Ok guys, Im a pretty tech savy guy. I could figure out a PIII was better then a PII and that a PM is for laptops. I could even comprened what a Pentium Celeron is.

So now help me where the Pentium D stands. I would guess from reading their web page that the "D" stands for dual? So would the Pentium D be better then a A64?

Reason I ask is I am thinking about building a new computer, and while I don't need top of the line, I always like near top of the line. Just give me your guys thoughts.

31C

 

ARe you building a desktop system or a laptop? For desktops it's currently the amd64 being my favorite. Dollar for dollar it "smokes" any of the intel chips. As far as how much machine you want, well, depends on what you want it to do and how much you want to spend. You can put together a pretty good AMD machine for a grand. I priced out an AMD 64 3200+ (venice core) socket 939 machine (all parts) yesterday for around $650 before shipping. That included an 80 gig drive, gig of ram, case w power supply, and a 6600gt video card. I can spec out a machine for ya if you'd like. Just give me an idea of what you need and how much you are willing to spend.

Edit: oh, and I don't think pentium D stand for dual core. Check out www.anandtech.com There's some good info there to get you started.


and one last thing: you can go to www.theboobedome.com and go on the forums there (you'll have to register) and ask for A**raker, he knows his stuff. He and I have helped a couple guys build new machines in the last couple weeks.

 

Yes, Pentium D means dual processors. There are 2 processors in the chip. I jus built a machine a few months ago using the Pentium D 3.2ghz. I had a Pentium 4 3.06 before, and this is by far faster, especially when you are running multiple applications.
Also the latest are I believe 3.4ghz.

Here is what I built then, which at that time was top of the line.

Intel D955XBK MB
Intel Pentium D 3.2ghz
Kingston DDR2 667mhz - 4 512kb cards
Western Digital 250mb SATA 300 HD 1
Western Digital 80mb Sata 150 HD 2
Floppy
PNY Geforce 6600 Video card
Cooler Master Centurion RC532 case
Antec NeoPower 480 power supply
Front and rear 120mm fans
Sony DRU810A DVD burner

Of course, as always top of the line changed immediately.

One important thing to consider is the case. Especially for cooling.
If you decide to go with Intel, make sure you read on the cooling. I also updated my processor heatsink from what comes with the chip and fan to one from Coolermaster. I believe it is called the L73. I will post back later with the exact name. It dropped the idle temps on my board by about 25 to 30 deg F. I have seen pics of what happens when chips are overheated. You will end up replacing the chip and the MB.
Whe you are looking around, go out to Tigerdirect. They often have processor/MB combos that are $100-200 cheaper than buying seperate.

 

I must have been thinking about the celeron D. The intel lines can be hard to decipher what's what.

 

You Rang?

Yea the D is a dual core....its a nice chip. I'm not stuck on AMD or Intel. Both make good chips. If you want an explanation of a dual core chip try this link:

http://www.intel.com/products/proces...um_D/index.htm

There is a demo on their site, bottom right.

This may sound nuts but I've never been a hardware guru. I never got into the comparisons of the different motherboards, chips,etc. I buy high performance but I actually find it all kind of boring. Here is my generic answer. Set yourself a budget and then spend every bit of it. Favor RAM and processors over cd drives and hard drives. Get a nice video card with as much memory as you can afford.

I know its generic but frankly I couldnt tell you which processor has more L2 cache than the other without looking it up....just never interested me that much.

 

Kingfish,
Tigerdirect is where I buy most of my stuff, and sometimes from pricewatch.com.

Viper, your right I usually prefer AMD too. Ive just been away from the computer scene for a while so I am trying to catch up on everything. Let me show you what I have been looking at so far (all prices tigerdirect):


Abit AX8 Via Socket 939 ATX MotherBoard and an AMD Athlon 64 4000+ 2.4GHz Processor - $430
Ultra Dual Channel 2048MB PC4200 DDR2 533MHz Memory (2 x 1024MB) - $170
Western Digital / Caviar SE / 250GB / 7200 / 8MB / ATA-100 / Hard Drive - $105
ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon X800XT / 256MB GDDR3 / AGP 8x / TV-Tuner / Video Card - $300

So that just 1000 dollars for the core stuff. Then you got to figure in case/sound card/power supply (if it doesn't come with the case)/fans/monitor/key board/dvd-w/cd-rw, ect ect.

I am going to use this computer not only for gaming for several years, but also for web design, graphic design, video editing so unfortunatly I can't just got with one of those 500 - 700 dollar Dell desktops.

31C

 

Just kidding, you havent lost any respect in my eyes (at least not too much). I like the budget idea, but seeing that this is going to be my main computer for at least another 2 years it needs to last. And I get pretty upset if I can't play the latest game. So I am kinda under the 'Ill spend what I need to spend to get what I want' mode. If that makes any sense.

But thanks for the generic explination

31C

 

The D is a dual core processor. And it's a nice processor but you need to remember that most software can not utilize dual processors and thusly dual cores. I bought mine because I use Photoshop a lot and it can utilize dual proccssors and the speed difference over a similar speed single is very noticeable. But it also makes for some very efficient multi-tasking, for instance I can play MS Flight Sim while burning a DVD with no loss of performance.

 

when I say budget I dont mean cheap. My budget for a new system is generally 3,000. I spend every bit of it....about every 2-3 years.

 

If this is a fairly new MB, it may not be AGP and it may not be IDE (ATA100). It may be PCI Express x16 and SATA for the hard drives. These are both faster and better than the old AGP/ATA set ups.
My MB had 4 connections for SATA regular/Intel RAID and 4 for Silicon RAID. It only had 1 IDE connection for CD/DVD, and no AGP connection.
I have not looked at the set up for the Abit, but SATA and PCI express will be the way to go for gaming and graphics.

PS - What I put together cost me about $2k. More than what I would have spent at one of the maufacturers, but I got more and exactly what I wanted. No compromise.

 

OK, it sounds like you're in the same boat as I am. I'll be able to work on this tonight. I have some thoughts for you to consider, like there's a new AMD chip design (slot AM2) coming out that you may want to wait for so you'll have better upgrade paths.

That machines that the two guys I know put together were based off Athalon 64 X2 processors set in an Asus Crossfire board with a radeon x1800 series vid cards. Heres' the motherboard if you want to read up on it...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131584

I'll post link to newegg, but there's a lot of sites to shop around on to get the best prices.

 

Just buy this baby....but you'll need a second mortgage....it was recently review in some mags and will basically smoke whatever you can come up with from other sources.

Link

 

See thats the stuff I know nothing about. I saw the PCI express stuff but I really didn't think too much about it. When I first saw it thought the 'express' meant it was cheaper, but between your explination and a little research I had already done, I now know thats not the case. When I built my last computer it didnt have all these different slots.

31C

 

If I could affoard that I would rather buy an Alienware. I couldn't spend that much on a Dell

That would be like buying that $80,000 VW. Sure its a nice car, but its still a VW.

31C

 

I did a little looking at the Abit MB. At least the one I saw uses the PCI Express, SATA, and DDR. You listed the AGP, ATA-100, and DDR2 memory. Make sure your MB can handle the DDR2. You also will want to look at a SATA hard drive, rather than ATA-100.

PS - Pick your MB and processor, then read everything you can find about what it can and cannot handle, and what it needs before you pick the other items. I looked around a couple of weeks before I had everything I needed picked.
Also, the Intel site had information on what was tested, and should work with their hardware. There should be similar info at the Abit site.