New PC, Help Needed Please

[Vampiricos]

Hi Everyone!

Ok here's the deal, I am going to by a new PC as my upgrade path for my Pentium ( Yes I know sad choice.

) is very well ended. I am finally going to upgrade to AMD AM2. I am going to build the PC in 3 stages.

The 1st stage will be worth $2500 AUD, It will be the base setup of the CPU, Mother Board, RAM, Graphics

Card & Maybe the HDD (Depending on choices made ).

Here is what I'm thinking of getting:

CPU: AMD ATHLON 64 X2 (AM2) 5000+ $449.90 AUD
M/B: Asus M2N32-SLI-DELUXE $348.70 AUD

RAM: Corsair DDR2 2GB PC-6400 PRO (2x XMS2 1GB) TWIN2X2048-6400PRO RAM $449.90

AGP: XFX GF7900GTX 512MB DDR3 PCI-E 650MHz/1.6GHz $843.00

Sub-Total: $2,117.90 AUD

Now this is one problem that's getting to me, the HDD

I want to buy the WD Raptor 150Gb (16mb) 10,000RPM SATA HDD
priced at $413.60, which will bring the Sub-Total to: $2,531.50 AUD

It just feels like a lot of money for a HDD, but I am one that wants to get the best out of my PC, the WD

Raptor 74Gb 10,000RPM SATA HDD is only
$236.50 & the WD Raptor 36Gb is $170.50. See I only want what ever HDD I get to be my C drive, it will

not be used for long term storage. I do however want it to be very good at running programs and anything

of a short term nature, like video editing and crap like that, oh and great for gaming.

How much of a difference will the 16mb buffer make?

If it is worth the performance boost I will not mind, but if I am looking at less than 10% id rather get

it down the track later. Is there a regular SATA or SATA 2 drive that's cheaper & almost as good that I

can use to start and then at my 2nd stage upgrade buy the 150g Rap

Any Ideas?

Another thing that worries me is the multiplier on the 5000+ I hear that it runs at less than optimal, is

that a huge problem? and is it possible to overcome?

Also any other opinions on the parts listed or if I can get better for the same money or less please

advise. I will be planning to put more money into the PC after the 1st $2500, looking at about $250
every 2 weeks. Any opinions on alternatives is also welcome ( Not Intel This time I'm sorry. ). Anyone

who is using any of these parts please let me know if u are happy with the items.

Any input I can get would be very helpful, thank-you

[email protected]

[casecutter]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

Raptors are a waste of money. Get 2 SATA2 drives and run them in RAID 0 and it will be much less money and just as fast. Otherwise, looks good.

[orangutang91]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

Raptors are nice but the price isnt worth the puny boost, I do like the 16mb cache. Just get a normal seagate or somethin like Casecutter said.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

I sat for a couple minutes, and I just can't come up with a single plausable reason to spend that much on an AM2 system. I mean, if you need like two TB of magnetic storage, it wouldn't leave you just enough for an AM2 system, but you don't need that much storage.

You can continue if you want, but IMO restricting yourself to AMD with a budget like that is even more foolish than all the people who bought Pentium 5s in 2004 and 2005.

[Chaos2003]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

I sat for a couple minutes, and I just can't come up with a single plausable reason to spend that much on an AM2 system. I mean, if you need like two TB of magnetic storage, it wouldn't leave you just enough for an AM2 system, but you don't need that much storage.

You can continue if you want, but IMO restricting yourself to AMD with a budget like that is even more foolish than all the people who bought Pentium 5s in 2004 and 2005.

Atleast I'm not the only one staring at the screen thinking that.

[casecutter]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

Well, unlike what Intel has been doing, at least there should be some upgradeability for the AM2 platform. Intel has needed a new platform for every change as of late. While I might not get the most expensive AM2, AMD machines still game just as well as Conroe. Besides, as far as I am concerned, there is still nothing my S939 system cannot play extremely well at very high resolutions/settings.

[wayout44]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

I sat for a couple minutes, and I just can't come up with a single plausable reason to spend that much on an AM2 system. I mean, if you need like two TB of magnetic storage, it wouldn't leave you just enough for an AM2 system, but you don't need that much storage.

You can continue if you want, but IMO restricting yourself to AMD with a budget like that is even more foolish than all the people who bought Pentium 5s in 2004 and 2005.

I don't know why you're talking about 2TB's of storage for, let alone P5's (when did they come out?).

But an E6600 will add about $120aud extra and the mainboard (of similar spec's) an extra $50aud though I'd rather pick an X2 4600 (has better memory divider than X2 5000) and save about $100aud which then can be spent on a 160GB HDD (an extra $10aud will get you 200GB or $20aud for 250GB).

