Back after 2 years.... few questions

B

BoogerB

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 28, 2004
Messages
172
Welp, its probably been two years since I've been on this board, yet I'm still on the tyan s1854/celeron 466 (now 966) and 128mb pc133.... Pretty weak. Anyways I'll be looking around, but if you could help me in building a new system that would be great.
I dont want to spend several thousand, but I'd like parts that are new and wont be outdated horribly in the next 2 weeks.

If you know a site or starting point with decent system build-ups please point me that way. But any advice would be great, parts, places to buy and so on. Hopefully I'll be able to contribute to this site in the near future, as I did way back when.
 
Welcome back...Newegg.com has become the store of choice for most people. Zipzoomfly.com (formly googlegear.com) is also a decent place.

Just built a new system myself...defiantly look into the 74GB Raptor 10k RPM SATA drive...just got mine working...it destroys my old RAID array....
 
First, for parts: Use the newegg link from the HardForums. :)

Second, You have to decide whether you want AMD 64 or Pentium 4 with 800FSB.

Ram: Get the Mushkin Level 2 with the BH5 chip before it runs out!

Motherboard: Dependent on proc

Hardrive: a WD SATA Raptor would definately serve well. Some might call it overkill.

DVD burner for system backups and what not. Plextor, Liteon are good companies to name two.

Video Card: ATI 9800 pro is best in class

Sound: For something basic the Audigy 2 and Klipsch Promedia is the way to go.

Power Supply and Case, etc. There are many ways to go with this. Antec and Fortron make some of the best mass market PSU, while PC power and Cooling make some great but expensive PSUs. The case is mostly up to preference. Thermalright owns the heatsink market. If you go with the most affordable option (Air cooled) You have to decide whether you want the frigid conditions good for overclocking or a quiet case...

Monitor: LCD or CRT? Dell has some good stuff especailly the monster 2001FP. They also have a good return policy. Viewsonic, samsung, and NEC are three other companies.

Keyboard and mouse. Want to be able to see your keyboard in the dark? or will the generic one work? I'd get a 4 button with scroll optical MS mouse ot the very least.

OS: If you are a gamer, XP Pro. If you aren't Try linux!

SOme good review sites are
www.hardocp.com
www.anandtech.com
www.arstechnica.com
www.overclockers.com
www.extremetech.com

I'm sure there are many more good sites^.

Youll probaly spend about 2000 with that though.

For something a little less. Screw the Raptors, go with teh Nvidia 5900, go with some corsair xms, and a barton 2500+ overclocked.
 
WOW, thank you for the quick replies. I'm not use to replies that quick... (mostly post on ls1tech - a ls1 performance site)

Thanks again, I looked around on zipzoom the other day and saw the 10k drives, I think I'll get one at least. Could I run one of those and a cheaper 7200 drive together?

I'm open to processors, doesn't matter, just want something decently priced (200-300) that I can o/c if possible, but not nessisarly have to o/c just yet...

Could you recommend a mobo for amd/intel ?
 
Could I run one of those and a cheaper 7200 drive together?
Click to expand...
No problems there.
Any motherboard that supports SATA should have at least two SATA ports and will also support ATA100/133, meaning you can connect any 7200rpm drive you like to a SATA supporting board, unless it's a SCSI (which would require an onboard controller or a PCI card controller).
 
If you want a good overclocking processor, take a look at the P4 2.4C or P4 2.6C (the C stands for Northwood Revision C, with an 800 Mhz FSB, and hyper threading tech, which makes a processor act somewhat like two).

The P4 2.4C/2.6C should easily surpass 3 Ghz on air (even stock cooling), and paired with the right RAM, can reach higher.

As for the 10K drives, I guess you mean Western Digital Raptor drives. Yeah, you can run them together with other hard drives. However, I just think the Raptors are too expensive (high dollar/gig), although they are the fastest IDE drives on the market.

For some recommendations:
Intel route:
Pentium 4 2.4C - $165 at newegg
Pentium 4 2.6C - $180 at newegg

The 2.8C and 3.0C are I think 210 and 245 respectively

Motherboards:
I like the Abit IC7-G (I use one), but the Asus P4C800 is a good choice too. Both use the I875 Canterwood chipset (which features Intel gigabit ethernet card, SATA, USB 2.0, Firewire).

