Tentative Build Specs - Critque

[MarkD]

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I currently have a ATI PCI video card with one DVI output and one VGA. I have a 2001FP. I think that I am looking for another 2001FP and a dual DVI video card but I can't find a dual DVI video card at this site (or in canada in my limited research). I don't really care about playing games but at the same time I don't know if I want to limit myself. What are the current recommended dual dvi video cards?

[/ QUOTE ]If you want a great video card, I'd suggest this deal since you're buying a new mobo anyway.

http://www.evga.com/articles/public.asp?AID=258

The manufacturer is currently out of stock, but click the off-site retailers at the bottom of the page still have them in.

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No way, that's way too much card for me (and mobo too - I don't need SLI). I'm not going to be playing Doom 3 or Quake 3 or whatever the latest game is.

[icepick]

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The raptor seems like a lot of money.

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I [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] my Raptors.

[LethalRose]

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Running multiple physical processors requires special software to take advantage of the 2 processors.

Dual core technology is basically the same as hyper threading. However in hyper threading the cache is shared. Hyper threading can execute 2 threads at a time however sharing a cache causes collisions which cause the cores to wait on eachother.

With dual core, each core has it own cache. The dual-cores run threaded applications faster than single-core or HT microprocessors.

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Not quite right, on a dual core system you can run two single threaded aplications independat of each other at the same time. And what you call special software is just realy threaded software (and especially those with several "active" threads).

A person getting dual cores for doing some webbrowsing and stuff wont notice much, but if you run quad tables of poker and got poker tracker and several GT+ (or similar) there should be great difference.

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Which party of my post are you disagreeing with? you said the same thing just a little differently. by special software I was refering to SMP.

[MyMindIsGoing]

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Which party of my post are you disagreeing with? you said the same thing just a little differently. by special software I was refering to SMP.

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This: "Dual core technology is basically the same as hyper threading."

They are way diffrent. HT = dependant of each other, dual=indipendant.

They special software for smp is not quite right either. If you only use one program and it only has one "active" (doing most of the work) then yes SMP wont do much. But if you run two of those they will run on one cpu each and more things would be done at the same time. That is why SMP and dual core will improve speed even if the prorams wont support it (or should I say badly written). That is what I meant.

[DeuceKicker]

I don't think I'd got the eBay route, either.

I can't recommend a dual core chip for you (I was planning on a 3000+, but since I only upgrade every few years myself, you're convincing me that dual core might be the way to go) . However, as others have said, buying the absolute latest CPU seldom makes sense. You can take one or two steps down, save a nice chunk of money, and see very little loss of performance.

I definitely think you're overpaying for the mobo. DFI is known as an overclocker's mobo, with lots of bells and whistles if you like to tweak voltage and experiment with cold fusion. Check out the Anandtech
forums for a guide to motherboards. If you're not looking for a bunch of fancy schmancy features, you can get one for about 40% less than the LANParty.

As for the video card: If "performance is not critical" and you already have a dual-monitor card, why not stay with it? DVI cuts out the step of changing the video signal between digital and analog, but 2001FPs will plug into a VGA slot, and I doubt you'd ever notice the difference.

[MarkD]

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I definitely think you're overpaying for the mobo. DFI is known as an overclocker's mobo, with lots of bells and whistles if you like to tweak voltage and experiment with cold fusion. Check out the Anandtech
forums for a guide to motherboards. If you're not looking for a bunch of fancy schmancy features, you can get one for about 40% less than the LANParty.


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Remember that the above is canadian pricing - not American, and it's in Canadian dollars. For reference, the NF4 DFI Lanparty board is $178 or $260 depending on if you want SLI or not. I don't care abotu overclocking much (I might do it but it's unlikely).

Someone suggest a better NF4 chipset board at a better price please, since everyone thinks the Asus board is overpriced...

[DeuceKicker]

Check out the anandtech guide. The guy who wrote it focuses on NF4 mobos for the 939 chipset, and it looks like what you're looking for (chaintech or epox?) would go for $85-90 US, so call it an even $200 Canadian [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

[MarkD]

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Check out the anandtech guide. The guy who wrote it focuses on NF4 mobos for the 939 chipset, and it looks like what you're looking for (chaintech or epox?) would go for $85-90 US, so call it an even $200 Canadian [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

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Although you mean that as a joke your US dollar is pretty shitty right now and is dropping daily. It's only worth like 18% more than the canadian dollar atm. This effects me negatively since all the poker sites cash me out in US dollars.

[grandgnu]

For What It's Worth:

My entire computer is built off of used components from Ebay, and I saved anywhere from $25-$125 off retail for the majority of them, and have had no problem:

MSI 875P Neo2-FISR Motherboard
P4 2.6C Northwood Intel Processor w/800mhz FSB
1GB (2x512mb) Dual-Channel Kingston HyperX PC4000
Seagate 120GB 8mb cache IDE Drive
Seagate 200GB 8mb cache IDE Drive
Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Sound
Radeon All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro 128MB Grahpics

This puppy was top of the line a few years ago, now it's more middle of the road (I do a lot of computer gaming, plus some video editing/capturing and poker)

I was able to overclock my 2.6 processor to run at 3.2Ghz with a 1:1 ratio on the processor and RAM.

Your proposed system does sound like overkill for your uses. And you can find some great deals on Ebay, if you know what you're looking for. Just make sure the seller is reputable, you'll save a bundle o' cash.

While I've heard that AMD processors (the newer batch) kicks Intels butt, as far as power consumption and heat displacement goes, I believe Intel is generally regarded as a better processor for "office" type work, while AMD rules the gaming world (which is why I plan to go AMD next time)