Clarence's system choices con't:
HDDs:
-I haven't seen any hard data on IBM vs. Maxtor reliability. IBM has been making good drives for longer than Maxtor--I think this is why many prefer them. I strongly doubt, though, that one would see more reliability problems with the 2880 series and later. They're shipping boatloads of them, and have had some time to get manufacturing up to speed; moreover, the few non-anecdotal reports out there about them have been uniformly positive. They also have a great warranty, which you don't even need a receipt to redeem (they go by the date printed on the drive.) IMHO, you get measurably better NT performance, more size choice, similar reliability, and less $ than with Deskstar. (Then again, as I've said before, IBM is still a fine choice--they'd be my second choice. And you're certainly not being defensive. :) )
I think the reason for the more favorable commentary on the deskstar 5 and 8 is that the reviews were written earlier. In their heyday in late '97, these drives were more impressive relative to the competition.
CPUs
-I read the BBS stuff on the CPUs also, before you posted. IMHO, the PIIs would have been a great buy at $200 where they were selling, but less so above $250--there it's about an even call.
With your good RAM and MB, I would be VERY surprised if you couldn't get the celeron to run reliably at 450. Keep in mind that the results you site include people who aren't using good RAM, those who used the very first 300a chips to ship, and those who used OEM vs. boxed CPUs. Even so, it's 80%. Worst case scenario, yours doesn't go that high--you've still got a very respectable performer, and you've saved almost $100 over the PII. In not too many months, you'll probably be able to buy a "real" p450 to replace it for not much more than that. :)
Note that a few folks, like pcnut.com, will even test the celerons for you for an additional fee.
Note also that Intel will still consider running these chips at 450 OC'ing, so warranty implications are the same as OCing the celeron.
As for FTs, I'd still recommend the often touted In-winn Q500 from www.buyz.com-- a steal at $79.57 shipped, and it reached me in 3 days.
(they have 80 in stock today, at buyz.com
Give buycomp.com a long look for soundcards, vid cards, etc. They always get you stuff quick, and have very low marginal shipping rates (e.g. always $9 or so to start for me, but never more than about $12 unless it's a big monitor or something.) They have GREAT buys now on the Retail matrox g200 millenium at $89, and also creative sound cards. If you aren't doing voice recognition or aren't concerned about tip top quality, the PCI128 with 4-point surround sound combo is a supurb catch at $83 (wish I'd been able to take it.) If you want to spend a little more, the SB live value is working great in my system.
Well, I spent longer than I'd intended to here--enough for now. Feel free to follow up. |
