Kinda newbie

[Preacherman]

I am not fluent with all the technical terminologies but would greatly appreciate anyone’s input on my system.

My system:

ASUS P4S8X-X P4/PSB533/8X/ A & L

350W Eagle/Kingwin PS

FLIP 478PIN P4/2.4GHZ/533 512K

PC2700 512MD DDR 333MHZ RAM

WESTERN DIGITAL 40GB 100/7200 RPM IDE HDD

WESTERN DIGITAL 80GB 100/7200 RPM 8MB IDE

MITSUMI 3.5 FLOPPY

AOPEN 16X IDE DVD ROM

AOPEN 52X24X52 INT IDE CR-W

2 CASE FANS

CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER LIVE DOLBY 5.1

INTELLINET PCI 10/100 ETHERNET CARD

ATI ALL-IN-WONDER 9000PRO 64MB

Thanks

Andrew: I have been watching your progress and I have to say I am impressed with the detail that you have taken. I on the other hand just sort of threw together a unit in May with no real consideration for HT use. Now, you’ve made me rethink that. (Especially since I just bought a FP).




Deacon

Check out - www.dvdprofiler.com
My Collection

[Gordon Moore]

anyone’s input on my system

What upgrade you should get next?
Is your current system sufficient to run as an HTPC? A Gamers box?

It seems like a nice system...the video card is a little underpowered from a gamer's perspective...

For "throwing it together" I'd say you did pretty good.


What kind of input would you like?

Gord

[Eduardo]

Deacon,

It looks like a good system. Will this be for Home theater or normal PC use? Here are a few things to consider:

1. HSF - Are you using stock? You may want to upgrade for better cooling and quieter fan.

2. Case temps. Depending on your case temps, you may want to add more fans.

3. You may want to upgrade you memory so that the FSB is better utilized.

http://home.nc.rr.com/ejimenez

[Preacherman]

Thank’s for the replies:

I use it now to play mostly games and from what I had, that video card was a drastic improvement (not to say it couldn’t be better). Although I can watch and record TV with it I don’t. Like I said, after reading more I should utilize this with my Home Theater.

HSF?, FSB?

Case temps...I had read that Powerstrip had an option to monitor temps I just haven’t found it...any help on that and what the norms should be.

Other questions I have floating around are:
- How to or can you process High def and is the DVD progressive or how does that work (up conversion?)
- If I upgrade the video card what should I look for. (Or should I up grade?)
- I had seen something about a capture card for Cable users ????


ARRRGGGHHHH.....too much input....AAARRRGGGHHH :??




Deacon

Check out - www.dvdprofiler.com
My Collection

[Gordon Moore]

HSF?, FSB?

HSF-HeatSink and Fan - The CPU cooling system.

FSB -Front Side Bus A little harder to explain but....

It's the link between the CPU and the system memory (your RAM).

Just to confuse you further (I haven't had to explain this in years )...there is something called a backside bus which refers to the link between the CPU and the on-board cache (called LEVEL 2 cache).

CPU's generally have 2 types of cache L1 (built into the CPU, aka on-die cache) and L2 resides externally (not in the architecture of the CPU) and is seperate from your System Memory (RAM). Cache memory is very fast (and very expensive) but helps store common instructions that seem to get accessed often by the CPU. The data pathway between the CPU and its cache is short and fast. If everything was built with cache memory, it would be far too expensive to produce.

The speed of the front-side bus is the 266Mhz,333Mhz, 400Mhz, 533Mhz and 800Mhz numbers you hear about. The RAM that you pick will commonly be the one that is supportted by your CPU and Motherboard.


So how does that apply to you:

Your CPU and board will support a 533MHz FSB. The memory that you picked is the max supported for that board. Choosing higher number memory (ie. PC 3200 (400MHz) or higher) is useful in overclocking...where you tell the computer to drive the CPU (and/or Memory) faster than it's rated for. All CPU's in one fashion or another can be driven faster (even if it's a little). It's like getting a performance boost for free. The down side is it could shorten the overall life of your CPU in that faster = more heat. If you can control the added heat (through better cooling) than the affects are nullified (there are limits to how much you can overclock...most of them physical by-products of design). I'm simplifying this a little.

In terms of what memory you choose for your board...you did fine

As for monitoring Temps...Asus provides software to do active monitoring through Windows. There are 3rd party utilities, the best is Motherboard Monitor (do a search on Google or go to http://www.Snapfiles.com and you'll find it there).

I am unaware of temp monitoring in powerstrip...but I'm definately no powerstrip expert so it may be there.


I'll get to part 2 of your questions alittle later.

cheers,

Gordo

[Preacherman]

Gordon: Just got out of a meeting and read your reply.

Man!! you rock. :-y ..I must have read other things that said the same but you explained it beautifully....thanks a lot for the help.




Deacon

Check out - www.dvdprofiler.com
My Collection

[Gordon Moore]

Well you're welcome...I hope I gave you the right info...

It has been a while since I've had to explain that. So If I flubbed up...I'm sure someone will pipe in with a correction.

[Gordon Moore]

You know Deacon...I had a reply to your second question and the guide flubbed up when I replied :M ...so I'll try again if I find some time tonight

[Preacherman]

Thanks Gordon.




Deacon

Check out - www.dvdprofiler.com
My Collection

[Preacherman]

What temps should I be running at?




Deacon

Check out - www.dvdprofiler.com
My Collection

[Preacherman]

With my setup. will my DVD player in my PC be progressive scan?

I want to run a DVI cable to my Z2 fom my video card. Are there things I should look out for?




Deacon

Check out - www.dvdprofiler.com
My Collection

[Preacherman]

I would like to run DVI cable. Since my video card has DVI-I out, which then is converted to VGA for my monitor. I was going to run a DVI line to my Z2. However my HTPC and components are on two ends of the room. I would like to hook up my HTPC now and have a line run to the components for future upgrades.

My idea is to run a 10’ cable from Projector to the wall and have a Y-splitter (if I can find one) to send the runs as far as I need in both directions. Now, some DVI is said to be HDTV rated and costs Mucho $$. Then there is regular DVI cable for 1/3 to 1/2 the price. And then I hear its not good to go over certain lengths.

And is it better to watch movies from the computer DVD than a stand alone DVD player.

Any thoughts or Info?

Thanks

Man, I wish CatCables made DVI's..... :?




Deacon

Check out - www.dvdprofiler.com
My Collection