Intel P4 vs AMD

It's multipurposed system but yes I'm going to record using microphones (usin XLR inputs as well as 1/4 inch phone plugs. I'm going to use a digital recorder for live track captures and mixing and the computer for a midi interface and mix down.

 

Sophocles
I guess it was in the build thread that you posted the photo of the Tascam unit. That was a dead giveaway as to your intentions. A person has to be serious about audio recording to be getting a $1500 piece of equipment dedicated to the task. I already knew you were into music though.

By the way, did you order all those parts you had listed from Newegg? I've been shopping around and you can get the same merchandise cheaper from Ajump. They have a gold Bizrate rating, so they're not a ripoff. The prices are about the same or better than Newegg, but no shipping. They were about a lot cheaper than Newegg on the Asus power supply I mentioned. So there, it isn't much more than the Antec. For those wanting to have an SLI ready power supply, the Antec is the better choice though.

 

brobear

I ordered them and I should be into the build by the weekend. Actually the antech powersupply at ajump was $131 Canadian and it was an older model than the 550W unit I ordered. And since the one I oredered is SLI ready I won't have to use the molex plug with the one I bought. Also ajump has them on back order. But thanks for watching. I suspect that some of our online collegues are unaware that I once was a paid professional musician and still a song writer. I've been talking about building this studio for over a year so I figured now is as good a time as any to get started.

I buy from newegg not only because of their prices but because of their relaxed return policy.

 

Wow, that's some serious stuff!
The Premium mobo is wonderful, one of my mates recently got one. You could probably sell half the stuff that comes with it and make enough profit to half the price of the board!

 

Sophocles,
You must have been looking at the Canadian Ajump site. I was looking at the US one. They have the same SLI ready Antec TP2-550EPS12V 550W EPS12V v2.2 Power Supply as Newegg.
http://www.ajump.com/ajump/product....0033&mscssid=N123HWH7JUX68N7DFC3Q26MAGNAHDJQB
BTW, they're in stock. Ajump is 1 cent higher than Newegg's reduced price. However, with the free shipping from Ajump (Newegg charges at least $6.99) that's $6.98 off the one item.

On an order totaling nearly $400 including shipping at Newegg, I got the same merchandise for about $360 at Ajump. Since it's merchandise I know I'll be using and not returning (I'd only return for replacement), I think I'll spend the $40 saved and buy a better cooling fan. I have to measure the case and mobo to see what I can use. I like the ZALMAN CNPS9500 and CNPS7700-CU, but I may have to settle for the CNPS7000B-Cu depending on the available space. I'm using a Thermaltake Armor case that mounts the power supply sideways (to fit in an extra case fan), so I'm not sure of the gap between the mobo and the power supply. ZipZoomFly had the best prices on the Zalman fans I could find and the shipping was free. I'll probably order from them when I scope out the case.

I have to admit, doing business with Newegg is easygoing, but I get tired of getting burned on shipping charges when their competitors ship for free. It's not so bad on small orders or small items, but when it comes to big things like cases, they set a person on fire.

 

Heh, at ebuyer in the UK if you get one of their super saver deals on a case fan for £0.40 (about 70c) they deliberately code it as a 1kg item (2lb) to make it cost more for delivery. What a gyp!

 

Brobear,
You may notice the free shipping is standard ground.
Newegg has always had the best shipping deals. 3 day for very little.
The processor prices are less at newegg and there is a large refurb section that has 99 cent 3 day shipping on most things.

The main thing is Newegg is reliable for a competitive cost on most things.

I do get some things elsewhere.
Cases are normally cheaper in town due to the shipping and specials.
DVDs I like from media specialists.

I'll price shop on some things but if I need a lot of things I just get them from newegg.

 

I still would have purchased it from newegg the dollar difference is not a lot to pay for peace of mind and faster shipping. I plan on using my stuff too but what happens if something turns out to be DOA? I purchase from newegg largely because of their RMA policy.

I have purchased stuff from Monarch and zipzoomfly as well. I also purchased an inexpensived Asus Dual layer for my Antec case. I will now have three PC up and running with my P4@3.2 ghz being the slow poke.


