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Damnit...Started reading about AM2 and DDR2 now...grrr...I'll never get this bloody thing built.


Computer use...General office use such as Word, Excel and Access...

Also

Video editing, Photoshop (CS), 3DMax, Poser and playing mp3's whilst having a game of 'Free Cell' (Sad bugger but I don't have any friends)...LOL

Occasional burning DVD's, mainly CD's with Nero.

Games...Mainly Jops, a bit of IL2 and FS9.

Most of the time I just surf the net looking at por....stuff.

Kit, Have you talked to Banshee lately about his new puter and how well it's performing? If I remember he went somewhere along the lines you are thinking about and it was recently. I understand that he is quite pleased with the results.

- Kitform

Most of the time I just surf the net looking at por....stuff.

lol (Don't tell sweets).

I happen to have an Intel in my system but I'm not biased toward them; I'll use whatever's best for the job.
The older Intels would have been better for video editing, not sure about the new ones as I haven't spoken to enough owners about them.
Again though, Conroe (at the moment) will be better for multi-tasking and, if I was using app's like 3D-Max, I would go down this route and grab as much RAM as I could. I use 2Gb in mine and I don't have anything as heav as 3D-Max. Biggest kit I have is Studio MX and PhotoShop CS.

Choose a board that can support a lot of RAM so you have the option to add later as it will make 3D-Max run much better. Most people I know who run it have 4Gb.

The SLi 7900's will make an awesome games rig, whatever you put 'em with.

Does anyone want any hair??? I've pulled out what little I had left...lol

Right then, major change of plan..

As I understand it, 32 bit operating systems can only address up to 4gig of ram and that's next to useless with windows as the page file is also counted as available memory so 4gig + page file = windows error, reporting incorect memory size. Most of yesterdays mobo's were built with that limitation in mind...

When 64bit O/S's came along, the addressable memory goes up to 8gig, but not if you run a 32 bit O/S on a 64 bit mobo, the 4gig limit still applies. You have to run 64bit O/S to get the full benifit.

(Who needs more than 640K anyway - Bill Gates)

Sooooo...

I think the logical step would be to go with a mobo that supports DDR2 as this is the memory modules that will be the norm in a year or two and the speeds are increasing all the time.

So bin everything up to now...I'm going DDR2 and the mobo to do it with I believe is the Asus M2N32-sli-deluxe.

There is no real speed advantage that I can see, only that DDR2 will still be supported after the demise of DDR ram.

Gotta start again with the cpu, AMD of course, but single core (Orleans) and wait to see what price change AMD make before going dual core (Windsor).

I think I'll need a wig for winter

I heard of some device recently that allows the use of more RAM on 32 bits.
Was beyond me so I didn't pay any attention but, if I come across it again, I'll post a link for you.

ok heres my spec:
AMD Athlon X2 3800 (Socket 939) Dual DDR400 CPU
- AMD Approved Cooler
- Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi Dual Channel PCI-Express Motherboard
- Corsair XMS 2GB (2x1GB) DDR PC3200C2PT Dual Channel Kit
- 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 16mb cache SATA-2 Hard Drive
- 2 x NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Cards (SLi Configured)
- Plextor PX-755 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter
- Black Floppy Drive
- Onboard Sound Card
- Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU
- Windows XP Home
- akasa 62 aluminum case.

- Windows XP <<first windows disc i owned lol...

basicly i went out n got this prebuilt for £1150. i use psp corel draw for big A3 printing and huge files , it runs fine no complaints, 3dmark06 was just over 7000, cant remember exactly my last score "without tweaking",

i run ghost recon advanced warfighters on highest vid and thats awesome, also fs9.jops.bf2, all on highest vid sets , burning dvd is no probs in fact this is running far better than i expected on none game progs.

i try not to go into system building anymore as its a mine field out there, to many conflicting reports on products, if you want high quallity gameing look no futher than my system it works lol,
i gotta admit some will argue the toss about the socket 939 deal but the truth is in the actual performance, this machine runs balistic in games also in other progs i use, as for longevity i cant see games surpassing this in a while.
hint: try not getting to involved in puter building forums, no one person usually agrees with another on spec, some love amd some intel, build a puter to do the job not impress.