AMD route:
AMD Athlon Barton 2500+ - $85

The Barton 2500+ offers a lot of performance for the dollar.

Motherboards
Abit NF7-S

Places to shop:
newegg.com
www.mwave.com
zipzoomfly.com

If you're wondering about a store's credibility:
www.resellerratings.com
 
Some Suggestions: (dunno what kinda budget you are working with, but this can be an avarage geek comp)

Intel Wise

Board: Abit IC7/IC7 Max3 if u have more money to spend

CPU: Intel P4 2.6C lowest priced for best performance/Sky is the limit depending on your budget.

Memory: 2x512 at least ddr400. Higher end ram with good timings is gona cost more

Hard Drive: Wd for performance, Seagate if u want quietness. (I personally sacrificed some performance for a nearly silen system)

Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy2 is the general concesus (theres different packages depending on your budget)

Speakers: I like Yamaha System, Altec Lansing is another conteder, Klipsch for high end.

Video Card: ATI 9600Pro/Nvidia 5700 Ultra mid range, 9800XT pro top of the line.

Burners: Lite On is a good brand for the money

Network: 3com or onboard

PSU: Antec or Enermax at least 350W

Case: Well this is a personal preferance. Looks and such. Couple of recomendations: Antec Sonata, Mid tower. Aopen H700B for Full tower or if Lian Li if u prefer Aluminum.

Fans: I prefer Panaflo for the noise.

Screens: Samsung makes some attractive LCDs and they have come a long way in technology and in price.

Imput devices: Mx700 by logitech seems a good choice for a moose if u want wireless, but it comes down to what feels best for you. Keyboards is pretty much a personal preferance.


AMD wise:

CPU: Barton 2500+ (budget), some of the AMD 64 line of processors if u can afford them for higher end

Board: Abit NF7 for the barton/MSI K7N2 Delta. MSI K8T neo for the AMD 64.

The rest should be the same.

Add some blue Leds and some cold cathodes and some windowes and this should be a sweet looking case( if u are into such a thing)


Good luck on your computer hunt!
 
I just bought the Gigabyet 8IK1100 from newegg. Its the cheapest 875 chipset board, and includes SATA ports and regular IDE ports. I havent' overclocked yet, but from reading around the 2.4C and 2.6C are sure bets, as long you get good ram....i.e. Mushkin LVL2
 
BTW, the best memory for ocing (Mushkin level 2) is in short supply and no longer made. Picking it up is the first thing you should do.
 
hrmmm if it has a ata/100 capability on the abit boards... I got a 40 gig ibm sittin in the cage under the 20 that im on... never used it.... (wouldnt work on the mobo i guess...)

the amd 2500 is that 2.5 ghz or just a number and the ghz a little lower (werent they like this a while back? like 2500 would be 2.1ghz or something? or am i way off?)


I need a REALLY quiet pc, almost unnoticable. I imagine I'll do a fanbus or something like that, that way I can have it however loud I want during the day... but then again, I want the fans to be able to keep up with the temps no matter what I'm doing.... if they are at 7v I want it to be ok, just like at 12v. Maybe I should just get some nice quiet fans and not worry about a fan bus.

what memory should I go for? ddr400 what else? is 512 good, or would 1g be best?
 
is the 222 stuff good too?

the only level 2 that I could spend to get 1g on is pc 2700.

I doubt if I'm going to o/c the hell out of it, but I'm sure I'll be tempted by the rest of you. If I can't get that memory (or need it above 2700) what would be the next best bet?
 
2500+ barton is 1.83ghz.

It has a 512kb L2 cache :cool:

If your getting the AMD you will need a minimum of pc2700 to run in sync with the FSB, If you get a P4C you will need at least pc3200.
 
Originally posted by forcemac101
74GB Raptor 10k RPM SATA drive...just got mine working...it destroys my old RAID array....
Click to expand...

Destroys a raptor 36gb raid array or other drives?



Booger, what is the main use of this computer going to be? Any video encoding or large file photo editing?
 
I may end up messing with video editing and stuff after i get a cam. in fact thats one thing i want to do....

but not doing it every day etc....



I just want speed, quick opening programs, ability to run tons of programs at once (1gb of ram i guess) and space.

