[popeye]

I have a Pentium 3 600,384ram,60gig hard drive,100 bus speed,Radeon 64 DDR Video card. Pretty happy with this system. Have the opportunity of getting a Pentium 4 1.8ghz,512 ram,80gig hard drive, 400mg bus speed,and 64MB NVIVIDA Geforce2 MX Video card. All the other stuff I will transfer over to the new machine. The cost will be $1200. Forgetting the cost right now, is it worth the upgrade? Will it be that much faster and will the graphics be "that" much better? Or just wait for the better technology? Help and advice appreciated. Thanks.

[Drewdatrip]

If the oppertunity is there and the money isent that much of an issue, i would go with the upgrade. A general rule of thum is to upgrade when you cpu speed is doubled, so your in the clear. A few things though, I wouldent buy the Geforce, the Radeon will work just as good or better, and if your low on dough you could even lax on the hard drive, but then again more space is always better especially if you are a frequent downloader of games,movies etc.

-Drew

[Blackwar]

I have a P4 1800mhz and all the similar stuff u said and i couldnt be more happy with it...
the only problem i got is that i have a crappy video card.. if i get a better one, the package will be complete.. but i can tell ya, definitely worth it Oh yeah and dont forget to get DDR Ram with it, it'll make hell of a difference :cool:
BLACKWAR

[zErO]

I would have to agree with [b:a7c165be9c]Drewdatrip[/b:a7c165be9c], stick with the Radeon card forget going to Geforce 2( If u were thinking about Geforce 3...then maybe)
as for ur cpu upgrade, not a bad move P4

[Reverend]

[b:3830f099c6]Drew - Uni[/b:3830f099c6] Do you really rate the Radeon.
I've always used Geforces,but i notice from several posts that the Radeons seem to be gaining in popularity.

[zErO]

I have a P4 similar setup to what [b:7148c86d2c]popeye[/b:7148c86d2c] looking at which runs a Asus Geforce 2 TI(V7700), its not a bad card but I also have a Radeon 8500 64mb which i run in an AMD 1800+ system...swapped them over a few times to compare and I just think the Radeon wins out

[BAH]

Im using a Radeon, tried a geforce 3 ti500 and it cooked itself...

[Reverend]

Thanx for your comments guys.
Seems like my next card may be a radeon.

[FthrJACK]

err.. DDR? i think theres only one mother board out there that support intel AND DDR, and intel are suing the makers. you mean RDR, yes i am a picky b***h....

go for AMD! it will out perform and is cheaper.. and for $1200 you should be able to build a decent system any how never mind "upgrade" you could have 2 pc's....

[Blackwar]

[quote:c1dc52798d="FthrJACK"]
err.. DDR? i think theres only one mother board out there that support intel AND DDR, and intel are suing the makers. you mean RDR, yes i am a picky b***h....

go for AMD! it will out perform and is cheaper.. and for 00 you should be able to build a decent system any how never mind "upgrade" you could have 2 pc's.... [/quote:c1dc52798d]

i saw quite a bit actually.. more are comin out each day

[babis]

My opinion, the price tag could be lowered, but if money is no issue then go ahead.

I upgrade my system each time I can X3 the speed I had, but now with amd's new concept forget about the mhz and stick with performance I might have to modify my theory..

In conclusion: [b:120165e3a2]YES go for it[/b:120165e3a2]

[popeye]

Anyone have a similar situation going from a 3 600 to the one I am looking at?

[zErO]

I went from a P3 800mhz to the P4 1.8gig, and I will be honest with u the speed difference is noticable u do notice running time on alot of apps as well as overall O/S speed being faster...the general things like open folder windows etc..basically u can open alot of them without maybe getting the system lockups of an older proccessor, or the long wait before the icons appear in folders that u used to get....in short u can do alot more things Simultaneously the jump in bus speed is always great
getting a good motherboard can only enhace the performance of proccessor as well, thats why ur better of building a machine yourself...so if ur got the cash look at other options and doing it yourself cause u can find dirt cheap stuff, save ur self some dollars
i.e maybe AMD 1800+/and a good mobo

[babis]

I had a pII 400, and then just stripped all the good stuff it had (HD, Cd-RW, etc..) and put it in the computer I built..(amd 1.4, 512mb,etc..)


as Unimatrix-Zero mentioned you'll notice some really nice speed difference...

especially with multi-tasking

[XPerties]

[size=18:8942870947][b:8942870947]The master of upgrades is finally here.........Now listen[/b:8942870947][/size:8942870947]

Simple as this. i was taught a while ago and live by this saying.