Thanks Banshee for posting your specs.

Very similar mobo to what I was looking at, but using the A8N32-sli-deluxe instead.

Although I am considering a single core cpu as a stop gap until I see what AMD price change will be (if any) before buying a dual core.

I've also think the 7900GT cards are a good choice.

PC harware changes all the time, you can never keep up with the latest offerings. Personally, building a new rig now, I think I'd be daft not to go down the DDR2 route.

As for tech forums...lol...they are OK to sort problems or ask for users experience with mobo's or graphics cards, it may not get you the best but it will steer you clear of the poor quality ones.

Kit, it's your system and I can't choose your parts for you but, as CC Hardware mod', I gotta do my best to at least point out a better option when I think there is one. I promise not to go on 'bout it anymore.

Like I say, the AMD cpu you're looking at will give you a great machine. But Conroe is so far ahead of AMD's best chips now it just seems a shame to me not to even consider it.

Have a read HERE.

AMD will be introducing a new processor socket design to support DDR2 memory, and that should give AMD a few percentage points of improvement in performance, but Intel was showing Conroe systems at IDF with 20% or better performance over AMD’s fastest processor on CPU-challenging computer games. Even with DDR2 memory, AMD will very likely lose its position as top dog in the gaming and enthusiast markets that it enjoys today.

Thanks Shades, I respect and welcome your opinion.

Good article, just straight forward talking without benchmarks cluttering it up.

The point I picked up on was Intel’s comment about AMD's integrated approach (ie. on chip memory controller) as opposed to Intel’s modular design suggesting that the integrated approach could, in the end be a 'bottleneck' in the design for speed.

Yet further down the text it suggests that Intel may go the same route in later designs and introduce an integrated mmu.

I have considered the Conroe, there is no doubt that it out performs AMD's top chip by a substantial margin and I have no other reason for not using it other than a personal one.

I've used several AMD chips over the years and had great satisfaction with them, I've also had Intel chips in other computers of various flavours, (My laptop has a Pentium in it.). But I've always felt 'comfortable' with an AMD.

Like wise with graphics cards, I've had a few ATI but felt that Nvidia suited me better.

As you know, building a new system is down to personal preference, the choices made may or may not be the best at the time. I've been happy with other builds using AMD/Nvidia set ups and it seems to work for me. Also Asus mobo's have performed well in the past so I will tend to use the same products for a new build and try to get the best available on the day.

I'm happy with my choice of mobo and graphics card, the only choice left now is with the cpu, single or dual core, I'm thinking single core for a month or two and then upgrade to a dual core if/when the prices drop.

But feel free to say 'I told you so' later on if the Conroe turns out to be a world leader and AMD has no reply to it.

I wouldn't do that m8y.
Unlike several other commentators, I think AMD will be back on par with Intel before too long (although the length of the break may still surprise them and their fans).
I'm just making sure you can't say "Why didn't you hit me upside the face with a wet haddock?" later.


JUST IN CASE

[quote]But feel free to say 'I told you so' later on if the Conroe turns out to be a world leader and AMD has no reply to it.[quote]

AMD Reply lol

That's quite amusing.

The Washington Post - 22 July 2006
"Intel's early adoption of new technologies means it can make chips cheaper, and choose to either boost its margins or keep its prices low to pressure AMD.

With no new products until the middle of next year, AMD will have to keep its prices low to hold onto its gains."

lolol

MORE AMUSING

LOL, just can't keep up with this

Maybe I'll wait till next year when it will all be done by light and mirrors.

*brain implants*



btw, amd are coming out with quad-cores next year too so you can expect all the software designers to be writing for it.