My current "new" gaming box is a Gigabyte Intel 2.8C with a gig of ram and a X850 AGP board.

I have a chance to sell the system (with a 9800 pro) and upgrade to a PCI-E based system, what who be a good suggestion?

Anyone looking for a new X850 AGP?

Chances are I'm going to retain the SATA Raptor HD and IDE DVD burner, so the new platform would have to have both IDE and SATA.

I also wish to retain Windows 2000 Pro.

System doesn't have to be bleeding edge, just a nice upgrade from my current AGP platform.

Hay Gary AsRock is kinda low budget stuff if you want good brands go for ABiT, ASUS, Gigabyte, EPoX  & MSI instead, really at the local computer store I worked we had  a very bad experience with Asrock boards lot's of RMA's and so on, that's a low budget brand from ASUS , it uses cheaper parts which easily cause instabillity.

ABiT, ASUS, Gigabyte, EPoX  & MSI have top notch stuff, anyways my advice is better add a little extra for top quallity than for low budget.

wrote on 11.10.06 at 20:32:10:

ABiT, ASUS, Gigabyte, EPoX  & MSI .

These are brands I would like to stick with or other brand name.

If building a house the foundation is everything.

So... for a gaming box should I use Intel or AMD?

Chipset?

for the best gaming experience Intel has the serious lead gary, but for a good alternative AMD has a very good second place is cheaper with the parts as well, stabillity is on both camps very good.

But Intel's Conroe Core is certainly alot faster than AMD's AM2 socket setups, thier E660 is one of the cheapest Core2 Dou's out there it can beat a FX62 in many cases when running 32bit apps, in 64bit the FX62 takes the lead.

It's like what Dex said in StarWars: Attack Of The Clones" --> It all depends on what you prefer and how big your pocketbook is ;)

for the best VGA experience for OpenGL apps and Linux, NVidia's Geforce 7950GX2 is the best, for Direct3D apps ATi's CrossFire is the best for Glide well heh we got our 3dfx Voodoo5 & MAC 5500 PCI's righty ;)

Hi @Gary! ;D

If you're going for a new mainboard then opt for... ;)

8) SOLTEK 8)

These mainboards are ROCK STABLE - best Athlon boards I've ever used! 8)

EPoX and Gigabyte are also good! ;)

Avoid MSI - I've heard mixed results about the mainboards... :-/

GFX wise... :)

nVidia have the edge for speed - but less image quality. :P
ATI have sharp image quality - but not as speedy at times. ::)

It's up to you really - we're just giving advice! :D

hmm you mean the Soltek Dragon series Paul, yeah forgot about that brand hehe it's not well known here but yeah it's good like the brands I listed ;)

the Best board out now is from Gigabyte is uses All-Solid capacitors all over it, and it also seemed to be the best board out there for a Conroe / ATi setup:

Gigabyte GA-965P-DQ6
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/motherboard_productimage_ga-965p-dq6_big.jpg

Intel P965+ ICH8R chipset

  1. Supports Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad-Core / Core™2 Duo processor
  2. First Quad BIOS solution for Multiple protection
  3. Supports new generation Microsoft operation system Windows VISTA
  4. Industry's first All-Solid capacitor motherboard design
  5. Unique 0dB cooling design with Crazy Cool and Silent-Pipe
  6. Quad Triple phase power design for ultimate system stability
  7. Dual PCI-E graphics interface for extreme gaming performance
  8. Supports high performance Dual Channel DDR2 800 memory
  9. Features SATA 3Gb/s with Quad eSATA 2 interface
 10. Home theater quality 8-channel High Definition Audio
 11. Supports both Dolby and DTS high quality audio functions.
 12. Optimized PCI-E Gigabit LAN and IEEE 1394 connection
 13. Ready for next generation Quad Core processor

My advice would deffinitely be to go for a top quallity reliable brand as Gigabyte, EPoX, ASUS, ABiT, Soltek or MSI

Keep the ATi Radeon X850 AGP or buy a new PCIe?

Sell the x850 AGP and move to PCI-e platform.

Spend more money and buy an Intel Core 2 Duo?

I'd have to see the numbers.

On the budget and invest in an AMD Athlon64 X2?

Not sure yet, price vs performance between Intel & AMD would be nice.

This box would be *just* for gaming, so multi-threading/multi-tasking not an issue. Since it is also just for gaming, securing data isn't an issue either.

1024MB DDR2-SDRAM or 2048MB DDR2-SDRAM (or upgrade to 2048MB on a later date)

Start with 1024, upgrade to 2048 if required.

