p4 gaming system

[chaser_22]

A friend of mine is thinking of buying a new computer, actually his first.
He has seen mine and played unreal and some other games on it and thinks my comp rocks (AMD XP 1800+, Gf 3 Ti 500, 384 Mb DDR CAS2 bla bla bla, I myself think it's pretty basic), so he asked my advice on what his comp should have.
Normally I'd recommend him an AMD based system, but because of Intel introducing new p4 processors which will run on an 533 Mhz fsb and is faster then anything AMD can offer I'm not so sure.

He wants the fastest gaming machine money can buy and I think he's going to be better of with intel.
For the moment I think intel will have the fastest solution available, at least untill AMD releases their new processor lines, which I hope will have a faster fsb, cause otherwise the performance gap between intel and amd will get even bigger.

Anyways, the thing is that I don't have any experience with p4's so I need your advice on what the p4 rig should have, which brand mobo etc.

[rangeral]

I wouldn't think about that 533 bus thing since its not out yet, actually don't keep up with intel myself, as we don't know if its going to be bugged out and who wants to be a beta tester. Your system sounds good maybe use a 1900 or 2g cpu with seagate hd and new 4600 gf should be plenty fast for anybody, the gf will be the biggest hit for speed in gaming.

Maybe somebody else around here knows more about the intel products.

[$1500-P4 gamer]

You should be ashamed of yourself being a moderator spreading propaganda!!!

"I wouldn't think about that 533 bus thing since its not out yet, "

WRONG, its been out since May 5th. Intel is sticking to their timeline for once while AMD is not! chaser_22- tell you buddy to get the 2.4gig B it has to be the B model to have the 533fsb and yes it will kick the snott out of any XP currently available, face it amd fans intel is in the lead for now! I know after so many months of braging its hard to swallow, but yet its true.

" as we don't know if its going to be bugged out and who wants to be a beta tester."

Who, what, where did that come from? I've never in my life had a experimental beta Intel anything! One bad cpu release the 1.13gig P3 and all o sudden Intel is beta testing people. Name one other besides the P75 years ago! Nope there is nop risk going with the new Intel flagship chip, none at all. And with intel atleast you know it will be available next year. AMD is slowly changing platforms here, the are transitioning with the new XP line but as the Duron it will fade away.



"He wants the fastest gaming machine money can buy and I think he's going to be better of with intel. "

No argueing with that if money isnt a issue get the 2.4B it is the fastest around right now! O'clocks over 3gig from what I've heard already and with standerd HSF yet to boot! Now thats fast!

[otheos]

P4gamer, not that fast.

The 533Mhz bus CPU's are out but as all intel released products it takes at least a month or two before they hit the market (at least here in Euroland). And then it's the RDRAM 1066 issue. It's not validated yet, and it's not out for sale anywhere in Euroland. Even if you found a chip and a mobo for the B-series P4's, RAM would be a good month away from having anytime now.

As for intel bugs (sorry errata) there have been a few in the past (latest and most embarassing the 860 chipset's PCI limitation to 90MB/s - this was a 533MB/s design btw). But this is not the issue here. A p4-B system will be at least 2x the price of a top of the range XP + DDR system, and the price difference does not in any means justify the performance difference. after all at 1600x1200 gaming resolutions it's the GFX card that poses the bottleneck and even a 6GHz CPU won't make the slightest difference.

So no, the 533MHz P4's are firstly not available, second, extremely expensive and most importantly need a (yet again) new motherboard (in case you upgrade from a 400Mhz system).

So for a pure gamer the XP (or slower P4 if you wish) offers a better option as the price difference can be spent on a GFX + nice 19in monitor (yes for the price difference of the XP2100 and the P4-B 2533 you get a nice Iiyama 19in) with absolutely NO performance difference! Remember yet, performance only matters on comparable things.

BTW if money is not an issue (is he paying himself?) buy a PS2 and an XBOX and a Gamecube and play until no more.... Still cheaper than a P4-B 2.5Ghz (cpu only hehehe).

[rangeral]

See! That got a rise outta somebody around here.

I stand corrected as you can see I don't keep up with it but this does take me back to the 820 board I believe and that little old memory problem it had with the huge, er maybe thats too strong, recall on the board and maybe that chipset accelerator that causes some problems and had to be corrected or uninstalled if I recall rite.

Actually you can't go wrong with either just what your pocket can afford, throw in the gf 4600 for the kicker should make any system wail.

[rangeral]

otheos to the rescue, thanks mate.

[Benssax]

My Next computer will be a P5!!!! when they come out probably will be 4 G chip hehe

[Spoonman3z]

If you can afford to wait a little...the 1066 rdram should be coming out relatively soon.

The fastest P4 out right now is the 2.53. I would suggest going with the Asus 533 board (I forget which letter denotes Rdram) with at least 512 megs of RDRAM.

Most PC800 rdram made in 2002 will hit 1066 anyway...that could be an option if you dont mind overclocking.

I agree that the 4600 is gonna be your best option for getting great gameplay.

If you wanna save some money (err...a lot of money)....go with a 2.4 p4 @100fsb with 512 megs of pc800 on an ASUS P4T-E. GF4 Ti 4400 (you can overclock it to just about the speed of a 4600 and its $100 cheaper). Go with an IDE 7200 drive(s) (whatever your personal preference is with drives). You could go RAID 0 and get a nice speed boost. SB Audigy sound card or santa cruz.

And dont forget the monitor...19" minimum. Viewsonic makes a few good ones in the $300 range.

You can do all this for pretty cheap ~1500-2000.

