• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Looking to buy a new PC

L

Lyrids

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 19, 2004
Messages
320
My brandname PC of three years has been showing its age for the past three years so I thought it was time to get a new one. I'm only 15 and I don't have a job so money is kind of an issue, even though I'm mowing lawns and I'm going to help paint our house which should cover most of it by the time im done. It's also my birthday in a few weeks so my dad is going to help me pay for it. I've been surfing newegg for parts the past couple of days and I've come up with a quick list that will probably go through several revisions before I order it. I've come here to get some advice. Here's the list as of now:

ABIT "KV8" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Athlon64 CPU –RETAIL - $93

AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 1 MB L2 Cache, the Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor – OEM - $270

eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800GT Video Card, 256MB GDDR3, 256-Bit, Dual DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "256-A8-N344-AX" –RETAIL - $410

Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD1600BB, OEM Drive Only - $92

Lite-On Black 16X DVD-ROM, Model SOHD-167T, OEM - $30

Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive, Model LTR-52327S, OEM - $27

Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 8T – OEM x 2 - $176

Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 PCI Sound Card, Model "SB0244" –OEM - $73

ANTEC Solution Series Super Mid Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK3700AMB" –RETAIL - $65

A couple of questions I have:

I've heard that Lite-On's have a reputation for being cheap and efficient CD drives but some of the reviews I read on newegg said they were loud and flimsy. Is this the case? And if so is it really that bad? I really like the Antec case I've chosen here but I'm kind of worried that the 350w PSU that comes with it won't be sufficient, and I don't want to buy another PSU and have the one that came with the case go to waste. Other than that I'm leaving this completely open to speculation and revision from anyone who feels it is necessary. Thanks in advance.
 
One more thing I forgot to ask. Should I just get the retail CPU and use the stock fan or are there heatsinks with good reputations that I should look into?
 
Lyrids said:
I've heard that Lite-On's have a reputation for being cheap and efficient CD drives but some of the reviews I read on newegg said they were loud and flimsy. Is this the case? And if so is it really that bad? I really like the Antec case I've chosen here but I'm kind of worried that the 350w PSU that comes with it won't be sufficient, and I don't want to buy another PSU and have the one that came with the case go to waste. Other than that I'm leaving this completely open to speculation and revision from anyone who feels it is necessary. Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...

The Lite-Ons are a really good drive - I actually have not heard any that are noisy or flimsy.
For the PSU, 350W may be enough, but I can't gaurantee it. You may need more with all the kit you have in there.

Good luck with the build.
 
For the heatsinks, retail are fine but if you are looking for good cooling anything from Thermaltake are good.

BTW the system looks good
 
You're pressed for money yet you add a $400 video card to the mix? Well, whatever; if you're a heavy gamer then whatever you want.

Anyways:

I don't really know the motherboard, so I can't comment.

Proc's good.

As for case/PSU - I'm not sure if the smart power Antec PSU is up to the task. Intuition says it should handle it, though I've had more experience with their top of the line TruePower PSUs. I'd suggest getting an Antec Sonata case as it comes with a TruePower 380 Watt (they also have a server type case that has a TruePower 430 I think).

Lite-ON drives are fast, but yes, they sound like a jet engine when they start spinning up. The disc tray also feels like you could snap it off, though it hasn't happened to me.

RAM is good, though it has shot up $20 for a gig since when I bought it a couple weeks ago already.

As for the CPU cooler: are you overclocking? If not, the retail cooler will be sufficient. Even if you're not, I like the Zalman CNPS-7000AlCu - very quiet and very good cooler.
 
4keatimj said:
The Lite-Ons are a really good drive - I actually have not heard any that are noisy or flimsy.
For the PSU, 350W may be enough, but I can't gaurantee it. You may need more with all the kit you have in there.

Good luck with the build.
Click to expand...

Alright, thanks. If I were to get a new PSU I'd probably just get another Antec, but I'm kind of torn between these different models I see on Newegg. It seems that I'm finding PSU's with less wattage but a higher price tag if they have the word "TRUE" on it, and it's kind of bugging me because I can't tell the difference between the regular PSU's and the TRUE model PSU's.
 
BillLeeLee said:
You're pressed for money yet you add a $400 video card to the mix? Well, whatever; if you're a heavy gamer then whatever you want.

Anyways:

I don't really know the motherboard, so I can't comment.

Proc's good.

As for case/PSU - I'm not sure if the smart power Antec PSU is up to the task. Intuition says it should handle it, though I've had more experience with their top of the line TruePower PSUs. I'd suggest getting an Antec Sonata case as it comes with a TruePower 380 Watt (they also have a server type case that has a TruePower 430 I think).

Lite-ON drives are fast, but yes, they sound like a jet engine when they start spinning up. The disc tray also feels like you could snap it off, though it hasn't happened to me.

RAM is good, though it has shot up $20 for a gig since when I bought it a couple weeks ago already.

As for the CPU cooler: are you overclocking? If not, the retail cooler will be sufficient. Even if you're not, I like the Zalman CNPS-7000AlCu - very quiet and very good cooler.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. Yeah I am kind of hard-pressed for money but I'd rather get a computer that will last me a while rather than buying a lower end card and finding myself wanting to upgrade less than a year from now. Right now it's in a good price range for me so it isn't really an issue.
 
you might want to go with a minimum of 400 watts on the psu - Thermalright might be a good idea - but I do not know if they have officially claimed A64 compatibility - their website is still out of date.
The OEM heatsink that comes with the Box cpu is adequate as long as you do not wish to overclock.
Also the new chipsets NF3 250gb AND the Via K8T800 Pro are now out for both socket 754 and 939 - Either are excellent... If you like the K8T800 then do go with the PRO version (NOTE: make sure the chipset is Pro as several motherboards have used "pro" in their name)
Abit is great as is asus and epox
Good luck
 
As an alternative PSU I've been looking at the Antec TRUE380, would that be sufficient?
 
antecs are great - but nvidia's new power hungry vid cards concern me - look to the video forum and see if this cpu/vid combo will be a bit too much for it or not. Also look at the psu forum (in many cases the true 380 series have more umph than some cheapo brand's 500 watt...)
Here is a general rule - try to get at least 20+ amps on the +3.3v,+5v, and +12v - especially now since the cpu and vid cards relie more on the +12v line. Make sure that if you are buying a sata drive that the drive or the psu comes with the connectors.
 
one thing about antec mid-tower cases, they can get so cramped in there its ridiculous, i have wires all over the place and no where to put them.
 
If you have a little extra cash, go with the Antec 1080 Performance Plus AMG. Much larger, full-size case and comes with a 430 Watt PSU, 3 case fans, all for about $100. It's my own personal rig's home.

This looks like a killer rig, my friend!

I have two Lite-On drives in my machine, the exact ones you've selected. They're a little noisy when they first spin up, but at normal playing speeds and with a good speaker/headphone setup, you'll never notice them. They're fantastic drives.

Another reason to get the 1080 case from Antec: the front hinged door muffles the sound significantly...

PM me if you have any questions. :)
 
u can also save some money by getting rid of that audigy 2 unless your using 5.1 if not 2.1 won't be that much of a significant difference.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top