[RESOLVED] Building A P4 System. What will I need?

I'm getting ready to build a P4 1.5GHZ system. My questions are, What sort of cabinet and power supply are recommended, What sort of RAM,what brand of Main Board,is the fan & heatsink that comes with the retail box sufficient if I'm not over-clocking but if I do decide to overclock what fan do the tech pros recommend. I know its a lot to answer but I know you LOVE IT!


P.S. Feel free to suggest anything you think would help to make this task as simple as possible!


She Loves Me, She loves Me Not, She loves Me, She Took It All!

I'd recommend going to www.Tomshardware.com
Tom Pabst has tested P4's thoroughly. You may be discoraged by some of what he say's. Basically you'll be restricted for future upgrades and you'll pay a premium for P4 and RDRAM. The limiting component for gaming is the GFX card. So why pay so much more for Intel?

Personally I don't have a problem with Intel stuff. But I work in the gaming industry and have found that the Intel systems are lightning fast. They are my preference.

http://www4.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q1/010322/index.html

The conclusion to this article pretty much slays my opinion of Intel. Fair enough I can take it. I'd have to go along with Toms opinion about the platform though. It's harder to build a really solid AMD platform since you have to rely on third party mobos.

Scutter.

Get the latest edition of MaximumPC. All you need to know is in the April 2001 edition.

Requirements for P4:

1. $$$$$
2. $$$$$
3. $$$$$
and don't forget the $$$$$

I agree with the previous posts here. Stay away from p4's for now. The 1.33ghz Thunderbird more than outperforms the p4-1.5ghz see - http://www.hardwarecentral.com/hardw...eviews/3144/1/

Plus the memory is much cheaper and most Thunderbird based boards(I prefer the ABIT kt7-RAID) will support future processors unlike the p4 boards. People like Intel because of the name, but reliability and performance both point to the AMD side of the house in recent months.

My systems(for the record)
"Server"
1.2ghz AMD Thunderbird on ABIT KT7-RAID
1gig of pc133 mem
20gig IBM hd
(2x) 80gig Maxtor HD's(mirrored)

"Other comp"
Dual p3 1ghz
ABIT VP6
1gig pc133 mem
40gig IBM hd
Voodoo 5

I have thoroughly tested these PCs and found te Thunderbird performs much better(but since most games are multi-threaded I use the dual to game). As soons as a ABIT makes a dual Thunderbird board I will be all over it :)

GO GET THE LATEST MAXIMUM PC MAGAZINE. THEY JUST HAD AN ARTICLE THAT WAS GREAT ABOUT BUILDING P4 SYSTEMS. I HAVE BUILT A FEW P4 SYSTEMS SO FAR AND THE MAIN THINGS YOUR GOING TO NEED ARE 1) A GOOD CASE WITH A SPECIAL POWER SUPPLY THAT HAS THE THREE POWER CONNECTORS FOR THE MAINBOARD(ATX+12V)OR STRAIGHT 12 I CAN'T REMEBER WHAT IT WAS CALLED. I SUGGEST THE ENLIGHT 7237A4Z P4 CHASSIS 300W. 2( THE CASE IF NOT USING ONE DESIGNED FOR THE P4 HAS TO HAVE THE SCREW HOLES FOR THE HEATSINK OR USE THE ASUS OR MSI MOTHERBOARD DESCRIBED IN MAXIMUM PC THAT HAS WORK AROUND SCREW HOLES. 3) A PRO 4X VIDEO CARD. AT LEAST THE INTEL 850GB BOARD I USED HAD TO HAVE ONE. HOPE THAT HELPS. :p
ONE OTHER QUICK NOTE THE ONLY MEMORY YOU CAN USE IS RDRAM SO FAR WITH THE 850GB. IT MAY BE EXPENSIVE BUT THE THREE SYSTEMS IVE BUILT WERE STABLE AS HECK AND WERE STILL UNDER $2,500. BE CAREFUL BECAUSE INTEL IS GOING TO CHANGE THE PIN STRUCTURE FROM 423 TO 478 SO UPGRADEING WON'T BE POSSIBLE DOWN THE ROAD. IT MIGHT BE BEST TO WAIT A WHILE OR CHOOSE AN ALTERNATIVE.
:p

I suggest you look into adding a Platypus Technology QikDRIVE to your box. We are seeing up to 40,000 transactions per second on read/writes on a platypus drive. This is compared to 108 transactions per second on a standard hard drive.

Eliminating I/O bottlenecks allows you to truely get the most out of your CPU.
www.platypus.net

YES ! Make sure you have the right POWER SUPPLY ! Trust me on this one, the extra 12v is a must or your board will not work.

Your better off getting a new case with the right PS in it already.

Don't forget the monster copper heatsink!

Quote:

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Originally posted by Eightball:
Get the latest edition of MaximumPC. All you need to know is in the April 2001 edition.

Requirements for P4:

1. $$$$$
2. $$$$$
3. $$$$$
and don't forget the $$$$$

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ROFLMAO!!!! But don't I love these kinds of customers--the bigger the machine, the bigger the potential profits--and the more likely there will be a steady stream of future upgrades! Go for it Dude.

