[mlwjackson]

OK, I'm tired of looking high and low to get the biggest bang for the buck on a new system. I think I've got a pretty good set of specs. Here are the details... system to be used for constant data feed analysis. Lots of routine color graphs, lots of data points constantly recalculated and updated. Two monitor. No overclocking anticipated. So, look at my proposal and suggest better value for the money or advise me of unrecognized incompatibilites.

Box: Antec Sonata II 450 watt
Mobo: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (post 9/05 for bios that supports X2)
CPU: Athlon 64 X2 +4200
Memory: Crucial 2GB kit CT2KIT12864Z40B
HD: Western Digital Cavier SE 250GB 7200 SATA
Video: eVGA GeForce 6500 256MB DDR PCIe
DVD: Sony DRU-810A
OS: XP Pro


MLW

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Looks pretty good, might want to go X300 or X600 lines for the gfx cards they are good basic business cards with multi monitor support and cheap, ive not seen a 6500 about before and havent read any reviews on them but the low end cards dont usually get the same press as the high end, and ATI really has the low end market cornered.

[warriorscot]

Looks pretty good, might want to go X300 or X600 lines for the gfx cards they are good basic business cards with multi monitor support and cheap, ive not seen a 6500 about before and havent read any reviews on them but the low end cards dont usually get the same press as the high end, and ATI really has the low end market cornered.

[Hammm]

note the new 7400,7300,7600 chips from nVidia are out now but a good business card is the Firefly ones from ATI and Quadro ones, also Matrox. they are well build for constant use, can last more than normal gfx cards and more stable. look at the Opteron 165 or 170 dualcores which pack more silicon and run safer, they're cheaper too

[warriorscot]

They arent actually cheaper everywhere they come in pricewise here just above the 4400+ and will need overclocking to outperform that cpu.

[Hammm]

they are cheaper than the 4400+ in NZ, but by howmuch OC do you mean, if it's not worth it then i may get the 4400+

[warriorscot]

Well they are at 1.8Ghz they need at least 300-400Mhz really to make it worth it depending on there initial cost which rises almost daily as people outsrtip the relativley small supply, it probably wont stay cheap.

[mlwjackson]

I ordered all my components yesterday. I decide against and opteron because the price break wasn't very much for the 165 (ony $80 less) and it would have to be overclocked +400mHz to match the stock 4200. The 170 was more than the 4200 which I had determined was my price/performance breakpoint. I did find a good deal on Corsair TwinX 3200 memory. So final configuration will be

Box: Anetec Sonata II 450watts
Mobo: MSI K8N NEO $ Platinum
CPU: Athlon X2 +4200
Memory: Corsair TwinX2048 PC3200C2 2GB Kit
HD: WD Caviar SE 250 GB 16mb Cache
Video: eVGA e Force 6500 PCIe
DVD: Sony DRU-810A

I know the video card looks strange for this rig but I don't game (learned long ago that I waste too much time if it's available) but this is for extensive 2D business graphics so it made the most sense to me.

Wish me luck that it all plugs and plays.

[warriorscot]

As long as the card was cheap thats fine totally understand why you wouldnt want one. Looks good though.

[Hammm]

check out the nVidia and ATI server gfx cards, they pack a punch and are more stable, Quadro, Firefly, Matrox etc