OK I'm tired of chugging with Luclin models turned on, and I'm tired of this unstable system (in prime95, problem narrowed down to either faulty CPU or motherboard)

Debates:
AMD vs Intel
32 vs 64 bit
ATI vs NVidia
etc

I want a machine that can handle EQ well and is hopefully ready for EQ2 and Doom 3.

The hardware should be supported under Linux as well as Windows.

I don't have any desire to overclock. Specified operating conditions for me!

Already got a 180GB hard drive, DVD reader, DVD writer, floppy... the rest is basically junk (I do have a 512MB PC2100 DDR chip, but presumably I'd be better off getting something faster - and 1GB to cope with EQ?). The current CPU is an Athlon 2000+ but I don't know if it's faulty or the motherboard is.

Suggestions appreciated...

O one last thing - I'd be purchasing from www.scan.co.uk

You know Cloud, right now if the only game you really play is EQ, I'd wait till they finish off the new graphics engine if you can (although I don't remember seeing a date for when it's due). Depending on exactly what they do to the engine, it may seriously affect how/what you should buy for your system. Granted, just upgrading older hardware will always improve performance, but, well, it may not be worth it yet. I'll give you my two cents on the subjects though...

AMD vs Intel:
Honestly, I think this usually comes down to what you can find as the best bargain. Personally, I think I'm going back to Intel for my next machine. While I've been satisfied with the overall performance of my AMD 1900XP, its ability to multitask is very underwhelming. I don't mind computers "hiccupping" when I launch multiple large programs, but the AMD seems to think a lot harder than it should.

I bought the AMD back when the price difference between the AMD XP line and the P4 RAMBUS (so sad) lines were around $500 a system (ie: the Intel would cost about $500 more to build due to their stupid RAM requirements). Now, while the Intel still costs more when you compare straight GHz, it's only around a $50-100 difference for AMD. For that amount, I'd much rather go back to the arms of Intel.

32 vs 64:
For now, 32. The costs of the 64-bit processors is just exorbitant right now, plus you have maybe two or three applications total that take full advantage of their throughput. I mean if you really want to shell out 3x's the money for a CPU, go for it. But you could probably spend that extra money somewhere else :)

ATI vs NVidia:
Again, I think this really boils down to a personal preference right now. No one's really blowing anyone out of the water anymore, both companies have finally figured out how to write decent drivers, and the high top-ends of both lines cost right around the same amount. I've disliked ATI since I had to deal with their RAGE series in my corporate workstations, so I tend to go with NVidia if given a choice, but honestly, "best" in video cards is a moniker that's lasting about 6 months total.

EQ2 / Doom3 and whatever else:
I think with any new huge 3D game, the best bet is to make sure you've got a 8X AGP card, DX9 "aware", and the fastest RAM you can get. These games may also use a hard drive "scratch disk," so it may also be worth investing in a decent hard drive with a good seek time.

Thanks for your thoughts Storm, helpful as always :)

EQ is by far... not the only game. There are other upcoming games, such as Aces High II, to consider.... I also hope to look a bit further into existing realms ;) I spend a little less time in EQ than most do, there's lots of other tinkering and college work to be getting on with.

I'll come back with considered specs if I make the plunge, so far I'm thinking 32bit AMD, Asus motherboard dual-channel with 1GB (A7N8X Deluxe V2, Nforce2 chipset?) , Gainward or Asus GeforceFX5900 128MB, other gubbins as usual.

The pain is that within a year or two we'll have BTX, PCI Express, the BIOS replacement, more evolved SATA etc. But not sure if I can live with this system for much longer!

But I will say, that I am looking very very hard at the new AMD 64's.

Those run 32 bit apps natively, and still run the 64 bits when they become available. There are also some nice features about how they handle memory instructions and a lot of other technical crap.

I just read an article on em in Maximum PC, and while I am not buying a new system for about a year, this seriously could be my first non-Intel system in about 10 years.

On the graphics card front I have been nVidea loyal for a long time with no regrets. However, I hear their latest generation runs REALLY loud (well actually their very latest is a little better but this chip generation so to speak). My system is loud already so while I am planning to upgrade graphics cards in the near future, I also think I am gonna go with the Radeon cards rather than what I normally do.

Anyone use a laptop for EQ and gaming?

I am leary of the video cards in those things. And it has been a while since I last used a laptop for anything beyond simple word processing and junk.

If anyone has any suggestions on laptop systems which work, or links, would be much appreciated.


/smile

I used to Fyyr. :( It stopped working with the April patch. /growl

I refuse to buy another laptop until you can upgrade the video cards in them.

Then you'll likely never buy another laptop 8/

Laptops and games don't mix, even though there's quite a large market out there for gaming laptops :(

OK, buying a complete new system seemed a little extreme (was looking around 2 grand!) so current plans are to use existing case, monitor, DVD, keyboard, mouse...