[u:8942870947]If you can double your preformance then do the upgrade[/u:8942870947]

So regardless if you decided to go with Intel or AMD is your desison.But keep in mind the Temps and Prices on both CPU's. And the stability and cost of motherboards. I personal just got my first amd board and CPU (T-Bird 1400) and so far love it, Temps are high compared to INTEL but thats normal. Ive always been a INTEL guy and still love them but the prices are sicking. As far as DDR for INTEL, theres plenty out there and still rolling out, altho some may have over looked the boards that have RAMBUS Ram on them. Keep your eye on them.

Now VID cards is a strong subject for me. My personal option and fro alot of experiance as I build PC's all the time , stay away from [b:8942870947]Radeon[/b:8942870947] and Ill explain why. First off the driver support is awful, just plain sick. They have to learn to support the cards first before actually making a move on Nvidia. Second especially with this so called "awsome" VID card "8500" the pixel support and shading on alot of games still experiance sever promblems. Yah the benchmarks are awsome and i know 2 mods have this card on the board and thye will debate this crap with me but look at the track record. Read some reviews. Not to mention again its over priced and over rated. Now you can assume I would pick Nvidia for several reason. Drivers are great and alot of different choices out there. OS support better for Nvidia. Price is so much better. For ex. you can pick up the New [b:8942870947]Geforce 4 for $129.00[/b:8942870947] at best buy if you live in the states. If not you can find it some where else. of course Nvidia can be pricy , depending on what your looking for...ex. TV Out, S-Video.

So in conclusion the things I have done before building computers is 1. Ask for sugestions 2. Do alot of research on the products 3. Search for the best deals.

Ask anyone that knows me personaly on this board about my fun times building PC's and they tell you Im always doing s*** to my PC's. Well if you need any other info like review sites that are good or places to shop online that i can offer let me know. Good luck

-XPerties

[zErO]

Well there u go....input from the [b:2d3c457823]Master of upgrades[/b:2d3c457823] :Dlol
no really that is the only way to go about it....I think the word was [b:2d3c457823]research[/b:2d3c457823] plenty of places to do that (so happy hunting)
[b:2d3c457823]Geforce 4 for $129.00[/b:2d3c457823] - not a bad price, could be something to look into myself!!!

[Big Booger]

IS THE MX VARIETY AND I HEAR IT IS ABOUT ON THE SAME SPEED AS THE GEFORCE3 TI200, THOUGH I COULD BE MISTAKEN.

As for 1200 bucks, are you getting that CPU gold plated? Titanium case? What gives? I think someone is bending you over and reaming you.

if this is a complete system go for a pentium4 2.2 or 2.0, 512MB RAM, 80 Gig HDD, DVD + CDRW drive, Floppy, Firewire, GeForce4 Ti 4400, ALuminium case etc... I mean hell, you better really comparison shop. I think I could get the above system for around 1200-1300 dollars easily.

Tyan Socket 478Intel 845 chipset Pentium 4 1.5Ghz, 1.7GHz+,1.8Ghz, upto 2.2Ghz, d SDRAM PRICE FOR PHONE ORDERS ONLY, MENTION PRICE WATCH - Retail box Part#S2090 $ 69 Read This 2/13/2002 8:00:07 PM CT Justdeals.com
800-971-0525
510-441-6490

AGI 16X DVD-ROM RETAIL AGI 16X DVD-ROM w/DVD software RETAIL BOX NEW $ 38 15.95 2/13/2002 2:29:08 AM CT BPCLAND.COM
866-569-3288
909-839-2510

32x10x40 ; 32x record, 10x rewrite, 40x read 32x10x40 32x10x40 Internal EIDE CD-RW , oem , 1 Year Warranty $ 78 13.95+ 2/13/2002 11:57:39 PM CT House of Computers
888-633-2882
714-680-3788


Samsung 3.5inch 1.44 Floppy Drive 1Yr Warranty MUST MENTION PRICE WATCH - .floppy $ 3 INSURED $12.00 1/28/2002 4:03:47 PM CT Connect Computers
949-367-2875
--------------------------------------------------------------------
IN STOCK(SOCKET 478) Pentium® 4 2.2GHz (2200MHz) - NORTHWOOD P4 INCLUDES 30 Day Dealer Warranty - 400MHz FSB - 512K - .13 micron - OEM - 2.2 GHz (2200 MHz) $ 473 $7+ Fedex 2/13/2002 4:05:47 AM CT PC XPERTS
800-666-7551
216-297-1061
---------------------------------------------------------------------
OR