[$1500-P4 gamer]

"The 533Mhz bus CPU's are out but as all intel released products it takes at least a month or two before they hit the market (at least here in Euroland). And then it's the RDRAM 1066 issue. It's not validated yet, and it's not out for sale anywhere in Euroland. Even if you found a chip and a mobo for the B-series P4's, RAM would be a good month away from having anytime now. "

What, you dont need pc1066 at all!!!!!! You run pc800 at 3x and what do you get, 800mhz! This what intels going with on the 2.4B in the first place.
So much for that prob.


"So no, the 533MHz P4's are firstly not available, second, extremely expensive and most importantly need a (yet again) new motherboard (in case you upgrade from a 400Mhz system)."

Wrong again the 533fsb boards comeing out arent pc1066 certified either. My old Asus P4t-e runs it though and even pc1200 by sites reports. Shop with knowledge and you dont have that prob at all. Intel intends for you to run it at x3 = pc800! Didnt read up on it did you?


"So for a pure gamer the XP (or slower P4 if you wish) offers a better option as the price difference can be spent on a GFX + nice 19in monitor (yes for the price difference of the XP2100 and the P4-B 2533 you get a nice Iiyama 19in) with absolutely NO performance difference! Remember yet, performance only matters on comparable things. "

He said cost wasnt a issue so who cares how much cheaper the XP is its irrelevant, and the P4 2.4 B is FASTER! Second of all, P4's arent slower, the 2.4 is faster than any XP out right now. Third of all the P4's arent slower the 2.4B is the fastest chip out right now. Get the point? How many times do you have to see the benches and read the reviews to believe it or for it to sink in? Where do you get your benches? Sounds like you all have it against the P4 and even when the facts are in your face you cant admitt its in the lead right now. Oh well, I give up whatever, but the P4 2.4B is out allready, yes it is the most expensive and so is the fastest XP thats the way the whole flagship chip thing is, and two you dont need a new board AT ALL if you get the right one in the first place giveing you a easy upgrade path. Gotta say some can really distort this stuff out of proportion.

[$1500-P4 gamer]

Ops, your right the 2.53 is out. The new chip isnt a new chip at all folks! Its a rip off. The new !850 is noted by the E so its !850E. Means nodda, the just certified the 533fsb not even pc1066! This means it is 133fsb x 3 = pc800. Thats nothing the original couldnt do.The p4t-e useing the ICS clock generator is useing the original !850 chip and can run the 533fsb and pc1066! Save yourself the money and get the !850 the !850E is just a marketing ploy with notheing new other than usb 2.0 on some of the boards and I can live without that. But it seems to be working, I dont know how many people I've run into already that think you need a new board for the P4 533fsb and that the original !850 chipset isnt that same thing as the !850.

[E-Z-Eroc]

Dude ($1500-P4 gamer) In my opinion u should just buy a $1200 game system and put it next to ur $1500 P4 and watch that AMD spank it......
Just kidden, I love it when $1500 posts posts

Peace out!!

[$1500-P4 gamer]

Actually this sys. set me back $1000 not $1500. I used $1500 as in place of 1500mhz due to its a wimpy williamette 1.5gig. Bad pun but I couldnt resist. Anywho thats what my name means 1500 mhz P4 gamer, I just yanked the mhz and added the $- see what I mean. Peace, E-Z-Eroc.

[otheos]

He said cost wasnt a issue so who cares how much cheaper the XP is its irrelevant

Don't get it so personal, nobody cares what's faster, I don't have any intel or AMD stock, nor do I have AMD posters in my bedroom, so calm down.

When you ask your dad to buy you a PC, I doubt cost is not an issue. And I already said, for the price of that P4 2.53G alone you can almost get all three PS2/XBOX/GCube consoles and play until you die.

In all matters, buyng the absolutely top of the line is the dumbest idea. You pay extremely high prices for bragging rights that are gone in a month (actually whoever brags he spend $500 just for a CPU needs serious medical attention).

Be smart, don't be a victim of marketing. Stay cool and spend your money wisely. If you need comfort for your rhetorical questions, YES THE NEW P4 IS THE FASTEST x86 CHIP IN THE WORLD!

[[ja] LoCo]

Case - Lian-Li PC-75 Aluminum FULL tower
Power Supply - ENERMAX EG651P-VE 550Watts
Processor - Intel Pentium 4 / 2.53GHz Northwood 512 Socket
478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus
Mother Board - ASUS P4T533-C Intel 850E high-bandwidth
1066MHz RDRAM
Memory - CORSAIR MEMORY RAMBUS RIMM 4x512MB
800MHZ, 184Pins
Video Card - Asus V8460 Geforce 4 Ti 4600 chip 128mb DDR
CD-RW - PLEXTOR 40x12x40 CD-RW
Hard Drive - MAXTOR 60GB 7200RPM Ultra ATA133/100, 2MB
Sound Card - HERCULES GAMING THEATER XP 6.1
Network Card - 3COM 905CX-TXNM PCI 10/100
Monitor - NEC/MITSUBISHI FE1250+ 22" ( Black )
Mouse - Logitech Mouseman Dual Optical
Keyboard - ORtek MCK-800 Keyboard 104 Key PS2 ( Black )
OS - Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
Speakers - Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 THX Certified 5.1 500Watts
Floppy - Teac 1.44MB 3.5 Inch
Cables - 2 ATA 133/100 Round and 1 Floppy Round

Grand Total $4,400 +/- US

or Retail Brand name - Gateway 700XL $4040 +/- US

One of these 2 boxs will work just fine for all your games

[lito pospos]

As you said quote,,,,,, you need the fastest gaming machine money can buy.
Go for strait forward use and friendly user I recommend playstation ll or nitendo, how about that?