My 1st Build - Need Suggestions & new to TechSpot

Adobe CS3 will run fine with 2GB. 4GB just for that program would be overkill IMO.
And you use a 286, either the 'you' in your name refers to yourself, or you're a former PR guy for Intel. Either way, you're not much help at all, so refrain from posting unless you have something useful to contribute to the thread. Or else, you've got to face the mods.

what is the difference between regular XP and XP64?

thanks...

XP x64 is just regular XP with some better security features and support for upto 128GB of RAM.

o...that's interesting...i also went to look some info about the x64...it says I have to run a 64bit processor..how do i find out if my processor is just that?

in that case..if it has better security..why doesn't everyone use that?

maybe i'll just stick with the 2gb...

thanks again!

hi again

urm with regards to your processor most cpus now are 64bit and especially dual cores
so you should be all safe

if your unsure then post up here again hehe im sure people will be happy to help
usually you should find the specs on the site that you find it.

with regards to the 64bit xp ... i duno really lol
to be fair most people tend to opt for aftermarket security tho if your gonna do that then avoid norton like the plague!! it'll thieve all your ram and half your processing power

if your going 64bit OS wise youve gotta think on what you really want Vista looks cool and is new but if you look at requirements on games etc they always double the RAM requirements if your using vista .. so i can only assume its a ram hungry OS
xp 64 has been about a bit an in comparisons between xp64 and vist 64 xp seems to run all the current programs more efficiantly because there are very little programs specifically designed for vista yet

so its up to you on the OS

vista has all the frills like media centre but xp has the years under its belt


im giveing vista a couple of years before i take the plunge just so microsoft has a chance to iron out the creases

lol

good luck

o boy....

who would of known building a pc is so much research..i feel like i'm in school again..haha...

i know there is going to be sp3....will that be applied to only XP Pro or to Vista users as well?

I think with your comment and my little knowledge on 64bit...i'll opt to the regular XP Pro

mucho gracias!

SP3 is for XP. Vista will have SP1.

i see youve turned to international thanks since you have been banned from using the english words lol

good luck with your build

yea...i only know how to type spanish...don't know how to type in chinese...or french...

anywho, i am planning to buy my parts sometime next year...when the sales come...i'll take pictures as i progress to assemble it since i don't even know how to assemble it. it will be a slow build process...but i'll get there! :grinthumb

kudos everyone!

Between these two:

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

and

ABIT IP35 Pro LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail

which one would you recommend?

thanks again!

The Abit board is an excellent overclocker but since you won't be doing much (if any) of that, get the cheaper Gigabyte one instead.

As you're on a budget, I'd say stick with the Gigabyte. It may not have as flexible BIOS settings as the Abit, but it's fine for most people especially if you don't plan to overclock or tweak your memory for better performance. Just be sure to check-up with proposed memory as the reduced BIOS settings could be tricky depending on what memory and what memory speeds you wish to run (ddr2-800 or ddr2-1066).

Another budget consideration would be to consider the Core 2 Duo 6550. Honestly, there isn't too much difference in performance between the 6750 and 6550, and for what you are doing there will likely be 0 difference. It only comes down to a slight improvement in framerate for very, very modern/heavy games and only if the videocard you purchase is also crankin'.

I've built two similar systems, including one for my SO for xmas on a budget which was:
Asus P5K - $126
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131180

Core 2 Duo 6550 - $169.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115030

2GB (2x1gig) Mushkin DDR2-1066 - $99 ($69 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820146720

Sapphire Radeon 3850 512MB - $199
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102715

The above setup is very good bang for the buck if you want premium parts. The P5K has tons of settings for memory, voltages, timings, runs at DDR2-1066 speeds for the new 1333mhz Core 2 processor, and just works solid.

The 3850 is fast and smooth, get's just shy of 16K 3dmarks 05, Vista 32-bit runs great. It's a good card of similar price bracket to the 8800GT.

thanks for the advice...very cool video card...:grinthumb

CPU overclocking, yes. Memory, not so much (speaking strictly of the BIOS settings- it doesn't have very accurate or comprehensive voltage settings or memory sub-timings.. AT ALL).

So it all comes down specifically to what memory you plan to run. Good memories (Mushkin, OCZ, Geil, g.skill, etc.etc.) shouldn't be a problem. Value memories? May have some initial setup problems... moreso if going DDR2-1066.

EasyTune is needed for this on the Gigabyte, so as long as you have memories that are happy at 1.8V, or can withstand short overvolting, as well as stable enough to boot without sub-timing tweaks, EasyTune works great. Cheaper/generic memories.. not so much, so the Abit and Asus boards win here as you can dial all this in with the BIOS.

Like all P35 boards, getting DDR2-1066 speeds or above with 4-sticks with a 333mhz CPU is difficult. Tuning this is even more difficult on the Gigabyte as you have to get to Windows in order to tune/set.

All this is a moot point though if only 2-sticks, good name brand memory and/or plans to run ddr2-800's.

do you mean 1333mhz? What do you mean by 333mhz? Is there a reason why DDR2 1066 cost way more than DDR2 800? Speed right and efficiency?

