the fastest computer system nowadays? ** HARDWARE GURUS PLZ READ ! **

[Renegade]

I want to buy a new computer system as my PII-266 is too slowwwwwww....

After the nice long thread started by SpyCam about harddiscs (enjoyed the reading & comments!) i want all you techs out there your opinion about the fastest (AFFORDABLE !) system to build .... (used for designing websites!)


- Processor : Intel P4 1.5 or AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.3 ?

- Motherboard : P4 : ? AMD : ASUS A7A266 ?

- Graphics adapter : Not too important, no games, just webdesign (ASUS V7100T/2V1D ?)

- How much memory : 256 or 512 RD (P4) / DDR (AMD, ECC or not, 200 or 266 Mhz ?)

- harddisc : Seagate SCSI cheetah X 18.4Gb with adaptec 29160 ** OR **
2 x IBM DTLA-307045 45 Gb with ATA 100 raid controller (same price) ?

- TFT 15" : These brands are available here : Sony (M51), Philips, Viewsonic or Hyundai ? (all same price category).. sony's design is nice in black!
(17" TFT and higher are too expensive here in europe)...

- Other important parts ?


If you think you've built one of the fastest systems available plz share your thoughts with us... I'm sure i'm not the only one who's interested in this ! THANKS !

[tmknight]

I am going to let some others handle your specific questions, but I will offer my advice on two issues.

#1) Buy a solid graphics card. They're not to expensive and will increase speed on your PC.

#2) Unless this computer hosts your web sites, you probably do not need a scsi drive and adapter. Using any type of RAID configuration is not a bad idea, though. Even software RAID over multiple disks will help preserve your data. Hardware RAID will of course speed up your system compared to software. For pure what you get for what you pay, I would not use SCSI for a home system.

That said, most of the stuff I do is on a Gateway 9300 series notebook with a 5400 rpm hard drive. (Please note that when I bought this laptop 2 years ago, it was top of line - p3 550, 288mb ram, 18gb).

But for work related PC, don't short on graphics card, but unless you have such a need, there is no reason to go SCSI.

[Lane]

Get a 19" ViewSonic A90 Monitor
I got it for less than $300
its HUUUGGEEE, you can run 1600x1200 resolution on it
gotta love it http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif

yeah, get a decend graphics card, they arent expensive..

ram is really important and cheap, 512 would be sweet.. you dont really need a P4 . if you get a cheap P3 with 512mb ram, it will be faster than any P4's with 256 or less ram..

get a 7200rpm harddisc, not more than 40gb, cuz you are not gonna use it, and you dont need SCSI

get an optic mouse for sure http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif and nice speakers and a good woofer

and enjoy.....

[Dreamer]

Don't buy computer speakers!
I connected my comp onto my HI-FI and it's much better then comp speakers!

If you don't know how to do that, just go to your local store and ask there, it's not hard, you only need one line with wich you will connect hi-fi with soundcard...

Btw, when it comes to sound don't buy those motherboards with shitty soundcards included! It's stinks!

[Dreamer]

Correction:
"how to do that, just go to your local HARDWARE store and ask"

[koon]

well computer speaker is very good too ...
just depend how much you can spend they support 3d sound more than hifi ...

with 5.1 computer speakers it will be kick ass

or 7.1 is even better

[Much0S]

Hi Renegade,

Here are the answers:

- Go for AMD (P4 is SLOWER than AMD because of its huge hyperpipeline, it is only faster if you use optimized programs for it.) Furthermore P4 needs DDRam which is way more expensive.

- Motherboard: I like ASUS best.

- Graphics adapter: who cares, just buy something that can do really good frequencies (that is at least 1280x1024 in 85hz. at least). 32MB Of Memory is probably good idea also.

- Harddisc: NO Seagate! YES Quantum, IBM. SCSI Is not important for you if you do webdesign, unless you do a lot of Disc IO, then it's good to have SCSI Raid.

