How this for a MB/CPU/RAM combo? (1 Viewer)

[Patrick Sun]

How is this for the guts of a new PC:

The Abit IC7-G motherboard
Intel Pentium4 2.4C GHz 800FSB CPU
Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Series (184 pin 512MB DDR PC3200 - times 2 for 1GB RAM total).

FYI, I've had my current computer configuration (Asus CUSL2-C, Celeron 1GHz, 512MB RAM) for over 3 years now, so the itch to build a newer, faster one is growing...

 

[JamesHl]

I had a CUSL2-C, classic board, really. It was in my girlfriend's computer until two months ago when I chucked the guts of the old machine, now it's got a Gigabyte 7NNXP.

Anyway, sounds like a good setup. I would get the 2.8ghz for the extra $40, though.

 

[Jake K]

I would get the 2.8ghz for the extra $40, though

Unless you get one of those magic 2.4's that can be overclocked to 4ghz!

 

[Scott L]

my p4 2.4b oc's to 2.7 with no problems at all, you sure you wanna settle for that celeron?

edit- just saw the price difference, yikes I can see why! have you looked at any Athlons?

 

[Patrick Sun]

The price different between a P4 2.4c (800Mhz FSB) and a P4 2.8 of the same ilk is almost $80-$100 more than the 2.4MHz version. And plus, with the OC possibilities for the 2.4s, I don't think the price difference is worth paying for for the 2.8.

Anyone had any experience with the Abit IC7-G MB? The reviews I've read so far seem to like it very much, moreso than the Asus P4P800 Deluxe I was also considering.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I've never been into AMD, so I usually just stick to the Intels (I know, there is a price to pay for such blind loyalty).

I think I've settled on the RAM:

Corsair TWINX1024-3200LLPT (2 512MB matched pieces)

I'm also thinking of jazzing up the case with something like this ... I like green.

 

[JamesHl]

Corsair makes good ram. I've had a couple of abit boards, but never that one in particular, so I can't give you any real advice on that. Where are you getting this all from? I looked on newegg and the difference between a 2.4c and a 2.8c was $40. Since I'm generally not personally paying for what I buy, I just stick with them and don't bargain hunt too much.

 

[Patrick Sun]

My eyes must be going blind, I mistook the price for the 3.0c ($268) for the price of the 2.8c ($213). Thanks for the correction.

I'm still tempted to just get the 2.6c for $174 ($3 more than the 2.4c) and just OC to around 3.1GHz. I know, what's $40 more for the 2.8c? I guess I look at it as it's 20% more, but I'm only getting less than 7% more in CPU speed.

The budget for this little project is spiralling out of control!

 

[Robert Houghton]

I just got the Asus P4C800-E Deluxe and the P4 2.6 with a gig of Crucial Ram. The fastest, quietest, and coolest combo I've ever had. I've built many computers with AMDs, never again. The price difference isn't worth it. Took awhile, but now I'm a Intel man.

 

[JamesHl]

If you think it's spiraling out of control, look at the price for the P4 extreme editions... that's out of control.

 

[KyleS]

James,

Its not out of control if you are willing to pay the price for the fastest processor, as a matter of fact its pretty close to inline with the Fx series by AMD, and they will come down. They are brand new and Intel has almost always brought out their top of the line at arouond 1K. Heck in 6 months they will be around where the 3.2ghz 800mhz are at now.

Now would I pay that? Heck no because I know that they will come down pretty fast over the next 6 months but I am going to buy a 3ghz 800fsb chip since they are at a great price point right now for the performance.

KyleS

 

[Patrick Sun]

No doubt, plus, I'm reasonably confident that I'll be able to run the 2.6c chip at 250MHz FSB (multiplier at 13) to get it to a clock speed around 3.2GHz with the stock HSF and the 4 fans in the case because I've picked a motherboard that's stable for overclocking, and the memory is also recommended for being up to the task as well.

 

[Todd Hochard]

I'm still tempted to just get the 2.6c for $174 ($3 more than the 2.4c)

I'd definitely go for this.

You might want to step up to PC3500 or 3700 if you intend to overclock, though. So I've read- I'm still running at 750Mhz. WOOHOO!!!

 

[Patrick Sun]

The research I've done indicates that PC3200 (DDR400) is enough for me to get to at least 250MHz overclock on the bus, so that's where I'll be because the PC3500/PC3700/PC4000 DDR RAM starts to get too pricey for me. The PC4000 DDR was roughly 30% more than the PC3200, and wasn't Low Latency.

 

[Patrick Sun]

I've officially pulled the trigger on my new PC parts purchase.

I made a concession and went with less expensive Kingston HyperX PC3200 1GB RAM (2x512) because it was $189 (after tax) from Kinston's website directly vs. $251 at ZipZoomFly, and $268 at Newegg for the Corsair RAM.

I got the Intel P4 2.6c Retail version for $170 ($1 less than the 2.4c version due to a small 1 day sale). (plus free paperweight from newegg)

I used the savings from the RAM and went with the Abit IC7-MAX3 motherboard for $198 (plus free t-shirt from newegg)

I got the Sapphire ATI Radeon 9600 128MB video card for $120 (plus free baseball cap from newegg).

I got the Aspire Alien Green PC server case (5 5.25" drive bays) for $110 (plus a free paperweight).

I'm done for now with online ordering, everything will probably be local purchases (floppy drive, TV tuner card, hard drives).

Whew, my mouse pointer finger is tired from all this shopping...

 

[Patrick Sun]

Finally everything showed up and I was able to start putting everything together.

I did make a few changes:

Cancelled the Sapphire Radeon card and bought an ATI Radeon off Ebay.

Picked up on impulse a Maxtor 120GB SATA hard drive today. Also picked up a Liteon 411S DVD burner drive for $80 after MIR at Best Buy today. Also picked up a DVD-ROM drive at Office Max for $10 after MIR (to off load the DVD burner for non-burning activity).

So I've finally have all the parts installed and loaded XP on the hard drive and am typing this post from the new PC. It's very speedy, and page loads are almost instaneous now. I'll be burning this PC in for the next few days. I'll be doing the updates for XP and the drivers to get all set up and running like my other PC.