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AMD system and memory questions
Hi,
I'm building an AMD Athlon XP based system and I need some advise. I want a very stable PC and I don't think about overclocking it. The motherboard will be a MSI K7NF2 Delta-L (nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset) 512MB RAM. GeForce FX 5200. 40MB HD. Questions: 1. XP 2500+ (FSB 166MHz) or XP 2600+ (FSB 133MHz): wich one would give me the best performance 2. Is the cooler that comes with the CPU enough? 3. Will DDR400 give me some performance gain over DDR333, since the FSB is limited by the CPU?. If it is so, do I've to stick with the MSI recommended memory manufaturer (they're not available) or any DDR400 will do the job ok? I plan to use 2x256 MB modules to take advantage of the Dual Channel DDR of the nForce2 chipset. 4. The motherboard features 6 chanel audio but it's not Dolby Digital 5.1 compatible. What that it means? How I get the six speakers outputs? Thanks. Bye. |
#2
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On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 14:57:58 -0300, "Germán Schuager"
wrote: Hi, I'm building an AMD Athlon XP based system and I need some advise. I want a very stable PC and I don't think about overclocking it. The motherboard will be a MSI K7NF2 Delta-L (nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset) 512MB RAM. GeForce FX 5200. 40MB HD. Questions: 1. XP 2500+ (FSB 166MHz) or XP 2600+ (FSB 133MHz): wich one would give me the best performance That depends on the usage. For calculation-intensive work the XP2600 would be faster, but for more common tasks such as video editing or gaming, the XP2500 would at least be it's equal. I would get the XP2500. 2. Is the cooler that comes with the CPU enough? Enough to keep it cool, yes. Enough to do so quietly, with a fan that's low RPM, quiet, no. If you want a quiet system buy a separate cooler which uses a lower-RPM 80 or 92mm fan. There is no substitute for the larger fan (and a copper bottom on the 'sink) when it comes to noise reduction. One good alternative might be a Thermalright SK-7, which is very reasonably priced but possibly sold-out, back in stock soon, he http://www.svcompucycle.com/thersk7socco.html It doesn't come with a fan, but they also offer one of the best performance/noise ratio fans available: http://www.svcompucycle.com/80pa32fan1.html 3. Will DDR400 give me some performance gain over DDR333, since the FSB is limited by the CPU?. Only minimally, and only if you used the same low CAS spec'd part for DDR333 as for DDR400. If you get the XP2500 with 166MHz FSB, run it synchronously with DDR333 (PC2700) memory at CAS2, you'll have the most stability and performance combination. Consider that nForce2 is much pickier about memory than predecessor chpsets for Athlon, do a bit of research on your exact board in some hardware forums (like http://www.amdmb.com ) If it is so, do I've to stick with the MSI recommended memory manufaturer (they're not available) or any DDR400 will do the job ok? Sticking to the recommendation is "in theory" a good idea, but if you want to populate all memory slots you'll need to verify that the tested memory passed with all slots filled, not just two (and hopefully not ever just one). Again, research the specific board to see what other owners are having success with, there's a large variation in memory prices at the PC3200 range. I plan to use 2x256 MB modules to take advantage of the Dual Channel DDR of the nForce2 chipset. 4. The motherboard features 6 chanel audio but it's not Dolby Digital 5.1 compatible. What that it means? How I get the six speakers outputs? If it's not Dolby 5.1 why would you want 6 speakers? The motherboard manual should be available for download, I would read it before making the purchase if you plan on using the motherboard/system for a good length of time. Also, the FX5200 video card is questionable.. it's not very good for gaming, actually significantly slower than older cards you "might" find for similar price like a Geforce3. If you plan on doing any gaming I recommend a better video card, at a minimum a Geforce 4 TI4200, FX5600, or Radeon 9500 Pro (if available else the 9600). If you don't do any gaming then the FX5200 isn't needed at all, you might as well get a Matrox G450 and have top-notch 2D, but if you will be gaming you would find the FX5200 too slow for the most modern games, let alone those released in the future. Dave |
#3
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1. XP 2500+ (FSB 166MHz) or XP 2600+ (FSB 133MHz): wich one would
give me the best performance Obviously the 2600 will be faster. AMD's ratings aren't based on clock speed, but actual performance. An AMD 2600+ on a 66Mhz bus(if they made one) should be JUST as fast as an AMD 2600+ on a 300Mhz bus. I was under the impression that the 2500+ performed better than the 2600 due to double the onboard cache. Steve |
#4
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"Stephen Austin" wrote in message ... 1. XP 2500+ (FSB 166MHz) or XP 2600+ (FSB 133MHz): wich one would give me the best performance Obviously the 2600 will be faster. AMD's ratings aren't based on clock speed, but actual performance. An AMD 2600+ on a 66Mhz bus(if they made one) should be JUST as fast as an AMD 2600+ on a 300Mhz bus. I was under the impression that the 2500+ performed better than the 2600 due to double the onboard cache. AMD rates the 2600 as 104% faster than the 2500. PERIOD. That's how they get the number. If it isn't then AMD is just a bunch of ripoff artists. |