- Don't do RAID, it's probably too slow in the cheap version and too expensive in the good version. Do Quantum disc and 3 day backup on CD-Roms or tape.

- Don't go for TFT. Is way too expensive and not suitable enough for office work. Go LG 705FT (17"). It RuleZ.

- Use GOOD Cooling!
- Don't buy a Philips burner (or HP)! Buy Sony or shit i forgot the brandname http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/smile.gif

Done.

[Renegade]

thanks all for the replies so far....

Muchos :

regarding AMD : i've also read that AMD is much much faster then Intel, so that's an easy choice. However, i also read i need DDR ram for the AMD 1.4... Itel P4 has different RAM (RdRAM, which is very expensive).... Isn't DDR ram faster than normal SDram ?

Harddisk : which IBM do you suggest ? Also, my intention is RAID 0 to gain performance with IDE discs, not for backup/mirroring purposes.

According the 19" LG, you need a very HUGE dsk for this kind of monitors isn't it ? That's why i prefer LCD.....

What kind of burner ? Plextor ?

thanks all for the help....

[viper2K1]

I've got my new PC since a week ago http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/biggrin.gif
(and i love it)

I first wanted to go for a P4 but mainly because you have to go with that currently very expensive Rimm memory I went for a P3 1 Ghz with 256 SDRAM

SDRAM = 133 Mhz
DDRAM = 266 Mhz
RIMM = 800 Mhz (for the P4)

About AMD... that dude in the store said that if you want stability for graphical programs and stuff, it's better to go for intel and not AMD. (that's what he said, i'm not an expert in that stuff)

My videocard is a ASUS V7100 Deluxe Combo 32MB ... you get this cool VR glasses with it http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/wink.gif but if you only need it for webdesign the normal "T" or "Pure" is good enough I guess.

Motherboard is an Abit SA6

HD is a 30,7 Gigabyte (Maxtor MS 53073H6) ultra 100 7200rpm
(certainly go for a 7200rpm)

What do you mean a 17" is expensive here in Europe ? I bought a 17" Philips LightFrame 107T ultra flat for about $300

My tower is a Aopen HQ8 300 Watt (the big one)

And my burner is a HP ... it was the cheapest available, and i only use it like 2 times a month maximum. If you plan to use is much I'd go for the more expensive ones like the ones from plextor.

I got my complete system for about $1600 ... but this might vary depending on what country you live in ...

I come from a P1 166Mhz http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/wink.gif

[Flash]

Sorry I don't have the time right now to go into details but some important things are:

1.) AMD TB is way better than a P4! My system with a TB1000@1200 is way faster than a 1.4Ghz P4 with Rambus.

2.) Use a DDR Board, Abit+Asus are always 1st choice (best quality).

3.) Don't use less than 256MB Ram, over 512 is not necessary + doesn't increase speed.

4.) Don't use Scsi, IDE Raid is more than equal now and a lot cheaper. If you need maximum speed you can run 4 HDD's on Raid-0 (Striping), 2 HDD's should be enough though. The latest IBM 7200rpm drives are working fine, decide for yourself how much space you need, don't let anybody tell you how much you need. I have ~100GB in use at the moment. Promise Fasttrack 100 is a nice raid controller for such a system, not too expensive but good performance. Promise Supertrack is a high quality choice but quite expensive, don't think it's worth the money for a personal computer.

5.) If you want a good DVD/CD drive choose Pioneer A05SW 16x/40x, it's awesome.

6.) There are absolutely NO PC-Speakers that are better than a quality Hifi system but this depends on how much money you want to spend. Good PC Speakers are ok for almost every purpose but if you already have a Hifi system don't think about Speakers and use it instead.

7.) If you want a high quality display: Eizo - www.eizo.com (http://www.eizo.com) is always 1st choice no matter which type of display you want, but Sony is fine too.

