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Okay, I've asked this question too many times, but after reading reviews for the past week I'm finally somewhat up to date on the technology. I have lot's of questions.

I desperately need a new system, stability is of utmost importance. With the new chips and chipsets coming out I figure I can get an Athlon XP or a Pentium 4 for a good price.

Questions:
-Are there any XP boards out there that support SATA?
-is SATA worth the performance?
-What chipset should I choose if I were going to get an Athlon XP, Nforce2??
-What chipset shoudl I choose if I were going to get a Pentium 4, 875??
-Also I don't really understand DDR fully yet, say a P4 is running 500mhz FSB, does that in turn mean
the memory is running @ 500mhz as well. Aren't the two bus speeds asynchronous? With the dual
channel stuff is that how they get DDR1000? In order to run at 500 mhz the RAM must be able
to handle those speeds right, what is the name of that ram


Here's what I want some suggestions on:

-If I were to get ATA 133, which hard drive is a good choice to do RAID 0, b/c most boards have the raid controller built in, right?
-I have a 300watt antec psupply right now, I don't think that will handle the new stuff, Should I get another Antec psupply? which one?
-Can someone suggest some nice DDR ram for the previously mentioned chipsets, CL2.0 2-2-2 stuff?


That's it for now, thanks soooo much for any help.

4-450 name brand ps

nforce2 board

i 875 board

ddr just has 2x speed of fsb fsb=166, then ddr=333

most newer boards have lots of variations to run asynch

if you're not going for cutting edge then a 2.4c p4 or a barton2500 are both sufficient to do about anything you want, both overclock well and are cheap

hdd = whatever is on special this week - check the deals boards - i have had better luck with maxtor lately

wouldn't worry about sata unless fast file stuff is critical - the new 8mb/7200s are adequate for most stuff

the really high fsb ram is usually 2.5 - corsair, mushkin in the first tier and buffalo, geil, etc 2nd tier - again - depends for ma on what's available - there were some good sales on corsair recently

Well.. You asked a lot of good questions.. While I'm no superior on what's hot and what's not, I will give you my thoughts..

Q : Are there any XP boards out there that support SATA?

A : Yes there are a few.

Epox 8RDA3+
Abit NF7-S
Gigabyte GA-7N400PRO2
Asus A7N8X Deluxe
MSI K7N2


--------------------------

Q : Is SATA worth the Performance?

A : Hopefully somebody else will express their opinions on this for you. I, myself, still think it's a bit new and it will become faster and cheaper with time (as does everything else). And will show greater performance gains that what it's providing now.

---------------------------

Q : What chipset should I choose if I were going to get an Athlon XP, Nforce2??

A : I would definatly go with Nforce2, it seems to be the "supreme" chipset at this point in time. And allows for some VERY nice overclocks if you're into that kind of thing.

---------------------------

Q : What chipset shoudl I choose if I were going to get a Pentium 4, 875??

A : I don't know.. Sorry.. I'm an AMD guy all the way..

---------------------------

DDR frequencies are a little different than what you're thinking. I know with an AMD set up if your CPU is running at 133 FSB it's actually running a double pumped bus or 2x133 for 266mhz. So your memmory is effectivly running at 266mhz. I believe the same goes w/Intel, but I'm not sure.

ATA 133 HD.. Only two, that I could find, HD manufacturers off ATA 133.. Maxtor and Samsung.. I would go with Maxtor. Any of their drives that are 7200RPM w/8MB cache should be sufficient..


PSU : I think most would agree and recommend at least a 350-400W Power supply. I think they will also recommend Antec's TRUE Series.. There are some nicer ones out there, but I think these will suffice.

RAM : I'm using Corsair XMS Speed Series PC3200 and it's good stuff.. I've got my XP1700+ OCd to XP2600+ or 2.1ghz with it..

I hope this helps and provides you with a little insight.. And that I wasn't wrong about too much of this stuff.. If any..

eGo

Thanks for the info.

Some more questions:

I think I'm gonna go for a Intel 875 chipset motherboard.

Is ddr400 worth it? It seems I remember reading that ddr333 with CL2.0 is just as good if not better.

Here's what I want so far, your thoughts are encouraged:

- 875 chipset motherboard
- Sound Card, Nic, USB 2.0, SATA/UDMA 133, all inclusive
- 2 512 mb CL 2.0 ddr333/ddr400 two indentical sticks to do dual channel
- 80 gig hard drive UDMA 133
- Antec True 400w + psupply, dunno which one yet

I need suggestions on a Video Card, I currently have a TNT2 ultra and it's going to die soon
All I really ever do is surf the net, play music, and work on my programs for school. I wanna install Linux so I need something that will handle all of that well.

That's about it for now, Thanks so much for everyone's suggestions.

I think I might have found an answer to my earlier question. How does Intel say they have 800mhz FSB?? I "think" it's b/c they have a quad pumped bus, 4 x 200mhz = 800. Am I right? So my question is the memory is running at 200mhz fsb, dual channel, = 400 mhz??

Man I'm so confused.

you have it right on the memory

if you're going to run the newer intel cpus on the mobo you need the ddr400

for a vid card - if you're really not a gamer and dx 9 isn't an issue try a ti4200 or a radeon 8500 - in the 128 mb flavor if you can find one

for dx9 get a 9500 or 9600 - pro's are a little faster

What's the best bang for your buck these days in terms of memory?? DDR400 with CL2-2-2-5 ??
Thanks

2 10000rpm SATA drives in a Raid 0 Stripe will give you an increase in performance over any 7200rpm or 10000rpm drives. WD Raptors fit the bill very well.

Alright I think I've finally narrowed it down to this:

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ 333mhz, Barton Core, Retail
2800+
I don't have any desire to overclock, so I figure the retail will give me a fan/heatsink too.
$183

PC2700 DDR333,
DDR333
I have a couple of questions on this, if I order two of these will I be able to do dual channel?
Is there any restrictions on being double sided? Also what timings should I run these at?
$86

Antec True Blue 480watt Psupply
power supply
$91.95

Maxtor 80 gig SATA hard drive
hard drive
$88

Windows XP Pro oem COA
$65

ABit NF7-S Ver. 2
motherboard
$108.89

here's what I have left to price out:
-No clue about a video card I saw a Ti4200 64 mb for $79????
-I need rounded floppy/ata133
-I need case fans for my antex sx830, nice quiet, good airflow 80 mm, How many do you think I need?
I have 2 spaces in the front and 2 in the back
- Possibly a good 17-19" monitor

Thanks for everyone's help

get all the fans and rounded cables you need cheap at svc.com

as for the vid card, you can get a nice gigabyte radeon 9000 II Pro 128MB from newegg for $75 shipped.

Thanks for the response.