Finally getting a new PC What to do???

Alex,

Thanks first for the excellent webpage, I read it every day!!! I have been waiting for some money to come through which finally has. Now I need to decide on the PC of my dreams. What is your advice in terms of processor and chipset??? Should I go with the 815 with a P3 and get lots of cheap SRAM or should I get a 820 with less rambus ram or should I wait for the P4 to come out with the ?840 chipset and Rambus or should I get an 820 now and switch to the P4 chipset after prices go down???? I like to play first persons like unreal tournament and quake as well as role playing and strategy gammes. I use the PC for other mundane tasks as well...

thanx for any advice

slance

Heya Madslance,

Thanks for the very kind words there and I'm glad your money's come through. Spend spend spend!!!

In terms of advice, I'd say this.. What do you have right now?

The P4 isn't too far away but then again there's no promise that it'll be amazingly faster than a P3. New technology is exactly what it says on the tin. It can be a bit of a bumpy ride when it first comes out- both for hardware and software. Not to mention the price... We've only seen the performance on early revs and so we'll need to see final product before we pass judgement.

As for a P3, well if you were to buy today, I would go with 933 (pretty good price right now) and then an 815. Stay away from the 820. RAMBUS only matters on the P4 (dual-channle RDRAM etc..). Get some good PC-133 CAS2 Micron memory.

Since you're a gamer don't forget the video card... Depending on how much you're willing to spend, the best money can get is a GeForce 2 Ultra. But it's pricey. The best bang for your buck is probably a GeForce2 32MB. If you're into TV-out functions then the Radeon 256 is a good one to go for.

Good luck!

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Originally posted by madslance:
Alex,

Thanks first for the excellent webpage, I read it every day!!! I have been waiting for some money to come through which finally has. Now I need to decide on the PC of my dreams. What is your advice in terms of processor and chipset??? Should I go with the 815 with a P3 and get lots of cheap SRAM or should I get a 820 with less rambus ram or should I wait for the P4 to come out with the ?840 chipset and Rambus or should I get an 820 now and switch to the P4 chipset after prices go down???? I like to play first persons like unreal tournament and quake as well as role playing and strategy gammes. I use the PC for other mundane tasks as well...

thanx for any advice

slance

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