Maximum PC

Thanks for the psu suggestions.

Since I only have the board ordered, I am now trying to decide which chip to purchase. Based on the opinions and the Maximum PC article on Dual cores published a few months ago, I have decided to buy an AMD x2 series dual core chip. Now, which one? I do not see the difference between the 3800 and the 4200 except of a gain of 200 mhz of speed. I might pay the $70 difference to get that. The 4400 gives you a 1 MB cache, but is that worth $165 more than the 3800 or $90 more than the 4200? I am looking all of these options. What I would like to know is that if I ever choose to overclock, which is something I have never done, but I feel I could learn, is the 3800 as capable as a 4200 in terms of speed. Do I need that 1MB of L2 cache in the 4400 now that I have dual cores? From the Maximum PC article it seems that a larger cache is not as important now with a dual core system. Yet, this is where most of all the future improvements, as well as speed boost, will come from.

Also, what is the +12v rail in a power supply? What can you tell me about it?

I see that every component I buy for this system is going to cost me a pretty penny. But, I hopefully will have a system that is viable for a long time. I do not want to buy a game in the future, like Doom 5, and my system not be able to handle it. So, is it money worth spending? I don't know until I get the machine going. Besides, I am on a tight budget in order to save as much moolah for my new system. I noticed that the prices of AMD chips came down a few dollars on pricewatch.

Here is to eating Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwiches.

12v rail I believe is the 20-24 pin power connector that supplies most of the power to you mobo. As for your new system lasting a few years the X2, any of the previously mentioned ram, and two Geforce 7800 vid cards will defienetly last you close to 3+ years before you see any degradation in performance.

Well, it looks like I am going to get the X2 4200. A 4000 is at $340 on pricewatch, the x2 3800 is $330, but I think I am deciding on the X2 4200 for $405. I want the 200 mhz increase in speed, but would like the cache of the 4000. I hope the dual core technology will make up for that difference when being comparing the x2 4200 to the 4000.

Next up is the RAM and I think I am going to go big for the RAM.

I would like to know, with my mobo, and if I get the X2 4200 chip with RAM, will I be able to run this computer using an antiquated power supply? I know I will need to get a cheap video card, till I can shell out for two power hungry SLI PCI-E cards, I will need to upgrade to a better power supply.

I have an old 300W that I could use to get me online, so I can at least look at the internet. My old chip and board, I need to sell on ebay. I might get $30 for it.

So it looks like I will spend $405 on the chip after investing $220 on the mobo. I know I could have had a budget rig, but I am thinking a few months down the road having it all paid off and having a mega gaming machine. After, I buy RAM, I will be broke till next pay check. I have been living a spartan life trying to save enough money for my next purchase. I sell on ebay.com and need a computer at home in order to sell my fountain pens that I restore. This hobby provides me with extra cash to purchase better computer equipment.

Do any of you know when certain technologies like chips, or video cards are expected to go down in price? I am sure it is part or all speculation, but I would like to know what many of you think.

According to the The Inq, you could see some cuts as soon as tomorrow (LINK):

By INQUIRER staff: Sunday 23 October 2005, 17:33

WE REPORTED from Dresden over a week ago that AMD was dropping prices on some of its Opterons at the end of the month, but it will also drop prices on a range of other chips tomorrow, it's been confirmed[...]

Other price drops will come on the Sempr0n 2500+ and 2600+, on Athlon 64s, and on X2s, but AMD is holding the price steady on its FX chips.

_____________________________
They've already dropped a bit in the past week, but for a point of reference, I'll post what they're selling for right now at Zipzoomfly:

3800+ X2 = $338
4200+ X2 = $410
4400+ X2 = $497
4600+ X2 = $640
4800+ X2 = $799

Thanks One4yu2c.

I will hold off a few days to see if the chip prices drop a lil bit. Every lil bit of savings helps me get what I want for my new system.

Alright, just purchased my chip. An x2 4400 for $412.

I am psyched.

Next up, RAM. Looks like I will try to get the Corsair XMS 2GB brand.

whered you get that 4400 for $412?!?!?!

I got it from Maximumpc member leakytire.

He is a computer seller who had someone back out on a deal with him for the chip, so I think he is giving me that chip at cost, $375. There were some WESTERN UNION fees that made it for a total of $412.

I get the full three year warranty and all.

So I am very pleased as I wanted the cache of the 4000, and I got it. The 4000 chip is a 2.4, and mine is a 2.2, both with 1MB cache, and mine is a dual core.

I can't wait to get it up and running.

So in summary, I got this board:

http://www.isorm.com/product_info.php?products_id=994

and this chip:

http://www.amdcompare.com/us-en/desktop ... 4400DAA6CD.

I would like to now look at RAM. I have taken in the suggestions provided on this forum, but I am still wishing for more options.

Let me know of what you think.

With that mobo, now ya got to get:

Corsair XMS-3500LL PRO 2GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145594 $318

since it is optimized to run this extremely sweeet sounding RAM. Let us what ya decide and post back with some benchies!

This is setting off all kinds of red flags for me - I hate to jump to conclusions, but without further information, it appears as though you got scammed:

1) Looks like you were contacted privately by a member whom you've had no previous communication with (outside of your transaction).

2) The price on the 4400+ X2 is unrealistically low. It could have been resold for $75-$100 more than what you paid, if it was legit.

3) Western Union was involved, which is the preferred method of payment for scammers.

Were you contacted via PM and do you have a link to this member's profile? I'm going to be gone for most of this evening but, pending your response, I've put in a request for others to hopefully step in and let you know what limited options you have to work with, if this indeed does turn out to be a scam.