06-12-2005
choosing hardware is, well hard…..
So it’s that special, magical time which comes in the life of every geek: time to get a new computer. Since the day I got my system I had planned on a 2 year replacement cycle. The process has been a little more complicated then I planned. The hardware market is significantly more complicated than it was two years ago. Here’s a look at the process I went through in specing out my system. This can also be regard as a request for comment from those who know something about hardware.
Base System
I settled on a basic system profile rather quickly, what was really at issue was the accompanying cpu with any motherboard/ram changes that needed to be made
2GB of RAM (speeds noted below)
250 GB SATA Hard Drive (with plans to set up a RAID eventually
Floppy drive
cheap DVD rom drive
reuse of existing dvd burner
Plain Case with 400W power suppy( I wanted this case but have to save some money somewhere).
ATI Raedon 800XL 256MB PCI express(similar AGP card for socket A system)
Just a plain upgrade of the existing system
On the surface this seems like the easiest cheapest option, since it lets me reuse existing components and saves me from buying a new copy of XP and assembly cost.
However, my hard drive is almost full, so I definately need a new hard drive. So that means all the work of tranfering data and reinstalling programs. By the time I finished changing out components, XP will think it’s a new system and it’ll be easier to just buy a new copy than to convince microsoft otherwise. upgrades using the existing motherboard will be limited in performance boast. so basically I’d be saving a bit on the case and assembly for a lot more work and little gain. Plus, there’s a lot of benefit to having a competely distinct fully functioning system handy(I’m thinking of turning it into a mythTV PVR).
AMD 32-bit single core
My original plan was simple. I’ve been a fan of AMD for years. 1) they’re a lot cheaper than Intel 2) they don’t rely on clock speed to sell chips and 3) they publish their price lists in a way that makes it easy to figure out where the sweet spot is. My approach to buying hardware has always been simple. You look at the “incremental cost” of the product line (i.e. you look at how much more each higher level model is then the previous one) Generally there’s a big jump, a much bigger gap they the previous models. In most cases the one right before the jump is where the best value is. Go lower and you’re lossing performance you could get for just a little more money. Go higher and you’re paying the “latest and greatest” tax. Sometimes jumps are hard to spot. This is ussually because there are multiple jumps, in that case you want to go with the best product in whatever “jump level” you can afford.
So back to my system. The orginal plan was to make this my last 32-bit system. Buy AMD’s best 32 bit cpu (the 3200) and with a good graphics card, a big HD, and a ton of ram. This was thwarted by my vendor not selling the 3200 anymore. I came to realize that I’d be paying a 1000 for a marginal performance increase over what I have now. So I’d look at spending a little extra for more oomph
Price(all prices include assembly and a copy of XP PRO):~$1000
Intel 32 bit dual core
I noticed the intel dual-cores weren’t that expensive, so I decided to take a trip to the dark side. I went with their lowest end dual core, the 820. The other main attraction here was the faster front side bus. I choose 2 1 GB sticks running at 566Mhz (3 512s running at 800 would have been even more expensive). The DDR2 modules were twice as much as the generic DDR modules I can use with amd, significantly raising the cost. The other major issue here is power. I read in a number of places that the power compustion of these things is horrible, up to 300W while fairly idle.
Price:~$1500
AMD single core 64-bit(Atholon)
Originally, I was a little nervous about the whole 64-bit thing. However, from what I’ve heard they handle 32 bit apps fine. The only problem stems when running 64 bit windows with 32 bit drivers. I’ll be I was desuaded from even looking at the FX 55s due to their high price and the fact that they’re based on a pretty old process. From what I understand the line won’t be viable again until the FX 57s come out. Here I went with 3700 with the 90nm san deigo core. I have to say, if I wanted to maximize the cost/benefit ratio, this would be my choice. I seems that amd is pretty comitted to the socket 939 platform so it should have great upgrade potential.
Price ~$1300
AMD dual core 64-bit(X2)
The chip of choice here is the X2 4400. Despite running a full Ghz slower than intel’s dual core, every review I looked at said it made intel eat it’s dust.
Normally, I would never advocate buying a brand new chip, but the benefits are too good to pass up. The chip is clearly the sweet spot of the 4 X2s (and I’ll bet the 1MB cache gives more advatages than an extra 200Mhz in the 4600). The chip will be going on this motherboard . The only problem is my vendor doesn’t have it in stock yet (they give a projected date of 6-24 for the 4600 and 4800), I’m hoping that’s the date for the 4400 as well. The other problem is that existing 939s need a bios flash, I’m hoping that’ll be availible and that they’ll handle it as part of the assembly process.
Price(shipped):1650
A geek shopping for hardware is like a normal guy looking at cars or porn, you’re left with an overwehlming feeling of, I want it now.
I’ll keep you updated on the process.
disclaimer: all opinions expressed here are either those of the author or based on what the author has read, you should always do you’re own research before buying hardware
Dude. Rather than upgrading your system and **doing what you should be able to do** with an OS, you’re replacing the entire machine just to avoid dealing with Microsoft?
It sounds to me like Windows has taken your computer hostage. Sucker.