I need advise for my new POWERHOUSE pc I'm building.

[Slacker]

Hi all, I'm new here, but I have been reading some helpfull tweak guides from this place and they have helped me stabilise my current computer.

I am wanting to build my new comp soon, so I am in the process of getting parts.

This is a list of parts I want.

- 2 x p4 3gig cpu's ( 100% certain )
-Asus mobo ( don't know what one tho or if it can run dual cpu's, so advice would be apreciated here )
-Asus Geforce 4 ti 4600 128mb (100% certain)
-Creative Sound Blaster audigy 2 ( either platinum or 6.1 )
-2 x 80 gig or 120 gig HD's ( not sure on what brand )
- 40 speed cd rom writable ( sony or kenwood )
- DVD drive ( not sure what speed, but something fast)
- no floppy
-19 inch sony trinitron monitor (could go for 21, will I have any probs?)
- 1 gig of rdr ram
- case that is clear on one side and green neon light tube things, that just looks so ****ing cool it's not funny. ( 100% but I need to know how to put this together )
- A power supply maybe 550watt ? will my comp explode?
- fans im not sure, but it has to cool everything real good and be easy to install.
-mouse and keyboard i'll get when im finnished.

What else do I need? and could you recommend some of the parts I don't know about please?

My current computer is this

*P4 2gig
*Leadtek Geforce 4 ti 4400 128mb
*Asus p4b533 mobo
*512 ddr ram
*80 gig hd
*Liteon 32x12x40x cd rw
*Sony 17 inch trinitron monitor
*Creative sound blaster live! Platinum 5.1 sound card
*300 watt power supply
*some fan that's silent, I dunno the brand name

Anyway, you might be wondering why I need a new computer, truth it, I'm a n00b at building computers and I am giving my current one to my cousin for his 21st birthday cause he was recently in a motorbike accident and in a como and had a cranioctomy (remove front of his skull out) but he is better now and waiting surgery to put the bone back. :)

I havent yet put a computer together, but with guides from here I'm confident. My feind put my current one together and now I want to do it myself, just need advice on parts and compatability.

Sorry for this long post, but help would be apreciated.

Thank you. :bounce:

[Andy]

I know you want a powerhouse and all, but do you really have the need for 2 cpus?
looking at the specs you've given us, it doesn't look as if you are going to be doing anything server related, nor graphics/video editing or anything that a single cpu machine couldn't cope with.

if i happen to be wrong, ignore this post

[brashquido]

The fastest Intel CPU's you can run in SMP atm is the XEON's, and I the fastest they go is about 2.8 GHZ and will cost about $500US each (although with what you've listed it doesn't sound like $$ are a consideration at all).

Also, the ATI Radeon 9700 Pro well and truly leaves the GF4 Ti4600 for dead (by a massive margin of about 25% from memory, which is huge considering they are both top of the line products from two industry leaders).

Most decent motherboards come with very decent sound onboard these days. Why don't you let us know exactly what you're wanting from this system, and we'll try and help map out what you should get. Also let us know if there is any budget.

[RDR]

P4's do not support SMP - you have to get Xeon's if you want to go that route w/an intel system - I haven't actually priced them, but I would expect to pay in the neighbourhood of $2000US fo a pair of 3GHz Xeon's & probably another $750 or so for the motherboard - you'll proabably need to go with either an Intel board or maybe Tyan.

A better solution would be to get your 3GHz P4 & get a granite Bay chipset motherboard w/hyperthreading - basically you'll have 2 logical processors that will perform very much like a an SMP system, plus you'll have dual channel DDR support


another option would be to get a dual Athlon system - much cheaper than a dual Xeon box - but you'll be limited to the AMD 760MPX chipset with single channel PC2100 support only

[brashquido]

You can get 3GHz Xeon's now?

[RDR]

Originally Posted by brashquido

You can get 3GHz Xeon's now?

...no you can't - but that wasn't really the objective of my post

Brashquido's right Xeon 2.8's are the max right now -

[FLaCo]

Many people believe that dual cpus will give you top of line gaming rig...but Gaming Benchmarks have shown single CPU dominating that department. With money not being an issue here by the looks of it...a 9700 PRO and a 3gig Intel on a granite bay would be the way to go...with maybe 512mb of 3200 on each channel since its supports Dual Channel memory. Man that would be a sweet system. 9700 pro is a better choice than the 4600 not only cuz of the better performance but it supports Direct X 9 and the 4600 only supports DX 8; but, a better choice over the 9700 Pro would be a Geforce FX...which is 500 bucks but you will have to wait a month or so. Really worth it the wait tho. With money not a problem i would be a bit patient and go with nVidia's Geforce FX.

[Slacker]

Thanks for your help guys!

This is gonna be just for games mainly. The nv30 is that the card that is new technology? If it's comming out in a month I will get it instead of the 9700 pro or the ti 4600.

Dual pc's might be a bit too costly for me, so a 3GHz P4 & granite Bay chipset motherboard w/hyperthreading sounds good, what brand is the motherboard and how much is that?

The sound card I really want a creative audigy 2 6.1 that looks really nice.

and 2 sticks of 512 rdr ram is a must for me, I really want a gig of ram.

also what does SMP mean?

[RDR]

Originally Posted by Slacker

also what does SMP mean?

Originally Posted by brashquido

Actually means symmetric multiprocessor.

hmmmm - that's right
I'd read that outher definition in a review at Tom's HW a year or 2 a go & just assumed it was correct
a singular application will only run faster on a dual cpu system if it's multi-threaded...& most games are not.

This is gonna be just for games mainly.

for gaming you probably won't see much difference between a P4 3GHz on a granite bay MB or a single Athlon 2700 on an nforce MB - except that the AMD set up will leave a few $$'s in your pocket

[FLaCo]

RDR is right about the AMD system..both carry dual channel memory which is a good thing even tho 512 is the sweet spot for most systems...a nice extra persay. A gig of that 512 in each channel will be a nice addition to your rig. GeForce FX (NV30) is brand new...mid january or early feburary i'm estimating.
Its will have the all new DDRII as well as higher GPU clocks and Memory clocks and also supports DX9. The audigy 2 is nice and is the first to support 24 bit sound, unlike the regular Audigy. To me the regular card makes no difference to me comapred to new Audigy 2. Unless you are getting the audigy 2 platinum...i'll stick with a Audigy Gamer. They both support Advanced EAX HD but the Audigy 2 has 24 bit and the the Audigy Gamer (although it claims it does) it does not. You will prolly never notice the difference. I believe you should include a floopy to your new system...only 8 to 11 bucks...and its the best way to flash bios and good for emergency floppy disk bootups.