Pierruiggi 0 Posted March 24, 2003 Hi, this is my first post, but I've been a regular reader of the forums for a while. I'm looking to buy this comp: Athlon XP 1.7GHz ASrock motherboard (K7VT2 or K7VM2 not sure wich) 40gb HD at 7200rpm GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128MbDDR 512DDR RAM 17" Samsung or LG monitor Now: 1) Which OS do you recommend? And why? (I.E.: Why Win XP over Win Me) 2) What do you think about the motherboard (I haven't heard anything about its quality). 3) I'm getting a CD writer (sorry, i don't remember the term ), shoult I buy a separate CD "player" (again ) Why? 4) GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128mbDDR o an ATi card? Wich one? Why? 5) Any observations/commentaries. Excuse my (lack of) english. Thank you for taking the time to read this and even more for answering. Bye. edit: I previously stated the mobo as Asus ASrock, i've learned that asrock is a brand of its own and now i'm even more curious about its quality. edit2: Modified the amount of RAM and the size of monitor. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Frisbee 0 Posted March 24, 2003 OS : XP Why? Your system can handle it,and ME is about the crappiest windows ever (which is a statement) As for the rest i suggest you go to some sites with people that do serious benchmarks and comparisons. Anandtech Tom's Hardware Oh,and you're getting a good comp and a crappy 15" 17" is much better Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SpeedyDonkey 0 Posted March 24, 2003 Depends... if its a 15" LCD it would be enough. Oh and... Take XP!!! I would rather have win 3.1 then ME. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
CosmicCastaway 0 Posted March 24, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Pierruiggi @ Mar. 24 2003,16:08)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">3) I'm getting a CD writer (sorry, i don't remember the term ), shoult I buy a separate CD "player" (again ) Why?<span id='postcolor'> Get yourself a DVD player as well, can't be without a DVD player these days. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
John C Flett 0 Posted March 24, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">1) Which OS do you recommend? And why? (I.E.: Why Win XP over Win Me) <span id='postcolor'> I'm still a Win 98 man. Its had enough time to be fully road tested and I've never had serious problems with it. </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">3) I'm getting a CD writer (sorry, i don't remember the term ), shoult I buy a separate CD "player" (again ) Why? <span id='postcolor'> Some copy protection can be misread by CD burners making the software think the original is a pirate. This was a problem a few years back and should have been solved by most manufacturers but you may still get unlucky. </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">256DDR RAM <span id='postcolor'> 256 MB is enough for now but some software already likes more. If you have the cash 512MB may be well worth considering. </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">4) GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128mbDDR o an ATi card? Wich one? Why? <span id='postcolor'> Most of the top of the line cards exceed current software and its going to be a years or two before its really clear which gets best support. Pot luck but I still do well with a GeForce 4 budget card though and the name seems to carry a lot of weight with developers. Sometime what matters isn't whats best but what most people like. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dayglow 2 Posted March 24, 2003 What chipset is the motherboard based on? Does it have expandibility for the future? (333 or 400mhz fsb so the new amd cpus will work) 512 memory is really needed these days. COLINMAN Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pierruiggi 0 Posted March 24, 2003 The chipset is either a VIA KT266A or a VIA KM266, both have a FSB speed of (i qoute since i don't understand what this is) 200/266. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ACT SMILEY 0 Posted March 24, 2003 </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> Athlon XP 1.7GHz <span id='postcolor'> 1700 or 1.7ghz? there's a fairly large difference, the 1.7ghz is the 2100 or so. </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128MbDDR <span id='postcolor'> Not bad, the ATi Radeon 9700 and 9700Pro are better for both performance and image quality if you've an extra seventy five or hundred quid, but the Ti4600 is a perfectly good card. </span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE"> 3) I'm getting a CD writer, should I buy a separate CD "player" Why? <span id='postcolor'> Nah, a waste of twenty quid. The writer will do the job of reading them fine, unless its one of the really old ones, which judging by the other specs it isn't likely to be. Never heard of ASrock... I'd reccommend Gigabyte boards as a brand, though, I've always found em good. For the chipset, the VIA KT400 and nVidia nForce2 are the ways to go. For your version of Windows, go with 98SE if there are any old programs you want to run, if not then XP isn't so bad. My personal preference is for 98SE, though. ME is basically 98SE, but trashed. I'd also have to agree with the bloke who said get 512mb or memory if you can. that PC's value is about what, the Å700 mark? edit: Samsung are a good monitor brand from what I hear, but I've never used their stuff. edit2: Those motherboards are both KT266 based and are well out of date. Get it with a good KT400 based one, such as the Gigabyte GA7VAX. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted March 25, 2003 How much are you looking to spend altogether? There are far better boards out there. As for the CPU, try to pick up a Athlon XP 2100 'Throughbred B' These are absolutely fantastic for overclocking. I took my 2100 (1.7ghz), and clocked the bugger to 2.4ghz. Thats on air, and my temps are 45c at load. Also, try to pick up a board that will support decent DDR RAM. I'm running 512mb (2x256) of TwinMOS 3200, and I've got that running in my machine at 402mhz. The TwinMOS is dirt cheap, and is very stable. Have a look at the forums here.. The guys on the forums know what they are talking about, and can recommend components for you. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Major Fubar 0 Posted March 25, 2003 My 2 cents worth: Win ME is the worst OS ever. Seriously, you would be better off with Win 95! I installed a Ti-4600 a few months ago and have been VERY happy with it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badgerboy 0 Posted March 25, 2003 I posted this a while back, but it show my feelings on ME 'Arghhh! Lose ME quickly.... Then take the CD, and smash it into thousands of tiny bits. Grind these into a powder, and fire them into the sun. Then get a proper OS like 2k, or XP. Ones that don't BSOD continuously, waste/leak memory, and generally make life hell. (Besides, that amount of RAM and CPU speed is wasted on ME. It can't optimise or manage it properly. NT builds NT4/2k/WinXP, have a decent memory manager, which will result in a more reliable/faster machine) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Pierruiggi 0 Posted March 25, 2003 Thanks for the replys guys! To answer: the Athlon XP is 1.7Ghz, i don't know the designations. The CDRW is a LG or Samsung, the motherboard will probably be an Asus. The HD will be a 30 gig 7200rpm Western Digital or Maxtor. Since everything is now decided, I ask the mods to please delete this thread. Unless is useful to someone else. Once again I thank you all!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