A decent vid card. I'm not looking for perfect games, as i'm not hardcore into games.... Now after i get this built and play a few, I may like it enough to spend some more on a badass card, but for hte time being i think a decent running card would be fine.
 
I'm just trying to figure out weather an AMD chip or intel would be best for starters... amd at 2ghz (the 3200 or whatever it is) is like 300 bucks.... yet a 2.8ghz p4 is like 200 bucks.... what gives?

Then a mobo....

I was going to get one of the barebones mini cases/systems that several guys run (the ones that are less than a cubic ft) but I'm not sure about 1 optical bay... and one hdd bay.
 
The amd's do more operations every cycle, at 3 per. And the p4's do 1 per cycle. That is where the performance rating Mhz thing comes in.

If you are going to be encoding video you may want to go with the p4 system. The huge memory bandwidth is more suited for this type of work, and will get it done faster.

I don't know how well the amd 64's do on video... any one care to chime in?

- a quick search yielded this link: http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/intelamdcpuroundupvideo/

Seems the amd 64's are fairly competitive with the 3.2ghz p4 despite the 2 or 2.2ghz speed.
 
I find that if you post a price point you want to hit, you'll get much more targeted responses.

You can build a nice rig for 800 bucks, a REALLY nice rig for 1100 bucks and an absolute screamer for 1800 bucks using parts from Newegg.

The price point will get you more useful answers. :)

for the high end, this is one I spec'd out for an acquaintance recently who was looking for a higher end system for large photo editing prowess, some moviemaking and other ram/processor intensive tasks. http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=546654

Athlon64, a gig of RAM, dual 74 GB raptors in striped raid, with a 160 GB ATA133 for data backup. About 1800.00 not including operating system. Add a hundred forty bucks for XP Pro. The Sonata case is a pretty dang quiet case, too.

BB
 
Wow - what is this hatred, whether conscious or not?

Three words. Athlon SIXTY-FOUR!
Get the Athlon 3200+ for under 300 - check the AMD section of the [H] for info on which motherboards go well with it. If you want decent fast ram that is CHEAP, I recommend the Kingmax PC3500 at Newegg - the stuff with the red pcb - it is ~$70 a stick.
 
I'd say around 1k-ish without monitor keyboard/mouse, os...

I'd like a dvd burner, and probably a cdrw (arent most dvd rw pretty slow at cdrw?) then I may get a dvd drive, so i can back up dvds and what not.


Thanks again for my replies, and I see now that my title is somewhat fitting... I'm so outdated on this stuff....
 
BB thanks for that. Looks pretty nice.

What would you do intel wise though?


also, what about the small form factor setups? worth the money or is performance subpar?
 
boogerb - we can't see that link, that's your private login link.

Save the wishlist, and then use the "email to a friend" option to mail a link to yourself. Then cut and paste that link to here.

For an intel solution, I'd go Asus P4P800 Deluxe and a PIV 2.4C or 2.6C and overclock it - but you'd need to use better RAM than what I've got in the Athlon rig above.

It would be a bit, but not much, cheaper.

BB
 
My vote is for AMD if you want good preformance for your $.
 
Originally posted by BoogerB
I was going to get one of the barebones mini cases/systems that several guys run (the ones that are less than a cubic ft) but I'm not sure about 1 optical bay... and one hdd bay.
Click to expand...

I have a shuttle SN41G2 here with an 2500+ Barton and 1GB RAM and I have no complaints about the performance. While it isn't the fastest thing out there, it's powerful enough to do anything you want. The Nforce2 chipset handles UT2003 with no problems using the onboard video. Another major plus is that it is nearly silent after I replaced the two fans (You may not have to do this if the new fans are better).

As for optical drives, just go ahead and get a DVD burner since they take care of all your optical drive needs, and they are pretty cheap now. I have seen a few for $150CAD. You mentioned only having one hdd bay, but you can forgo the floppy and put another drive in its place.

The PCI and AGP slots leave you open to upgrade if you decide you need a faster graphics card or better sound.
 
Originally posted by SirRuka
I have a shuttle SN41G2 here with an 2500+ Barton and 1GB RAM and I have no complaints about the performance. While it isn't the fastest thing out there, it's powerful enough to do anything you want. The Nforce2 chipset handles UT2003 with no problems using the onboard video. Another major plus is that it is nearly silent after I replaced the two fans (You may not have to do this if the new fans are better).