8.) High end systems need a great cooling. Your cpu will need a high speed cooler, GLOBAL WIN CAK 38 (www.globalwin.com.tw)is great but a bit noisy. THERMALRIGHT SK 6 (www.thermalright.com) is more silent + has great cooling too.

9.) Choose a high quality tower for your system, www.coolermaster.com (http://www.coolermaster.com) rules. Power supply is included in all coolermaster towers, shouldn't be below 400W, Enermax is well known for high quality power supplies, I love my Enermax EG301PX-VE (450W).

10.) Good cooling is necessary to avoid system and HDD crashes, try to leave some space between the Harddisks or use HDD coolers to avoid overheat failures.

11.) A good graphics card? Any geforce-2 MX will be ok for your needs, it's still fast enough to play games, too. Geforce3 rules here, Asus, Gainward,Leadtek are the only manufacturers I recommend.

12.) PLEXTOR PX-W1610TA 16x/10x/40x is an affordable and fast CD writer if you need one. Got too much money? Buy a DVD Writer: Pioneer's DVD-R S201 is nice...hehe!

Oh damn...Did I say I don't have the time to get into details??...LOL! Have fun with your new PC! http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/wink.gif

Flash

[ProgGod]

Alright we have a bunch of graphics artists on staff, not to mention I open up photoshop from time to time, so hear is my opinion.

Do not get a single processor machine. If you want your work to be delayed and photoshop to crunch those filters a single processor machine is not the way to go. I would rather have a dual 450mhz p3 machine, then a single 1.2mhz AMD.

Go for a dual 1ghz pentium 3. Throw 1024 megs of ram in there, and get yourself a video card with a high RAMDAC 350mhz or higher. The RAMDAC is what dictates your resolution and refresh rate, so its the most important part for 2D work. Any of the high end video cards should do.. and if you have any other questions, or want specific recommendations feel free to email me preston@hiendmedia.com

http://www.adcontrol.com - Control your sponsors

[Much0S]

Yes Plextor!

IBM: Don't know them personally, heared they are really good, but I personally only use Quantum

DDR Ram is faster yes. Rambus Ram isn't faster, but is a lot more expensive!

19" LG Has a big foot yes, on the other hand it's a beauty and a relaxation to look at! I can advise you to at least go look at it in the store! It rulez!

[Flash]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by viper2K1:


SDRAM = 133 Mhz
DDRAM = 266 Mhz
RIMM = 800 Mhz (for the P4)

</font>


- These values are correct but don't get it wrong guys, Rambus is not really 800/266 = ~3x as fast as DDR Ram in use because the current Rambus Mainboards/Chipsets do still suck a lot and you are losing the 534Mhz advance this way in comparison to DDR Ram.

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by viper2K1:


About AMD... that dude in the store said that if you want stability for graphical programs and stuff, it's better to go for intel and not AMD. (that's what he said, i'm not an expert in that stuff)

</font>

LOL, don't trust any dude from a store, they have only basical knowledge on these things mostly, a high percentage of them are not up to date. Internet freaks are having the best knowledge about these things because they're getting the latest infos and reviews online every day. This is also where overclockers are comparing their results and I consider overclockers to be the elite of PC users in regard to hardware knowledge. - How do you make a 1.2Ghz TB running stable at 1.9Ghz without any crashes? I guess this is hard to find out for newbies and impossible without reading a hardware guide on the internet... http://bbs.adultwebmasterinfo.com/ubb/tongue.gif

[Much0S]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">
SDRAM = 133 Mhz
DDRAM = 266 Mhz
RIMM = 800 Mhz (for the P4)
</font>

This is true, but you forget to mention that RIMM's have major design problems; because of this high speed memory Rambus needed to design flank memory with high CAS latencies. This means that if memory is not aligned, it needs to be aligned first before it can be entered into the ram. This is a serious problem! Unaligned memory is at current even slower than a 100MHZ Dimm!! The P4 in general is a joke, skip it, wait for the p5.