Donald, there was a refurbished premium model for about $113 but I decided to go for the retail version instead. The last board refurbished board that I purchased was in mint condition but I find my CPU tmeps to unrealistic. An overclocked Northwood does not idle at 19 degrees celsius even with a good heatsink and fan and 27 is too low under full stress, oddly enough is that the mother board tems are right on. I suspect that the board was probably returned because of a bad thermal sensor. That being said I don't care since I'm only using it as a backup and for the occassional encodes.

A benenfit of ordering the new heatsink and fan is that I can transfer the one that came with my Opteron to my Vinice core it's much better quality than the stock one that comes with it.

 

Brobear,

Checked out ajump. Their price on the Asus SLI Premium MB is $22 less ($202 vs $224) than Newegg, with free ground shipping. Should save me about $30.00!

Happy Computering,

theonejrs

 

theonejrs

Do you mean the A8N32-SLI premium? The standard permium is only about $167. at newegg. I would never purchase the A8N32 it's a waste of money just to try and reach some outrageous
frame rate using two Nvidia cards. I'm getting all the frame rates that I need right now with my single ATI and my Deluxe board.

Also they're selling the premium for the same price that I paid and although they have free ground shipping, I prefer to pay for the 3 day service.

I also acquired another copy of Windows XP pro retail in the box (not OEM) for $149. I hate OEM's, I build and rebuild too often to be caught and wanting because of an OEM.

 

Donald
One of the items I ordered was a case and the free shipping came in handy. The prices were the same. Theonejrs seems to have it made, most of the big vendors are on the west coast.

As for shipping, Newegg's 3 day shipping often ended up being 4 or 5 and sometimes 2 to 3 days processing. I was lucky to get things in a week, so 5 to 7 day ground isn't likely to upset me.

I'll still be doing business with Newegg. I merely intend to check prices more and if they're too much different, shop elsewhere.

 

Funnily enough, half of all UK suppliers are in Bolton (ebuyer, dabs and misco i think all are, and microdirect is in nearby manchester)

 

Besides SLI the board also has the heat tube cooling as well. Depending on theonejrs wanting to OC, that might come in handy.

 

sammorris
If the vendor is in your country, that would be like having them in one of our states. With some of us on the East Coast and vendors on the West, when shipping cross country, that would be similar to you receiving a package from the far side of Europe.

 

brobear


The board that I ordered also has the heatpipe cooling. The only difference between the A8n32-SLI and the A8N-SLI premium is that the A8N32 is supposed to be able to run two cards at the full 16X versus the Premiums two cards at 8X each. Study after study has shown little benchable benefits of dual 16X versus dual 8X and I'm probably never going to use SLI anyway. On top of that the A8N32 requires specific memory to get the benefits. Well there are some other physical differences as well, the A8N32-SLI slots when in use will block two of the PCI slots.

I shopped several computer online retailers for price but if the price is not significant then I always go with company policy instead. And I don't know why it would take newegg 2 days to process and 3 to 4 to arrive. I ordered my hard drive last Saturday evening which means that newegg was closed for buisness and I received my drive the following Thursday. That means that It was processed and received in under 4 days. I prdered my latest stuff on Saturday afternoon and it's already at level 3 and I'm betting that I'll have it by Thursday again and I live farther from the warehouse than you do.


I'm not advocating newegg, I say each to their own. I purchase a lot more equipment than most of you do and return polciy is at the top of my concerns.

 

It may have been due to the seasonal rush and returns, but the last order I placed at Newegg took close to a week. An extra day may have something to do with my living out in the country. As long as Newegg is within reason on an item, I do prefer their service. But like a lot of merchandise, I owe no one allegiance, brand or vendor.

 

Exactly the same for me. Of course delivery is usually quite quick since the journey for me is a maximum of about 250 miles. In addition, I never buy from MicroDirect due to their returns policy.

 

I don't own an allegiance to any company either but I do look closely at their policies, especially those involving returns. I recntly sent them an email complaing about a recent batch of media and without any proof they sent me a $20 credit against my next purchase. The $20 exceeded my losses.

 

Wow, that's brilliant! You could con them $20 if they weren't faulty!

 

Newegg 3 day always gets to me 2 to 3 days faster than standard ground.