![[H]ard|Forum](/styles/hardforum/xenforo/logo_dark.png){kind=logo}
My in-laws have asked me to build them a system, what fun! This will be my first build completely from scratch. I am hoping to be able to expand my knowledge base here, and use as many new (to me) technologies as possible such as AMD products, and SATA.
They don't necessarily want bleeding edge technology, but seeing as how they are forced to upgrade their current pc because its too slow for their printer, I want to make this as forward compatible as possible.
MOBO:
On good recomendation from someone at school, and a little from what I have read online, it seems that I want to go with the NForce 4 Ultra chipset. Socket 939 for 64 bit processing, and support for dual-core procs. This board seemed to fit the bill, as it also supports SATA. I'm not going to bother with SLI, as they will never ever ever ever be using it for anything very graphic intensive.
ABIT KN8 Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: KN8 Ultra
Item #: N82E16813127222
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127222
CPU:
Decided to use the AMD 64 3500+. I've heard the Venice core rocks, so I picked that one.
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail
Model #: ADA3500BPBOX
Item #: N82E16819103533
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533
SYSTEM MEMORY:
Don't really have any preferences here other than I want to go with 1gig, so the best choice seems to be 2 x 512 for the price. Don't need anything blazing fast, however what I picked out seems to be quite nice.
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
Model #: TWINX1024-3200C2PT
Item #: N82E16820145450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450
GPU:
Here again, going with something I've never used before. I have a 9800pro 128 in my machine, which works great. Unfortunately though, it seems that ATI just doesn't seem to have their stuff together right now. Also on both sides, ATI and NVIDIA, their naming conventions are almost as confusing as Intel's cpu's! I have chosen to go with a 6600GT 128.
MSI NX6600GT-TD128E Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: NX6600GT-TD128E
Item #: N82E16814127147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127147
CD/DVD:
They would like a cd/dvd burner (although I seriously doubt they will ever use it) Don't really care about speeds, faster is better of course. I would also like to use SATA, but it seems that some SATA drives have issues with the NForce 4 Ultra chipset, so IDE is also fine. I'm thinking as many formats as possible is the best way to go.
ASUS Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 5X DVD-RAM Read 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - Retail
Model #: DRW-1608P2 BK
Item #: N82E16827135043
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135043
PSU:
I'm looking for something in the 400 - 500 watt range for around $50 that has sata connectors on it. Quiet is always nice, and my understanding is the psu with the single 12cm or 14cm fan does a good job at staying cool and quiet.
ATX 2.01 Upgraded, Dual 12V Rail Power Supply
Rosewill RV500S-2 ATX 2.01 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CSA, TUV, FCC - Retail
Model #: RV500S-2
Item #: N82E16817182020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182020
HDD:
Here again, I want to go with SATA, drive size isn't too incredibly important. They probably have less than a 1G HDD now anyway, so I'm thinking of a max of say 100 or 200G. I read somewhere that the NForce 4 ultra chipset supports sata 3G, but according to the specs of the MOBO its saying Sata II. Not sure if thats the same thing or not hehe. I've heard the deskstars from Hitachi are nice, so here ya go.
HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 HDT722516DLA380 (0A31637) 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: HDT722516DLA380
Item #: N82E16822145088
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145088
Thats everything I have so far. Still haven't picked out a case yet. Why is is that you have to spend over $100 just to get a decent looking case? Everything under that seems to be covered with gaudy plastic. I just want something with nice clean lines, removeable MOBO tray would be nice too, but i'm not too concerned about that. Also want to pick up one of those 7 in 1 floppy drives for them that have the built in card reader.
The total for all this comes to about 750, so with a case and floppy drive in, I'm thinking around 850. Figure in about $200 for a LCD monitor puts me just over $1000. I want to keep it as close to 1k as possible, so I know I can always dumb down the processor too.
So please this is where I need some serious help. As most of this technology is new to me, I'm not sure if I've made some fatal errors in picking out hardware. I appreciate any and all suggestions on any of the hardware.
