hyper threading new build

[realtor388]

I am going to build a new computer this year. It will be my first build. I was thinking of going with the new mother board intel has with hyper pipeline threading. But I read that you need the 3.06 cpu, and at $660 I have decided I should go in a different direction. The computer will be used for gaming and surfing the net, maybe some photo work. I was also thinking of going with raid 0. Does anyone have any help here. I would like to stay under $1,300. If I can. I am not into over clocking. Just want a good fast stable system.

[grasshopperbe]

Well everything depends on your needs off course.
I built my new pc yesterday,
i used an abit nf7s, athlon 2200, gf 4 ti4200 128 mb, maxtor 60 gb 7200rpm
. i just tried the game mafia on it and its runs very nice at maxed settings.
havent tried more on it yet.

When you say gaming, could you tell a bit more about which types?
in general i think you can say that strategy games use less 'power', while things like FPS and certaily racing games like f1 use heaps of power.
Off course there are exceptions.

I think with something in the range of
2500 mhz, new geforce 4 ti or ati 9500
(pro) you should be able to get everything running fine.
For motherboards the top brands are
asus and abit i think, furthermore soyo and most msi mobo's are pretty good
(although some will not agree about msi im afraid)
for the cpu, i usually choose amd for the better prices (also in mobos), but this is a choice you have to make personally.
(have been more than enough intel/amd wars here :-)

i dont really know about your raid question, put personally i dont think that will make so much more difference
I read something about raid going to
ata 150 (ide is 133 now).
you should certainly see for more replies, and maybe look a bit trough the forums about for other posts about this
(there are many) . I think you'll be able to get a good idea of what you want to build .
i think a good advice is you should always sleep a night over it before you make a final idea.

[glc]

You don't *have* to get a hyperthreaded CPU now - those boards will take standard P4's and you can upgrade it later. I'd go ahead and get the Asus P4G8X or P4PE and throw in something like a 2.53 for now.

I personally don't see the value of IDE raid. A single big 7200 rpm 8mb cache drive will do the job just fine and save you money - and SATA 150 drives are not worth the hefty premium yet - they aren't really much faster than a good ATA100 or 133. When SATA 300 arrives the story will be different.

[realtor388]

I am going to be playing games like unreal 2 the awakwning

[realtor388]

I have read that raid 0 is faster for games than going with one hd, is this true?? thanks for your info guys.

[HAL9000]

I agree with glc here, IDE RAID isn't worth the trouble it can cause and you're not going to see that much of a performance gain in games. Get yourself a motherboard that supports hyperthreading, but drop to a lower CPU, then get a huge graphics card, then your gaming will be spectacular.

[AzCoastie]

I took GLC & Hal's advice and went with the P4PE w/ a P4 2.53... Used the $ to get a 9700 pro and let me tell you... It's fast!

[Northernwinds]

Im waiting for the Canterwood my self, seems like its gunna be a pretty nice chipset.

Read here;
http://inquirerinside.com/?article=8581

[drewK7VT2]

yeah, I agree with glc that ide (especially onboard) raid is kinda pointless. onboard raid controllers tend to be inherantly software-driven, so that's something i avoid. on the other hand, a good-brand 7200rpm hard drive will perform almost as well. I too, am waiting for a board with SATA-300 and a hard drive that benefits from it, before i upgrade again.

[realtor388]

any idea when the new boards and hard drives are coming??

[Spyda]

there will soon be lower clocked CPUs coming out with hyper threading, like the 2.4