Building Intel rig for friend ... need advice ...

[Susquehannock]

A good friend of mine asked me to help him build a new
system to replace his aged P3 HP Pavillion.

Even though I'm a die hard AMD fan he insists on going
with Intel. ;) But I am not sure which components would be
best.

Here's what I have chosen so far:

Mobo = ABIT Ai7
CPU = P4 - 3.0c
RAM: 1GB Buffalo pc3200 (512mb X2)
GFX = GAINWARD FX 5950 Ultra
PSU = Fortron 400w
Case = ANTEC PLUS1080AMG

We already have the CD/RW, HDD, floppy, etc ...


How does that list look so far?

[PyroTeknik]

replace the gfx card witha 9800pro.. ive had both and the 9800 pro schools the 5900 you could always look at getting a c chip as well (one with 800mhz fsb the 3.06ghz chip has 533)

[Susquehannock]

Oops! :rolleyes: I didn't notice the 3.06ghz chip
was only 533mhz.

ThanX for the advice. :)

Believe me, I would rather see him get a 9800 too, but
he insists on the nVidia. :shrug:
Sadly, a lot of people are still scared off by all the trouble
they used to have with their drivers.

[hedge]

Tell him that radeon cards have a much better visual quality compared to the nvidia chips.

[Soulburner]

Originally posted by hedge
Tell him that radeon cards have a much better visual quality compared to the nvidia chips.
Hmm i'm not sure about that anymore...

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1931

Nvidia does do the better drivers......when it comes to stability and such, ATI hasn't been able to beat them yet.

[Susquehannock]

How's that ABIT Is7?

Some tell me the ASUS are a bit more stable but
I am not sure which of those would be best.
The "865G"? Or would the "865PE" be a better choice
for $5 more?

ThanX! :)

[Soulburner]

Abit AI7 is what I would recommend.

+ 2.4c and some BH5.

[Susquehannock]

Originally posted by Soulburner
Abit AI7 is what I would recommend.

+ 2.4c and some BH5.


Wouldn't the 3.0c be faster than the 2.4c? He wants
to go 3ghz and has given me $1200 to work with. :D

If you don't mind, what is the advantage of the "Ai7"
over the "Is7"?

Also, as far as I know the Bh-5's are mostly in the pc3500
and pc3700 modules now.
Would there be any advantage with using RAM over pc3200
if he is NOT going to OverClock?

[Soulburner]

If he isn't going to overclock then get the 3.0....P4P800D....and just about any ram, it wont make any difference at all.

There is no point in getting any of this stuff if he isn't going to overclock it. Remember this is Xtremesystems so everyone here is going to recommend the best overclocking hardware.

My 3.5Ghz processor was only $170......just the way I like it. I don't see why anyone would want to pay more for less.

[Susquehannock]

Yeah, I know it kind of a waste if he isn't going to OC.
I keep telling him that he won't see any huge advantage
with HT for what he's going to use it for.
And I can't convince him that an AMD rig will do what he wants
for a whole lot less. You know how it is ... many get caught up in
high numbers.

On one hand he wants the HT and 800mhz bus.
But then he insists he doesn't need a the fastest system on the
block either. He's been reading too many articles and isn't
really sure what he wants. Which is why he asked me for
help. :eek: :stick:

[Susquehannock]

We went ahead and ordered the components
from NewEgg. It came to just under $1,200
with the extended warranties which is a lot
less than the AlienWare system he was looking at
which had almost the exact same components.

Many thanX for the advice everyone. :toast:


Mobo = ABIT Ai7
CPU = P4 - 3.0c
RAM: 1GB Buffalo pc3200 (512mb X2)
GFX = GAINWARD FX 5950 Ultra
PSU = Fortron 400w
Case = ANTEC PLUS1080AMG

It should be interesting to see how it compares
to my nForce2 rig. :)

[JNav89GT]

If he doesn't oc it or oc it much it should be comparable. If he lets that system rip your toast :O
Anyway, you can sleep better you've invested ALOT less in your system for nearly = performance :)

[Susquehannock]

Yeah, I am curious how it will perform compared to
my AMD rig. I know he has me beat with the GFX card,
but everything else should be comparable.

I tried really hard to convince him to build an AMD rig
instead. He uses Intel exclusively at work so that had
a lot to do with it I think. In any event ... I'm glad he decided
to call me before ordering that $3,400 AlienWare system
as I saved him a lot of money. :D

[Susquehannock]

The P4 rig above went together without a hitch
last weekend. In retrospect, it went together a
bit more easily than my Soltek.

After realizing it had eight fans total we were
afraid it would be too loud. But it's actually
pretty quiet. :) And the groovy red lights on the
GfX card was a surprise too.

Maybe some time I'll get the chance to run some benchmarks
on it to see how it stacks up to my AMD rig.

My friend was positively ecstatic that he could max
out every single setting in NASCAR 2003 and still
have quite decent framerates.
Now I want to see how that 5950 Ultra handles Halo.