Disk capacity, performance and reliability? (Seagate 320GB in RAID0 and one 320GB normal? ;D)

I have a 74 gig SATA Raptor now that works well for my casual gaming needs. Typically after I'm done playing a new game I uninstall if the room is required for other games.

I will state I'm not all that keen on the ATI chipsets and would perfer intel or well tested VIA chipset.

nothing wrong with ATi chipsets, they kinda rule since they don't need drivers to function, they just work and no driver needed for them :)

My Athlon64 X2 4400+ system has the ASUS A8R32 MVP Deluxe Motherboard with ATi RD580 CrossFire XPress 3200 chipset, it needs no driver to function and thereby has no driver to function it just works they way every other chipset should, driverless ;)


It works great with Win2K pro as XP Pro versions no problems as all. since I have it I know what it is capable of and really it offer alot like a normal SMP system would too, it's great for running a game and running another application at once without a hitch, about the ram, I would advice 2x 1GB for gaming at Ultra High settings @ 1600 x 1200 or greater.

with many games 1GB ram is just to less in cases that are greater than a 1600 x 1200 setting.

It's a nice thing to play around with a X1900 CrossFire Edition can be added for CrossFire mode too, anyways a single X1900 XTX and a VoodooMAC 5500 PCI as VGA2 backs everything up just fine.
http://www.3dfx.ch/gallery/d/14196-2/BOOMHEADSHOT+_amp_+Uber+Micro.JPG

Haven't used it much the last few weeks , my CRT Died oh well not too shabby it did serve me for like 10 years.
Had plans of selling it dunno why, since I make more use of 3dfx cards instead of it's mighty gear in it, dunno If I would really sell, just had a few depressfull times, just don't want to do the wrong thing, maybe selling it isn't such a good idea afterall, dunno what to do really.

But to get back to the point, if you don't like ATi go for a Nvidia setup thier drivers rock and the cards a very basic to config, as where with ATi cards they expect more care while installing a new driver, you would have to remove all the old drivers as WDM drivers to get the greatest advantage out of it's newer drivers, I advise Omega drivers for ATi cards, since they have better Imagequallity and are faster in games instead of 3D Mark which is really none of importance, it's the applications you need it for hehe, my way of thinking.

wrote on 12.10.06 at 00:20:12:

nothing wrong with ATi chipsets

1) There have been some reported issues, I perfer to err on the side of caution rather then cutting edge.

2) No other video board will be in the system, if I wish to do some VSA-100 gaming I have other systems for that ;-)

I don't have any desire to run NV SLI or ATI crossfire, usually I game at 1024 x 768 with everything turned on.

Issues like what?
I really never had issues with it really ;) It's just that I use my 3dfx cards more often these days, that ATi RD580 chipset has the ULI M1575 South bridge , with that chip you are in good hands no SATAII problems at all, if you have a SB450 southbridge then there are conflicts, but since I have the ULI M1575 no problems found here.

Anyways the Intel 965P chipset is great for Conroe setups though , which that nice Gigabyte has:) for AMD there is a VIA chipset somewhere, can't get to it's name though, the disadvantage with AM2 that is makes useage of DDR2 ram.

with 2x DDR400 witha  S939 setup in dual DDR you outperform all Dual DDR2 667, since that DDR2 has longer latencies, DDR2 800 would be needed just to beat DDR 400 by a margin of 5% in overall application performance.

So therefore I chose a S939 setup with good ole DDR 400 from Corsair XMS Platinum.


ohh for 1024 x 768 x32 then I would go for an AMD setup hehe a S939 setup would then be the very best choice ;)

they are very cheapo and get the job done fine :) just don't get a NForce4 setup since HDD crashes with some types of HDD's do occur.

VIA K8T890 Pro chipset is a nice one :) there are a few boards with that, like this one from EPoX :)
http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/products_content.php?ps=432

or this one from ASUS :)
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=15&l3=143&model=376&modelmenu=1

this one from Gigabyte :)
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2296&ProductName=GA-K8NF-9-RH

Looks tempting-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128017

The onboard sound is no big deal as I have a SB Live board or might upgrade to the latest and greatest SB.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820231102

Some ram (just throwing this ad out as a reference)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116240

Pentium D 950 Presler 3.4GHz 2 x 2MB L2 Cache

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115004

Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116230

Pentium 4 531 Prescott 3.0GHz 1MB L2 Cache

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116213

Pentium D 820 Smithfield 2.8GHz 2 x 1MB L2 Cache

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819116003

Pentium 4 641 Cedar Mill 3.2GHz 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T

okay Gary to be clear on the best CPU of all , PLEASE go for this one mate:

Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache
That one will cruss all the others, really my Intel Pentium4-E Prescott with Hyper Threading, 800Mhz FSB & 1MB L2 can't even beat it in single core apps heh, the Conroe crushes everything, the Core2 Duo E6400 runs @ 2.13Ghz but that doesn't say it's slow, they are based on Pentium3 technology and that mixed with Pentium-M, en Core, which make them alot more powerfull than the Pentium4 designs which used Netburst technology.

