Another "Building a new PC" thread. Need advice.

[Disconnect]

It has been 1.5 years since I last reformatted my hard drive, and Windows is starting to become unbearable. I figure that now is a good time for a much-needed upgrade. Currently I have an Athlon XP 2000+(@ 1.81Ghz), 512MB PC2700, etc.

After a small amount of research, here is what I'm considering (Prices are from Newegg and include shipping):

Motherboard: ASrock 939Dual-SATA2 - $76

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3700+ San Diego - $269

RAM: CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB - ~$94

Hard Drive: HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 160GB - $80

Sound Card: Turtle Beach CATALINA 8 (7.1) ~$55

PSU: XClio 450BL ATX 450W - ~$60

Case: COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 - $66

For a total of ~$700. I can't afford to spend much more than this.

I will keep my MSI 9800 pro (for a few months) and NEC 3500AG DVD drive along with all my peripherals.

What advantage would I get from Corsair XMS memory? It's $30 more and I don't plan to overclock. Also, is the 450W XCilo enough for this setup? The guide in the PSU section of this forum recommends it "For 95%+ of All Modern PC's."

I can't stand my current Maxtor HD's constant whine, so noise is important to me. Reviews say that the Hitachi is quiet. What about the stock fan with the 3700+?

Thanks

 

[vsrdan]

Any reasons for this particular motherboard?

How about this or this ?

I use this one, and it is OK. However, I've seen compalints about it lately by others.

Why do you need a separate sound card? These boards come with 8 channel audio.

 

[espn2829]

That Epox is excellent.

 

[Disconnect]

Any reasons for this particular motherboard?

How about this or this ?

I use this one, and it is OK. However, I've seen compalints about it lately by others.

I'm not set on any particular part. The Epox has good reviews and a low price.

Why do you need a separate sound card? These boards come with 8 channel audio.

Every onboard sound card I've heard sucked, so I assumed it's best to get a separate one.

 

[Asian Dub Foundation]

might want to get a name brand power supply.. never in my life have i heard of X CLIO... get one from antec, OCZ, enermax, Fortron, Seasonic...

 

[Disconnect]

might want to get a name brand power supply.. never in my life have i heard of X CLIO... get one from antec, OCZ, enermax, Fortron, Seasonic...

I thought the same thing when I saw the recommendation. Supposedly XClio has the same manufacturer that Antec uses, so I'm not worried. Also, it has very positive reviews on Newegg. My only concern is that 450W might not be strong enough for what I'm getting.

 

[Asian Dub Foundation]

I thought the same thing when I saw the recommendation. Supposedly XClio has the same manufacturer that Antec uses, so I'm not worried. Also, it has very positive reviews on Newegg.

don't know if you kno this or not, but Newegg ONLY post positive reviews... they delete the negative ones. and i would take what ppl say in those review with a grain of salt. i wouldnt be so sure that its made by antec unless there is solid evidence, not word of mouth.

 

[Rune75]

There is a reason why ASUS is a tier1 motherboard maker... and epox is not.

 

[Disconnect]

I just realized that none of those motherboards have AGP slots. I can't afford to also upgrade my video card right now, but I do want PCI express slots for when I do. It looks like I am stuck with the only 939 board on Newegg with both PCI express and AGP: ASRock 939Dual-SATA2.
It looks fine to me except for the chipset. I've never heard of ULi.

It is only $76 with shipping.

 

[NulloModo]

You could save some money on the case and PSU by going with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129150

No reason to waste your money on a name band power supply, and 350 watts would handle the system fine. I have used cheapo OEM power supplies in all of my systems and I have yet to have a problem with one.

Also, I'd get a SoundBlaster Audigy2 instead of the Turtle Beach card, but I've never liked Turtle Beach cards.

Other than that is seems pretty solid, and yeah, if you aren't going to overclock it, the Value-Ram is fine.

 

[Lyquist]

don't know if you kno this or not, but Newegg ONLY post positive reviews... they delete the negative ones. and i would take what ppl say in those review with a grain of salt. i wouldnt be so sure that its made by antec unless there is solid evidence, not word of mouth.

I've seen negative reviews on newegg.

Lyquist

 

[sitheris]

I've seen negative reviews on newegg.

Lyquist

I tried posting 2 negative reviews on newegg - neither were accepted. It's kinda BS

 

[Disconnect]

You could save some money on the case and PSU by going with something like this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129150

No reason to waste your money on a name band power supply, and 350 watts would handle the system fine. I have used cheapo OEM power supplies in all of my systems and I have yet to have a problem with one.

Also, I'd get a SoundBlaster Audigy2 instead of the Turtle Beach card, but I've never liked Turtle Beach cards.

Other than that is seems pretty solid, and yeah, if you aren't going to overclock it, the Value-Ram is fine.

After what I've read in "Power Supplies," I'm skeptical that 450W will be enough. I may use this case/psu in a future build, so I'll stick with the higher wattage even if 350W is enough.