Building new pc help(newbie)

[Franco-Tirador]

Ok ive been meaning to upgrade my celeron 1.7 for a while now and i decided to never buy prebuilt again so ive done my homework and came up with pretty good system for simple gaming.....nothing hardcore...yet

Asus A7N8X nForce2
RAIDMAX 10-Bay ATX Mid-Tower Case /w 420 PSU
AMD Athlon XP 3000+ "Barton", 333 FSB
Thermailtake Extreme Volcano 12
HERCULES PROPHET 9800 PRO 128MB (http://www.hypermicro.com/product.asp?pf_id=VDHE100B
Crosair 256mbddr x2
My old HD(still has 35gigs)

PLZ suggestions and comments but remeber im not lookign to go too far with this since its my first custom built pc

 

[bored-sarcasm]

first thing, how much are you willing to spend? overclocking? intense gaming like far cry, or mild gaming like wc3 and rogue spear?

might want to check out the antec solution series cases.

if you're going to oc, check out the amd mobiles.

what speed ram is that?

what about cooling?

 

[Franco-Tirador]

first thing, how much are you willing to spend? overclocking? intense gaming like far cry, or mild gaming like wc3 and rogue spear?

might want to check out the antec solution series cases.

if you're going to oc, check out the amd mobiles.

what speed ram is that?

what about cooling?

Around $600
OC...probably/mabye?
No intense gaming
no idea on the ram;the case has 6fans in it, ive read good reviews on it

 

[Wixard]

Well, since its your first it may help to brush up assembling a computer. Your first time can be daunting, but after you do it its not as intimidating the second time. Just make sure you know what you're doing so you dont end up with a bunch of paper weights.

The setup looks very good. Dont forget windows xp unless you already have a retail copy.

 

[Franco-Tirador]

Well, since its your first it may help to brush up assembling a computer. Your first time can be daunting, but after you do it its not as intimidating the second time. Just make sure you know what you're doing so you dont end up with a bunch of paper weights.

The setup looks very good. Dont forget windows xp unless you already have a retail copy.

Yes sir I' ve got the Winxp on lock...and I' ve read LOTS AND LOTS of stuff on how to put everything together....which is how i found this great place

 

[Wixard]

In that case luck And go slow, double check, re-check, then check again.

Common mistakes are to much thermal paste, rocking the heatsink and cracking/scratching the core, not using motherboard standoffs, incorrecting configuring hdd/cd/dvd player, not hooking up the 4 pin power connecter, double checking jumper settings, hooking up the power switch improperly (sometimes due to poorly translated motherboard manuals) not setting the FSB speed with a jumper properly.

Those are the most common things i see. Good luck, have fun

Dont forget to post back and let us know how it works out!

 

[bradbowl]

I noticed you plan on getting a 3000+ with the 333Mhz FSB. You might want to think about getting the one that supports a 400Mhz FSB. It would be faster and the important part is the RAM will be a better long term choice (DDR400). That way if you ever decide to upgrade again, say to an A64, you'll have the proper memory speed.

Oh yeah, and GL on building your first comp.

 

[Schro]

I noticed you plan on getting a 3000+ with the 333Mhz FSB. You might want to think about getting the one that supports a 400Mhz FSB. It would be faster and the important part is the RAM will be a better long term choice (DDR400). That way if you ever decide to upgrade again, say to an A64, you'll have the proper memory speed.

Oh yeah, and GL on building your first comp.

If you goto the 3000+ on the 400 fsb, you will sacrifice megahurts, which will give you lower overall performance. I would get the 333 processor, and purchase PC3200 memory to go with it, but run it at 2700 speeds until your next upgrade.

Second. Going with a gig would be better than the faster processor- consider a 2500+ instead, and pair it with a gig of ram instead of a 3000+ and 512. Processor speed doesn't make a difference often, especially when you're in that range.

Next, the case that you picked out is in what I likek to call the "craptacular" class of cases. The powersupply may claim to be a "420 watt", but it is utter garbage. You'll be lucky if it lasts you a year, that is, if you survive all the cutting that the case will do to you.

