getting new pc, but what to get for gaming?

Col_Loki

Quote from overclockers.com ....

Nor should you be surprised to find that running dual channel DDR at 200MHz doesn't help a ton, either. That should get you on average something a bit less than 5%,


As far as i know the figures are even less on the AMD boards as they cant take advantage of it due to low FSB when compared to the 800mhz FSB intels.
Is it worth having 2-5% increase at max bandwidth or having an option to upgrade to 1gb with minimal cost ??

Cheers Venom - think were on the same wavelength

xen

My Bro used to get pcs from Dell and the likes...

The PCs had a tendency to be **** for the price so I have started building my own Pcs and they are much better and cheaper!!

jesus_thats_gre

Ok add another 100 or so and you will get your 512megs of Ram.

The reason I pointed out that the DELL systems can be upgraded beyong 3000mhz is to point out their upgrade potential. There is no point in been able to combine a new board and cpu with 3 year old components. They will largely negate any performance boosts. This means you would have to also buy new RAM, hard drives, optical drives and whatever else new standards will be available then. This means the only thing left over from the old system is a 3 year old case... What benefit is that. Even the PSU will need to be replaced.

With the Dell system you would max out the capabilities of the chipset and then sell it for a few quid or keep it for whatever mad project ya come up with. Then just buy and brand new PC again with brand new up to date components. As oppossed to using crusty 133Mhz SDRAM, a 20 GB 5200rpm hard drive and a 16mb Voodoo 3 graphics card.

The dell systems I mentioned previous will out perform any comparable AMD systems. If you go slightly higher with the CPU, this become even more apparent.

Look at these benchmarks and see for yourself.

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/p4_3200-07.html

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/p4_3200-09.html

http://www6.tomshardware.com/cpu/20030623/p4_3200-17.html

Venom

Originally posted by jesus_thats_gre
Ok add another 100 or so and you will get your 512megs of Ram.

The reason I pointed out that the DELL systems can be upgraded beyong 3000mhz is to point out their upgrade potential. There is no point in been able to combine a new board and cpu with 3 year old components. They will largely negate any performance boosts. This means you would have to also buy new RAM, hard drives, optical drives and whatever else new standards will be available then. This means the only thing left over from the old system is a 3 year old case... What benefit is that. Even the PSU will need to be replaced.

* Ok maybe its just me but this just makes no sense at all. Dell's cant be upgraded like that. There cases will not take any other type of mainboards. That means your stuck with what ever board you get with the original Dell system. Seeing as how your stuck with that mainboard, you cant add in new types of ram, HD's or 12X AGP cards when and if they come out, nor the latest Intel chip. Now I doubt you have ever seen inside a Dell case as your comment about replaceing a P4 chip is just so wrong. The Dell pc I had, only had a little heatsink on its p4 2.4 chip, the p4 3.0c chip I have in my new system has a monster of a heatsink/fan that requires a special bracket to hold it in place that Dell mainboards dont have, hence your screwed for any upgrade options there. Your ideas for new tech really made me laugh, HD and CD/DVD/CDRW tech has hardly changed in the last 5 years with 7200rpm HD's being the standard and disc media just gets faster. The new raptor drives at 10000rpm are not even off the testing bench yet, and the results so far suck.*

With the Dell system you would max out the capabilities of the chipset and then sell it for a few quid or keep it for whatever mad project ya come up with. Then just buy and brand new PC again with brand new up to date components. As oppossed to using crusty 133Mhz SDRAM, a 20 GB 5200rpm hard drive and a 16mb Voodoo 3 graphics card.

*Why go to the bother of having to sell off your whole system in one go when If you buy a non Dell system, you can upgrade your parts as you go along? That even if you can find a sucker to buy an outdated Dell pc.*

The dell systems I mentioned previous will out perform any comparable AMD systems. If you go slightly higher with the CPU, this become even more apparent.

*Any P4 system will beat an AMD system easly. This is a Intel/AMD issue and nothing to do with Dell pc's.*

Look at these benchmarks and see for yourself.

*Those tests have nothing to do with Dell pcs and you can bet your granny that all the hardware tests on all the hardware sites use custom built rigs for testing the latest tech like GFX cards and HDs etc. These rigs wont even see a Dell never mind be one.*

Col_Loki

Couldnt have put it better myself!! Bang on Venom.

Dell also use diffenently set up PSU's which arent compatable with new motherboards - only their own type.
All in all its a sucky deal, atleast when your building a custom pc you can choose what parts to skimp on as apose to sell doing that for you !!

PS You say the dell specs you list would be much better than the AMD comparator??
Err try around €700 for the Xp2500+ system he listed before and you dont have a chance. Sure with a higher priced system Intel will be better performance wise, the key word being INTEL and not dell.

jesus_thats_gre

Ok maybe I wasnt clear earlier, and i am darned if I am typing all the much out again.

Ok then INTEL good.. oooga boooga

Venom

Originally posted by jesus_thats_gre
Ok maybe I wasnt clear earlier, and i am darned if I am typing all the much out again.

Ok then INTEL good.. oooga boooga

At least now your correct.

Unstable

Originally posted by whosurpaddy
*just a little tip

get your case from elara (there in dublin - komplett r in norway)

ok, I am ordering the PC parts today

114239 Asus A7N8X Deluxe/GD mainboard Socket A
116590 AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833 GHz 333 MHz bus
115063 TwinMOS PC2700 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2
115048 Gainward AGP GeForce4 Ti4800SE 128MB DDR

Does it matter if I get a different case from another shop? I mean, there's so many case's about, will the hardware fit into any case?

Unstable

ok ok, elara is selling the "ANTEC SLK2600/MT 300W CaseW" for €74.96



http://www.elara.ie/detailsfull.asp?productcode=CAS00016

I think I'll get this one, can someone confirm this one is ok?

Catalyst

Yup hardware looks OK, if you have problems, give us a shout, or post on our forum and we'll help out with installing.

Unstable

sweet, thanks