New System: Where and what to buy?

[[AK]Leonidas]

I'm looking to buy a new top-of-the-line system in August, but I'm not up to date on the latest in hardware considerations. I appreciate any advice on how to do about this. Specifically:

What vendors should I be looking at? Right now I'm looking at Alienware, but they only sell Intel chips, and I've heard that AMD chips perform significantly better at the same clock speed. But the fastest AMD chip they're sellling right now is 1.4ghz, and the fastest Intel chip is 1.7 or 1.8. So does the per-cycle advantage of the AMD overcome the raw speed of the Intel?

Any specific hardware should I be looking for? I know I'll be getting a GeForce 3. It looks like I've got no choice but to get a Soundblaster card.

What's the difference between SDRAM, Virtual Channel SDRAM, and RDRAM?

[Zorro]

[AK]Leonidas Posted Something Similar To:
I'm looking to buy a new top-of-the-line system in August, but I'm not up to date on the latest in hardware considerations. I appreciate any advice on how to do about this. Specifically:

What vendors should I be looking at? Right now I'm looking at Alienware, but they only sell Intel chips, and I've heard that AMD chips perform significantly better at the same clock speed. But the fastest AMD chip they're sellling right now is 1.4ghz, and the fastest Intel chip is 1.7 or 1.8. So does the per-cycle advantage of the AMD overcome the raw speed of the Intel?

Buy AMD, buy AMD, buy AMD. The 1.4G Athlon will smoke ANY current P4 in most any application, save the possible exception of Q3A (which is SSE-optimized). Couple that with the fact that you have to pair your P4 with RDRAM and you've got a more expensive, lower performing technological cul-de-sac. (You'll pay about $120 more for a P4 1700 than an Athlon 1400 and about 150% more for RDRAM vs. DDR SDRAM.) Your timeframe permits you to grab some very cool technology, which I'll address later on.

Any specific hardware should I be looking for? I know I'll be getting a GeForce 3. It looks like I've got no choice but to get a Soundblaster card.

Definitely a big yes on the GF3. I HIGHLY recommend the Hercules Game Theatre XP sound card. It's cheaper, has much better performance in games and (most importantly) in Windows 2000/XP. Since we're on the subject of sound hardware, I would also recommend the Klipsch Promedia 4.1/5.1 speaker setup. 400W and 110dB of peak audio output (500W and 113dB for the 5.1) and just plain beautiful all the way around.

What's the difference between SDRAM, Virtual Channel SDRAM, and RDRAM?

There's actually a ton of differences that I won't delve into, but basically:

SDRAM: Semi-older technology. Uses a single data rate (one process per clock cycle) clock stream to perform data moves over a 64 bit data bus. PC133 SDRAM is capable of moving 1.064 GB/sec (64 bits = 8 bytes * 133MHz = 1.064 GB/sec). The real technology is DDR SDRAM which uses a double data rate (two processes per clock cycle) clock stream over the same 64 bit data bus. PC2100 DRAM runs functionally equivalent to PC266, giving a total throughput of 2.138 GB/sec. Interleaved (load-balancing data swaps across multiple data buses, i.e. across more than one stick of RAM) DDR channels can go 4 or even 8 GB/sec, though I'm currently unaware of any DDR chipset that supports 2:1 or 4:1 interleaving.

VCSDRAM: To be honest, I don't know much of anything about this "standard" other than the fact that it's on it's way towards technological extinction.

RDRAM: "Standard" held by RAMBUS (aka SATAN, Inc.). This technology has a 16 bit data bus, but substantially higher clock rate. The fastest of the breed is the PC800 RDRAM which has a DDR 400MHz bus speed. The total throughput of PC800 RDRAM is 1.6 GB/sec (16 bits = 2 bytes * 800MHz = 1.6 GB/sec). The P4 helps that number a bit with the implementation of 2:1 bank interleaving, giving the memory an effective throughput of 3.2 GB/sec. However, while the throughput numbers are impressive, the more serialized nature of RDRAM data transfers (1/4th the data bus) and the fact that RDRAM is a protocol-based memory system (i.e. not just raw exchange of data), memory transfers have increased latency and increased overhead when compared to SDRAM technologies. If you're really a glutton for punishment and what to read more than you could ever digest on the topic, I recommend This over at Tom's Hardware.

