[zer]

yeah getting 2 80gb hdd with raid 0 would be hell lot better than getting a 200gb. its much more efficient with 4 heads

[ted]

I have two 120GB WD 8MB cache HDs running @ RAID 0.

[ted]

Originally posted by ted
Actually when AMD release the Hammer processors, they will take full advantage of the 400MHz+ DDR RAM modules. If two PC3700 DDR RAM sticks are used on an nForce2 board, Intel + RDRAM = owned, thanks to dual channel technology. The Barton processors might actually be able to bury P4s, we'll see. Anyway, RDRAM is becoming a thing of the past now. A P4 with dual channel PC3700 DDR RAM would probably perform better than a P4 with the fastest RDRAM available.

OCZ PC3500 DDR.*chuckles*

[Trapezius]

The problem with Ted's idea is that overall it costs more for 40GB lets data, and if one of the 80GB hard drive dies then you lose all your data.

[auron]

heh well im upgrading my computer all the way over the summer when i get a job!!

i should be making money like crazy...100 bux per week which is good enough for a 14 year old, and i am going to get this stuff..

-geforcefx
-512 mb of Corsair ddr ram pc 3500 or maybe 3700 with heat spreader if i can find some of the 3700 i will get that one
-a new hdd..not sure which yet
-probably a new processor...maybe the 3.06 ghz pentium4 would be a good one, or maybe i'll stick to the cheaper 2.4 ghz ones, not sure yet...

thats it,

current specs

-1.8 ghz pentium 4
-40 gig hdd
-geforce 4 ti4200 128mb
-256 mb of ddr ram PC2100
-windows xp home edition

i have a decently good pc right now, but over the summer im gonna upgrade to a somewhat decent monstor system!!

[Da3 LyNx]

Yeah I'm going to get a summer job building/repairing computers so I'll probably buy an FX...maybe.

[Toke]

No offense to all the nVidia and Intel fanboys here but AMD and ATi kick major arse.

Clock frequency alone won't mean jack when you're up with real performance. People say "Wait for the Geforce FX" when the card that beats it is already here.

ATi Radeon 9700 pro = winner(cost and incredible performance)
Geforce FX

ATi Radeon 9700 = winner(it can probably match closely the FX)
Geforce 4 Ti 4600

ATi Radeon 9500 pro = winner, beats Ti 4600 also
Geforce 4 Ti 4400

ATi Radeon 9500 = winner, beats Ti 4400 also
Geforce 4 Ti 4200

ATi Radeon 8500 (AKA, ATi Radeon 9100) = winner for price and comparable results
Geforce 3 Ti 500

ATi Radeon 9000 = winner (meh...)
Geforce 4 MX 440

See the ladder effect?

nVidia has only been losing market share lately because ATi keeps bringing the best cards out there. ATi cards are MUCH faster than Geforce cards, and ATi has the only cards with DirectX9 full feature set. The Geforce 4 Ti 4800 won't do much but bring nVidia into the 8x ball game... but won't boost performance. It's sorry... and the Geforce FX is soo late it hurts.

I may not be rich like you guys, but I follow hardware advancements. In every review and benchmark score, on GPU dependant games ATi cards are ALWAYS victorious. This is due, like I said before, to their greater speeds. Geforce cards sometimes have an edge in CPU dependant games sometimes but for a game like Final Fantasy XI... there isn't much "AI" to need CPU power.

The CATALYST drivers opened a whole new ball game for 9500 pro owners, and future owners like me. Thanks to the 3.0 drivers, that card can even OUTPERFORM the 9700 and 9700 pro. Can you imagine what ATi will do with it's next drivers once the so called "UBBER GPU" Geforce FX hits?

No doubt that "in theory" the Geforce FX is powerful, yet, by looking at the specs the Radeon 9700 pro is still faster. If overclocked and running the new 4.0 drivers, I can assure you, you'll get better results for your buck. ATi has been giving it's cards dormant power lately... except for that one Quake 3 incident with the 8500LE where *YES IT'S TRUE* they cheated so the card would do better on the benchmarks.

However, it's clear ATi has won the lead in my opinion. Not only are they ahead, their current card is as good as the Geforce FX in theory. This only means that IF the Geforce FX gets better specs on release, their next card will be better.. meaning they'll have the lead unless nVidia is fast enough to launch a card 2 generations in advance. (The way ATi did)

I will say this, what all operating systems do you use? Microsoft right? With the some select few who run linux, or other 3rd party OS'es. Regardless of what you think, theres a standard, which MS created, it sure is a monopoly, but you know what... having a standard, is better then a thousand 3rd party applications, trying to form together and have countless problems.

Isn't it great to share all these files online? Would it be that great if you had to have 6 different applications, in order to swap them, exchange the file type, re compile the data, and then have another application to to actually do something with it?

Isn't a standard that great? This takes me back to the Beta Vs. VHS wars... we originally had a beta machine, and guess what, VHS became the standard, soon before long everyone had a VHS machine, and it was kewl to take movies over your frinends house to watch, wasn't it?

No think about if you couldn't do those things, and why it was so kewl, sorta like CD's... what if there were 65 different varietys of cd's and eveyone had different source coding, and you couldn't play one on the other type... would cd's be that kewl? HELL NO!

Why do I say this? Because it's this simple. I really think ATI had the shot, but they already blew it. This is IMO. I will say this, Nvidia is the only company that makes hardware, and drivers ONLY 1 DRIVER, that supports every card they have ever made.. do you see that standardization in that? ATI drivers do not, and are mixed and matched with each card.

My next point is: Cg
Cg, soon to be the standard set in game making compiling techniques.. the latest standard, Cg will allow game makers to make the quickest shit happen in terms of game coding, and it will allow Nvidia to become the standard in terms of graphics boards. Soon enough game makers (of which 85% have already signed the nvidia contract to make the games of the future within Cg) will use Cg as the set in stone standard of game making. And you can bet your bottom dollar, Nvidia is not about to let Cg be compatable with ATI.

Which leads me to the end, ATI is hanging in there now, because they managed to get their heads out there, and will continue to shoot boards out that only top Nvidia, for the sure purpose of trying to claim their spot in the market. But when Cg becomes standard (which isn't long), ATI wont have a market left to sell too, and every ATI owner will be bitching because they can't play the good games on their cards.

This is why Linux will never win the home operating system battles, because microsoft was the first to create the standard and always will be, linux would have been better off just remaning within the server level, and continue upon that level. As far as ATI vs. Nvidia, I give it 2 years, and a standard will be in place. Until then both will fight and top one another until then.

Nvidia is win

[ted]

Originally posted by Trapezius
The problem with Ted's idea is that overall it costs more for 40GB lets data, and if one of the 80GB hard drive dies then you lose all your data.

I don't see why this is a problem. If your 200GB drive fails, you'll also lose all the data. Using RAID doesn't increase the probability of a drive failing.

[ChronoMoose]

No actually your PC is fine you don't need to upgrade unless you really want to. I just recommend more ram. Ram affects preformace too. And your graphics card is good already good

I ditto. You might want some more ram and awesome speakers help any game ^_^