Will this computer play opf well?

[Milkman 1]

I am planning on buying a new computer next month (assembling it myself, of course), and I was wondering if anyone could tell me their experiences with hardware/software that did not work with them. Any warnings about bad hardware/software would be much appreciated.  

[kegetys 2]

- Cyrix processors

- VIA and SIS motherboard chipsets

- AMD Ethernet adapters

- ATI drivers

- Most Microsoft software

[Donnervogel 0]

lol Kegtys

-VIA Chipset: no major problems. Some older versions may need an update though

-Microsoft: Well don't try Unix unless you're willing to spend hours and hours finding out how it works and unless you're a real freak. Otherwise stay with Microsoft wich may not be the best but sureley the easiest for PC.

- I can't recommend Creative Audio Cards. They're causing major problems sometimes (often when used with VIA chipsets - but normaly there are patches available)

[bn880 5]

I don't know, I use SIS MB Chipsets and they are rock solid... and no problems like i had with Via..

EDIT: Serious warning about Creative Labs cards, not only drivers but the older ones at least are capable of ruining your machine.

Don't buy game controllers with potentiometers, look for optical tracking devices only, they are worth the money.

ATI drivers for sure. ;)

Lots more...

[Placebo 29]

There's a similar thread in OT, would make sense to use that one, thus I'll merge the two

[Warin 0]

I am planning on buying a new computer next month (assembling it myself, of course), and I was wondering if anyone could tell me their experiences with hardware/software that did not work with them. Any warnings about bad hardware/software would be much appreciated.  

MSI otherboards are the greatest.  Rock solid, very very few problems!

For AMD, get their Nforce2 boards.  MCP2-T is really nice because then you dont need a standalone sound card, and still get excellent sound quality.

For Intel, their new Neo boards using Springdale and Canterwood are totally sweet.  The 875P-NEO was rated as one of the best values in a P4 mobo on Anandtech recently.

MSI is great  I've used their mobo's exclusively (for my own machines and 25+ builds for friends) over the last 5 years, and never had a problem (other than morons who use their tower case as a holder for their beers, then tip said beer over into the computer )

Stay away from ECS. they are cheap,and not too bad, but I dont find them very stable. Stay away from ANY cheap power supply. (If it isnt dual fan, dont use it). I am not big on ATI drivers, but others seem to like them. Yes, I am pro Nvidia. My FX5600 plays Resistance really well

[Koolkid101 0]

Does an AMD processor not work with any games??

[Warin 0]

Does an AMD processor not work with any games??

My XP 1900+ and new Barton 2500+ play pretty much any game that I throw at them.  AMD is actually a far better gaming CPU for the most part, because you pay a lot less for similar performance.

[Koolkid101 0]

I don't know a thing about AMD, whats good in the AMD world?? The numbers seem to look slower........ I guess its a diffrent way of writing things

[blackdog~ 0]

A P4 at 2 ghz only clocks at 1.3 or so ghz when gaming (or so I've heard)

[Koolkid101 0]

Black Dog what kind of stats are with your comp?? Your comp must be awesome to get those pics.

[Col. Kurtz 0]

I don't know a thing about AMD, whats good in the AMD world?? The numbers seem to look slower........ I guess its a diffrent way of writing things

AMD chips are rated like this:

An Athlon XP2000+ doesn't mean the chip is 2000mhz. The chip is only something like 1700mhz, but the chip performs as well as a 2000mhz CPU made by another company.

AMD's are great chips and you shouldn't have any problems with games. Just make sure you get a good heatsink and fan as they can run pretty hot.

[Milkman 1]

Ah, I was wondering where my thread had gone. Thankyou for the help guys. One more question: are the Sound Blaster Live! cards any good?

[Warin 0]

I don't know a thing about AMD, whats good in the AMD world?? The numbers seem to look slower........ I guess its a diffrent way of writing things

AMD chips are rated like this:

An Athlon XP2000+ doesn't mean the chip is 2000mhz. The chip is only something like 1700mhz, but the chip performs as well as a 2000mhz CPU made by another company.

AMD's are great chips and you shouldn't have any problems with games. Just make sure you get a good heatsink and fan as they can run pretty hot.

Actually, the faster P4's disipate as much heat as any of the Athlon processors. The 'they run hotter' thing is really not true anymore

I'd stay away from the Soundblaster cards, if just for the fact that so many people have had problems with them. Dunno as much about Audigy... but my SB Live is sitting in the closet.

