It's been a year - time to build a new system . . . suggestions/criticism welcomed as always

[XMan]

This little gem is my promotion present to myself.

I will probably be doing it at the end of December or the beginning of January, so I may go for faster CPU, etc.

• 1.2GHZ Thunderbird (Palomino???)
• Alpha PAL6035 Heatsink
• Asus A7M266 Motherboard (may change if the Asus board isn't the best)
• 256MB Micron Crucial PC2100 DDR-SDRAM
• Quantum Atlas 10K-II 36.7GB HD
• Global Win I-Storm II HD Cooler
• Elsa Gladiac Ultra 64MB GeForce2 GTS
• Iomega ZIP SCSI Internal (Have)
• Pioneer DVD-304S 10X/40X SCSI DVD/CD-ROM
• Plextor 8X/20X SCSI (Have)
• Tekram DC390U2W
• SB Live! Value
• Midiland S4 8200 Speakers
• 3COM 10/100 PCI NIC (Have)
• Super Micro SC750 Case w/450W Enermax PS (Have the case)
• Hollywood Plus DVD Decoder
• Sony GDM-F500R Monitor

I will be networking this to my old PC . . . should be able to pump some nice SETI units out with this bad boy - and I guess I might do a little gaming with it. Probably.

 

[XMan]

Dang . . . nobody has an opinion?

At least flame me or something . . .

 

[Impact55]

I'd get a new monitor to get a higher Hz, if money is an issue ( which it doesn't look like ) then drop down to 264 MB DDR RAM

 

[fitzhue]

Well you definitly picked out some quality parts there, dont know if I'd change anything. You are gonna want an awesome monitor though so treat yourself to a Trinitron and maybe drop down the ram to 384 or 256.

 

[SSP]

What about a video card?

 

[Zeeliv]

SSP, look again.

Elsa Gladiac Ultra

 

[GT1999]

Xerox Man:

I'm droolin' all over the place. Just make sure to get quality DDR-SDRAM, wait if you must. I'm sure Anand will have some reviews of the good stuff when it's out. Otherwise, it looks like you have a good system. If I had money, I would go for just what you have there, but I'm a poor college student. P3-450@621 for life.

G|T

 

[XMan]

Okay, what's a good 21" monitor? Guess I'll have to run off and check some monitor reviews . . .

Any advantage of 512MB versus 256MB of memory? Upgrading from 256 from 128 was noticeable.

And does anybody know if there's a difference between the Live! Value, X-Gamer, and MP3+ as far as a hardware standpoint?

 

[XMan]

Geekish - I have to spend my raise somehow. I already paid off all of my CCs, student loans, etc.

 

[zippy]

In Windows, 512MB of memory will give you a 2% performance increase and sometimes a decrease (it has more space to look for what it needs. ). Go for 256MB.

 

[pen^2]

why not a 24'' widescreen monitor? you lucky bastard

 

[GT1999]

<< Okay, what's a good 21&quot; monitor? >>



Good? iiyama Vision Master Pro 510 22&quot;

Great? Mitsubishi DiamondTron 2040U Pro 22&quot;

Superb: Sony F500R 21&quot; FD Trin


<< Monitor ? Sony GDM-F500R - $1800
This pure flat monitor is without a doubt the best monitor we?ve ever set our eyes on. The FD Trinitron tube insures the screen is completely flat, but what makes the GDM-F500R so special is the 0.22mm stripe pitch across the whole screen. Support for resolutions up to 2048 x 1536 @ 75Hz rounds out the package. You?ve got to see it to believe it ? one look and you?ll be hooked. But at $1800, it remains just a dream for the vast majority of us. >>





<< And does anybody know if there's a difference between the Live! Value, X-Gamer, and MP3+ as far as a hardware standpoint? >>


Absolutely nothing hardware wise. Newer SB Live's have an extra 'jack' of some sort if I recall, but from the majority of audiophiles here in the forums, my understanding is that there is no hardware difference in newer models of the SB Live! family. I'm no audiofreak so don't quote me on the whole 'jack' thing.




<< I have to spend my raise somehow. I already paid off all of my CCs, student loans, etc. >>


Lucky bastage.

 

[XMan]

Doesn't the Diamondtron use the same tube as the Iiyama?

BrotherMan - I dunno if I'm lucky or not. I do know that I have been underpaid for the last three years and I finally got out from under the tightwads in my previous district and went to a district where they're willing to pay people what the scale says they should be paid. So if that's lucky, I'm guilty as charged.

 

[Pete]

I think that new jack is digital out.

Phat system Although Dec/Jan might mean a better video card... I'd say a Radeon 64MB (with that, eliminate the Hollywood+), but its poor current W2K drivers rules it out for now.

 

[GT1999]

Yes, iiyama uses Mitsubishi's tube, and since they're both 22&quot;, they're pretty much the same monitor. The only difference is of course the sticker, and in some cases the price or refresh rates. I'm a Trinitron fan so that's my 'order' of the best 21&quot;ers out there. If you want a good Shadow Mask monitor check out Eizo. Monitors are all about personal preference though.

Eizo FlexScan F980 21&quot;

G|T

 

[RZSupraTRD]

wow......need I say more
I have to wipe the drool off the keyboard now

 

[XMan]

Pete - good point about the video card. When does NV20 come out? Spring refresh? Or for Christmas? I'm not a big fan of ATI. nVidia has been good for me, but I'd think about a V5-6000 if it turns out to be good card.

Probably won't be using Windows 2K unless I decide to go with dual processors (I kind of doubt it, I don't really see a need for it . . . of course, I don't need to upgrade, either.)

Geekish - you sold me on the Sony F500. Thanks for the URL.

Edit - Dang, here's what Anand says about NV20.



<< Update 8/17/2000: There have been reports that the NV20 won't be delayed and it will be released on time contrary to what we've published here. We met with NVIDIA in person and asked them their stance on the issue, according to NVIDIA the NV20 will be out in 4 to 8 months from the release of the GeForce2 Ultra (September). This places the release of the NV20 about 6 months from when the Ultra hits the streets which can be as early as January or as late as May. If you take the average of that range, you get a March release, which does fall in line with our statement of a Spring 2001 launch. >>



Now I don't know if I should get the Gladiac Ultra or not . . .

 

[SSP]

Zeeliv, Thanks. I should go to sleep. Can't keep my eyes open.

 

[MWink]

I would recommend some other mother board. I personally have had 2 horrible experiences with Asus. Everything else looks good.

 

[XMan]

MWink,

Yeah, I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude with the motherboard. I figure that the dust from the DDR chipset releases should be settled down by December, and it should be pretty obvious which boards are the best of the bunch. My K7M has been a little persnickity, but it works fairly well for a first-generation board.

LOL - followed this link off of HardOCP. I think my system thumps on Sharkey's. High-End gaming system . . .

 

[RabidJigglypuff]

Have you taken a look at the santa cruz(instead of the sblive)? Sounds great and you can find it for less than $90
Santa Cruz