The for the mobo there are these models :)

ABiT AW9D:
http://www.abit.com.tw/page/en/motherboard/motherboard_detail.php?pMODEL_NAME=AW8D&fMTYPE=LGA775
http://www.abit.com.tw/upload/products/aw9d_angle_500.jpg

ASUS P5B-E:
http://www.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2=11&l3=307&model=1347&modelmenu=1
http://www.asus.com/999/images/products/1347/1347_l.jpg

EPoX EP-5P945-3:
http://www.epox.com.tw/eng/products_content.php?ps=439
http://www.epox.com.tw/assets/2006/07/18/product8876958858.jpg

Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 The best imho, because of Solid capacitors ;) and Layout.:
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2361&ProductName=GA-965G-DS3
http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/FileList/Image/motherboard_productimage_ga-965g-ds3_big.jpg

MSI P965 Neo:
http://www.msi.com.tw/program/products/mainboard/mbd/pro_mbd_detail.php?UID=744
http://www.msi.com.tw/images/product_img/mbd_img/7235_B.jpg

hmm couldn't find a Soltek, since thier site has been down for days, Hey Paul maybe you know a Soltek one?

wrote on 12.10.06 at 11:24:18:

okay Gary to be clear on the best CPU of all , PLEASE go for this one mate: Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz 2M sharing L2 Cache That one will cruss all the others,

In what applications?

Article with benchmarks:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2802


Introduction article:
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2795

Take a good look at page 4. It shows the performance difference between a Core 2 Duo with 4MB L2 Cache over one with 2MB L2 Cache.

Hey Gary I did mean in allmost every application the Core2 Duo wins ;) They just rule, gonna be building one also soon :P but then with an E6700 since I don't do Overclocking, never really needed :)

wrote on 12.10.06 at 15:14:20:

Hey Gary I did mean in allmost every application the Core2 Duo wins ;)

So it would seem based on the benches! Very impressive performance at lower mhz.

yeah they are really freaky pieces of enginering :)

Bah, bench marks, bench marks. Intel maybe faster but I'll stick with AMD when I get around to building my new box. AMD since the first Althlons came out and I'm not planning switching anytime soon. AMD is the way to go, you can find AMDx2 64 4600+ with AM2 motherboards (DDR2) for around 360 on both price watch and newegg. Pretty decent machine for the money I would guess.

hmm AM2 with DDR2 has poor performance comed to AMD with S939 with DDR1, and Conroe beats both setups, even an A64FX60 and 62 can't even beat from a much cheaper Core 2 Duo 6400 & 6600 CPU's

and for cheaper money you can get an E6400 with DDR2800 and a good mobo and beat that X2 4600+ setup. ;)
Those benchmarks are very reliable, since that Anandtech is one of the most reliable souces ::)

Well I'm not a fanboy for AMD or Intel I go for the fastest and the best and Intel has that place.

Selling off my A64 X2 4400+ and moving on to an E6700 with OCZ Platinum TwinX 2x 1GB DDR2 800, upcomming GeForce 8800 GTX and an Asus P5W DH Deluxe with the Intel i975X chipset :) for CrossFire support, but I'm gonna use it for my 8800 GTX and X1900XTX as VGA 1 & 2 and the VoodooMAC 5500 PCI is VGA3.

Anyways this beast is mainly meant for DX9.0C and DX10 games, still wanna test that MAC 5500 PCI with FSAA x4 in some Glide games :) I wonder how it will go :)

I'm content to stay with an intel gaming platform at the moment (though I have had AMD gaming boxes in the past) and of course my V5-6000 system is Barton 3000+ powered!

Not to mention the machine I'm using to make this post (KT-333 & AMD 2000+)

The early Athlons rocked!

yeaps, My old Athlon was an AMD Athlon Thunderbird B 1200Mhz it PWNed all Pentium4's till 1700Mhz :)

the AthlonXP was also aan exellent CPU it was also allround the fastest in gaming, especially with 3dfx cards AthlonXP's are the best to get.

Still use my AthlonXP Thoroughbred-B 2700+ , never gonna get rid of it either, it's just my old PC for abit of everything, VGA 1 is Leadtek GeForce 6800 AGP 128MB, VGA 2 = 3dfx Voodoo 5 5500 PCI 64MB :)