On Wed, 9 Oct 2002 11:18:40 -0400, Jeffrey Madore <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

>Greetings to all:
>
>I am in the process of getting ready to order components for a new machine
>and wanted to get some feedback on my plans. This will be the first PC that
>I have built and am looking forward to gaining the experience.
>
>Firstly, I am looking to put together something that is fast and stable. I
>currently have an HP machine running a 700 Mhz celeron processor, with an
>intel 810 chipset and 512 Meg of ram. It's not meeting my needs speed wise,
>and when I experimented with Linux it worked poorly. I've been told by
>several, that my motherboard is one of the worst for Linux.
>
>My current and ongoing need is doing sound restoration using Dcart.  I also
>want to experiment with Linux, electronic design programs, ham radio digital
>modes, and will be using my new machine to serve three other machines in the
>house through a Linksys hub that I now use.
>
>As of now, I have a 19" rack mount case with fans and filter and plenty of
>room. I have a new TDK 40/12/48 cd drive, a WD 40 G drive, and on order a
>550W atx power supply.
>
>The motherboard that I am leaning toward is the Soyo KT400 Dragon Ultra,
>with an Athalon XP2000 processor and 512 Meg of DDR.
>
>Does anyone have any comments to or suggestions on my plans so far?
>
>I notice that the prices on the XP line of processors goes up exponentially
>as you go up the line, while the processor speed does not. Are there other
>characteristics of the faster processors that make them worth the additional
>cost?
>
>Thanks for any help,
>
>Jeff Madore - CT ><>
>
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i would think the rapid price increase as you look at processors above 2 ghz is due to the newness of the processor at that speed (closer to the cutting edge).
looking at your planned uses for the pc, i'd say your money would be better spent on more memory, if anything.  i'm very happy with my xp 1500+ processor.  i also have 512 mb of 2100 ddr memory, but on a leadtek motherboard.  does the soyo support usb 2.0? if not, i'd recommend finding one that does.  i went with onboard audio and nic.  i found the best prices/service, and very fast shipping from www.newegg.com.  this was my first build, and i really enjoyed it!
be very careful seating the heatsink/fan on the processor.  i'm told it's easy to crack the processor.

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