Planning to buy these components, opinions needed...

[JTKGY]

Asus A7V333 (KT333 + DDR333 w/o Raid but like to add 1394)
Athlon XP 1600+ with overclocking in mind...
(Btw, why are 1500+ more expensive than 1600+?? 1500+'s are same price as 1700+)
PC2700 CAS CL2.0 memory (any recommendations with good values, I really dont need name brand stuff)
HD = either of these 3
seagate st380020A 80g
maxtor d740x diamond max plus
wdc 800bb
Video = ATI Radeon 8500 with 64MB (what's the difference? Between 8500 and 8500LE?)

Any opinions appreciated,

 

[Crucial]

<< Athlon XP 1600+ with overclocking in mind...
(Btw, why are 1500+ more expensive than 1600+?? 1500+'s are same price as 1700+) >>



supply and demand.



<< Video = ATI Radeon 8500 with 64MB (what's the difference? Between 8500 and 8500LE?) >>



The LE's are clocked at a lower speed than the non LE's. Retail 8500's are clocked at 275core/275mem. The LE's are usually clocked 250/250. Although some mfg's have clocked them as low as 230/230. Nice choice on the video card. You will be pleased.

 

[JTKGY]

<<

<< Athlon XP 1600+ with overclocking in mind...
(Btw, why are 1500+ more expensive than 1600+?? 1500+'s are same price as 1700+) >>



supply and demand.
>>



I understand that...
but I guess what I am really asking is why are there still more demand on
the slower 1600+??
(Is it more overclockable than 1700+ b/c of lower multiplier??)

 

[TranceNation]

go w/ p4 1.6a instead

 

[JTKGY]

<< go w/ p4 1.6a instead >>



How would this one be more cost effective?
I see two versions of p4 1.6 on pricewatch...
$109 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz Sock 478
$115 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz

vs.

$93 - Athlon XP 1700
$81 Athlon XP 1600
$90 - Athlon XP 1500

I've heard that 1.6a could be overclocked to 2.4Ghz...


Hmm... just looked at the benchmark results... it outperforms 2100+ half of the time..
and tie with 2100+ for the other half... could I overclock a 1600+ or 1700+ easily to
or OVER 2100+??

 

[Slawsk]

<< How would this one be more cost effective?
I see two versions of p4 1.6 on pricewatch...
$109 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz Sock 478
$115 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz

vs.

$93 - Athlon XP 1700
$81 Athlon XP 1600
$90 - Athlon XP 1500

I've heard that 1.6a could be overclocked to 2.4Ghz...


Hmm... just looked at the benchmark results... it outperforms 2100+ half of the time..
and tie with 2100+ for the other half... could I overclock a 1600+ or 1700+ easily to
or OVER 2100+?? >>


No, you can't. P4 is currently overclocker king, but AMD may catch up. (too soon to tell) Go Socket 478, those are the P4 1.6A (new Williamette core, better) I get off of newegg.com surewfire way. Cheap and reliable. Look for an EPoX board. I like them, though I'm not a P4 man myself, but this was before the advent of the P4 1.6A. Sorry if this doesnt help much

 

[TranceNation]

<<

<< go w/ p4 1.6a instead >>



How would this one be more cost effective?
I see two versions of p4 1.6 on pricewatch...
$109 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz Sock 478
$115 - Pentium 4 1.6GHz

vs.

$93 - Athlon XP 1700
$81 Athlon XP 1600
$90 - Athlon XP 1500

I've heard that 1.6a could be overclocked to 2.4Ghz...


Hmm... just looked at the benchmark results... it outperforms 2100+ half of the time..
and tie with 2100+ for the other half... could I overclock a 1600+ or 1700+ easily to
or OVER 2100+?? >>




don't forget to add in the price of the heat sinks/fans that you'll need for the athlon, plus the fire insurance you'll need for your home when calculating the cost for those AMD chips

 

[JTKGY]

<< No, you can't. P4 is currently overclocker king, but AMD may catch up. (too soon to tell) Go Socket 478, those are the P4 1.6A (new Williamette core, better) I get off of newegg.com surewfire way. Cheap and reliable. Look for an EPoX board. I like them, though I'm not a P4 man myself, but this was before the advent of the P4 1.6A. Sorry if this doesnt help much >>




Hmm... or the Northwood 1.6A for around $130...


I have another question... Will overclocking cpu to 2.4Ghz affect wireless devices?????
I'm currently running a SMC wireless usb client (2.4Ghz, 802.11b)

 

[DivideBYZero]

TranceNation weighs in with the anti-AMD flamebait.

My overvolted, overclocked TBird runs at 41C idle, speeds shown in Myrig in the sig. Are you aware of the flashpoint of silicon?

Melting point: 1414 °C

True, my HSF cost me $45, but I buy quality kit, whats your excuse, cheapskate?

