rec.autos.simulators

I'm buying my first custom built system soon and I'm trying to decide on
which hardware to choose.

Which mother board would be better for ***, - The Shuttle AK31 V3.0
KT266A DDR 4X AGP MB or the DFI Intel i850 chipset MB 4X AGP?

Which CPU is the better choice for *** - the P4 2.0 GHZ. or the AMD
XP-1800 (1.5 GHZ.)?

Which type of memory would be better for *** - 1024 MB SDAM PC133 or
512MB PC800 Rambus Memory or 728MB PC2100 DDR PC266?

Is the Geforce-3 TI500 64MB DDR a good card?

Have any of you ever dealt with ***power Inc.?
http://www.***powersystem.com/
I'm thinking of buying a custom PC from them.

Thanks in advance.
Tom

Tom:

Cliff made an excellent post detailing the exceptional value of AMD.  I just
built the following system 3 weeks ago from www.newegg.com:

AMD 1600+
512 MB Corsair DDR2100 RAM
Visiontek Xtasy Geforce 3 Ti 500
60 GB IBM HD
Enlight 7237AZ (340W AMD approve PS)
ECS K7S5A Mobo (Amazing stability and only $57 with built in NIC)
TB Santa Cruz SC (great value and compatibility $65)
Lite On 16x/48x DVD ROM
Lite On 24x Burner
Win XP

The entire cost was about $1200 (cheaper now given the consistent price
drops) and it is remarkably fast and stable.  Comparable Intel rig would
have been $1600+.  I would certainly go with AMD vs. Intel (never thought
I'd say that considering 5 years ago AMD couldn't compete with FPU
calculations).

You could save money with a Ti 200 or a Radeon 8500 OEM (both around $199).
The former is a great value and the latter is an exceptional value but good
luck with ATI drivers.  The latest release is encouraging but still crashes
with some games.

I wouldn't pay for a top of the line processor, it's not a good value to
performance ratio.  Example: 1600+ offers 80% of the performance of an 1800+
at 65% of the cost ($128 vs. $210).  Money would be better spent on video.
Get at least a Ti 200 or GF 3.  If you want to splurge the Ti 500 is awesome
albeit not a great value {didn't take my own advice} ;-).  Haven't heard of
***power.  Check out www.alienware.com to compare.

Finally, consider building a PC.  It's much easier than you'd imagine.

Good luck.

--
Joe Marques

Tom. I just built a new system 2 nights ago. So far it rocks. Everything was
retail (manufacturer's warranty included), and I got the whole shootin'
match for $2050. You can get items cheaper if you don't mind OEM (retailers
buy them in bulk, but mfg's warrantees are usually not included. You're at
the mercy of the retailer). Check out Pricewatch.com for prices, and check
out http://www.racesimcentral.net/
http://www.racesimcentral.net/,
helpful computer geek forum. They set me straight on motherboards. My new
rig:

Athlon XP-1800+
Epox EP-8KHA+ mainbd
512MB Crucial RAM

Radeon 8500 (retail)
SB Live Audigy X-Gamer
plus a Lite-on DVD and CDR-W, floppy, modem, Win 98se, Logi cordless keybd &
mouse
(optical), 19" monitor, Klipsch 4.1's, and a new Logi Momo wheel

Get out there & shop!

Warlock!

I agree with the other comments that generally the AMD cpus outperform
higher ghz Intels.  Go to Toms Hardware site where he has a comprehensive
review of the range of P4's and AMD XP's.  In some of the tests all the
AMD's including the the lowest spec AMD beats the P4 2ghz.  The address is
http://www.racesimcentral.net/ .

Thanks for the replies, they were all quite helpful.

It seems AMD is the way to go. I think I may try building my own system now
as opposed to buying one. Can anyone direct me to a good site that can give
me some tips on building my own system?

Tom

You need to register for free to access this sight (I'm NOT affiliated) but
the 2 articles from 11/6 and 11/14 look good.  It's a "how to build your own
PC" series.

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

Search www.google.com for "build your own pc".  I did and the first link was
great:

http://www.racesimcentral.net/

Good luck.

--
Joe Marques