If I were to design a system to buy in the next few months, here's what I'd get:

2 x 1.X (whatever's the fastest) GHz Athlon4 MP CPUs
1 x Asus 760MP-based motherboard (not available as of yet), preferably one with IDE RAID capabilities
2 x 256M PC2100 DDR SDRAM
2 x Globalwin CAK-38 Heat Sink Fans
1 x Lian PC-68 Case
1 x Enermax 550W Power Supply (Part Number: EG651P-VE)
1 x GeForce3 (or GeForce3 Pro/Ultra if that's becoming available)
1 x Hercules Game Theatre XP Sound Card
1 x Klipsch Promedia 5.1 Speaker System
2 x IBM 60GXP 75GB ATA/100 HD's (4 if the motherboard supports RAID 0+1, for performance AND fault tolerance)
1 x Windows 2000 / XP
1 x Pioneer DVD-116 DVD Rom
1 x Plextor 24x/10x/40x CDRW
1 x Intel-based network adapter (MFR not all that important)

That should just about do it. I left out some particulars like floppy drives and all that, but that should give you the general idea. Best of luck. And if you decide to undertake the build-your-own process, you'll be in good company over here. Just ask NR if you have any problems with assembly.

[NeverRetreat]

lol...or Goob...heh

[[AK]Leonidas]

Wow, thanks for all the info! I guess the benchmark comparisons on AMD's site aren't just propaganda.

One more question: Why the dual processors? I thought those were just for servers. Will dual processors actually help with playing games?

[[AK]Palooka]

I highly recommend www.mwave.com for ordering your system components. The prices are great and the service is excellent. I have almost exclusively used them for a few years now.

I second Zorro on the Klipsch ProMedia 4.1 speaker system. I have it myself, and you cannot do better, period.

[[AK]Leonidas]

That's quite a site, Palooka. Just what I was looking for: Someone to sell me exactly what I want and put it together for a modest price. Now I just have to figure out exactly what I want...

[[AK]Leonidas]

This computer shopping is going very well. Between Zorro's info, the technical hardware site he pointed me to, and the vendor site Palooka pointed me to, I'm almost there. I just have a few questions left:

How do I know what wattage I need on my case?

What is ECC vs. non-ECC RAM, and does it matter?

Is there much performance difference between RAM with a CAS latency of 2 versus 2.5?

Is there any benefit to having an extra case fan or an extra fan that plugs into a PCI slot, or are all the cooling issues really at the processor and on the video card?

[Zorro]

Originally posted by [AK]Leonidas
This computer shopping is going very well. Between Zorro's info, the technical hardware site he pointed me to, and the vendor site Palooka pointed me to, I'm almost there. I just have a few questions left:

How do I know what wattage I need on my case?

That's a tough question to answer largely because the answer that you get from anyone will largely be based upon opinion... However, in MY humble opinion, I can't imageine why you would want to buy anything less than a 350W supply, especially one manufactured by Enermax (there is not a single manufacturer that does any better...trust me...). To play it safe, I would definitely consider the 450W version of the supply since it will work with virtually every CPU of any speed of any power consumption you can possibly imagine...

What is ECC vs. non-ECC RAM, and does it matter?

ECC RAM has error correction facilities built in to correct the errors that can be created by spurious cosmic rays...seriously...no kidding... While it doesn't happen often, it DOES happen, so it could potentially save your bacon once or twice throughout the year... One minor downside is that you'll see a VERY VERY small performance degradation with ECC, but it's not really worth considering... One thing you DON'T need to worry about, on a semi-related topic, is Registered vs. Non-Registered RAM. It doesn't make any difference, so don't pay for it. Just make sure you buy your RAM from Crucial or Mushkin. Accept no substitutes (unless you can verify that the RAM is made by Corsair).

[/b]Is there much performance difference between RAM with a CAS latency of 2 versus 2.5? [/B]

Yes! Buy nothing but CAS 2. If you can find it, buy PC2400 (in lieu of PC2100).

[NeverRetreat]

Leo...shouldn't you be asking advise on diapers, burping, how to sleep during work, and new father advise?

I bet your going to get this new computer for baby monitoring...heh

[[AK]Leonidas]

Heh . . . That's what I tell the wife.