[Milkman 1]

I don't know a thing about AMD, whats good in the AMD world?? The numbers seem to look slower........ I guess its a diffrent way of writing things

AMD chips are rated like this:

An Athlon XP2000+ doesn't mean the chip is 2000mhz. The chip is only something like 1700mhz, but the chip performs as well as a 2000mhz CPU made by another company.

AMD's are great chips and you shouldn't have any problems with games. Just make sure you get a good heatsink and fan as they can run pretty hot.

Actually, the faster P4's disipate as much heat as any of the Athlon processors.  The 'they run hotter' thing is really not true anymore

I'd stay away from the Soundblaster cards, if just for the fact that so many people have had problems with them.  Dunno as much about Audigy... but my SB Live is sitting in the closet.

So in our opinion, what is the best sound card availible? (In reliablity that is)

[Warin 0]

I don't know a thing about AMD, whats good in the AMD world?? The numbers seem to look slower........ I guess its a diffrent way of writing things

AMD chips are rated like this:

An Athlon XP2000+ doesn't mean the chip is 2000mhz. The chip is only something like 1700mhz, but the chip performs as well as a 2000mhz CPU made by another company.

AMD's are great chips and you shouldn't have any problems with games. Just make sure you get a good heatsink and fan as they can run pretty hot.

Actually, the faster P4's disipate as much heat as any of the Athlon processors.  The 'they run hotter' thing is really not true anymore

I'd stay away from the Soundblaster cards, if just for the fact that so many people have had problems with them.  Dunno as much about Audigy... but my SB Live is sitting in the closet.

So in our opinion, what is the best sound card availible? (In reliablity that is)

If you are getting an Nforce 2 mobo (Which is what you should be getting if you get an AMD) just use the sound built onto the mobo. It has it's own processing, so it doesnt eat up a lot of cycles, and the sound quality is excellent

[Milkman 1]

*takes notes* Yes, I did plan on getting an AMD board, thankyou for the help. I will soon free myself from this ancient computer I am using now.

[bn880 5]

Well here is a nice review of 5 different sound boards, jsut remember, Creative has a major QA issue with Live Value cards, don't know about that Audigy stuff but I suspect it's a lot better.

I think I'll be getting a Hercules Fortissmo 3 shortly and selling this 5.1 Creative piece of crap. I don't even want it as one of those "to be antique" computer components.

[Badgerboy 0]

Lets start out with a bare bones gaming system shall we?

Firstly, the motherboard.

Asus A7N8X Deluxe nForce2 (Socket A) Motherboard (MB-019-AS)

Featuring the revolutionary new nForce2 chipset from Nvidia the A7N8X supports dual DDR400 RAM providing upto 6.4GB/s of memory bandwidth. It has all the usual features such as AGP Pro 8x and official support for 333FSB Athlon processors. It also offers Nvidia Dolby Digital Soundstorm technology, dual Nvidia & 3com LAN onboard, USB 2.0 and Firewire.

- 3 x 184pin DDR-SDRAM ports (Supporting up to PC3200)

- 5 x PCI slots

- 1 x AGP Pro (4x/8x) slot

- Dual Channel DDR400 support

- 2 x UDMA133 (supports upto 4 device)

- Serial ATA150 Controller

- 6 x USB 2.0 ports

- Firewire IEEE 1394 ports

- Onboard dual 3com & Nvidia LAN

- Nvidia SoundStorm / Dolby Digital Audio

- Nivida Nforce 2 Chipset

Only problem with this board is that is does not support SATA drives. (New sexy 150ATA spec hard disks)

Processors -

AMD Athlon "Barton" XP2500+ 333FSB (Socket A) CPU - Retail (CP-040-AM)

A new generation of AMD CPUs the AMD Athlon "Barton" XP2500+ features a total 640KB of full-speed cache memory - 128K L1 cache (64K instruction and 64K data) and 512K of L2 cache. Increased cache memory allows more information to be stored closer to the processor, leading to greater performance on software applications such as digital content creation, 3-D gaming, media encoding and office productivity. Featuring QuantiSpeedâ„¢ Architecture for Rapid Execution of Applications.

Decent price for a high spec CPU. You can go higher than this, but the price starts jumping up alarmingly.

