Is now a good time to build a computer? (Kinda technical)

In My Humble Opinion
1

I know Moore’s law says that computer speeds double every 6 months so no time is ever a good time to build a computer, but still…

For the record, I’m looking for a hardcore gaming computer that I’ll probably also be doing programming/compiling and digital video editing on. So, yes, I’m looking for it to be fast.

Right now I’m looking at:
A mid to full size case, 300-350W power supply
AsusA7M266 motherboard
AMD 1.2 GHz Thunderbird
256 MB PC2100 RAM
GeForce3 (or maybe the 64 MB DDR Radeon from my current machine)
10/100 Mb NIC
16X Panasonic DVD-ROM
16x12x32 (I think) Plextor CD-RW

I’m also going to salvage from my current box:
Sound Blaster Live! Platinum
56K modem
60 GB HD (IBM 75 GXP - 7200 RPM, ATA-100)

I figure I might hold out for a better motherboard because I think I want IDE RAID support - just for the extra IDE chains, not for an actual RAID setup, since my current machine has 3 hard drives, and I’ve gotten used to the space. The A7M266 also has only two DIMM slots, which could be bothersome later on.

I’m thinking now’s as good a time as any, since AMD’s DDR stuff is fairly new, and that means that whatever mobo I end up with should support processors made for the next 2-4 years or so. Plus things are pretty cheap (except for that damn GeForce3), and the jumps in processor speeds seem to be slowing down a bit.

Well, I know this thread is bordering on the esoteric, but any input, comments, scathing criticisms will be welcome.

2

System looks pretty good, couple of traps that you probably won’t fall into…

  1. make sure you get one 256MB memory module, not two 128s. Memory is really cheap now, and will probably get more expensive (memory is the one computer component that really does have cyclical pricing), so 256 should be considered a minimum for a new system.

  2. Only take the HD out of the old system if it doesn’t handicap it. Again, HDs are really cheap right now, and it’s not worth lobotomizing your old system for, especially if you have a wife/brother/roommate who can use it for the internet while you’re busy gaming.

  3. Likewise, I’d pick up a $20 used sound card for the old system if you’re pulling the platinum out of it for the new one. Just for beeping.

The price buster is, of course, the Geforce III. The II GTS 64MB DDR is a heck of a lot cheaper, but not brand spankin new. It’s still a monster board, however. I lost faith in ATI by buying their last-generation product and having lots of silly driver bugs destroying my computing experience (I couldn’t run Print Shop without turning off acceleration. I couldn’t believe it. I used to run Print Shop on a Apple IIe (granted, it was a slightly different version…And the gamma was horribly off on the svideo-out.)

Vor

3

Sounds good to me. I’d probably jump the memory up to 384 or more (and get higher quality stuff pc133 at least, preferably cas-2), and possibly go with the GTS rather than GeForce3 just for the money.

Athlon systems are very picky about power. Get a high quality power supply. Sparkle is a good brand.

I don’t know if you were aware, but the ISA bus is a piece of crap. By not using any ISA devices, you can usually get a speed boost. Just saying, in case that modem or network card is old.

Be sure to shop around for the best prices. http://www.pricewatch.com is good for comparison shopping.

http://www.techdeals.net is good for deals on hard drives and memory, and other random stuff

http://www.dealcatcher.com is also good for special deals.

The hot deals forum at forums.anandtech.com is very busy with amazing deals. Some of them are more trouble than they’re worth though.

4

Thanks for the response guys. Any idea on what the recommended system reqs are forecasted to be for Windows XP/Whistler? Another board has been saying that it’ll require as much as 512 MB RAM for good performance. Sounds like an awful lot to me.

TheNerd, I didn’t realize that the ISA bus was that bad. I just thought it performed a lot worse than PCI so nobody actually used it for much, not that it actually contributed to a performance hit. I suppose that the hit occurs whether or not the ISA device is actually not being used (taking about my “in case my DSL goes down” 56K modem here), huh? Well, I suppose I could do without it, in that case.

As for the video card, I’ll probably stick with the Radeon VIVO from my current system, as its video capture capabilities are roughly analogous to my needs at the moment (I wouldn’t mind better - who wouldn’t? - but don’t really need it). Hopefully Asus will come out with another “deluxe” card based of the GF3. And hopefully it won’t cost a mint.

On another note, anybody have any recommendations on cases? I’m looking for a mid to full size case that can support 3-4 hard drives in addition to having 1 external 3.5 and 3 external 5.25 bays (the additional HD bays can be 5.25s that require a mounting rack - I’m not picky). It should also have good cooling as I might overclock at some point and since I don’t have the tools nor expertise to drill my own holes into the case.

I’ve been looking at the Supermicro 760A (about $130 from a local dealer) and 750A cases, and have heard good things about some of the Antec cases, especially the SX1240, though the aesthetics don’t appeal to me as much.

So, again, all responses welcome. :wink: