my 64 bit mini adventure

[Igloo]

well, i got home from school today, usual, turned on the computer, went into post, hmmm, chips running slow, no biggie, go to hard drive, error, :o , restart, quick, phew all ok, load windows, geesh hard rive sounds like a jet on full power, better backup, and defrag.

well then it happened, it went down for good, same as my 40gb IBM now this 60gb IBM too. they giveme nothing but grief >:) so i made a lost of what i need to fix this computer properly, to make to todays standereds, and its ?700!!! well, ok, i made a list for a 64bit pc, and thats ?650 total ;D

well, time to embark on a mini adventure ;D (cheesy isnt it)

anyway, heres the list

Thermaltake Xaser III - Case
350w ATX Amd Approved - power supply
ATI Radeon 9600XT 128mb - graphics card
Seagate Baracuda 80gb 2mb cache - h/d
ASus k8v Deluxe - motherboard
2x 512mb DDR400 - RAM
AMD 64 3200+ - CPU

anything else i need?

please post your views, thanks

igloo

[Mark H]

If you can, go for a hard drive with an 8 meg cache for better performance.

If this machine isn't going to be used for photo or video editing, then 512 Megs of Ram is enough. Take the savings by getting only 512 Megs of Ram and get a CD Burner.

I'm assuming you already have a monitor and operating system. Windows XP would be great with this machine.

Make sure it is a good power supply with that case. Antec and Enermax are a couple of good power supply manufacturers.

With AMD 64, I would like to see a 400 watt power supply. The 3400+ AMD 64 won't run well with under a 400 watt power supply. I'm not sure about the 3200+ AMD 64. It will probably run fine with 350 watts, but a little extra would be good if you add another hard drive or two.

Mark H

[Carskick]

Well, I would have reccomended only 512MB of RAM a few months ago, but I've noticed on high end games such as WC3, large games can cause your RAM to fill up quickly. So if you are an intense gamer and have some extra money, I'd go with a gig of dual channel RAM. If you are a tight buget, or are not a gammer, than go ahead and reduce down to 512 and upgrade some other stuff, such as a CD-RW, better PSU, better HDD, etc. Other than that, I'd go with Mark H's advice. Good luck!

[Igloo]

ok, thanks i think that ill go for 512mb for the time being, and get a dvd drive with the spare cash, i am going to not buy the ATI Radeon yet, but use my Geforece 2 mx400 until more money arives, this comp will begin to take shape this weekend wen i buy the case, and build up rom there.

[Roopert]

I just, about 3 weeks ago, built a AMD 64 3400+ rig and am VERY happy.

A few things I have read and have been made aware of via these boards are as follows:

1. The 64's get a lot of system performance from the onbard memory controller. The "better" the system ram, in latency terms, the faster the system.

2. The 3400+ and I would guess the soon to be bigger brothers of the 64 family need a LARGE power supply. I have read the 480W is a good bet. I say this now in case you have plans of upgrading the cpu in the future.

I am using two hitatchi(sp) 80gig sata drives in raid 0 and love them so far - quiet as fast as hell. Cheap too.

I have not been running a 64 bit os, just 32, but can't wait to see what happens!

Good luck!

[Carskick]

Hey Roopert, I'll bet your system ROCKS! I'd love to see 3DMark03 Benchmarks on it. :)

[Igloo]

well, here is the changed system, will make it over the next few months, this month, its te graphics card, and the h/d wich i can begin to use on my current pc, just keep one parition completely free of data. :)

AMD K8 Athlon64 3200 Socket 754 64bit Process  ?178.95    ?178.95  

  Chenbro GamingBomb Silver/Black Case Screwles  ?31.95    ?31.95  

  FreeCom (20983) DVD+/- 4x R Internal IDE -Bla  ?91.95    ?91.95  

  ATI 128Mb Radeon 9600SE Chipset AGP8x Graphic  ?47.95    ?47.95  

  Corsair 1024Mb (2x512Mb) Dual Channel DDR XMS  ?137.95    ?137.95  


  Asus K8V Deluxe Socket 754 (Athlon64) Motherb  ?86.95    ?86.95  


  W. Digital Caviar SE 80Gb 7200RPM 8Mb Cache I  ?45.95    ?45.95


total price = 621.65 and prices WILL come down for the Athlon 64's between now, and when i buy it as the last piece of the puzzle :)

one last review, and i will get some gear tomoz.

igloo

[wonderings]

I have a Dual G5 which is a 64 bit processor, now the machine is fast, but I cant wait untill the OS and apps are there that fully utilize a 64 bit processor, It will be like a big speed boost, with no upgrading! javascript:replaceText('%20;D')

[Mark H]

I thought that MAC OS 10.3 (I think that's it) was a 64 bit operating system.

Mark H

[query]

No;  it's still a 32-bit BSD derivative.

[wonderings]

not 64 bit... yet I am betting in the next major update we will be there, but there are plenty of downloads for software to utilize the 64 bit processor