So I think my computer's dying

[Alan]

About a bin in CPU. So 5% depending on the workload.

My thoughts:
2.4 ghz w/ 533 front side bus like i said, translate this down a bin compared to 800 FSB when making price comparisons
1 gb dual chan 333 mhz ddr not much of a price difference between 333 and 400
40 gb 7200 rpm quite small, really.
40x cd
free dvd burner now that's nice. what standards does it support? most new drives are + and - RW, and often CD-RW too, but this free thing makes me suspicious. it probably only supports one standard, which is why they're unloading it.
128 mb Radeon 9800 that's a honking big video card.
integrated sound card good
no monitor good
standard everything else

I don't really care about the DVD burner, I'll probably never use it but they're giving it to me anyway, whatever.

[Jonathan]

There's three 9800s: 9800 PRO, 9800, and 9800SE in that order.

The 9800 is equivalent to a 9700 PRO, and is generally replacing it in retail channels. So it's not a bad buy at all for $100 more than a GF4. The 9800SE is the suck.

The GF4 is a hundred bucks cheaper because it's a DX8 card. I think getting a DX9 card is probably a good idea.

[Alan]

With a GeForce4 instead of the Radeon, it's $874 after rebate.

For $60 more I can get an 80 gig drive instead, don't know that I actually need it though, since I don't download movies, games, or anime anymore.

[Alan]

There's three 9800s: 9800 PRO, 9800, and 9800SE in that order.

The 9800 is equivalent to a 9700 PRO, and is generally replacing it in retail channels. So it's not a bad buy at all for $100 more than a GF4. The 9800SE is the suck.

The GF4 is a hundred bucks cheaper because it's a DX8 card. I think getting a DX9 card is probably a good idea.

Alright, I found the Radeons they have. They have the 9800 and 9800 PRO, but don't have PRO for the model I'm getting.

[Jonathan]

So Dell is offering the 9800 and the 9800 PRO. Dell's graphics card options are horrible. You have your choice of:

64MB DDR NVIDIA GeForce4 MX™ Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI [subtract $15] MX is bad. Don't get MX.
New 128MB DDR GeForce FX 5200 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI Incredible Graphics Okay, but not exactly the top of the mainstream barrel. The 5600 is a nicer card all round.
64MB DDR ATI All-in-Wonder® 9000 Pro(w/TV/DVD/Video Functionality) [add $65 or $2/month1] It's an AIW and it's an older DX8 card, Nice if you need an AIW, otherwise no good.
New 128MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI [add $115 or $4/month1] Well, sure, okay.
New 128MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 Pro Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI [add $295 or $9/month1] Whee!

No good nvidia card, no mainstream ATI card. The 9800 is the card to pick, unless you already have a decent card that you can swap the MX out for.

[Alan]

No good nvidia card, no mainstream ATI card. The 9800 is the card to pick, unless you already have a decent card that you can swap the MX out for.

I have a GeForce3, which I think might be the part of my computer that's dying. So no.

[Alan]

I'll probably be going with the specs I posted on the front page, because Dell doesn't let you get 400 mhz ddr ram without getting an 800 front side bus. And getting that costs like $300 more or something total. Whatever dude. Guess I'll be getting a Dell.

[Dave]

ummm I think u *NEED* a 800 Mhz bus to use 400 MHz dual ram. 400 x 2 = 800

DELL RULES!

[Jonathan]

I'll probably be going with the specs I posted on the front page, because Dell doesn't let you get 400 mhz ddr ram without getting an 800 front side bus. And getting that costs like $300 more or something total. Whatever dude. Guess I'll be getting a Dell.

So you want to match RAM and FSB. 800 goes with 2x400, 533 goes with 2x 266 or 333. So Dell is correct.

However, the $300 or more is not true. Dell is just trying to sell you a bill of goods, man. I configured a Dimension 4600
$1,148
Before $100 mail-in-rebate.

The only reason it was over $1000 is because Dell is out of stock of 2.4 GHz 800 MHz FSB parts and I had to bump it to 2.6 GHz.

That is:
Pentium® 4 Processor at 2.60GHz w/800MHz front side bus/ HT Technology
Save $100 with mail-in rebate. Price shown before rebate.
512MB Dual Channel DDR SDRAM at 400MHz (2x256M)
40GB Ultra ATA/100 Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
No Floppy Drive Included
48x CD-ROM Drive
FREE UPGRADE! 4x DVD+RW/+R Drive w/CD-RW
No Monitor
New 128MB DDR ATI RADEON™ 9800 Graphics Card with TV-Out and DVI
Integrated 5.1 Audio with Dolby Digital 5.1 capability
Altec Lansing® ADA215 Speakers
WordPerfect® Productivity Pack with Quicken New User Edition (cheapest software package)

If dell would sell the 2.4 GHz running 800 FSB, then that'd be the same system running at 800 MHz FSB for less money, but with 512 MB less RAM. Like Dave says, though, you don't have to go through Dell for your memory, though.