But to give the system a nice kick again:

Corsair Value Select 1Gb (paired memory) (2x512 pc3200) £121.00 £142.18 £142.18 Remove
Abit IC7 Max3 i875P Canterwood 800fsb DDDR400 Gbit Lan 4xSATA/133 USB2x8 6Ch Audio Spdif £144.00 £169.20 £169.20 Remove
2.6GHz (PG-800FSB) HT Intel Pentium® 4 CPU 512k Cache £130.26 £153.06 £153.06 Remove
Gainward (4981) 128Mb FX PowerPack! 1200 UltraXPGS TV-DVI (FX5900) £248.50 £291.99 £291.99 Remove
Coolermaster Aero 4 (ISB-V73) Socket 478 P4 7 inc 3.5" Fan Adjuster Low Noise £16.95 £19.92 £19.92 Remove

I'm wary of the word "value" on the RAM; might revise that.

Edit:
Corsair TwinX 1024 MB 3200 Low Latency ( 2 x 512MB PC3200 184 pin MATCHED PAIR DDR LLPT) £207.00 £243.23 £243.23 Remove

Still a bit extreme... maybe... or perhaps, to use a bad marketing cliche, "future proof"

Just remember, when you're configuring your own system, keep in mind the order in which you'll likely replace the parts. That'll give you an idea how much you really want to spend on that component, i.e. not much point spending a lot on something that's easily upgradable and you'll wind up replacing in a year.

For instance, the motherboard is the last thing you'll replace, and if you do it'll be part of a full system upgrade. Your dollars are best spent getting a good qualtiy one, with room for lots of future ram and a faster cpu. We're nearing the end of the current Northbridge era, so options are limited really, but make sure it can do up to a p4 3.4ghz or higher. Spend as much as you are comfortable.

Video card... these are replaced often. Every quarter a new batch comes out promising the latest and greatest. Your best bet here is to aim for the price/performance leader. Not necessarily the fastest card, simply good enough to do what you want *now*. You can upgrade it later if need be, and for a lesser price than buying top of the line now and seeing it go out of date in a year.

Ram... the quality of it makes only a very minor difference in performance unless you spend a *lot* extra. While it is nice, you are still going to be limited by the fsb speed of the cpu, so getting ram that performs faster than the cpu can receive data is pointless. On the other hand, you can plan ahead and make sure your ram will support the highest CPU the motherboard will support. Mixed bag here, but traditionally RAM prices fall, so get decent quality with an upgrade path in mind, and dont go overboard.

CPU... Depending on the lifecycle of current chipsets, this one is a gamble. Even still, cpu prices drop fast when the next generation comes out every 18 months. Recommend a price/performance leader here rather than top of the line. You can always pick up the top end cpu later on if you need to and drop it in, assuming your mobo and ram support the increased speed. Bang for the buck drops sharply the higher in price you go.

Just my 2 cents. I've been in computer retail for 10+ years so take it for what it's worth 8)

Oh ya, and dont skimp on the cooling systems. It'll increase the life of your components.

Tia

For the first time ever (in my 21 years, about 10 of which I've been able to build a PC) I'm going to let the supplier build it up, worry about squashing the CPU when mounting the brick of a heatsink, getting all the compatibilities right etc. Sometimes, when you know what's going in, hassle-free is good.

Here's what I've configured, order should be placed this weekend or shortly before.

Base system (non-configurable, but looks spot on):
ThermalTake Xaser III (V1000+) Black Case inc Temp Cntrl
450W CWT + SATA Quiet Dual Fan AMD/P4 , Active PFC
Abit IC7 Max3 i875P 800fsb DDDR400 Gbit Lan 4xSATA 6Ch
1.44Mb Black Floppy Disk drive Panasonic
Scan 3.5" Black Internal 6 in 1 Card Reader
Coolermaster Aero 4 (ISB-V73) inc 3.5" Fan Adjuster
Base total: £340+VAT (yes, the case and motherboard are expensive! I'm glad the motherboard capacitor fiasco is behind us)

Followed by:
3GHz (PG-800FSB) HT Intel Pentium® 4 CPU 512k Cache (Add £179.30)
Coolermaster Prostudio sound proofing Kit for Case (Add £9.25)
Corsair Value Select 1Gb (paired memory) (2x512 pc3200) (Add £121.00)
160Gb Seagate Barracuda Serial ATA (ATA-150) (7200rpm, 8MB Cache) 1yr (Add £103.00)
Samsung *Black* x16 Speed DVD ROM, (x48 CD) (Add £21.00)
128Mb Gainward (4981) FX PowerPack! 1200 UltraXPGS TV-DVI (FX5900) (Add £248.50)
Logitech Cordless Desktop Optical (Mouse & Keyboard) (Add £65.50)

Adds up to a rather hot (but hopefully wise investment) total of £1,087.55 + VAT.

No DVDRW (got one, I'll paint it black!), modem (on network), sound card (this MB's onboard sound is CPU-friendly going by reviews), OS (imagination), Software (ditto), monitor (later, existing 17 CRT will do for now), speakers (existing), addon cards or extended warranty (by experience, usually a waste of good money)

Fair to say, working for a charity on low-ish pay no less, it'll be growing old (as will I) by the time I'm done paying for it - quite possibly 3 years later :) I'm banking (arguably quite riskily) on it being a *quality* and life-long machine, still reliable and even fairly formidable (LOL!) by that time. Hopefully the choice of components will help that. And a lot can happen in 3 years, not just technically but in terms of pay ;) Things like the case should be great for a while.

Any "NOOOO don't EVER get that component, you're wasting money bigtime!!" opinions, speak now for my sake ;) Cheers :D