Key ingrediants for building a Killer P4...

Asus A7V133
AMD T-bird 1.33GHz
256MB PC133 Corsair Cas2 SDRAM

OK, so the title should have read "P4 Killer", not "Killer P4"

Until applications can catch up with the architechture of the P4 and the platform becomes a bit more mature and a lot less expensive I'd stay away from it. If you absolutely have to go with an Intel, then the P3 1GHz chips are coming down in price, when mated with an Asus CUSL2 or CUV4x series mainboard, they are pretty stable.

I suggest going with a ASUS P4T Motherboard its the best you can buy right now.

Quote:

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Originally posted by scutterboy:
[B It's harder to build a really solid AMD platform since you have to rely on third party mobos.

Scutter.[/B]

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Uh, I'd have to disagree with this. Intel makes only a few motherboards, and I notice that most people who buy Intel chips tend to go with third party motherboard makers such as Asus, Abit, Tyan, DFI, FIC, Aopen, MSI, Gigabyte, Soyo, and others anyway. So there is no real disadvantage to buying AMD over Intel based on motherbaord choices alone. Almost every component made is third party, so based on this statement, in order to have a properly run system, you will need to buy only Intel components!! Rediculous.

I have to agree with everybody else, as much as i like intel, i would have to say stay away from P4 right now. I built a dual 1Gig P!!! with 1GB of RAM and a GeForce 2 Ultra for far less that a 1.5GHz P4, if you still want to buy a P4 wait until they change the socket in a few months, that way you are not stuck with a low end P4. If you want a cheap thrill get a 1.33GHz TB, they can be real fun

Quote:

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Originally posted by lycia69:
Uh, I'd have to disagree with this. Intel makes only a few motherboards, and I notice that most people who buy Intel chips tend to go with third party motherboard makers such as Asus, Abit, Tyan, DFI, FIC, Aopen, MSI, Gigabyte, Soyo, and others anyway. So there is no real disadvantage to buying AMD over Intel based on motherbaord choices alone. Almost every component made is third party, so based on this statement, in order to have a properly run system, you will need to buy only Intel components!! Rediculous.

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Hi Lycia
I get your drift. But the point is that the "P4 platforms" are Intel even when third party they all use the i850 chipset not all are equal, true some manufacturers are better than others.

The latest AMD platforms are either the AMD760 chipset, or the VIA chipset and ahem ALI Majik1 but not really. The 760 has been in short supply, so difficult to obtain leaving just the 3rd party VIA option.

If you visit the link in my first post you'll see that Tom Pabst said the same thing. Or read this http://www4.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q..._achilles_heel

Hope you see my point.

My P4 has been up and running trouble free for a few weeks, it really flies and I am impressed with it. The AMD lovers will say theres is faster, gooder, whatever. I like Intel, I think Software is not written yet to take full advantage of the type of proceesing the P4 Can offer, but that's part of being ahead of the game. My rig Rocks. Heres my Specs.

Intel P4 1.3 Ghz
Intel Board
128 mg Ram. (2 64's.)
ATI 32 Meg Vid Card
SB Live Sound
7200 Rpm HDD
50X Acer CdRom
HP CDRW 9300
DSL Nic/Modem
19" KDS Monitor
Tower Case W/350 Watt PS

I am set for a while. I had a P3 800Mhz and this machine kicks it's a$$.

I will still side with Licia, Scutterboy. Just because AMD didn't design the chipset, you can't label it "unstable." I have had great luck with AMD, and while Intel is a good platform, it too has it's inherent weaknesses.

Do you remember the P60 and P66? The P4 is headed down the same road! Do NOT buy a P4 - I suggest a 1.3 Ghz Tbird / KT7A Raid / 256MB PC133 combo. It can be had for a little more than a P4, and it will kick the p4's a$$ across the board! ( Mostly, anyway.)

I just finished building 3 P4's. At first I was unsure about the decision to move to a P4, I was thinking Athlon due to the fact that I personaly use (T-Bird 1Ghz, AV7) one and it is great! The signs of stability are great. I do agree with most that moving to a P4 may not be your best path for upgradibility. But, If the client wants a P4 after explaining the CPU roadmaps, then he/she gets it!

I was very impressed with the performance of the P4. The end user was extremely impressed that the boot up took seconds! Here is the config:

Intel P4 1.4 Ghz
ASUS P4T Board
128 mg Ram. (2 64's.)
Cardex 32 Meg GeForce2 MX Vid Card
SB Live Value Sound
Western Dig 40gig 7200 Rpm ata/100 HDD
48X Mitsumi CdRom
Plextor CDRW 16x10x40a
Intel Pro 10/100 Nic Card
19" HP (Hitachi) Monitor
InWinn S-508 P4 Case W/300 Watt PS

The InWinn Case is a great P4 case for it's value!! $62.

The only caution with building this would be: Do Not Over Tighten The Motherboard Screws when mounting in the case. The ASUS uses a special backboard for it's P4T and when mounted in the case to tight, the back of the board shorts out on the Back Plate. Just SNUG the screws!! :rolleyes: null