Building new computer, help pick components..

[JustinH]

no, the 2500 is a simple overclock. I use the 80mm socket A heatsink/fan from speeze on newegg.com. Its 8 or 9 dollars, and works fine. No need to spend a ton of dough. I am a pro system builder, and do about 5 amd boxes a week, so I've seen it all.

In 90 percent of cases you can run it at 3200+ speeds on the stock vcore (core voltage). 10 percent of the time you have to bump the core a bit, but its still stable.

I have ran this overclock for the past two years or so on my desktop with no issues and the thing runs 24x7 pretty much.

JH

 

[Amkeer]

Justin,

You are talking about this chip, right??

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=19-103-378&DEPA=0

 

[Tones]

Amkeer,
I bought that same Liteon burner and I really like it. It works really well.

I bought the Gainward 9800SE card thinking that I could soft mod it to a 9800 with 8 pixel pipelines with the Omega drivers. I have not modded it yet, haven't really need to, but I am not very pleased with it. It has little quirks with the picture. Shudders, or flickers. If I had to do it over again, I would probably go with an Nvidia card. I like the 5700. I think you get a little less performance, but more stability for your money. JMO

It seems your needs are somewhat similar to mine. I did not want to bother with overclock, but I did want the dual channel memory. NVidia or now Via chipsets have the dual channel memory. Just buy the Kingston memory locally when it goes on sale with rebate. I have used Crucial memory and it is great, but Kingston is top notch as well and can be had for much cheaper.

 

[labman]

Anything at http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...0928/tc_techtues_zd/136111&cid=1739&ncid=1729 to help?

 

[Scott P]

I get my computer stuff from a local place that specializes in building motherboard combos. They will assemble the motherboard, memoory and CPU and test them for you. The prices aren't oo bad either. Their clearance section has some good stuff too. http://www.jncs.com is the web address. Customer service and support there is honest too.

Right now, I'm running an Asus A7V8X-dx mother board with two stick of 256 PC2700 (too cheap to upgrade to DDR400) and a Barton 2500 that I bought from Newegg. Nice little combo for me. I have an FX5200 video card, but plan on upgrading that one of these days soon.

 

[Amkeer]

Tones,

My preference is Nvidia Geforce cards. I like Crucial memory.

Lab,

Thanks for the link....


Scott,

It takes all the fun out having a computer place snap in the components.

 

[Scott P]

Amkeer...You still get the fun of installing the video, suound, etc cards along with the risers, and other connectors. You just let someone else handle the CPU.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Amkeer, you have good taste purchasing thru NewEgg!

I suggest not using ATA but going SATA. The speed is worth it IF the MB you purchase has built-in SATA connectors.

I do suggest you purchase a larger hard disk, not for size's sake, but for performance. The difference between 40GB and the 80GB models are quite noticable. Going SATA noticeably improves performance another notch.

I purchased the 36GB version of this drive from NewEgg (it SCREAMS!):
72GB 10KRPM
http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproductdesc.asp?description=22-144-160&DEPA=0
has a $25 mail-in rebate,too!

If that price it too much, then this is another good SATA choice:
72GB 7200RPM
http://theoildrop.server101.com/cgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=reply;f=8;t=003414

If you're totally sold on EIDE and not considering SATA:
80GB WD EIDE with 3 year warranty
I've used several of these on my networks, they work just fine:
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-122&depa=0

Lastly, since your setup supports DDR RAM, make sure you buy these in multiples of 2...for a total of 1GB of RAM or 2x256 for 512MB total. The speed difference between a single DDR chip and dual DDR chips is again, night & day.

Recently, HP/Compaq changed the config on the Evo 2.8GHZ PC's and the only came with 256MB DDR in a single DIMM. I performed my usual Novell Zenworks image and it took 30% longer than usual and the resultant windows XP image load felt MUCH slower. I popped in another DDR module, for a total of 2x256MB=512MB, retried the image and the post sys-prep setup, and speeds were back to normal. I'm amazed that vendors don't try to push these types of things to help create the fastest possible PC experience "bang for the buck". Bottom line, do purchase DDR RAM in multiples of 2. TomsHardware.com has a good write up and charts on the speed gains by utilizing DDR to it's fullest. My experience echoes Tom's findings.


Let us know how what you ultimately decide upon!

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

Well I just spent a buttload on my system but its going to rock! I do graphics and cad work so I needed the mac.

