New Computer Specs
OK, so I know not too many people want to hear this, but here is the spec out for my new computer. I've put it together after a bit of research. It is the best performance for my budget. There are several noticeable differences between it and the last computer I built, namely that I went with an AMD processor, which was previously against my religion. Unlike most places that give you what they built and a few reasons why, I'm going to explain details. This is painful for some of you.....get over it.
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Motherboard(Non SLI)
Two Raptor 74GB Hard Drives in RAID02x512MB
Corsair XMS Memory PC3200 (2-3-3-6)
GeForce 7800GT 256MB Video
Coolermaster Wavemaster case
Misc power supply, DVD/CD
First, the processor is by far and away the best bang for your buck. I'd like to link to charts, but they're not my charts and I'll stay clear. I was an Intel fanatic, mainly because Intel was the standard, and an IT guy who breaks standards is asking for trouble. They had the most support, their chips performed better, applications were written with their chips' instruction sets in mind. These were my reasons, but these reasons have dwindled to a point that I can no longer use them as an anchor.
Second comes the motherboard. This is the most important part of a computer, and so the one that received the most of my research time. After some time, it came down to two boards, the MSI K8N and the Abit Fatal1ty(no that's not a typo). Being a long-time Abit fan, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I looked for good things about their board and bad things about MSI's board. In the end, I couldn't deny that it looks as if the Fatal1ty board is a revision or two away from being what I've come to expect from Abit. According to many websites I looked on, faulty drivers, failure of two memory slots, and a need for specific auxiliary components plague Abit’s board. MSI’s board appeared rock-solid, so I stole Abit’s trophy and awarded a well-deserved win to MSI. I then decided to steer clear of the SLI board for a ~$50 savings on something I have no intention of using within the lifetime of this machine. Hardcore people with more money than me can buy the SLI version of the board and another video card for some MAJOR video power, but at a total additional cost of $400.
Third, the Raptor drives. The only thing bad that can be said about these drives is that they remain a bit pricey for their capacity, but they are quite inexpensive given their performance. Nothing I know of under $200 can deliver the blazing fast speeds of a Raptor. Put two of them in a RAID0 array and greatly widen one of the bottlenecks in any modern performance computer. Besides, I only know a few people who utilize more than 148GB of storage.
Fourth is memory. Who can argue with the decision to go with Corsair memory? Crucial fans I guess. Corsair is one of the best though, no doubts. I chose this specific memory because to get a faster pair of DIMMs I’d need to spend an additional $70. Also, I have yet to see many applications that use more than 1GB of memory. Hard core people will want to go with the 2x1GB PC3500 (2-3-2-6) for an additional $200.
Next we come to a controversial decision, one that I agonized over a little too much….the video card. I have began to dislike nVidia more and more over the past few months. My own personal experience with them supporting a game manufacturer that didn’t support them and even made them look bad has given me some doubts about the quality of their product. See post on nVidia. I looked into ATIs cards, and although their benchmarks are impressive, it seems that nVidia’s 7800GT series is somewhat affordable at around $320. It seems that this card outperforms two 6800GTs in SLI mode. That's some power!
I don’t think of the computer case as being a major part of a computer, and it’s still an afterthought. That being said, I love the Coolermaster Wavemaster case. It’s been out for some time now, but its simple, sleek design sets it apart as a case for people with conservative good taste, the non-flamboyant affluent.
Power supplies are integral to your system, but with everything I’ve read and seen I find it hard to have an opinion on the subject. Power supplies are virtually equal so long as you go with a reputable manufacturer and a sufficient wattage to accommodate your system.
DVD drives aren’t built equal, but they will not greatly affect system performance except in rare circumstances where you need a good deal of data from a CD or DVD in a very short time. I can’t think of such an instance, and so the main thing that is affected is file copy time and application load time.
The remaining components (DVD/CD Reader/Writer, Floppy if you like nostalgia, Sound card if you have super-human ears, and bling if you want it) I do not feel the need to go into here.
So, the system we have with a pricetag of $1450 is:
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Motherboard(Non SLI)
Two Raptor 74GB Hard Drives in RAID0
2x512MB Corsair XMS Memory PC3200 (2-3-3-6)
GeForce 7800GT 256MB Video
Coolermaster Wavemaster case
Misc power supply, DVD/CD
Wealthier individuals who can spend $2050 might want to go with:
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Motherboard SLI
Two Raptor 74GB Hard Drives in RAID0
2x1GB Corsair XMS Memory PC3500 (2-3-2-6)
Two GeForce 7800GT 256MB Video
Coolermaster Wavemaster case
Misc power supply, DVD/CD
Keep in mind that this does not include a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or any software, yet these systems are the best of the best in terms of gaming performance.