[Vampiricos]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

Ok let me make something clear, The HDDs Im on about are simply for the OS & OS only. Funny about the comments about the Huge storage needs, For my long tern storage HDDs, im looking at 2 x Seagate Barracuda 750Gb 7200 16Mb cache SATA 2 Hard Disks.

Rather than sit and stare at the screen and freak out over why I wanna go AM2, give me an intel option that will match up or batter for the same money. Im not saying no to Intel, I just feel I want a change, that & the fact that I get a new system every 2 years max. So what ever system I put together needs to get me through, if It dont who cares, Ill just buy another.

Is it just me or is there alot of AMD die hard fans jumping the fence? I mean who the **** cares? I dont want a medal for this PC nor do I gave a flying **** if its not perfect. I just want advice, not a dick slapping comp

[Vampiricos]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

BTW thanks guys!

[Chaos2003]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

I don't know why you're talking about 2TB's of storage for, let alone P5's (when did they come out?).

But an E6600 will add about $120aud extra and the mainboard (of similar spec's) an extra $50aud though I'd rather pick an X2 4600 (has better memory divider than X2 5000) and save about $100aud which then can be spent on a 160GB HDD (an extra $10aud will get you 200GB or $20aud for 250GB).

True but, you don't need to spend alot in an Intel based system now to surpass the performance of an FX-62. Therefore, I must agree with Yawgmoth in that he can spend the same in an Intel based system and have better performance. Don't get me wrong, I love my X2 4200+ but, it's just the principal of things. But, in the end, it's your choice. It's a nice great system otherwise and like the others said, get SATA2 drives in Raid 0 .

[casecutter]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

I'm sorry, but I don't agree. The upgrade path for AM2 is much clearer and Intel has shown that S775 needs different motherboard configurations to maintain compatibility. Besides, AMD keeps right up to Conroe for gaming performance. I would let availability decide the path and I just cannot recommend Intel yet. Conroe is a monster, and I don't want anyone thinking that I do not realize that. There is just more compatibility and a much clearer future for AMD.

[orangutang91]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

I like to wait and let the prices do what thy want, preferably slip like a new ford, for the AM2

[Yawgm0th]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

I don't know why you're talking about 2TB's of storage for, let alone P5's (when did they come out?).

But an E6600 will add about $120aud extra and the mainboard (of similar spec's) an extra $50aud though I'd rather pick an X2 4600 (has better memory divider than X2 5000) and save about $100aud which then can be spent on a 160GB HDD (an extra $10aud will get you 200GB or $20aud for 250GB).

Typo, obvously, and the 2 TB comment was implying that he's spending way too much on an AM2 based system. That should have been pretty obvious too, actually.

You'd rather have an X2 4600 than an E6600? The E6600 outperforms the FX-62 in just about everything, so I don't quite see your logic. Even in a non-overclocked system, I'd rather have an E6600 than any existing AMD processor.

Vampiricos, I can't help you as to specific parts because I don't browse a lot of online Australian retailers. I can tell you that an E6600 and a decent i975 motherboard won't cost as much as an X2 5000 and board, and will outperform them considerably. If you were going to overclock, an E6300 would outperform any AMD configuration you can come up with.

Also, does a 7900GTX really cost that much in Australia? Over here, you can get a 7950GX2 for the same price, and a 7900GTX for less than 2/3 that. I've heard of some outrageous foreign premiums for computer hardware, but nothing that bad.

[wayout44]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

You'd rather have an X2 4600 than an E6600? The E6600 outperforms the FX-62 in just about everything, so I don't quite see your logic. Even in a non-overclocked system, I'd rather have an E6600 than any existing AMD processor.

No, I said I'd prefer to get the 4600 than the 5000.

Also, does a 7900GTX really cost that much in Australia? Over here, you can get a 7950GX2 for the same price, and a 7900GTX for less than 2/3 that. I've heard of some outrageous foreign premiums for computer hardware, but nothing that bad.

7950GX2's over here are about $900-$1100aud.

[Yawgm0th]

Re: New PC, Help Needed Please

X2 4600 only make more sense than X2 5000 if you're overclocking, in which case an X2 3800 makes a lot more sense anyway. That said, I will agree that an X2 5000 would be a waste of money regardless. Over here it costs about twice as much as an X2 4600, which ends up being $250 USD for a 200MHz clock speed increase and virtualization technology.

I'm not positive, but I think it might actually be cheaper to get a round trip airplane ticket to the United States, buy all the hardware, and then go back to Australia. The premium you guys have is completely ridiculous.