Building a new machine...hows this?

[trav]

Hey guys i was thinking about building a new machine for DOOM 3 :)

MSI KT266 Pro2-U

K7T266 (KT266 too?) Pro2-U CPU Support Status

- AMD Athlon XP 2600+ 2.13GHz (Thoroughbred)

Using onboard Sound
Using Gig Radeon 9200SE

[Chandler]

That Radeon 9200SE isn't going to good enough for Doom 3 even at 800x600.

Also, don't get a motherboard with the VIA KT266A chipset - it is very old now and won't support Barton processors.  Have a look at the Biostar M7NCD which uses the nForce2 chipset and is very cheap.

[trav]

yep....ok....what about the Asus A7N8X?
I can run DOOM 3 right now, albeit slowly (10-20FPS)....have a look here

_______________
Asus A7N8X          |
  $143.21              |
AMD Athlon XP 2600+|
  $143.21              |
  Sub Total: $286.42|
  Shipping & Handling: $7.50|  
  Total: $293.92    |
-------------------------

[Chandler]

Deserter! ;D

I don't agree that the FX5200 and 9200SE are bottlenecked by the PIII system.  I don't want to sound pompous or otherwise but a lot of information they gave you is incorrect or based on urban myths.  AGP2X is fast enough for them cards to perform to their maximum.  I still get a considerable speed increase on my PIII by replacing the FX5200 with my Radeon 9800 PRO.

The ASUS A7N8X is a good board.  If you can find them, a Barton 2500+ may be a better buy than the Thoroughbred 2600+.

[Mark H]

Get the A7N8X and an AMD 2500 XP and you will be good to go. Put in two 256 meg sticks of PC 2700 RAM and a Radeon 9800 and I think you would be pleased.

[Carskick]

Don't get the Tbred Processor for Doom3, as it is very cache sensitive. Also, the 2600+ you chose is the old 266Mhz FSB. Go for the Barton 2600+, which is about 1.9Ghz. Any Barton between the 2500+ and the 3200+ will be fairly cheap and give good performance. Also, $143 is WAY too much for a 2600+, esspecially a Tbred 266.

Here is the Barton 2500+ retail for only $90. Much better deal

For a video card, here is a Radeon 9600XT for only $163, It will be a MUCH better performer than your 9200SE. Acually, Doom 3 favors Nvidia cards. Here is the XFX FX5700 Ultra for $189. The XFX is nice because it has some of the fastest memory in the FX5700 ultra series at 1Ghz DDR3.

[pat]

Also, $143 is WAY too much for a 2600+, esspecially a Tbred 266.

Keep in mind that Travis is in Canada and prices there are not what you're used to here in the States.

[Carskick]

I didn't know Travis was in Canada. Sorry bout that.

[Hoot]

First of all you wouldn't likely need a "deluxe" model like an Asus A7N8X deluxe, or A7N8X-E, and although Asus is very good there are others that are every bit as good if not better. First consider your needs.  You probably won't need, or be able to afford SATA or raid yet, so you can save money by buying a mobo that doesn't have it. Secondly - what you need to run doom 3 well is either 768 MB, or a Gig of ram, and a fairly good video card. You can get a Biostar M7NCG 400 (nforce2 with IGP) for about $65.00. You could use the IGP until you are able to sell your video card (on a forum or otherwise) and use the money you get towards a better video card like the XFX mentioned above, then add an XP2500 (because the multiplier sits at 11X which is the same as the XP3200), an then add 2 sticks of kingston value ram PC3200 (512x2).


Biostar M7NCG 400 $65.00 (US)
XP2500 $89.00 (US)
1 Gig Kingston value $180.00 (US)
XFX 5700 $189.00 (US)
--------------------------------------------
$$ 523.00 (US)


*Things  you could subtract from that would be

just getting 1 stick of PC3200 (-$75.00)


That system would easily run doom 3 @ 1024x768 on high settings. ALso because bartons are now locked, and even thought he XP2500 would be mutliplier locked you could still overclock it to 2.2 Ghz easily from within the bios on the M7NCG 400 (version 7.2 allows for it and has full overclocking control).  Overclocking an XP2500 to an XP3200 usually consists of just going 11x200 with some voltage bumps. You'll need that PC3200 though if you ever decide to overclock, or decide to buy a barton that is 400 FSB native.  What the Biostar IGP mATX mobo will give you s video to use while you sell your current card so that you can get a better one. The onboard video is gforce4 MX440.

[trav]

Ah thats real expensive, though, Hoot :(

[Chandler]

Trav, you missed out memory in your price, which is quite a big chunk of the cost of a new machine.

[trav]

ok, whats going to happen...


Take out motherboard/CPU out of exisitng system...
Replace with new mobo/CPU
Use existing hardware on new MOBO/CPU

[Chandler]

You need motherboard + CPU + memory since your PIII system will use either PC100 or PC133 whereas Athlon XP systems will require either PC2700 or PC3200.