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Motherboard(Non SLI)
Two Raptor 74GB Hard Drives in RAID02x512MB
Corsair XMS Memory PC3200 (2-3-3-6)
GeForce 7800GT 256MB Video
Coolermaster Wavemaster case
Misc power supply, DVD/CD
First, the processor is by far and away the best bang for your buck. I'd like to link to charts, but they're not my charts and I'll stay clear. I was an Intel fanatic, mainly because Intel was the standard, and an IT guy who breaks standards is asking for trouble. They had the most support, their chips performed better, applications were written with their chips' instruction sets in mind. These were my reasons, but these reasons have dwindled to a point that I can no longer use them as an anchor.
Second comes the motherboard. This is the most important part of a computer, and so the one that received the most of my research time. After some time, it came down to two boards, the MSI K8N and the Abit Fatal1ty(no that's not a typo). Being a long-time Abit fan, I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I looked for good things about their board and bad things about MSI's board. In the end, I couldn't deny that it looks as if the Fatal1ty board is a revision or two away from being what I've come to expect from Abit. According to many websites I looked on, faulty drivers, failure of two memory slots, and a need for specific auxiliary components plague Abit’s board. MSI’s board appeared rock-solid, so I stole Abit’s trophy and awarded a well-deserved win to MSI. I then decided to steer clear of the SLI board for a ~$50 savings on something I have no intention of using within the lifetime of this machine. Hardcore people with more money than me can buy the SLI version of the board and another video card for some MAJOR video power, but at a total additional cost of $400.
Third, the Raptor drives. The only thing bad that can be said about these drives is that they remain a bit pricey for their capacity, but they are quite inexpensive given their performance. Nothing I know of under $200 can deliver the blazing fast speeds of a Raptor. Put two of them in a RAID0 array and greatly widen one of the bottlenecks in any modern performance computer. Besides, I only know a few people who utilize more than 148GB of storage.
Fourth is memory. Who can argue with the decision to go with Corsair memory? Crucial fans I guess. Corsair is one of the best though, no doubts. I chose this specific memory because to get a faster pair of DIMMs I’d need to spend an additional $70. Also, I have yet to see many applications that use more than 1GB of memory. Hard core people will want to go with the 2x1GB PC3500 (2-3-2-6) for an additional $200.
Next we come to a controversial decision, one that I agonized over a little too much….the video card. I have began to dislike nVidia more and more over the past few months. My own personal experience with them supporting a game manufacturer that didn’t support them and even made them look bad has given me some doubts about the quality of their product. See post on nVidia. I looked into ATIs cards, and although their benchmarks are impressive, it seems that nVidia’s 7800GT series is somewhat affordable at around $320. It seems that this card outperforms two 6800GTs in SLI mode. That's some power!
I don’t think of the computer case as being a major part of a computer, and it’s still an afterthought. That being said, I love the Coolermaster Wavemaster case. It’s been out for some time now, but its simple, sleek design sets it apart as a case for people with conservative good taste, the non-flamboyant affluent.
Power supplies are integral to your system, but with everything I’ve read and seen I find it hard to have an opinion on the subject. Power supplies are virtually equal so long as you go with a reputable manufacturer and a sufficient wattage to accommodate your system.
DVD drives aren’t built equal, but they will not greatly affect system performance except in rare circumstances where you need a good deal of data from a CD or DVD in a very short time. I can’t think of such an instance, and so the main thing that is affected is file copy time and application load time.
The remaining components (DVD/CD Reader/Writer, Floppy if you like nostalgia, Sound card if you have super-human ears, and bling if you want it) I do not feel the need to go into here.
So, the system we have with a pricetag of $1450 is:
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Motherboard(Non SLI)
Two Raptor 74GB Hard Drives in RAID0
2x512MB Corsair XMS Memory PC3200 (2-3-3-6)
GeForce 7800GT 256MB Video
Coolermaster Wavemaster case
Misc power supply, DVD/CD
Wealthier individuals who can spend $2050 might want to go with:
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego
MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Motherboard SLI
Two Raptor 74GB Hard Drives in RAID0
2x1GB Corsair XMS Memory PC3500 (2-3-2-6)
Two GeForce 7800GT 256MB Video
Coolermaster Wavemaster case
Misc power supply, DVD/CD
Keep in mind that this does not include a monitor, keyboard, mouse, or any software, yet these systems are the best of the best in terms of gaming performance.
posted by ITFury at 10:07 AM
2 Comments:
Mmmm . . . San Diego ;)
Ooops, made a mistake in the original post but I corrected it. I originally posted the processor as the 4400+, but it is the 4000+ that I intended to post.
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