That's $989 versus $1048 as is, at 2.6 with 800 FSB, which is two bins above the 2.4 (think 10% performance). Two bins for $59 ain't bad. As a bonus, those two bins will stack nicely, as stuff that hits bandwidth hard will get more, and stuff that is CPU-bottlenecked will get the frequency boost. As it stands, I think this is a better deal than the 1 GB 533 system, though I think the 2.4@800 would make it nicer, putting it under the magic $1000 price point.

Here's the link to the 4600 configured like I said, though I doubt it will work. You have to pick the 4600 or else you can't get this price.

So I am guessing you intend to buy ASAP because you haven't got a main machine right now? See my article thread about timing. But if you can hold off a few weeks until Athlon 64 launch, it's probably worth your money.

[Peijen]

So I am guessing you intend to buy ASAP because you haven't got a main machine right now? See my article thread about timing. But if you can hold off a few weeks until Athlon 64 launch, it's probably worth your money.[/url]

See my post about calling dell for refund

[Jonathan]

So I am guessing you intend to buy ASAP because you haven't got a main machine right now? See my article thread about timing. But if you can hold off a few weeks until Athlon 64 launch, it's probably worth your money.[/url]

See my post about calling dell for refund

Indeed! So that shortens the time considerably. Do you know if it's thirty days from the time of purchase or delivery? If you wait eleven days to order, that's putting you in line with the Athlon 64 launch, giving you a good opportunity to maximize your chances of rebate. If you wait until the end of August, that puts you into shape to catch falling prices which the media expect in October.

Intel 800MHz FSB Pentium 4 motherboard shipments could grow 30-40% from now to the end of September, according to motherboard makers. In October, when Intel again lowers CPU prices, 800MHz FSB motherboard shipments will skyrocket, added makers.

But system price is not solely dependent on CPU price, so you needn't feel the need to wait for the October price drop to have a good chance of a rebate.

[Peijen]

Do you know if it's thirty days from the time of purchase or delivery?

I have no idea, my guess it would be the time of purchase.

[quantus]

alan should just call and ask what their policy is for that.

[Alan]

I don't need to buy now, it reboots randomly but is still usuable. I don't want to miss the $100 rebate thingy though, will have to find out when that expires.

[quantus]

There's almost always a rebate. If not on that model then the one they replace that model with.

[Jonathan]

from newegg.com: (no, i didn't compile this, i copied it from someone else)

Intel D865GBFL i865G P4 (800FSB) Skt478 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio,
Video, LAN Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)***
400/533/800FSB, ATA/100, AGP 8X (1.5V), 4DDR DIMM, 6PCI, USB 2.0,
Audio,
Video, LAN
$119.00

Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 Processor 2.4GHz, 800MHz FSB, Socket 478 Retail
***(Free 2nd Day)***
w/Fan and Heatsink, 512KB Cache, .13u
$173.50

KingMax DDR memory 256MB PC3200 MPXB62D OEM
$43.00 x 2

Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3120026A 120GB Ultra ATA/100 7200RPM Hard
Drive
w/8MB Buffer ***(Free 2nd Day)***
$96.00

Googlegear 601FP-420DF Mid Tower Case (Beige) Retail
w/420W Power Supply
$63.00

Samsung SM352 DVD 16x + CD-RW 52x24x52 Combo Drive (8MB Buffer) w/Nero
&
PowerDVD Software (Beige) Retail ***(Free 2nd Day)***
$73.99

that's $611 without video card. Add a $250 video card, that's $861. Add a $105 video card like Vinny's, and that's only $706.

[Jonathan]

i know you already said you have no interest in debugging your current computer's problem, but have you tried replacing the video card? borrow dave's and stick in yours; he won't notice.

[VLSmooth]

Add a $105 video card like Vinny's, and that's only $706.

Just a word of warning, the softmod to a Radeon 9800 was icing on the cake. You have to make sure you have the right PCB with 8 pipelines (L-shaped memory configuration), otherwise it won't work. It was originally for my HTPC (home theatre pc), since I wanted something strong enough for epsxe with good video-out, but now I think I'll keep it in my main box

[Jonathan]

Ha! My business laptop's savage can handle epsxe! Granted, any darkening or whitening made it chunk and it ran best in a 320x240 window. And it would be completely unsuitable for action games. And I ran with sound disabled.

[VLSmooth]

Whoa, something worse than my Radeon 7200... it can still run both epsxe (does have minor issues) and warcraft 3 with reduced settings

I still think it was a very fine expenditure of ~$60 ~3 years ago.