#5
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"Some One" wrote in message . ca... "Stephen Austin" wrote in message ... 1. XP 2500+ (FSB 166MHz) or XP 2600+ (FSB 133MHz): wich one would give me the best performance Obviously the 2600 will be faster. AMD's ratings aren't based on clock speed, but actual performance. An AMD 2600+ on a 66Mhz bus(if they made one) should be JUST as fast as an AMD 2600+ on a 300Mhz bus. I was under the impression that the 2500+ performed better than the 2600 due to double the onboard cache. AMD rates the 2600 as 104% faster than the 2500. PERIOD. That's how they get the number. If it isn't then AMD is just a bunch of ripoff artists. ***CORRECTION - 4% faster than a 2500.... |
#6
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On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:44:46 GMT, "Some One"
wrote: AMD rates the 2600 as 104% faster than the 2500. PERIOD. That's how they get the number. If it isn't then AMD is just a bunch of ripoff artists. ***CORRECTION - 4% faster than a 2500.... Better, but it's not so clear-cut, we're talking about two CPU with different FSB and memory bus speeds, and isn't one of them a Barton? Big difference depending on task. Dave |
#7
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"kony" wrote in message ... On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:44:46 GMT, "Some One" wrote: AMD rates the 2600 as 104% faster than the 2500. PERIOD. That's how they get the number. If it isn't then AMD is just a bunch of ripoff artists. ***CORRECTION - 4% faster than a 2500.... Better, but it's not so clear-cut, we're talking about two CPU with different FSB and memory bus speeds, and isn't one of them a Barton? Big difference depending on task. So AMD's XP rating system doesn't work then? |
#8
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Dave,
There are software that can't be run smothly with the FX5200? A friend's computer, a P4 1.4 with a GeForce2 Pro can run every game I saw very well; and the TI4200 cost U$S 60 more than the FX5200. I don't know if it's worth it. (I'm from Argentina, and here we're a long way behind the rest of world in technology) About the CPU, I think I will get the Barton 2500 and 2x256MB DDR333 Germán. |
#9
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On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 02:26:54 GMT, "Some One"
wrote: "kony" wrote in message .. . On Sun, 10 Aug 2003 23:44:46 GMT, "Some One" wrote: AMD rates the 2600 as 104% faster than the 2500. PERIOD. That's how they get the number. If it isn't then AMD is just a bunch of ripoff artists. ***CORRECTION - 4% faster than a 2500.... Better, but it's not so clear-cut, we're talking about two CPU with different FSB and memory bus speeds, and isn't one of them a Barton? Big difference depending on task. So AMD's XP rating system doesn't work then? Sure it does, taken as a whole, an average. Who expects their usage to be _exactly_ average? Most often a (single) user has a very few tasks needing full processing power, falling significantly outside the average. A bit of benchmark hunting is in order if the buyer cares enough to do so. Dave |
#10
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On Mon, 11 Aug 2003 01:01:17 -0300, "Germán Schuager"
wrote: Dave, There are software that can't be run smothly with the FX5200? A friend's computer, a P4 1.4 with a GeForce2 Pro can run every game I saw very well; and the TI4200 cost U$S 60 more than the FX5200. I don't know if it's worth it. (I'm from Argentina, and here we're a long way behind the rest of world in technology) About the CPU, I think I will get the Barton 2500 and 2x256MB DDR333 Germán. If the Geforce2 Pro was running "every game" well, then they were all older games. I don't know what is the best value in Argentina, but I do know that the newer games here in the US won't run very well on an FX5200. If the games available there are limited as the technology is, then you may be seeing more older games. On the other hand, eventually these newer games will be available there, so it's also a question of how long you wish to use the card before it needs upgraded again. It would be easy for me to tell you to spend more money but since I don't know what games you'll end up playing nor the finer points of video card pricing or bargain-hunting in Argentina, I"m not in a position to advise further. I don't know what card will have the minimal level of performance to make it both enjoyable AND worth the money. The FX5200 is targeted at budget systems and is not very fast at gaming, but should be usable for many of them if you keep the display resolution moderately low, like at 1024x768, and disable FSAA and Ansiotropic Filtering and some of the details in games. If the better cards are prohibitively expensive then perhaps it makes more sense to buy the FX5200. You might do an internet search to find benchmarks of FX5200 cards to better compare to other video cards. Dave |
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