Edited to fix links
They don't necessarily want bleeding edge technology, but seeing as how they are forced to upgrade their current pc because its too slow for their printer, I want to make this as forward compatible as possible.
MOBO:
On good recomendation from someone at school, and a little from what I have read online, it seems that I want to go with the NForce 4 Ultra chipset. Socket 939 for 64 bit processing, and support for dual-core procs. This board seemed to fit the bill, as it also supports SATA. I'm not going to bother with SLI, as they will never ever ever ever be using it for anything very graphic intensive.
ABIT KN8 Ultra Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: KN8 Ultra
Item #: N82E16813127222
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127222
CPU:
Decided to use the AMD 64 3500+. I've heard the Venice core rocks, so I picked that one.
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail
Model #: ADA3500BPBOX
Item #: N82E16819103533
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533
SYSTEM MEMORY:
Don't really have any preferences here other than I want to go with 1gig, so the best choice seems to be 2 x 512 for the price. Don't need anything blazing fast, however what I picked out seems to be quite nice.
CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail
Model #: TWINX1024-3200C2PT
Item #: N82E16820145450
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145450
GPU:
Here again, going with something I've never used before. I have a 9800pro 128 in my machine, which works great. Unfortunately though, it seems that ATI just doesn't seem to have their stuff together right now. Also on both sides, ATI and NVIDIA, their naming conventions are almost as confusing as Intel's cpu's! I have chosen to go with a 6600GT 128.
MSI NX6600GT-TD128E Geforce 6600GT 128MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail
Model #: NX6600GT-TD128E
Item #: N82E16814127147
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814127147
CD/DVD:
They would like a cd/dvd burner (although I seriously doubt they will ever use it) Don't really care about speeds, faster is better of course. I would also like to use SATA, but it seems that some SATA drives have issues with the NForce 4 Ultra chipset, so IDE is also fine. I'm thinking as many formats as possible is the best way to go.
ASUS Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 32X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 5X DVD-RAM Read 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - Retail
Model #: DRW-1608P2 BK
Item #: N82E16827135043
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827135043
PSU:
I'm looking for something in the 400 - 500 watt range for around $50 that has sata connectors on it. Quiet is always nice, and my understanding is the psu with the single 12cm or 14cm fan does a good job at staying cool and quiet.
ATX 2.01 Upgraded, Dual 12V Rail Power Supply
Rosewill RV500S-2 ATX 2.01 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CSA, TUV, FCC - Retail
Model #: RV500S-2
Item #: N82E16817182020
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817182020
HDD:
Here again, I want to go with SATA, drive size isn't too incredibly important. They probably have less than a 1G HDD now anyway, so I'm thinking of a max of say 100 or 200G. I read somewhere that the NForce 4 ultra chipset supports sata 3G, but according to the specs of the MOBO its saying Sata II. Not sure if thats the same thing or not hehe. I've heard the deskstars from Hitachi are nice, so here ya go.
HITACHI Deskstar T7K250 HDT722516DLA380 (0A31637) 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: HDT722516DLA380
Item #: N82E16822145088
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145088
Thats everything I have so far. Still haven't picked out a case yet. Why is is that you have to spend over $100 just to get a decent looking case? Everything under that seems to be covered with gaudy plastic. I just want something with nice clean lines, removeable MOBO tray would be nice too, but i'm not too concerned about that. Also want to pick up one of those 7 in 1 floppy drives for them that have the built in card reader.
The total for all this comes to about 750, so with a case and floppy drive in, I'm thinking around 850. Figure in about $200 for a LCD monitor puts me just over $1000. I want to keep it as close to 1k as possible, so I know I can always dumb down the processor too.
So please this is where I need some serious help. As most of this technology is new to me, I'm not sure if I've made some fatal errors in picking out hardware. I appreciate any and all suggestions on any of the hardware.
Edited to fix links