Vendor / Part No Unit Price Qty Extension
Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------
10060 $75.00 1 $75.00
AirPort Extreme Card

19101 $119.00 1 $119.00
AirPort Express Base Station
*** In Stock ***

15254 $190.00 1 $190.00
SCANJET 4670 CLR VERT SCANNER
2400X2400DPI 48BIT HIGH SPEED USB

19118 $1899.00 1 $1899.00
Apple Cinema AL HD Display 23-inch Flat Panel

19086 $199.00 1 $199.00
OEM MicroSoft Office Mac 2004 for OS X

10178 $235.00 1 $235.00
Virtual PC 7.0 with xp pro

11937 $75.00 1 $75.00
DiskWarrior 3.0 utility software
Prevent Disk Damage

11896 $115.00 1 $115.00
BACK UPS PRO 500VA 120V
LINE-INT 7OUT W/USB F/MAC

19128 $3200.00 1 $3200.00
Apple/CTO/PMG5/D2.0GHz/ 2GB-Ram/2x250gb
SuperDrive/ATI-R9800/PCI-X/GigEnet/BT/56K/ APC *** Apple Original Ram &
Bluetooth installed and FREE Apple Care *** Brand New ***

10145 $159.00 1 $159.00
40gb portable firewiredrive


--------------------------------------------------------------------
Subtotal: $6266.00
Shipping: $100.00
Tax: $485.62
Total: $6851.62

 

[Amkeer]

Wow!!!!!

Looks like you have us all beat Frank!!!!

Scott,

My preference is to install it all including CPU. My first computer they did install the chip and heatsink.

 

[Amkeer]

Great points T&S! I think my last configuration was ddr pc2100 2x256.

 

[Amkeer]

All the good responses has delayed my purchase since I have to re-think my strategy.

- If I get a XP chip I will need to get a BARTON core, mobile since the multipliers aren't locked for overclocking. Right?

- I will have to pick a different mainboard with a 400 FSB and raid, sata.

- The memory will need to be different.

- The graphics I may try to improve a little.

- Faster hard drive to compliment the board and chip.

 

[Pablo]

Wow

FRANK - the killer system!! Does that inlude a latte holder?

 

[The_Jeff]

If you can wait until the day after thanksgiving, you can usually get a system with OS for ~$199 if you get up before dawn and stand in line.

Keep the OS, trade the XP for 2000, many options. Use the computer (I got a mid-level emachines) or put linux on it or upgrade it and still come out ahead.

I used to build my own, when new machines were $800+. Now prebuilt desktops are so ridiculously cheap I've gotten old and lazy.

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

quote:

---

Wow FRANK - the killer system!! Does that inlude a latte holder?

---

No, that was extra, I was trying to keep the cost down, only the essentials, but I did get a free T-shirt.

My receptionist called me Fri and said fed ex had delevered it.

Cant wait to unpack it and fire it up Tomorrow morning.

 

[ToyotaNSaturn]

Killer system Frank! We bought one for the graphics person in our department ( how come the graphic people ALWAYS get the absolute best machines??

) with almost exactly the same specs you have. You'll love the dual 250GB disk drives...Render on the 2nd one, work off the first one, still have plenty of power left. Those G5 Macs are amazing!!!

Enjoy!
:cheers!:

 

[XS650]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Amkeer:
All the good responses has delayed my purchase since I have to re-think my strategy.

---

Take a look at the LG GSA-4160B 16X Super Multi DVD Rewriter. You can find them for less than $100 delivered. They do the double layer thing and are fast. Mine just came from the DHL truck a couple of days ago so I haven't installed it yet. They look like the best bang for the buck.

 

[XS650]

quote:

---

Originally posted by Pablo:
Wow

FRANK - the killer system!! Does that inlude a latte holder?

---

All computers come with those now. They are either labeled CD or DVD.

Several years ago I saw an article by a computer company tech support guy talking about his strangest support calls. One was a woman who called in because the cup holder on her computer broken. .....You guessed it!

 

[Not the Autorx Frank]

ToyotaNSaturn,

Thx, Your right, us mac (graphics) guys are kinda a different breed. We are willing to spend a lot because we spend most of our time in front of a cpu. The mac to me is such a far superior system for what I do. Its becoming easier and easier to play nice w/ wintel machines now too.

have a good one

 

[Amkeer]

Alright I have carefully reviewed all input and have revised my selection process carefully!

Here is the new list of components. Now keep in mind I turn my systems over every 2 years or so, by then I will be getting the 64 bit AMD in 2 years as well as the much anticipated 64 bit Windows OS, for now I will stick with the AMD XP platform. Here is the list:

ANTEC Performance Series II Mid Tower Case With 350W Power Supply, Model "SX835II" -RETAIL

Lite-On 8X Double Layer DVD+/-RW Drive, Model SOHW-832S WHT, Retail

TR2TT (Designed By Thermaltake) TR2-M2 T.M.D (Tip-Magnetic Driving) CPU Cooler with Adjustable Fan Speed Controller.

Seagate 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST380011A, OEM

Corsair Value Select Dual Kits 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - OEM

MSI "KT4AV" VIA KT400A Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - OEM

CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5700LE Video Card, 256MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, AGP, Model "SA5700L" -RETAIL


Any other suggestions complaints on the revised plan. I need to order this next couple of days..