Antec's SLK3700AMB or SLK3700BQE are excellent values, as is their Sonata

 

[Franco-Tirador]

OK first of all thanks for all the replys and suggestions!! They have helped me alot and it was exactly what i needed

Now back to the build, ive scraped the case,ram, and cpu and got the following

ANTEC Black Solution Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK3700-BQE" -RETAIL

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ "Barton", 333MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM

1GB kit (512MBX2) PC-3200 400MHz Dual Channel DDR SAMSUNG(with heatspreaders)

Tell me what you think now plz....i want to start ordering already!!!

cheers! thanks again

 

[Carnival Forces]

why not a 2500+ Mobile Barton..?

it'll let you OC a lot better, and it'll be cheaper than the 2600, and it'll be better...

EDIT: as for the RAM, idk about Samsung, maybe consider someone like Crucial, or Corsair?

 

[Franco-Tirador]

why not a 2500+ Mobile Barton..?

it'll let you OC a lot better, and it'll be cheaper than the 2600, and it'll be better...

EDIT: as for the RAM, idk about Samsung, maybe consider someone like Crucial, or Corsair?

Do you mean that the OC mobile 2500+ will be faster then the standard 2600+? Or just as it is out of the box it will be better?

Edit NVM I dont think i will be overclocking anytime soon...therefore i dont think i'll need the mobile xp....

 

[Schro]

why not a 2500+ Mobile Barton..?

it'll let you OC a lot better, and it'll be cheaper than the 2600, and it'll be better...

EDIT: as for the RAM, idk about Samsung, maybe consider someone like Crucial, or Corsair?

The brands you mention are simply reputable PCB manufacturers that use a variety of RAM from various sources, including Samsung (almost all PC3700 and some PC4000 is Samsung based). I'd probably go for the Corsair Value Select that's CAS2.5 @ PC3200 (Infineon based), wheras Samsung and Micron (Crucial) are at CAS3 @ PC3200

Samsung makes some of the best chips on the market, but it depends on who's PCB they're on....Samsung Original, Wintec, Powmem, other name brands do a very good job w/ the pcb... people like SimpleTech, PNY, etc, do a craptastic job w/ the PCB... do you have some linkage to the stuff you're looking at?

For the processors, the 2600+ Desktop is a faster "out of the box" processor, howver, on any of the mobiles, you're likely to get a much higher overclock, but getting it to work at default speeds isn't necessarily a cake-walk either (default multiplier of 6, and for a first timer, that can be daunting).

 

[Franco-Tirador]

do you have some linkage to the stuff you're looking at?.

http://store.yahoo.com/komusa/sa1gbkit5pc4.html

It says CAS 2-3....

 

[Schro]

http://store.yahoo.com/komusa/sa1gbkit5pc4.html

It says CAS 2-3....

That is because samsung DDR400 is rated for the following latencies:

CAS2 @ 266
CAS2.5 @ 333
CAS3 @ 400

As much as I like Samsung, I'd rather see you with a more reputable stick maker... consider the following linkage:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-440&depa=0

CAS2.5 Corsair ValueSelect, for about the same price.... Heatspreaders don't do much for you.. if you want to go nuts, I saw some CAS2 XMS on zipzoomfly for about 220 shipped... with heatspreaders...

 

[Mushroom Prince]

Around $600
OC...probably/mabye?
No intense gaming
no idea on the ram;the case has 6fans in it, ive read good reviews on it

alrigh pal, your in the same exact shoes that I was about a few months ago when I built my first system.



Let me tell you what configuration not to get.


SOYO Kt600 ultra platinum
2500 barton
geforce 4 mx 4000
cheap generic nondescript ram
Maxtor 80 gig hd



something like that. ALso, don't think that its going to be simply pie getting windows xp installed on that sort of configuration without a floppy drive.


Thats all the advice I'm going to give right now

 

[Franco-Tirador]

That is because samsung DDR400 is rated for the following latencies:

CAS2 @ 266
CAS2.5 @ 333
CAS3 @ 400

As much as I like Samsung, I'd rather see you with a more reputable stick maker... consider the following linkage:

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-440&depa=0

CAS2.5 Corsair ValueSelect, for about the same price.... Heatspreaders don't do much for you.. if you want to go nuts, I saw some CAS2 XMS on zipzoomfly for about 220 shipped... with heatspreaders...

OMG wow THANKS! I looked for cheap ram on newegg but i never saw this! thank you so much!! Thank god i looked on these forums before i starting ordering, which is what im doing right now , and thanks Mushroom Prince for the good advice im a need it!!

Thanks again!