Building a new system, comments & suggestions appreciated

T

toaster83

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Dec 21, 2003
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Hey guys. Despite my designation as a n00b, I've been browsing these forums for a long time and finally started to get more involved. I've also been involved with computers for almost all of my life, know the ins and outs of them, etc. etc. I'm going to be buying the parts for a new system in a couple of weeks, after the P4 price cuts on 22 August I believe. Anyhow, I've put together a system and wanted your guys opinions on it and such.

To preface, I'm not a big gamer though I do play a couple. Mostly I use my comp for music and photo editing and all the various other things the typical CS major does (except for intense amounts of gaming, as mentioned earlier). Also, I don't plan on OCing. Here's what I've come up with so far.

Pentium 4 3.4C Retail
Gigabyte GA-8KNXP
Corsair XMS 3200XL 1GB (not Pro, just the standard stuff)
WD 74GB Raptor
2x Seagate 7200.8 16MB buffer 400GB in RAID 1
Creative SB Audigy2 ZX
Pioneer A07 (from current comp)
PCP&C TurboCool 510 Express
Antec P160 case

Depending on how much the 7200.8s cost, I believe this prices out to 2300$-2500$ (this accounts for 200$ video card, see below). I don't have my numbers in front of me atm.

First, anyone know when the 7200.8s are being released? I figure it will likely not be in the immediate future, and I'm willing to wait for them if need be.

I intentionally left out the video card, because I'm not well-versed in the ins and outs of video cards nowadays. I'm willing to spend ~200$ on it, and it should be good enough to play current games respectably. I'm not biased towards ATI or nVidia one way or the other.

Does anything seem like needless overkill? The PS I understand maybe, but I'm a proponent of ample amounts of clean power. It also allows for expandibility in the future (like if I want to add another HDD a year or so down the road).

Also, is stock cooling sufficient giving this or should I be looking into some new fans and/or heatsinks?

That's about it. Comments and suggestions welcomed and appreciated. Thanks for your help guys.

*insert shameless [H]Folding promotion here*
u_Matthew_Waymost
 
Stock cooling is fine if you aren't going to OC.

As for a vid-card, I'd recommend a Radeon 9800Pro. It has the best bang for the buck if you aren't willing to shell out for a new 6800. Plus you can OC it a little if you wanted to. $200 bucks gets you a very handy vid-card.

I might recommend going straight to a P4 E-series for the Hyper-Threading. I am not a big Intel user myself, but friends are any they swear by the P4 E's, even though they run hot. Just my $0.02.
 
AFAIK, the Northwoods also have HT on them. I was shying away from a Prescott because of the heat issue and because I read that the longer pipeline doesn't really help (and can hurt speed in some instances) until you get to speeds close to 4GHz.

Any suggestions as to which brand of 9800Pro to get?

u_Matthew_Waymost
 
I use a PowerCooler, but any 9800Pro with a fan and HSF attached. The 9800's run hot without it, and some companies don't include a fan. Even a crappy HSF is better than none... ;)
 
Indeed. The Sapphire 9800Pro Atlantis looks pretty good to me. Has the same HSF and seems to have everything I need. The OEM version for 198$ looks like a good deal. The ones on Pricewatch that are cheaper don't look to be from particularly reputable retailers.

Any other suggestions guys or I am pretty much good to go after the P4 price cut? Thanks for you help.

u_Matthew_Waymost
 
Don't get the Atlantis, it only uses 4 pipelines.

Get the full blown Saphire 9800 pro. It should be around $204 on Newegg and will deliver just about the best graphics and performance that the 9800 line can give you.
 
I can't tell if the OEM card they're selling is the Atlantis or the regular. This one doesn't have Atlantis anywhere except for the box pic. This one appears to be exactly the same card, but the OEM version. Nowhere does it say Atlantis (obviously no box pic), so I'm confused as to which version this is.

 
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK -OEM
Click to expand...

Where is says "256-bit" shows that it is a full version of the 9800 pro and not the handicapped Atlantis.


It looks like they posted the wrong image to go along with that description. Look here
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-102-368&depa=0
for an actual atlantis card.
SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON "9800 Atlantis" Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "1024-2C47" -OEM
Click to expand...
 
Aha! That would be logical. Silly NewEgg for confusing me with the wrong pic. I would have bought the right video card anyways it seems, but I may have been confused, if I noticed. :D

Thanks.

 
holy schnikes!

400gb 16mb drives?!?!??!?


:faints:

:looks at screen:

:faints again:

....repeat
 
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