Question about New Computer

[kinnamon]

I'd like to get your opinions about a computer that I can pick up for what I consider to be a fairly reasonable price--$2164. I am making the decision in the next day or so to take advantage of a tax-free weekend. The purpose for the new system is not just for running MSTS. My old system does that well enough. I need to pass my current system down to my wife and older son for them to share.

1. Given the specifications below, is it as good a deal as I think it is at $2164?

2. Are there things that could be changed to make it a better gaming machine without spending significantly more money? (There is some flexibility with respect to this issue.)

3. Which operating system is best for gaming--XP Home, XP Pro, 64, or XP Multimedia? I have to choose.

4. Should I upgrade the processor to the 4400+ or 4600+ models? Will there be a big difference in performance? Enough to justify the extra money?

5. Will this system be likely to handle what is on the horizon in terms of new simulators?

AMD Athlon 64 3800+ Dual Core
Thermaltake Tsunami Dream Tower
Thermaltake Pure Power Xaser III 480 Watt Power Supply
2048 MB PC3200 DDR Crucial Memory (1 DiMM)
Seagate 250 GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive (I have a WD 10000 RPM SATA.)
Twin 256 MB NVidia GeForce 6800GT Pci-E Running SLI
On-Board 10/100/1000 NIC
8 Internal & 2 External SATA-2 Hard Drive Connectors
2 Internal IDE Ultra 133 Drive connectors
On-board Ports: 8 - USB 2.0, 1 - LPT, & 2 - COM
DVD & CD Burner
DVD Rom Drive
20 in 1 Multimedia Card Reader
3 1/2 Floppy Drive
Microsoft Digital Multimedia Pro Key Keyboard
Optical PS/2 Scroll Mouse
Choice of XP Home, Pro, 64, or Multimedia
19" Advueu LCD
3 Year Warranty

[pvoxland]

My opinion (as a lifetime AMD buyer) is that the 3800+ is a weak processor especially in view of the price cuts that have just hit the market in the past week. When I build myself a system, I am a middle-range "value" buyer. So I look for CPU's that cost between $150 and 200.

Of course, Intel has some very impressive new CPU's coming on line. The are scarce now and will gradually become available. AMD will be playing catchup for a while in performace specs. However there's a price war now and I took advantage of it yesterday.

Given your AMD choices, your specs don't say if your motherboard is the new AM2 socket or the socket 939. AM2 has future upgrade potential, 939 is at the end of the road. AM2 boards are new and more pricey at this moment. Prices of 939 and AM2 processors are pretty much identical

(I just purchased a 939 to upgrade my system, in the end I went for a single CPU, with higher clock speed [4000+ @ $140 shipped]. I decided I would rather have the speed for "Train Simming", since so far I am not much of a multiprocessing person.)

You are buying 2G Memory on one Dimm, in general there can be a significant price penalty for one Dimm and large capacity. Check out what you can get with 1G Dimms at more or less equivalent ratings.

XP 64 is a curiosity, with a scarcity of drivers. I was intrigued by it, but now I think when Vista finally comes around it will be left in the dust. XP 64 offers nothing for MSTS.

I have no experience with SLI and MSTS.

[kinnamon]

Thank you for your comments. This helps me a lot!

Lee

[dmacleo]

>My opinion (as a lifetime AMD buyer) is that the 3800+ is a
>weak processor especially in view of the price cuts that have
>just hit the market in the past week. When I build myself a
>system, I am a middle-range "value" buyer. So I look for
>CPU's that cost between $150 and 200.
>
>Of course, Intel has some very impressive new CPU's coming on
>line. The are scarce now and will gradually become available.
> AMD will be playing catchup for a while in performace specs.
>However there's a price war now and I took advantage of it
>yesterday.
>
>Given your AMD choices, your specs don't say if your
>motherboard is the new AM2 socket or the socket 939. AM2 has
>future upgrade potential, 939 is at the end of the road. AM2
>boards are new and more pricey at this moment. Prices of 939
>and AM2 processors are pretty much identical
>
>(I just purchased a 939 to upgrade my system, in the end I
>went for a single CPU, with higher clock speed [4000+ @ $140
>shipped]. I decided I would rather have the speed for "Train
>Simming", since so far I am not much of a multiprocessing
>person.)
>
>You are buying 2G Memory on one Dimm, in general there can be
>a significant price penalty for one Dimm and large capacity.
>Check out what you can get with 1G Dimms at more or less
>equivalent ratings.
>
>XP 64 is a curiosity, with a scarcity of drivers. I was
>intrigued by it, but now I think when Vista finally comes
>around it will be left in the dust. XP 64 offers nothing for
>MSTS.
>
>I have no experience with SLI and MSTS.
>


intel core due extreme has been released and has surpassed all cpu's (amd and intel) in benchmarks and is also extremely effecient thermally.

>
>

[jovet]

I am forced to wonder what brand of power supply it has... 480W seems a bit weak. Especially with dual video cards.

I would like to see 550W or better. It may be smaller because it's a better supply, but....

[asmith46]

Somewhat off-topic but, how do dual video cards installations work? Do they share or what?
Can somebody please explain? Tech details welcome.

As to graphics cards most routes on my computer run at @ 32 fps using a slightly above average amount of scenery. (Most sliders set right all the way to the right.) 1GB ram and Intel D915GEV mobo
My card is ATI Radeon X800XL, whatever that's good for. Can anyone relate to this? Thanks for your input.
-Al


EDIT: Corrected left-handed dyslexic mistake.

[jovet]

Video cards in dual mode simply share the workload, in theory doubling the power of a single card. Of course such marriages aren't exactly perfect but they are still better than a single card for intensive games (of which MSTS is not one).

For more detailed information, do a google search for "how SLI works" and read to your heart's content. :)

[chucksc]

And costs like a 3rd world national debt if you can get them...
AMD has significantly reduced their prices (My X2-4800 which cost me $630us 2 months ago is now about $350us)

Chuck Schneider
Chief Cook, Bottle Washer and (Virtual) CEO
http://www.trainsim.com/vbts/Attachments/up1/68540.jpg