RAM -

Personally I would go for TwinMOS DDR. Its bloody good quality and its dirt cheap. Your motherboard will support 3200 dual channel RAM, so we will want two sticks of 256mb 3200. Now this presents a problem, as many Nforce boards are having problems with dual channel memory. To ensure we have a reliable system, we will instead go for...

Corsair 512MB DDR XMS3200 TwinX (2x256MB) Platinum CAS2 (MY-017-CS)

A matched pair of 256MB XMS3200LL Low Latency memory modules - 512MB total - ideal for dual DDR based systems using nForce2 and Intel E7205 "Granite Bay" motherboards.

The matched pair will ensure you'll be running a reliable setup. Corsair is quite expensive for RAM, but some people still swear by it. If you don't choose a Nforce2 board, go for the TwinMOS.

This concludes the 'barebones' setup. If you fire some question at me regarding how big your hardrives need to be, and your vid card preference, I'll have a look for you.

EDIT - I'm working on another list (Heatsinks etc. Do you want a quiet system, or a a slightly louder one? Quiet = More expensive heatsinks and fans)

Additonally, do you need a new case, and what wattage is your powersupply? You will need to find out things like this, so you don't have to go back out and buy new ones later.

(Prices - In Å's so you'll need to convert them to dollars)

Motherboard Å80

CPU Å 70

RAM Å 110

You will probably be able to find them cheaper elsewhere, as stuff is generally cheaper in the US.

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

Nice list badgerboy, really nice and comprehensive, keep up the good work  

Oh and may i sneak in with a small question regarding cooling fans. The "problem" is that when i start my computer it gets really loud, louder then before. I dont know witch fan it is. My guess is that its the graphic card but i guess it could be some other too. The sound silences down after two or three minutes and usually stays that way. Is this normal or should i ask some friend with more knowlige in computers to check it out?

[Badgerboy 0]

I imagine its either the bearings on one of your fans, or a loose bracket. To check it out, simply take the cover of your machine, power it up, and unplug each of the fans to check. (Don't do this for too long though! ).

I went for a silent setup on my machine, so I use a 120mm fan for my CPU, with a adjustable reostat mounted on the front of the case. When my machine is idling, I can turn down the fan speed, and when I'm playing games I can crank it up. Using a 120mm fan means it can spin slower than smaller fans, but still shift the same amount of air. If you can't fit a 120mm on your heatsink, then buy a 'Zalman fan bracket'. This bolts on the scrwws by the PCI slots, and hangs the fan over the CPU. Bloody useful!

If you don't feel confident poking around inside your machine, ask a friend to look inside. I wouldn't want you hurting yourself, or blowing something up with static. (ALWAYS EARTH YOURSELF FIRST! Touch the bare metal of a radiator, or the metal of the case when its plugged in before handling any electronic components)

[SpeedyDonkey 0]

Yea untill i decide to buy a new computer i wont tuch this one too much. Once i tried installing a PCI card and ... well i  ended up droping the screws on the mobo ... And they kind of got stuck there   So much for the magnetic screwdriver  

Anyway, even if i get this strange sound at the startup it shouldbt be dangerous, right?

[joltan 0]

As there seem to be quite some hardware buffs in here: I got a AthlonXP 1700 on a KT266A mobo with 1GB ddr - as I don't have that much money available and the rest of the system is still good I thought I'd just go for a new cpu (which seems to be the biggest slowdown for me when playing OFP with high viewdistances). Now the question is: should I go for a Thoroughbred 2600+ (dirt cheap at about 100€ boxed) or for a Barton 2800+ with a bigger cache (at nearly the double price)?

I do not have the money to get a new motherboard at the moment, so the question real is wether it would work in my motherboard, and wether the performance gain compared to the Toroughbred would be significant enough to justify the higher price of the Barton?

[Badgerboy 0]

What video card are you running? Do you know what FSB your motherboard can support? Are you confident when it comes to overclocking?

[joltan 0]

What video card are you running? Do you know what FSB your motherboard can support? Are you confident when it comes to overclocking?

The graphics card is a GF4Ti4200 64mb. As for the motherboard: its one of the first KT266A mobos that came out (GigaByte GA-7VTXE) and I do not plan to overclock it, so 130MHz for the bord is the maximum I guess (also corresponds with the ddr266 ram modules I got).