Pentium® 4 2.0GHz Processor 256K 400FSB System Bus Socket 478 CPU Intel P4 2.0 GHz 256K 400MHz FSB Socket 478 OEM (30 Day Dealer Warranty) $ 301 $6+FEDEXinsured 2/12/2002 10:17:34 AM CT PC XPERTS
800-666-7551
216-297-1061
------------------------------------------------------------------

NeutronUSA# 146394 64x4-PC133-512MB-Economy PC133 ( PC100) 512MB 168 pins SDRAM-High Density PRICE FOR PHONE ORDER, MUST MENTION PRICE WATCH - NeutronUSA 146394 $ 76 2-3 Day/ Insured $12.95 2/13/2002 5:52:35 AM CT NeutronUSA.com
800-813-4218
814-237-0902
PA 146394

Ultra Maxtor 80.0GB EIDE ATA/100/133 7200RPM, 6L080J4 3 Year Manufacturer Warranty $ 134 $12 & Up 2/13/2002 7:34:06 PM CT Esystor.com
866-968-0033
626-968-0033
CA 6L080J4

usTek
Video Cards PRICES FOR ONLINE ORDERS ONLY -ASUS V8440 GeFORCE4 TI 4400 128MB DDR w/DVID out. ETA 2/22/02 128MB 550MHz DDR, nVidia GeForce4 Ti 4400 chipset. 300MHz core clock speed. $ 321 Starts @ $10, insured 2/12/2002 8:57:56 PM CT Mark One Computers, Inc.
888-204-4789
847-437-9907
IL V8440

Skyhawk Eagel AL4350 Silver all aluminum case. 7bay mid tower w IEEE game & USB front panel control Price for phone order. Mention PRICE WATCH - aluminum gamer case. case mod available. very sharp looking. No 2nd grade power supply included. 3fans $ 60 17 insured 2/9/2002 6:59:46 PM CT OC System
877-785-3285
626 9340078 CA -

IEEE-1394 Fire Wire PCI Card, 3 Ports IEEE1394 Firewire PCI Card, TI Chipset, OEM package $ 24 $8.00 INSURED 2/11/2002 12:16:14 AM CT www.iitem.com
866-457-9426
626-442-8564

GRAND TOTAL without shipping,
with 2.2 northwood $1276
if you went with the 2.0 ghz CHIP
Grand total would be 1104.00

Just something to think about. By the way the prices come from Pricewatch.com

Consider that before they give it to you in the anus on your deal.
Big Booger

[XPerties]

those prices for the CPU are OEM. You do not want a OEM on any CPU. You can play your luck with other hardware but CPU is a big no no.

-XPerties

BTW. OEM are also know to be called white boxes

[Big Booger]

Ok bump the price up about 100-160 bucks for retail. I have never personally had any problems with OEM, though I know they make retail a bit better based on the fact that is boxed in a nice new wrapper and is aimed at the PC builder/upgrader who demands more, but I think as long as it comes with a warranty, and you want to minimize the cost, go for it.
Big Booger
But I know where you are coming from.

Pentium® 4 2.2GHz Northwood Processor, 400MHz FSB, Socket 478 Manufacturer Part#: BX80532PC2200D In stock! Retail. Three Years Warranty. (Memory not included) 512KB Cache, Intel NetBurst micro-architecture $ 541 starts at 11.74 2/13/2002 3:04:24 PM CT

Intel
Microprocessors PC Pentium 4 2.0GHz 400MHz FSB Socket 478 (No Memory) Processor Intel Part#: BX80531NK200G In stock! Retail. Three years manufacturer warranty. w/Fan and Heatsink. 256KB Cache $ 343 start ats $10.74 2/13/2002 3:03:18 PM CT GOOGLEGEAR.com
510-739-1890
. CA 80633-478

[XPerties]

OEM warrentys are usually 30 days to 90. Sometimes you might get a year if you buy a special heatsink.

Retail comes with 3 years and I believe you can get a additional 4 years from the place you buy it as a extended, but be careful with those extended.

-XPerties

BTW...OEM usually dont come with heatsink and if it does its a non-regulated INTEL un-certified heatsink which is another no no