P4 with SDRAM

[joness]

I currently have a Pentium and am looking to buy a new computer. I have seen two computers with P4 chips and SDRAM at Sam's Club. One computer has a 2 GHz proc and a 15" flat panel display for $1800. The other computer has a 1.4 GHz proc and a regular 17" crt monitor for $1400. They are both Sony Vaios'. With the SDRAM, is there really much of a performance difference between 1.4 GHz and 2 GHz? Is it worth the extra $400 just to get the flat panel display? Does anyone have any advice regarding Sony Vaios'? I'm on a budget so I'm not expecting dual procs and GeForce3. I just want to computer that I won't have to upgrade in a few months. Any help would be appreciated.

[YODA74]

I have a friend that has one and she seems to like it has had no problems with it. Flat screen Definatly much better.as far as 1.4GHz verses 2GHz just brings back the question how fast is fast, are they just fast processors siting around waiting for everything else to catch up? I have a 1.2 Amd Athlon It seems to be fast enough for me But i have nothing to judge it by except an old 486 and my cat could process faster than it does.
connection speed on the 1.2 is 1821.8kbps sorry if this doesn't help much.


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[bassman]

Hello Joness,
If you are on a budget, and $1800.00 is in your range, I highly recommend you do a little research and build your own!
IMHO, anything you buy off the shelf is not worth half what you pay for it.
I know for a fact I can put together a complete system (some factory refurbished parts)PC, keyboard, mouse, 17" monitor, color printer----$375.00. Of course it is not the calibar you are talking about, but you get the idea.
Recommendation on specs:
Around 1Gig CPU
256 DDRAM
Quality but not top of the line Vid card(AGP)
AMR modem
Sound card????
OS????
19" monitor http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif (CRT)
CD-RW&CDROM

Anyone else??

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Please let us know if what we suggest helps. This helps us help you better.

[kenja]

"Is it worth the extra $400 just to get the flat panel display?" No, only if you have a severe space restriction.

I like monitors with Sony Trinitron tubes. Some people don't like the two horizontal dampening wires, but they're OK for me.

I got a good deal on a Samsung 570v 15" flat panel, but was disappointed in the "coarseness" of the display compared to the 14.1" on my ThinkPad.

In favor of flat panels is excellent contrast and resistance to glare, but moving images "smear" across the screen compared to a CRT.

I agree with Bassman, and I'd specify an AMD processor/ compatible motherboard.

From the reviews I've seen, DDR is maybe 10% faster than SDRAM. Unless you already have a bunch of SDRAM DIMMs (like me), go with DDR memory.

[This message has been edited by kenja (edited 11-20-2001).]

[BigBlue66]

Hey,

Man, oh Man! If I had 18 bills to spend, I would have one heck of a time at either www.computersurplusoutlet.com (http://www.computersurplusoutlet.com) or www.accessmicro.com. (http://www.accessmicro.com.) I'd have them build me a barebones system with all the latest, either the P4 or the Athlon XP, using a 400Mhz FSB motherboard with DDR RAM. Whewie! Then, I would get a nice ViewSonic 17" monitor and a decent AGP video card. Might even opt for a USR Performance Pro PCI modem that uses its own onboard controller for all the grunt work. Oh, and at least a Soundblaster PCI512 with Cambridge Soundworks speakers. Whewie.

Get the idea? Go check 'em out!

Happy shopping.

Big Blue 66


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Life = Karma, or is it, Karma = Life?

[iisbob]

LOL! ..But i have nothing to judge it by except an old 486 and my cat could process faster than it does..

Now you've got me eyeing my wife's tabby and wondering how well he'd do with DDR?! http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif


Seriously tho, the P4 systems were designed to take advantage of a fast memory bus-with SDRAM you'll see a degradation in their performance-kinda like having a ferrari with a lawnmower engine, it'll run, but you ain't going anywhere fast!

I would harken to these other gentlemen's advice and iinvest that money in a custom system ( just make sure you use a reliable tech to build it for you ) and go with an AMD Athlon, less expensive than a P4 and it outperforms it ( DDR is just as cheap as SDRAM so i would go that route ).

You could build an AMD system for far less than $1800 that would run circles around that P4 system they are selling-AND get a geforce3 video card w/flat panel display still for less price than that system!



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iisbob
"Bachelors should be heavily taxed. It's not fair that some men should be happier than others."
-- Oscar Wilde

[kenja]

If you're going to buy a flat panel, personally inspect the unit you will be purchasing. Look for any dead and/or always on pixels.

A brief comparison of CRT and LCD displays (http://www.computertracker.com/2001/1-Feb/page17-final.html)

[mjc]

ECS P4ITA - i850 Chipset - RAMBUS - Built in sound - P4 1.3to2.0 GHz - 1 year mboard warranty. with cpu - Intel Pentium® 4 1.8GHz with Big Heatsink/Fan $ 357

Kingston Technology IN STOCK, RDRAM 256MB, PC800 (128X16), 184 Pin 256MB PC800.Lifetimewarranty. SAME DAY SHIPPING. $ 83

AsusTek Asus V8200 T2 Deluxe Geforce3 Ti200 Titatinum (IN STOCK) Price for PHONE ORDER PRICE, mention Price Watch - V8200T2/DELUXE/64M (IN STOCK-) $ 228

Creative Labs
Sound Cards CREATIVE LABS AUDIGY X-GAMER Audigy X-Gamer Soundcard; ultimate center of entertainment for gaming enthusiasts. $ 95

Plextor CD-RW Drive 24x10x40 Plextor PlexWriter Internal ATAPI (Retail)(2410TA) (24x/10x/40x)ReWritable CD-RW, internal, Atapi PX-W 2410TA /SW Burnproof technology $ 158

Maxtor DiamondMax Plus D740X (6L080J4); 80.0GB; Internal ATA133 EIDE interface 7200RPM; 2MB buffer; 8.5ms average read/seek time; Bulk $ 172

Viewsonic E790 19inch SVGA COLOR MONITOR .26DP 1600X1200 19inch .26 DP 1600X1280 Max Res. 18 Viewable Mac and PC Compatible, 3 year warranty $ 340

Total $1433....leaving over $300 for case, OS, keybaord, speakers, mouse, etc...and this list is pretty top of the line stuff...just a quick search through PriceWatch (http://www.pricewatch.com)

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Greekguys]

Got to agree with most everybody here. I'm building my own based on some reading and help from my pals at PCGUIDE.

It will be a P4 1.6Ghz Socket 478. I'm got 2 Kingston 512MB PC2100 DDR which the Shuttle AV40 MoBo supports(Benchmarks rate this system very high). Add in Windows XP home version, Pioneer DVD-115 and ACER 2010A CD/RW, Altec Lansing speakers, Casedge P4 300W Case with/2 fans, GeForce2 Ti450 64mb with TV/Out, IBM DeskStar 40GB 7200 ATA/100 HDD, Logitech cordless freedom mouse/keyboard, ViewSonic 17in. monitor(low end model) for $1,200. This is a huge upgrade from my aug. 99 Gateway P3 450Mhz I bought for $2,200 with a 19in. monitor, 13.5GB HDD, Windows98, CD/RW, DVD/CD-ROM, Boston Acoustic speakers, Intel digital cam and bundled software I don't even use.

Yes, my new system will defintely be upgradeable. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/eek.gif Once Intel(or someone) comes out with a MoBo to support DDR with a 400FSB then I will change to that one. The AV40 will only support 266FSB for now.

Finally, the Gateway was/is nice, but once you change something you void the support warranty. So I ask you what do you really get http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/mad.gif ?

Build it and it will RUN. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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Captain, steady as she goes...