Building my PC, 1 part at a time

H

Hactar

Weaksauce
Joined
Jun 18, 2004
Messages
101
I'm coming up with things I need to build my first PC. I'm trying to make it as cheap as possible seeing as how I don't have much money. So, I've decided to order parts as they come when newegg has those 1 day sales of theirs - Today is a good example. I thought I may be able to order my hard drive today. Its a Seagate, 80gb, 7200rpm with an 8mb buffer, model # ST380013AS. Its OEM. First, is that a good choice? I've heard good things about seagate. Also, it says I need an 'additional power adapter'. What is that, and where can I get one?

Since I know so little, I'm planning on just asking for advice through this thread as I build my computer. So far, my computer looks like this:

Chieftec case - Well, it seems newegg doesn't have chieftec cases as a selection anymore - Can somone suggest a decent case that costs under 100 dollars?

Lite-on LTR-52327S Black 52x32x52 CD-RW - OEM

Lite-on XJ-HD166/XJ-HD 165H 16x DVD-ROM - OEM

Maxtor 80gb 7200rpm SATA model #6Y080M0 -OEM (That is, if I don't buy the Seagate hard drive)

Buffalo 512mb 6 layer PC3200 DDR RAM - OEM

Asus mobo A78N8X Deluxe Retail (Side note: I was also looking at the abit nf7-s nforce2 which is on sale at newegg right now - Is that a better deal?)

Fortron FSP400PFN 400w psu - Retail

AMD Athlon XP 3200+ "Barton", 400MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail

ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 256MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -RETAIL

So, thats what I'm thinking of getting - Any suggestions/ideas? Should I get the Abit nf7-s mobo over the Asus since its cheaper?
 
Well, even if the Asus and Abit boards were the same price, I would still say get the NF7-S. One of the best overclocking boards for Bartons out there! :)

For your processor, you should look into getting a Mobile Athlon XP. They are basically regular bartons hand picked that can run at lower voltages with an unlocked multiplier. They overclock like banshees, and you'll be able to get them faster than that 3200+ fairly easily. My mobile 2500+ will do about 2.5 GHz on air, and it does about 2.65 GHz on water. You'll end up saving yourself a lot of money, but not sacrificing any performance.

And, since you are saving yourself a bundle on the processor, you should look into getting some higher quality ram (and 2 sticks for dual channel, at that.). You should look into 2 256 meg sticks of some lower latency Kingston, Corsair, or Mushkin. They'll do you good. :)

Hope thats a good start anyway... Good luck! :)
 
Dark - The athlon mobile will run on the same mobo, right?

Edit - God. Well, my dad says that he doesn't want to order anything off newegg because he thinks that someone is going to steal his credit card number, because he says "theres a new virus with people hacking into microsoft's computers." Oh my god, I can't believe this. He thinks hes going to get hacked ordering parts off newegg. I don't think there is any way to convince him otherwise.
 
you know your dad and how he thinks better than us.. but it is tottaly secure and newegg is a very reputable company.. that is why people buy from them... have him read the customer reviews on the website and he can see how everyone says "newegg rocks, newegg is the best, over and over..."

then assure him that it is a credit card which is backed by a bank in case of some kind of credit card fraud...

and that no one can order anything if they get his CC# because the shipping address, the billing address, and the name all have to match up... unless someone can somehow call his bank, impersonating him, and they know his bank account number and SSN and they add their address to the list of mailing addresses...


now on to your comptuer...

get the nf7-s great board, great price... it will stay around $85 for a while, and may drop lower... so there is no rush to buy it today for $82...

Amd 2400+ 35 watt mobile...

as for a case, antec is good...

the rest looks fine... if you have more money, then get lower latency ram... but you will be fine with and kingston, crucial, mushkin, corsair... as long as it is pc3200
 
The only reason that I wanted the 3200+ was because I've never done anything with overclocking. I know nothing about it. Zip, zero, zilch. Is there some sort of program you do this with? My friend does it alot but hes usually not around.
 
it is all in tthe bios... using programs is not a good way to overclock...

there are plenty of people here who can/will help you.. the 3200 will cost you twice as much..

and everyone has to start somewhere... so if you get into overclocking, you might as well do it sooner than later...
 
One thing that no one has really pointed out (which surprises me), is the lack of a need for the Radeon 9800 Pro you are looking at to be 256 MB of RAM. There is virtually no program that uses even the full 128 MB on the far cheaper version and the ones that would, you certainly wouldn't use. The only difference you will notice between the 128 MB and 256 MB versions is the substantial price difference.

I recommend the Sapphire 128 MB, 256 bit Radeon 9800 Pro. Everyone says nothing but good things about them and they are a solid chipset. I'd personally search my hardest for a Hercule 9800 Prophet, but they aren't in production anymore. Gosh, I want one of those so bad!

Dark Assassin
 
my only recommendation is to get a DVD burner for around $100 coz DVD burners do CD's AND DVD's, and if you have anything big enough for multiple CD's you can put it on a DVD (DVD burning is also a lot faster than CD burning thanks to the higher density of the media).
 
Get the Mobile XP chip (2400+/2500+), you'll be gald you did after you get it running faster than the 3200+ for less than half the money. You'll also want a good HSF. The Zalman 7000-Alcu is an excellent choice if you're concerned about quiet. www.svc.com has the thermalright sp-900a for $20 now, get a decent fan and you have an excellent oc'ing combo right there. Get a decent dual channel memory kit like Geil, Corsair, Mushkin. Mobo? Get the NF-7, much better over-clocker from my experience. If you must have a SATA drive look at the IBM/Fujitsu or Samsung drives, they are both very quiet and good performers. If you're on the cheap a PATA WD 80GB/8MB cache HDD can be had at the egg for as little as $65. I noticed you plan on getting a Fortron PSU, good choice. Since you already have a PSU picked out try this case out: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-125-435&depa=1 Can't really go wrong there. Then, there's always this case: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-164-040&depa=1

:D Good luck. Hope your Dad changes his mind.
 
Another vote for the NF7-S and the mobile chip. I also personally like Silverstone PSUs with the 120mm fans, but that's just me.
 
yeah i agree with dark assasin- drop the 265mb 9800pro for a 128mb one and spend the difference on either another 512mb of system ram or a bigger hard drive- something like a maxtor DM9 120gb with a 8mb cache. I thought 120gb would last me forever- but now ive got 2 of them :D
The extra 512mb ram (for a total of 1gb) with make everything much smoother, loading times will be much quicker and its a bit more future proof. You'll certainly notice it more than the 256mb vid card.
Have fun :)
 
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