb ram and 6600GT (+100$)

i would rather go with that 1g of ram and the 6600GT, but i wouldn't do it if its actually not that necessary.

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
MiR
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 13th Jul 2003
Location: Spain
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 21:03
Link
Quote: "* 1024mb ram and 6600GT (+100$)"

The gig of ram realy increases proformance. Lets just hope you can get that extra dosh. Maybe Ebay a potato or something....

My signature has been erased by me because it's LARGE.
Thank you for the votez!1!
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 23:04
Link
naa, allready tried selling an eaten apple, and a shewed gum.. no luck so far..

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
JoelJ
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 8th Sep 2003
Location: UTAH
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 23:31
Link
AMD Processors are much better, you get a LOT more than what you pay for (compared to the Intel chips at least)
I wouldn't settle for anything other than a AMD64 processor if I were buying a computer right now.

No one, not even your grandmother, loves their toaster as much as Young Rob does
My BLOG really sucks...
Back to top
Profile PM Website
tpfkat
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 1st Sep 2005
Location: lancashire/uk
Posted: 8th Oct 2005 23:40
Link
amd...top pro.
intel pentium..top price.
i noticed you put intel 3ghz, is it actually running at 3ghz.i dont keep up with intel hardware.
the only thing with amd is they called them 2500,2800,3200 but thats not the actual ghz speed so check that out first.
a 3000 amd only runs at about 2.4 ghz.
ive got an amd 2800 mobile athlon, can really overclock the little bugger but ive never needed to.
Back to top
Profile PM
dre
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 20th Jan 2005
Location: West Side
Posted: 9th Oct 2005 02:27
Link
Well, you can stay with 512 mb, but do make sure you get a 6600gt.

Athlon 64 X2 4400+, nForce 4 Ultra chipset, 1 gig ddr400 d-channel, GeForce 7800 GTX OC,2 WD 74 gig Raptors in RAID
Back to top
Profile PM
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 9th Oct 2005 13:41 Edited at: 9th Oct 2005 13:42
Link
if i want to run: dbpro, photoshop, 3dsmax, firefox, apache server (so i can edit and display php sites offline), total commander and winamp at the same time. would 512mb be enough?

if i want to play games like: doom3, hl2, unreal2, hmm.. i dont think i need to play any more games:S would the 6600 be enough? (all the 6 series have SM3.0 right?)

the AMD Athlon 64 processor i have chosen is a 3200+. its clock is 2.0ghz. would that be enough?

and i always thought that a AMD Athlon 3000 with 1.8ghz have the speed as a P4 with 3.0ghz. because the "3000" tag. but i might be wrong...

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Killswitch
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 2nd Oct 2002
Location: School damnit!! Let me go!! PLEASE!!!
Posted: 9th Oct 2005 13:49
Link
I play Doom 3, Half Life 2 and Battlfield 2 on this set up:

AMD 2.0 Ghz (ish)
512MB RAM
GeForce FX 5200

(That's the most important bits anyway).

So yeah, you'll be able to play them - but the extra RAM will deffinatly help.

~It's a common mistake to make, the rules of the English langauge do not apply to insanity~
Back to top
Profile PM Email
indi
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Earth, Brisbane, Australia
Posted: 9th Oct 2005 17:36
Link
Quote: "if i want to run: dbpro, photoshop, 3dsmax, firefox, apache server (so i can edit and display php sites offline), total commander and winamp at the same time. would 512mb be enough?"


photoshop will eat as much as you can give it, since your probably only using photoshop for web or game graphics drop its ram usage in preferences.

3dstudio max will also chew ram but since your probably only modelling lower poly then a full building scene with flyby it should handle it.

512 is enough but you would really want 1 gig at least when working with a complex 3d program as well as a complex 2d editor.

If no-one gives your an answer to a question you have asked, consider:- Is your question clear.- Did you ask nicely.- Are you showing any effort to solve the problem yourself 
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Dazzag
22
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 26th Aug 2002
Location: Cyprus
Posted: 9th Oct 2005 18:15
Link
Quote: "and i always thought that a AMD Athlon 3000 with 1.8ghz have the speed as a P4 with 3.0ghz. because the "3000" tag. but i might be wrong"
Thats what it's supposed to mean. Infact is supposed to mean "a little more" I believe. Mainly cos they add the plus sign on the end (eg. 2400+). The ones I used tended to be slightly better performance than their P4 equivelents. Basically though they do more every clock cycle.

My 2Ghz (centrino dolthan effort) laptop, for example, ran the SuperPI program (1 million decimal places) in 40 secs. Nothing, at the time, could touch it, apart from an AMD64 laptop rated at something like a 3600. And that did it in 39 secs. Several P4's running at upto 3.4Ghz (and HT) were at least 5 secs behind (most 3Ghz were around 55 secs). This was on a laptop forum, but you get the idea. Come to think of it, centrino efforts rock for power (great battery life) and speed. Think they do a desktop version too now, but doubt if it can compete with the top end dual processor efforts. Still, would be good if they tried powering it up a bit. Top design that one.

Cheers

I am 99% probably lying in bed right now... so don't blame me for crappy typing
Back to top
Profile PM Email Website
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 9th Oct 2005 19:09
Link
ok, im thinking that maybe this would be best for me:
gf 6600 and 1024mb ram.
agree?

i dont play much games, (mainly because my current computer sux) because it is boring.. and i have started a webcartoon (hehe) so i usually listen to winamp and open photoshop elements.

my desktop is running at 1024x768 and it is a little too low to draw in that, the 6600 would probably run 1280x1024 @ 85hz and that would be awesome.

so i think i have made my decision:

AMD Athlon64 3200 (2.0ghz)
1024mb DDR SDRAM PC3200
256mb GeForce 6600
and some other stuff like dvd burner, hdd etc.

this will probably be 600$ (40$ more than i have).

thanks for the help guys. and if you think i should go with the 6600GT instead of 6600, please let me know why. thanks

hopefully building this thing will go allright (a 2 years warranty is included so i can relax)

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 9th Oct 2005 23:01
Link
actually, since the price difference is 100$ (actually it is only 70$) and i asked and im permitted to borrow some money from me parents, i think i will get the 1gig of ram And the 6600GT

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Undercover Steve
19
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 6th Jun 2005
Location: Vancouver, Little Canada(Washington)
Posted: 10th Oct 2005 02:37
Link
hmm..I will have to move to norway soon. cheap pc
Back to top
Profile PM
UnderLord
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 2nd Aug 2003
Location:
Posted: 10th Oct 2005 02:41
Link
I would personally go with a AMD system but thats just me ever since i built my first AMD computer i'v liked AMD a hell alot more then Pentium
But it looks like you got some hefty choices there. Just AMD it all the way =P

When we talk to god, we're praying. When god talks to us, we're schizophrenic.
http://dbworlds.darkuniverse.net/
Back to top
Profile PM
Lukas W
21
Years of Service
User Offline
Joined: 5th Sep 2003
Location: Sweden
Posted: 10th Oct 2005 09:09
Link
well, im buying from a quite new company, they've been active for 2 years or so.. the computer im getting costs 629$.

i've been looking around the net, and the same computer costs 1100$ or something. but then its allready built for you with winXP home.

also if i add 30$ i get a 17" crt monitor

http://lukashangout.tk - ZombieHunter - This is a map editor
Back to top
Profile PM Email
Back to top

Login to post a reply

Server time is: 2024-11-15 23:23:53
Your offset time is: 2024-11-15 23:23:53