[trav]

Allright ill get a stick of 256 as well...

[Mark H]

If you can swing two sticks of 256 meg RAM you will get much better performance than just one stick of 256 meg RAM.

[Carskick]

1 stick of 512MB is your best bet. It allows for you to get another stick in the future to make a nice upgrade to 1 gig.

[slaxorz]

Remember everyone that funds are limited when your still in school so lets try to give travis the best bang for the buck.  If he can afford 512mb of ram thats great but he should possibly send that towards a videocard.

[Mark H]

Remember everyone that funds are limited when your still in school so lets try to give travis the best bang for the buck.  If he can afford 512mb of ram thats great but he should possibly send that towards a videocard.

Very true. Travis can always get the mobo, RAM and CPR and then use his existing video card until he can afford a newer one. There is nothing wrong with that option other than he might have to wait until a few yards are cut before playing Doom 3.

[Buffalo2102]

The CPR - is that for the shock caused by spending all that money?

[Mark H]

The CPR - is that for the shock caused by spending all that money?

Most definely, although it was a typo I will leave it as it is written.

[Carskick]

Remember everyone that funds are limited when your still in school so lets try to give travis the best bang for the buck.  If he can afford 512mb of ram thats great but he should possibly send that towards a videocard.

I am too. Last summer, I spent all summer mowing yards in my neighborhood to earn $600 to buy my signature computer. Of course, the video card was added later, a Holdiay present from my Grandmother. I agree he should put his money into video card over RAM for now, then add more RAM later, but Doom 3 would be brutal with only 256MB RAM. Most fairly new games are, esspecially on windows XP. You may be able to get away with 256MB of RAM with WIN98SE or WIN2000.

[Igloo]

i have 512mb ram, and doom 3 and urneal tournament 2004 run slowly, and take forever to load, compared to a friencd with the same system, and gfx card, cpu, etc, except he has 1gb ram.

[Carskick]

i have 512mb ram, and doom 3 and urneal tournament 2004 run slowly, and take forever to load, compared to a friencd with the same system, and gfx card, cpu, etc, except he has 1gb ram.

Are you sure you both have the same video cards? I couldn't imagine running those games with an MX400 unless the graphics settings were very low. You may just have a higher graphical settings than him. Though the upgrade from 512MB to 1GB would help, I doubt they'd make a huge noticable difference in those games. It is possible, however.

[iansl]

There is a sort of threshold where the amount of memory you have above a point makes much less of a difference than below that point. PC World seems to think now the threshold is 1 GB, and above that you needn't go. For most things, though, 512MB is great. 256MB is good for basic stuff, but no games at all.

[Carskick]

There is a sort of threshold where the amount of memory you have above a point makes much less of a difference than below that point. PC World seems to think now the threshold is 1 GB, and above that you needn't go. For most things, though, 512MB is great. 256MB is good for basic stuff, but no games at all.

Good advice for XP. For 2000 or earlier, 256MB can be sufficent for more advanced stuff, even gamming. For 98 and earlier, having anymore than 511MB can cause problems. I'd recommend upgrading to a newer OS if your gaming on 98 or older.

[Hoot]

512 is ok. What normally happens is that once you get the game/level loaded gameplay is ok with 512 on demanding games. That's why I put taking out 512 from the recommended gig of ram as an alternative. 512 is a good starting point, and Travis will at least possibly be able to afford the 5700 card and run games respectably. My Better half uses the mATX M7NCD 400 and it's a great motherboard, because in between vid card upgrades you can use the integrated IGP MX440 if need be. Especially the 'now shipping' revision 7.2. It actually overclocks much better than the single channel Asus A7N8X-X even though it's mATX, and it also runs mobiles flawlessly up to 2.5 Ghz fairly easily. Dual channel too :)

[trav]

_______________
Asus A7N8X          |
  $143.21              |
AMD Athlon XP 2600+|
  $143.21              |
  Sub Total: $286.42|
  Shipping & Handling: $7.50|  
  Total: $293.92    |
-------------------------
Can I not got with that? If not, why not?

[Mark H]

_______________
Asus A7N8X          |
  $143.21              |
AMD Athlon XP 2600+|
  $143.21              |
  Sub Total: $286.42|
  Shipping & Handling: $7.50|  
  Total: $293.92    |
-------------------------
Can I not got with that? If not, why not?

That will be fine as long as you have some PC2700 RAM to go with the mobo.

[trav]

well how come Neon said deserte...oh i just got that, cuase i was on doom3world instead of here hehehehrhe

[trav]

One question....

Layers....

Mobo
CPU
Thermal Paste
Heatsink/Fan


or...where does the Thermal Paste go and how much need i apply?