 

[whitelight]

<< HD = either of these 3 >>


go with the maxtor. quiet, fast, reliable.

 

[dunkster]

I'd buy a RAID-equipped board, even though you have no interest in implementing RAID mode operation.

The two additional IDE ports would allow up to four IDE devices, all configured as individual masters on a dedicated IDE port. You'll probably add at least a CDROM in your system, for a minimum total of 3 IDE devices, and be forced into a master/slave IDE port config. Why limit your system?

Hope this helps!

 

[jiffylube1024]

<< Go Socket 478, those are the P4 1.6A (new Williamette core, better) I get off of newegg.com surewfire way >>



AAAH, god no not Williamette. I think you meant to say Northwood. The Williamette P4's will barely reach 2 GHz if at all... The 1.6A is a Northwood (like all the good overclocking P4's).

Make sure when you're buying a P4 that it either has an 'A' in the name (1.6A, 1.8A ....) or says it has 512K L2 Cache, or is called specifically a "Northwood" Pentium 4 ... if it has 256K L2 cache then it's the old Williamette and a very bad overclocker.

 

[JTKGY]

Thanks for all the valuable information guys...
There's a question I asked on another thread.. but haven't get
any answer yet... could someone please spend a quick 5 mins explain it
to me...

This is an example from Thugrook from another thread..
and i'm not sure how all the values are calculated.
------------------------
16x146 2336mhz 4:5 375ddr > > > 1.600v


so...
16 = multiplier
146 = FSB?
2336 = CPU clock
there's also a quad-dump clock that I'm not sure what it is..

4:5 is the async ratio of system vs memory
375 = (146/4)*5 and *2 (since it's DDR?) but shouldn't that be 365??


Thank you,

 

[DT4K]

Athlon XP or P4 Northwood will both make great systems. I have also heard that the 1.6A runs cool and can be OC'ed quite a bit with the stock heatsink.

I have an Epox 8kha+ w/ XP 1700+ and so far, I've bumped it up to 1573Mhz (143 * 11) with the stock HSF. Temp at load is 49C. It's a little warm, but it's very stable. So that's almost 1900+ speed. I know a lot of people have gone higher. Just look around and see what people have been able to do.

If you want to OC a lot, you should probably add the price of a good heatsink to your Athlon price and compare that total to the price of a retail P4. The Thermalright AX-7 is going for less than $30 without fan.

 

[DT4K]

Oh, and look into the GeForce 4 Ti4200 or Ti4400 before you buy that Radeon. I think the Ti4200 is supposed to be available real soon(if not already) and it may be a better price/performance buy than the Radeon.

 

[JTKGY]

After few weeks of reading and researching...
I've decided and purchased these components...

P4 1.6A 512k northwood
Gigabyte GA-8IRXP with raid,lan,sound,usb2.0
maxtor d740x 80g 7200rpm 2MB
corsair pc2700 ddr333 cas2.0 512MB
ati radeon 7500 all-in-wonder (i've decided that I do not need 8500)
lite-on 16x dvd

planning on o/c it to 2.4ghz..

btw, I did purchase a generic case.. would the power supply be a problem?
and if i do o/c it to 2.4ghz... would it interfere my wireless usb client (also operate at 2.4ghz)

 

[DivideBYZero]

A 2.4 Ghz Proc should not interfere with any radio equipment. If it did, it would not pass FCC regs, not doubt.

My old 100Mhz 486 did not interfere with my FM radio....

 

[Witchfinder]

I`d forget the Williamette core full stop, if Sandra2001/2002 is anything to go by, even a Celeron Tualatin 1200@1400 beats them all except the 2-gig one which only beats it on on FPU benchmarks, the Tu @1.4 makes a total ASS out of the P4 Williamette 1.6 - rather reminds me of the old 2V Katmai P3 which was just a deschutes with SSE and was easily outperformed by a fast Mendocino Celly!.

Northwood is a different story indeed and the clockability of it is legendary (we`re back in Coppermine / tualatin territory again OCwise here ).

If you`re after saving money I don`t think you can go far wrong with an Athlon 1800+ with a decent OC motherboard like an A-Bit KR7A and a £17 Volcano-7+ HS/Fan (well reviewed), I have an AX-7 which about the state of the art in air-coolers and not ludicrously priced either.. I`d recommend the Ge-Force-3 Ti500 or 4 series as well (bar the 4MX which really is a fast GF-2) , I`ve never been happy with Radeon drivers though they HAVE improved a lot, just a personal thing really..

Depends on how much you want to spend really whether you go Athlon or Northwood

 

[timebecomes]

Definately wait a little while for the ti4200. Check out the main anandtech article today about sub 200 dollar video cards. The ti4200 cleans up.

 

[ElusivePeon]

I was in the same situation are you in a few weeks ago. I went with the 1.6a Intel, now am running happily @ 2.4. Works great for me.