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Pastimes : Dream Machine ( Build your own PC ) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Zeuspaul who wrote (2378)	9/9/1998 3:22:00 AM
From: Dan Spangenberg	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 14778

I thought I would share my feelings about this discussion of what CPU chip for trading. I have built many many systems from the ground up from scratch for years, desktops, servers, workstations, etc. Putting all the benchmark numbers aside, when doing actual side by side user based comparisons between say a Pentium II 233 or 266 and a Pentium II 333, the difference is very nominal. I bet that very few people would even notice a difference. This assumes of course the remainder of the subsystem is the same, MB ram HD OS etc. I currently have put together a new trading system based on a BX chipset motherboard (100 mhz bus) and slot on CPU. This will allow any of the Pentium II series chips, the Celerons, and all the newer 350, 400 & 450 Pentium II's . Just for the heck of it I bought it with a Celeron 266 OEM CPU. Cost me $82. I have overclocked it to 400 mhz and frankly it SCREAMS! The motherboard was $90, so for a measly $172 I have a smokin subsystem. If in the future I decide to upgrade, I can leave the MB and swap CPU's or swap both. I may put in a 350 or 400 when the price drops. Not alot of $$$ at stake. The overclocking has been extremely stable to date. Initially I ran Win98 but have since swapped it to NT for stability. There is no comparison when it comes to stability. I have noticed no difference in processing speed compared to a Pentium II 333. The benchmarks will show a difference, but it isn't noticeable. The kbs transfer rate of the modem or cable adapter or even a spiffy T-1 network is the limiting factor. I believe alot of the specs and benchmarks are purely marketing, not technical, to push us to upgrade to the biggest best system. For me buying a couple of notches down form the top makes sense, especially with being able to swap it out for one of the newer chips. Save your money and put in 128 meg of good quality SDram. NT loves ram and many streaming quote windows will perform better. The ram will make more of a difference than almost anything else. As always this is just one persons honest opinion. Your mileage may vary. <gr> Good Luck Dan