What PC to go with a G400?

[Paddy]

Sorry if this has been asked in a previous thred.
What CPU + Mobo would bing out the best in the G400 32Mb DH (non max)

Right now i have a P2 300 on a Legend V mobo
- I think i could do better.....

[Buuri]

LOL
Building a PC around a graphics adapter..

_
B

[Paddy]

You dont think the G400 is worth it?


;-)

[SteveC]

My bet would be an Athlon - just ask Greebe.

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"The chances of anything coming from Mars, are a million-to-one", he said.

[Paddy]

Is it THAT processor dependent?

[Echo|Fox]

_most_ machines I build, either for family or friends, get Celery Inside(tm). The cost/performance is just that much better. However, a G400 _really_ needs a P3 and its SSE so you can use TurboGL. So you're best bet is a P3-450. They overclock well (most of em) if you're interested, and they're cheap(er).
As for a motherboard, this weeks price list for a local computer shop (www.best-comp.com, who get most of my business) shows that the Asus P3B-F and the Abit BE6 are within $2 of each other. I've always been a big fan of ABit mobos, they've never done me wrong. They're been rock solid, and are still the best overclockers boards. Plus, the ATA66 controller on the BE6 is great, because i now have my 2 hard drives, my DVD, and my burner, all on a seperate IDE chain. Yay! The P3BF has a better reputation for stability though, so its really you're call.
As long as you watch out for IRQ conflicts (Which are admittedly easier to get on the BE6, you just need to juggle cards a bit) you should be happy with either board.


------------------
P3-450@558mhz@2.1v, ABit BE6, 128megs 7.3125ns PC133 SDRAM, SB Live! Value, G400 32meg Dualhead (@120%), Acer ALN-201 PCI 10bT NIC, 6.5gig Seagate Medalist Pro 7200rpm, 13gig Quantum Fireball CR, Yamaha 4416e Burner, Pioneer 10x DVD-ROM, Panasonic e70 17" Monitor, Antec KS-188 24" Tower, 6 year old Honeywell-SUH 101key Keyboard, Logitech Trackman Marble+



[This message has been edited by Echo|Fox (edited 03 November 1999).]

[Paddy]

But is a P3 450 overclocked going to make that much difference?

[SteveC]

"the Asus P3B-F and the Abit P3BF are "

Abit P3BF?? You invent your own Abit boards for the PCs you build?

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"The chances of anything coming from Mars, are a million-to-one", he said.

[DuRaNgO]

doh!
jim

------------------
PIII-500mhz @ 620 ! with an Abit BE6 mobo
128mb pc-100
Mill G400 (YAHOO!!!) 32mb @ 165/205 with MGATweak-410mhz, 2.5, 2), PD 5.30 & bios 1.5-22
Maxtor 14.3 gb Uata66 hdd
SB Live!
Winblows 98se & DX7
32 lbs. of fans, heatsinks and aluminum ductwork
3DMark Result 5954.69 3DMarks
Synthetic CPU 3D Speed 9325.69 CPU 3DMarks
Rasterizer Score 2791.72 3DRasterMarks
Game 1 - Race 65.07 FPS
Game 2 - First Person 54.89 FPS
Fill Rate 268.79 MTexels/s

[paulcs]

A big fast one!

PIII 500's are pretty cheap now, and the 600's are going down as well.

I like Asus and AOpen boards myself. Due to unfortunate seismic events in Taiwan and possibly some rumored nastiness in Santa Clara (home of Intel), motherboards are not going down in price.

The more RAM the better. At least 128 Mb.

Maybe an Aureal-based soundcard. They appear a little less fussy.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[Electrosaurus]

PIII 500's are right on the price/performance threshhold now. I'd definitely stick with a PIII no matter what speed you get (Turbo GL an' all).
Asus and AOpen make very good boards but it really depends on what you want to do with it(duh). Is it speed, reliability or price that is holding on tightest your credit card?
I must say the the Aopen boards seem particularly 'friendly' with G400's. I have a AX6BC Pro and it put my G400 in at IRQ 11 (desirable) without any hassles, no problems with AGP 2x or bus mastering either.
If you have to get a SB Live, wait for the new models.

Rgds,
Electrosaurus

[Paddy]

Cost is not a huge issue, as long as it is not over the top.
I have 256Mb of Pc100 RAM
and an SBawe32

I suppose that i am *really* going to use it for games, but i wont a system that will last. I need to upgrade the mobo and cpu, but have always been anxious about anything other than intel. Have heard lots of compatibility problems.
Anyway Intel seem to be higher performance for the same spec.

[Scytale]

'a system that will last'

[SteveC]

So you don't understand that term either then, Scytale?

------------------
Cheers,
Steve

"The chances of anything coming from Mars, are a million-to-one", he said.

[Scytale]

Hmm, I think my P3 450 will be around for the next four months, at 600+ MHz with 133+ MHz FSB that is.