In that case, how about the MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail ?

I was lookin at the GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3P Rev 2.0 LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Ultra Durable 2, Ultra Cooling Intel Motherboard - Retail because of the USBs...but I guess I can just buy a card for that....

Seems like I'm better off with MOBO that takes DDR2 800...I'm also guessing that DDR3 will come out soon, but won't get rid of DDR2 800 anytime soon...so I should be good...

Core 2 Duo 6300/6400/6600 = 1066mhz FSB CPU's, which is 266mhz bus speeds.
Core 2 Duo 6550/6750/6850 = 1333mhz FSB CPU's, which is 333mhz bus speeds.


It's kinda like this with a 6550:

1333mhz FSB
(to cache)
333mhz
(to northbridge)
then either
400 or 533
(to memory)

DDR2-800's run at 400mhz speed, DDR2-1066's run at 533mhz speed.

DDR3 is actually out and the P35 chipset can support DDR3 memory, but it's very high latency and very expensive at this point in time, plus you'd need a specific DDR3 motherboard. Maybe in a year or so they'll get latency down but for now DDR2's perform similarly to DDR3's, but DDR3's being too early technology to leverage cost effectively right now (IMO) and have room to improve with future tweaks, lower latency and hopefully lower cost!

As you can probably imagine, 533mhz memory speed feeding the 333mhz pipeline can yield improvements to bandwidth feeding the cache, which in turn feeds the cores of the CPU. 400 -> 333 is still good (ddr2-800's), but you can usually squeek about 5-9% more bandwidth by using a higher multiplier of mem -> northbridge. Realize though that the P35 chipset is only certified for DDR2-800 memories, so Abit, Asus and Gigabyte are slightly overclocking the northbridge to pull-off DDR2-1066 speed + memory. This means compatibility can be a bit rough as well as difficulties getting 4 total sticks to run at 1066 (533mhz) speeds. Two sticks is no problem though.

You might want to look at that P5K plain. It has a bunch of USB ports, but lacks ICH9R for RAID, but includes a semi-crummy JMicron RAID controller... but this is only a consideration if you want to run your disks in RAID configuration. It has 6xUSB's on the back, and connectors for 4 more on your case or external for a total of 10xUSB. It's BIOS has every timing, sub-timing for memories, runs just about *any* pair of DDR2-1066's reliably (4-sticks is a pain though as with most for that speed), and voltage increments in 0.05 volts up or down. So whether you wind up with 1.8V memory or 2.35V memories, you can time them and volt them in the BIOS easily. Great overclocker too with vdroop circuitry and all.

Since I am totally new to computer hardware, I'm guessing RAID is a way to configure how people want to set up their hard disk? Is it a way to combine hard disks together? It's normally used for big servers right?

As for the volts on memory..the higher voltage the hotter it gets right?

I know I'm asking a lot of questions...I'm trying to learn...

So if it's better for just 2 sticks..I can always just buy two 2gb sticks or two 4gb sticks...right?

You also mentioned that P35 chipsets is only certified with DDR2 800...but what if the MOBO said that it can take DDR3 and DDR2 1066? Does this mean that the northbridge will only take 400mhz and the rest will be to waste?:dead:


Thanks again!

Home users use RAID these days as well. For example, a high-end gaming rig might use RAID-0 to stripe two or more drives to double or triple drive speed.

RAID can also be used for redundancy- i.e. mirror a pair of disks so that if one fails, the system still works and all your data is still secure; you just have to replace the mirror disk.

Generally, yes, but use this only when comparing the same memories together. Example- Brand X memory might run cooler at 2.0V compared to Generic Brand Y memory at 1.8V. In both cases, increasing the individual voltage will increase the heat the memory generates.

Voltage increases are necessary depending on the memory you are buying. If you look at the specs for your memory, it will tell you what voltage they need. Intel/P35's and most BIOS's default to 1.8V, so if the memory you are buying needs 2.2V to run, you may have a tough time getting the system to POST, get in the BIOS or get to Windows to use memory adjustment software depending on the motherboard.

Yes and no. If you want DDR2-1066 memories, good look finding 2gb sticks! I think Geil has some but they are $$$ and hard to come by. Mushkin used to have some too but they are no longer available. Finding 2gb sticks is hard.

Also, if you are planning to run a 32-bit OS, the system will only be able to use/see a total of 4gb of memory, so a pair of 2gb sticks = 4gb. And at that, you wont be able to use all 4gbs of RAM as some of that address space will be reserved for your hardware (videocard, i/o expansion addresses, etc.etc.)- so with 4gb of memory on-board, a 32bit OS will only have available 3.0gb -> 3.8gb depending on your installed hardware/devices.

It means the motherboard manufacturer is slightly overclocking the P35 Northbridge to run at 533mhz vs. the factory 400mhz.

Intel northbridge chips are fairly robust and other people run them @ 600mhz or higher just by cranking up the voltage and making sure they have good cooling on them.

Hope this helps!