1.6a System Rig, comments/sugg. before I buy pls.

[LogisticalBovine]

Alright here's the rig:

Motherboard: Asus P4B533E i845e chipset (stripped version, no LAN/audio)
Processor: Pentium4 1.6ghz Northwood 512k
Heatsink/Fan: Thermalright AX478 w/ Vantec Tornado 80mm 84.1CFM fan
Northbridge Chipset Cooling: ThermalTake Tiger1 i845 HSF
Memory: Samsung PC2700 True 512mb CL2.5
Hard Drive: Maxtor 80gb 7200RPM UltraATA133
Video Card: Gainward GeForce4 Ti4400 128mb w/VIVO
DVD-ROM: LiteOn 16x/48x
CD-RW: LiteOn 40x/12x/48x
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy 5.1 OEM
Speakers: Cambridge Soundworks 5.1 5300
Ethernet Adapter: 3COM 905CX-TXM PCI
Case: Antec SX1040B (full tower) w/400watt PS
Monitor: Some $250 19" (recommendations?)

There's my rig. I think it has plenty of power supply, though I plan to upgrade to 550watt Enermax later. It's has some killer coolage with the AX478 and Tornado(80mm 84.1CFM... holy!) for OCing my 1.6a to a 2.4 hopefully without frying anything. The motherboard from Asus has had a lot of success with all these P4 OCers. Also, the Samsung PC2700 has done wonders for people. I'm not too concerned with the monitor right now. I'm putting together this system rig soon and I would like some last minute suggestions and comments about the rig, good or bad I don't care (no heavy flaming though ) as long as it is productive. Btw, this system has an estimated cost of $1500 with shipping and a monitor. Not bad considering I bought my HP Pavillion P2 450mhz for $2500 (the system I have currently), 4 years back and that wasn't even the best one out.

 

[Zukatah]

Geez, I wish I had that much to put on my computer............... you should be able to overclock really well with that setup if you get a good chip!

 

[Rectalfier]

Looks pretty good. Sounds like that Tornado might be kind of loud. If you are concerned about noise, they retail heatsink/fan does a pretty food job. I'm using the retail heatsink/compound and am running rock solid at 2719Mhz. The temperature maxes out at 58 degrees.

 

[oldfart]

Couple comments:
I'd pass on that noisy cooling setup. Its not needed unless you plan on EXTERME overclocking. I run a 1.6A @ 2.4 with the stock HS/Fan and some ASII.

You can do much better than the P4B533E. With that board, you are stuck with a 1:1 mem ratio @ 133 and above FSB. Unless you plan on going up past 160 MHz FSB, and are lucky enough to get a really good CPU that will get there, you are going to have a slower system.

Examples:

You get an "good" CPU that will do 150 FSB, 2.4 GHz
1:1 ratio (only one available on the P4B533E)
You have a DDR300 speed...yawn..not even PC2700 that you paid for
4:5 mem ratio = DDR375
3:4 mem ratio = DDR400

You get a GREAT CPU that will do 160 FSB, 2.56 GHz
1:1 ratio = DDR320 a bit better
4:5 ratio = DDR400
3:4 ratio = DDR426 You need GREAT memory for this to fly

You are super lucky and get a FANTASTIC CPU that will do 166 - 170+ FSB
1:1 ratio = DDR333 - DDR340
4:5 ratio = not gonna happen
3:4 ratio = no way


If you go with an 845G based board, you will have many more mem speed options available. There are also other 845D/E boards that at least give you the ability to run 3:4 above 132 FSB.

 

[YaKuZa]

I'm planning to get a new rig up soon too. But I'm not sure if I should go Intel or AMD yet. If I go Intel, it'll be with the 1.6a, but I'm not sure on the motherboard. Is the p4b533 the way to go?

 

[imported_zenwhen]

Im not fond of the Intel Chipsets.... Ive seen some great results from the P3S533.

 

[human2k]

Abit BG7 @ newegg for $129!!!!!!

Intel i845G, 3 dimm, 5 pci, soft menu III!

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: xzenwhenx
Im not fond of the Intel Chipsets.... Ive seen some great results from the P3S533.

ur not fond of intel chipsets?

 

[mchammer187]

Originally posted by: YaKuZa
I'm planning to get a new rig up soon too. But I'm not sure if I should go Intel or AMD yet. If I go Intel, it'll be with the 1.6a, but I'm not sure on the motherboard. Is the p4b533 the way to go?

id go with an 845 G based chipset it performs 10-15% better at a given FSB/mem speed

 

[BatmanNate]

Killer rig! Only thing that I would consider is that having a flat screen (not flat panel) monitor is a lot easier on the eyes, IMHO. It's well within your posted price range for a monitor too, I think Samsung makes a fairly inexpensive quality one, and it is rebadged all over the place by companies like CTL for even less. Good luck with your OC as well.

 

[Rectalfier]

The i845G does perform better, and has better memory ratio's. One thing to note is that the i845G has trouble reaching high FSB speeds, which may limit your overclock. I think the best combo would be the 1.8A and the i845G, as you are within spec when running at 2.4 (133FSB), and you probably won't be limited by FSB.

 

[aceO07]

Your setup looks pretty nice. I agree with some of the other comments, you probably won't need that many fans. Good luck with overclocking. I decided to upgrade too.

Here's what I ordered last week:
Asus P4B533-V (i845g)
P4 1.6A
Original Samsung PC2700 512MB
Lian-Li PC7
IBM 120GXP 80GB (no comments please)

Here's what I'm reusing from old system:
IBM 75GXP 30GB
Toshiba 12x DVD
Plextor 12x10x32a CDRW
ATI Radeon AIW
Logitech keyboard(cordless) & mouse(optical)
Planar 17.4 LCD

 

[herbage11]

I like my P4 1.6a on an Asus P4s533. Rock solid and nice and cool at 2.2.

 

[LogisticalBovine]

>Alright I think I'm going to go with the P4B533-V. I didn't realize that the E board didn't have a 3:4 or 4:5 setting. Anyway, I'll pay the 30 bucks extra for that board. What Rectal said about G chipsets having a hard time reaching high FSB speeds I have never heard. My understanding was that the i845G chipset was the same as the i845E with a better control of integrated graphics or something like that.
>About the HSF set up: I don't mind noise, and if I have 18 bucks to blow on a killer fan to make sure my CPU stays cool I think I'll go for it. The cooler it runs the better.
>Thanks oldfart :roll: for that chart, it helps a lot.
>One more thing, kommax.com has the Samsung PC2700 true 512mb cl2.5 for 101 bucks. It is really cheap and I'm kind of suspicious that it's a fake but I don't want to rule it out (don't want to tarnish any company's image). Anyone that has bought a stick from this place tell me if they got a real or a fake one. Otherwise I'll just grab one from newegg cause I know they have real ones.
**edit**
>googlegear.com also has a Samsung 512mb for $109. I know people have ordered from here before. What's the rating on this one?
>Where do you find an Asus P4B533-V? I keep seeing the VMs which I really don't want.

 

[LogisticalBovine]

**bump** Need to know where to get an Asus P4B533-V motherboard!