Building a new computer - CPU? RAM? GFX? !!!!!!

[Shmee150]

Hi

I am after a new computer, and unfortunately don't really know enough about these things!

I like the look of the new Shuttle SD31P and have always been a Shuttle fan as it is necessary for me to take my desktop around with me every few weeks. I'm trying to build a computer to be a compromise between visual appearance and spec on paper against system power. I do a large amount of video processing and encoding so feel very much towards Intel rather than AMD because although I of course do play games, I am not a hardcore gamer 24/7!

So not really knowing where I'm going and having a decent amount of money to spend on this I'm looking at something along the lines of the following:

CPU - Pentium 4 D 3.2GHz probably - I've always been an Intel supporter and as explained above will go P4, but what other versions should I consider in the same £300-£400 price range? (or lower!)

RAM - I have never understood ram - please guide me - probably looking for 2GB of DDR667 but imagine that I know nothing at all - literally!

GFX - again, i currently have an X800 XT 256 PE but it's AGP, and the Shuttle I'm after is PCI-E so will be getting something else. Same? Or something newer? (how much are 7800s going to be?)

HDD - I have already got a 7200rpm Hitachi 400GB Sata drive, but probably would like a 10krpm drive to run the system files as well using my 400gb as storage, views on different options?

So basically I would be extremely grateful to hear your opinions on components I should change, bits I should/shouldn't get and general help on producing a pretty decent computer!

Thanks in advance!!

Shmee150

[Lu-tze]

if its not too late...

your spec looks good. 1 gig of RAM should be fine, although with only 2 slots, 2 gig will be more future prof. that said, i would stick with 1 gig if you need to save the money.

a radeon 800XT or 800XL would be fine also. nvidia's tend to take more power and produce more heat which is not ideal for shuttles

i'd just stick with the single hitachi drive that you already have. the raptor proably isnt worth it, even if you have space for it.

[Trippledence]

If i was you i would be tempted by an AMD Dual core.

http://www.tekheads.co.uk/s/product?product=604780

[oralpain]

No need for a 10k rpm SATA drive. The performance boost would be very minor over what you have now for the vast majority of uses (as in everything except contiuous access of small files). Just keep what you have.

I doubt you will be overclocking a pentium D a significant ammount in a Shuttle. Lower latency (anything below 4-4-4-x timings) DDR-2 would be the way to go. It would be less costly than higher end DDR-2 and have no noticeable performance difference. If you really need two gigs (2x1GiB) at a reasonable price, DDR-2 533 "value" memory can be had for a rather low price and all the major brands are of good quality, even on their cheaper parts.

If there are different PSU options on the shuttle, get the most powerful PSU possible. Shuttle has good quality PSUs, but the Pentium Ds draw massive amounts of power (and produce corisponding ammounts of heat) and you don't want to take any chances. I would cut down on this a bit by going for the 3Ghz Pentium D. It will save you some money and some power/heat. The performance differnce would be very small. There is really very, very little point in getting a top of the line Pentium D, unless you are some kind of blindly faithful intel fanatic. The only real edge they have on the AMD X2s is price and the 3.2Ghz version negates this advantage.

As for the video card, get what ever you can afford that will fit the case and PSU. The 7800s are rather expensive atm, not to mention physically huge. In your situation, I would probably sell the X800XT and get an X850XT in a month or two when the prices drop a bit more.

[StormPC]

If you must go P4 then you should look at a Dothan. They are the only CPUs that can keep up with an A64 made by Intel. All the other Intel chips get slapped around pretty good by A64s. The Dothan clock for clock is faster than an A64 at many things.

Nothing touches my dual core AMD64s in PCMark04 though.

[sawyen]

Yea.. I'd steer clear of any current generation Pentium 4/D... Dothan LOVIN would be your best bet if you're gonna keep up with any of the A64's.... check out some OC reviews on Dothan... bested even the mightiest FX-55 on certain applications!! But then again, I'm always an AMD fan... and no.. I did not buy my Office computer..

[menthel]

Did no one read his comments about video processing/encoding? For that he wants a P4 with a nice long pipeline thingy! Much faster, especially the new dual core ones!

[Shmee150]

Thanks for the views, and well noticed Menthel, I do a lot of that sort of stuff

From reading Tom's hardware guide; http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/2005...n_fx57-06.html about the FX57 it would appear that in terms of gaming the PD comes out good with Direct X 9 for FarCry and although lags behind significantly in some games, still produces more fps than my screen will handle.

When it comes to video editing: http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/2005...n_fx57-07.html The PD seems to come out very high. It is second to the Athlon 64 X2 4800+ but that is £200 more and I suppose is the most appropriate Athlon competitor, but I'm not too keen to spend that extra money.

I have another thread quering the processor in more detail and would be grateful if in this thead you people would be able to help me out with ram for my system. From my minimal knowledge on it I have found some Geil Value 2GB (2x1GB) PC5300 667MHz Value DDR2 Dual Channel. Does this seem suitable for a system with a 3.2GHz Pentium D, Nvidia 7800 GTX, 400GB 7.2krpm + 74GB 10krpm, etc... system?

Thanks again!

ShMeE

[oralpain]

Yea.. I'd steer clear of any current generation Pentium 4/D... Dothan LOVIN would be your best bet if you're gonna keep up with any of the A64's.... check out some OC reviews on Dothan... bested even the mightiest FX-55 on certain applications!! But then again, I'm always an AMD fan... and no.. I did not buy my Office computer..

Dothan is a nice chip, but it's not so great at encoding and pritty bad at multi-tasking, compaired to any equivalently priced athlon 64 or pentium4/D.