I'm looking to put together a system
(enthusiast / general-aggressive computing / gaming),
and will have many questions, and look forward to your
advice.

First question:

I'm looking at using a GA-8knxp motherboard with a
2.8 GHz P4 processor.  How does this sound?
Does it make sense?  It seems like the next couple
of steps in processor speed start costing that "latest
and greatest" premium.

My sense is that AMD is not really in the running,
performance-wise, and probably not still the value
choice at the high end.  Do people agree?  I don't
have any desire to pay extra for the "brand" name.
(My last system was AMD.)  But (having ditched
Rambus) it looks like Intel is ahead at the higher
end.

I'm also considering getting the "Ultra" version of the
motherboard, with onboard Adaptec (AIC-7902?)
ultra-320 scsi controller, to be paired with a Seagate
Cheetah 15,000-rpm ultra-320 scsi drive.  It's pricey,
but I've always felt that os/pagefile disk performance
is often underestimated in terms of overall system
performance.  Does the ultra-320 choice make sense?
Does anyone have experience with the "Ultra" motherboard?
Would I be better off with a regular motherboard (Gigabyte
or someone else) and a separate scsi controller card?

Thanks in advance for your help and advice.

     Frank R.Brown
     Frank.R.Brown@MailAndNews

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