As for optical drives, just go ahead and get a DVD burner since they take care of all your optical drive needs, and they are pretty cheap now. I have seen a few for $150CAD. You mentioned only having one hdd bay, but you can forgo the floppy and put another drive in its place.

The PCI and AGP slots leave you open to upgrade if you decide you need a faster graphics card or better sound.
Click to expand...
Check out the refurb dep of newegg under dvd burners. They have liteon's for REALY cheep.
 
hrmmm

I did the email for the wishlist... but it has been like 30 min and still havent got it.

pretty much

dfi lanparty
2500+
Memory.. 1 512 muskin lvl 2 3500
vid card... anything decent around 100 bucks?
200gig WD sata drive
lite on dvd cd rw
floppy (needed???)
cheapish case...
16x dvd drive
zalman all copper hsf (good choice??)

Also, I want it to be pretty silent. panaflo fans? or what else?

I'll just copy/paste what I had in a few.
 
With PCI Express and BTX form fator cases comming soon, my advice is to wait a little longer rather than buy now.
 
DFI nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "LANPARTY NFII ULTRA B" -RETAIL

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 Black Hi Perf Level II - OEM
(just 1... is that ok?)

SONY MPF920 Black 1.44MB 3.5INCH Floppy Disk Drive, OEM
(needed?)

Western Digital 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model WD2000JD, OEM Drive Only

Lite-On Black DVD-Dual Drive, Model LDW-811S, OEM

LITE-ON BLACK 16X DVD ROM Drive, Model XJ-HD166/XJ-HD 165H, OEM
Arctic Silver's NEW Premium High-Density Thermal Compound: Ceramique . 2.5-gram( ~0.8 cc. ) tube.

Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu Pure Copper CPU Cooler for AMD XP Socket 462,754 and Intel Socket 478.

All I need is a vid card now I guess. Nothing more than 150 I would imagine... I'll be looking for a case/psu aswell.

Thanks for the help, PLEASE let me know if I should change anything or do something different. If I can do it cheaper, thats good!
 
Oh, I dunno. If you need a computer now, you need a computer now. Why prolong the decision? Its what, Q2 this year for PCI-E - and how many vid cards are gonna support it out of the box? Bet there's a small price premium for them, too. *shrug*

A PIV or A64 or barton buying decision now with decent AGP vid card should last for a few years.

BB
 
why spend the coin on the Lan Party? Are the extras worth it for you?

Some good NForce 2 boards that are significantly less:

Epox8RDA3+
Asus A7n8X-e Deluxe
Abit NF7-S
Gigabyte GA-7N400 PRO2

What case/Power supply?

1 stick of ram is fine, two will get you better memory throughput through "dual channel" functionality, but not a whole bunch better on athlon systems. Intel kicks AMD's but on that. But most other benchmarks are comparable.

You need the floppy for any RAID or SATA drivers you need for the WinXP installation.

Are you going to overclock? If not, then the get the Retail Barton and drop the Zalman and arctic silver. Zalman is definitely better, but as you can see from my sig, the Retail HSF is still decent in its own right.

For vid card - Radeon 9600 XT or if you can find one Radeon 9700 Pro are best bang for the buck cards. Though the cheaper radeon 9800Pros are getting more tempting by the day.

BB
 
I just added the shappire 9600xp

kinda hard to decide on a case... I like the lian li but for now i cant drop 100 on a case + psu

the dfi board because i haven't heard anything really controversial about it, and it has several cables and 4sata ports..

Ill check on the abit and asus prices

The reason I went with the barton 2500 was to o/c somewhat.

I need it to be pretty quiet as well, thats why I wanted the zalman..... is the stock hsf pretty quiet? If so ill drop the zalman and silver for a little while until i go with the o/c route.

if the stock does ok with mild o/c ill do that
 
Get an Antec Case, either a sonata or an AMB3700, both come with good power supplies, and 3 year warrently, they look good too!

They both come with a 120mm fan to help cooling!
 
The dfi rocks, but if you want to save some money get the Infinity version. Same board minus onboard power switches, gigabit lan, goody kit and green uv. otherwise the same. $92 at newegg.
 
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