…just bought a new PC, how did I do?

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mcmd

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Picked up a no-name (Tiger) PC at CompUSA for $299.

Specs:

P4 1.8GHz
Biostar U8668, 400MHz FSB mobo
128M SRAM (2Gig max)
16M Savage 4 graphics
40G 5400 H/D
V92Modem/LAN
Windows XP

I’m replacing an old emachines 333 Celeron which has a 16 bit sound card, and a newly installed CDR/W and 60Gig 7200RPM H/D. The plan is to remove the CDR/W, the 60 Gig drive and 256M RAM (PC133) from the emachines and you guessed it…install ‘em in the new PC and then buy a decent 24 bit card.

...so wasting my time and money…should I do the above or save and WAIT for a better system?

I need to make a decision on this PC fast!

Thanks,

Dara
 
mcmd said:
Picked up a no-name (Tiger) PC at CompUSA for $299.

Specs:

P4 1.8GHz
Biostar U8668, 400MHz FSB mobo
128M SRAM (2Gig max)
16M Savage 4 graphics
40G 5400 H/D
V92Modem/LAN
Windows XP

I’m replacing an old emachines 333 Celeron which has a 16 bit sound card, and a newly installed CDR/W and 60Gig 7200RPM H/D. The plan is to remove the CDR/W, the 60 Gig drive and 256M RAM (PC133) from the emachines and you guessed it…install ‘em in the new PC and then buy a decent 24 bit card.

...so wasting my time and money…should I do the above or save and WAIT for a better system?

I need to make a decision on this PC fast!

Thanks,

Dara
Click to expand...

Personally, I would pass on it. For one, it is the old P4-A and not the newer Northwood P4-B with a 533Mhz FSB. 128Megs of RAM is waaay too little for DAW work as well as the 40Gb HD. The video card sounds pretty dated. A decent GeForce MX or Ti card can be bought for less than $100 nowadays...

You should not use PC133 memory with a P4. Anything less than DDR memory would cause a bottleneck and slow your whole system down.
 
With DDR being around $65 for a 256 meg PC2100 and the sound board mentioned above for the price it might not be that bad at all. I would definatly look at the memory though.
 
I would definately replace that 5400rpm hd with your 7200hd and I would also think about getting a new video card too since those Biostar integrated Savage video are not that good at all.

Everything else seems fine for recording. You could upgrade to DDR but its not a necessity in my opinion.
 
yea if it supports ddr, get ddr. And 512 megs would be nice for a start.
I only have a 1.2 gig thunderbird, and 512megs of pc133 ram and it runs fine. But then again my board doesn't support ddr ram.
 
Re: Re: …just bought a new PC, how did I do?

brzilian said:
Personally, I would pass on it. For one, it is the old P4-A and not the newer Northwood P4-B with a 533Mhz FSB. 128Megs of RAM is waaay too little for DAW work as well as the 40Gb HD. The video card sounds pretty dated. A decent GeForce MX or Ti card can be bought for less than $100 nowadays...

You should not use PC133 memory with a P4. Anything less than DDR memory would cause a bottleneck and slow your whole system down.
Click to expand...

I agree with brzilian, you should pass for now. With the upgrades you are talking about it would be better to have one built for you. Depending on where you go and what you absolutely have to have, you can get a decent system with the following for about $799US.

2.0 Ghz Pentium 4 512 pc133
512 DDR Ram (RDR would be better but not necessary)
64mg Video card
80 GB HD 7200rpm
Windows XP Pro
Sony CD-RW
SB Live 5.1 Soundcard

If you don't know of anyone, let me know and I'll have it built for you....of course it will be more with shipping.
 
pass

and build one yourself that will meet your needs.

get the newer 533 FSB CPU, as fast as you can get without spending too much. I think the 2.4 gHz are at a pretty decent price now. get DDR 266 or 333. get a 7200 rpm drive. get a better soundcard, like an m-audio series. get a quality psu.
 
Re: Re: …just bought a new PC, how did I do?

brzilian said:
Personally, I would pass on it. For one, it is the old P4-A and not the newer Northwood P4-B with a 533Mhz FSB.
Click to expand...


Actually, if you're up for it, I'd get a better motherboard, and overclock that chip. I have the same processor overclocked to 2.4 GHz (533 MHz FSB) with the stock heatsink and fan. It's 100% stable (stress tested with Prime95 and 3dmark2k, the "universal" stress/stability testors). There's a chance you've got one that doesn't overclock too well, particularly if it's an older chip. However, if you buy a better motherboard (that supports overclocking), and you find out that the chip sucks, you'll be ok as you can still use the board for a better, newer, faster processor, as your current one can't support them.

I know many people here aren't fans of overclocking, but I haven't had a single problem with mine. In fact I'd possibly be interested in buying that processor from you if you need to get rid of it.

I also highly recommend atleast 512 MB DDR RAM and a bigger 7200 rpm hard drive.

Personally, I wouldn't buy that system (especially if I wanted that as my DAW core), but since you already have, I'm giving you possible upgrade ideas (i.e. if you can't return it).
 
Thanks everyone.


I can return this system, just trying to see if its worth keeping...its a Systemax brand and it does support DDR RAM

I already have the following:

60G 7200RPM HD Maxtor
CDR/W SONY
256M 133 RAM
ATI rage pro turbo PCI 8M
M-Audio/Midiman D-man PCI 16bit sound card

....so I plan on using all the above in a new system (except maybe, the graphics card)

I will later, (summertime), upgrade to a 24bit audio card and some DDR RAM- when I have the $ash.

I know there are far *better* systems out there, but given what I already have to work with, will this give me a basic system to support 24 bit recording?
It certainly will beat the pants off of my old 333 Celeron w/66MHz FSB!

I'm not willing to spend any more cash right now, so if this system totally sucks and isn't value for my $299, (given what I already have), then I'll return it and save my dollars.

The 16 bit world has been good to me, so I can stay there alittle while longer:)

Dara
 
...and another thing...why would I care about the graphics card/chip set? This is not a gaming machine.....my old PC has 4 megs video and an ATI turbo pro chip set, which has always worked without a problem?

Dara
 
mcmd said:
...and another thing...why would I care about the graphics card/chip set? This is not a gaming machine.....my old PC has 4 megs video and an ATI turbo pro chip set, which has always worked without a problem?

Dara
Click to expand...

Video memory also affects your maximum color depth, resolution and refresh rate...

Never cards make use of the faster 2x and 4x AGP interface which will even speed up the Windows UI.
 
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