Another first time PC builder (that's me)

[Kipa]

Been lurking around here for a while now trying to learn enough to build my first PC (always had work supplied machines). I'm a little leary at this point as the more you read around here, you more you realize there's a ton you don't know. I'm having a hard time determining between stuff I have to know, and stuff an advanced builder chats about. So if you know of any good guides/books covering a first PC build, please let me know. So far I've read a bunch here and at Tom's Hardware and learned a bunch, but still not feeling 100% confident yet.

What do you think of what I've chosen so far? I've had one AMD (briefly) and thought it was too loud, so Pentiums after that. I want to be able to assemble the PC and forget about it. Rock solid stability is first priority with performance priority 1A. I'd especially appreciate if you think I've gone overboard with any of the components. Total is $1700 and I could use to knock off a couple bucks if I can. But I'd also spend more, too if I needed to.

And do I need anything else? Grease? Fans? Cables? Who knows what else? I see people mentioning all kinds of other accessories, but not sure what's required and what's optional - please let me know if I've forgotten anything basic.

[1] ANTEC LIFE STYLE SERIES SONATA PIANO BLACK Model# Sonata w/ ANTEC TRUE380 380W Power Supply
[1] ASUS Motherboard for Intel Pentium 4, 800Mhz FSB Model# P4C800-E DELUXE Retail
[1] ATI All-In-Wonder RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB DDR 8X AGP RETAIL
[1] Intel Pentium 4 / 3.0CGHz 512k socket 478 Hyper Threading Technology 800 MHz FSB - RETAIL
[1] CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, Low Latency (Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) PC-3200LLPT With Platinum - Silver Heat Spreaders. Retail
[2] Western Digital Raptor 36GB SATA WD360GD 10,000 RPM 8MB Hard Drives OEM
[1] Plextor 8X DVD-RW +RW DVD Recorder - Model PX-708A/SW-BL Black Retail
[1] SONY 1.44MB 3.5 INCH INTERNAL FDD DRIVE - OEM-BLACK


Thanks for your replies and any help you give the new guy.

GaryJ

 

[cockeyed]

Your choices are good and you should be able to put it together with little effort. Asus mobos come with an easy to follow manual; when you get it, sit down, relax and read the book, cover to cover. As you read through it, look at the mobo for connectors, etc.. I would suggest that you pick up an anti-static wrist strap at Radio Shack for a few bucks and handle the parts with care. It only takes about 50 volts to damage/degrade a chip and static from clothing can generate 100's-1000's of volts. IMO, many of the intermittent problems you might read about in these forums are caused by poor handling of the parts. Another thing to get is a small tube of Heatsink compound to replace the pad that Intel uses on their heatsink. Plan ahead, take your time, use care and read the instructions. If you do this, you will have a good experience and a 1st class machine. Good luck!

Couple of cost savers: Unless you have a specific need for the "All in Wonder" video card you could make do with the standard 9800 Pro. The same goes for the SATA HDD; it seems a little small @36gb and might not perform much better, depending on the application, than a standard 7200RPM IDE w/8mb buffer.

 

[DieHardware]

How to build a PC.

 

[DN]

I think the parts you've chosen are just fine -- you've done your homework well.. The only thing I don't agree with is the hard drives.. Unless you are doing video editing or something of that nature, you are better off just getting a 120Gb SATA hard drive (western digital or seagate would be my choice) as the raptors are overkill..

I will warn you now -- if you are installing WinXP on a SATA drive, make sure you have the SATA drivers on a floppy diskette handy (CDROM won't cut it)..

BTW, I have the same motherboard in an Antec case as well.. It was pretty easy to install, but then again, I've been building PC's since the mid 80's..

Let me know if you need any more help..

 

[Jeff7181]

I'd go with a single Raptor, and get a cheap WD1200BB or somethin like that for storage.

 

[redhatlinux]

Forget buying heatsink grease !! Intel and AMD spend millions on research and determine that PCTC pads offer the best solution for the 'normal' user. Pump out of thermal grease under high temp and pressure is reality, PCTC will not do this. Stick with the pad and save your warranty if you buy retail cpu (highly recommended).

 

[Kipa]

Thanks for all the help - feeling better about the project now. Good to know the parts come with good manuals. If I've got insturctions I'm good to go. Also thanks for the link and other suggestions. I will swap out the hard drives and look at the other video card.

Kipa

 

[Jeff7181]

The thermal pads don't do that bad of a job anyway... I don't use them because I change CPU's about every 3-6 months. But on computers I assemble for other people, they work perfectly fine. AMD's heatsinks are improving all the time too... so yeah... I agree with redhatlinux... don't bother with other compounds, use it the way it comes.

 

[ProviaFan]

I assume you've got a monitor, keyboard, and mouse on hand? I also hope you aren't afflicted with the need for a modem, but don't forget to include that if you do need one.

 

[Kipa]

Yep, good on keyboard/mouse/monitor and don't need a modem. Thanks for the help.

 

[cockeyed]

If you decide you use the supplied thermal interface pad on the heatsink, I would suggest that you download the "Proper Fan Heatsink installation" pdf file from HERE. If you have never installed a P4 before with the thermal pad, you will find that the pad can be easily damaged. Installing the heatsink with the pad is technique sensitive. Best to read up on it first!

 

[Gaard]

<< I've had one AMD (briefly) and thought it was too loud, so Pentiums after that.>>

?

 

[RaynorWolfcastle]

Originally posted by: Gaard
<< I've had one AMD (briefly) and thought it was too loud, so Pentiums after that.>>

?

AMD has a reputation for being louder than Intel because the heatsinks AMD includes are pretty loud. I've used the retail fan on an Athlon XP (Palomino) 1600+ and thought that it was too loud. I'm now using a Pentium 4, and the stock heatsink that comes with the 2.4C is much quieter than the 1600+'s

 

[Dashel]

Hiya Kipa,

I'm building a very similar system myself:

Antec Sonata Case
ASUS P4P800 Deluxe
P4 3.0c CPU
2x512mb Kingston Hyper X Ram
Radeon 9700 Pro
etc etc

Not my very first time building one, but it's my second. So we'll see how much I remember Dont worry though, you'll do fine. Soon we will have our nice systems up and running smooth.

Good luck! Post here if you hit any snags.

 

[Kipa]

As far as loud, Raynor explained it perfectly. It was the fans. Now this was 3+ years ago, and the local shop that built the 2 units (I had the AMD for a couple weeks then traded for the PIII) put one more fan in the AMD box. Anyway because of the additional fan, it was quite a bit louder.

Dashel. It's great to see someone else picking same/similiar parts.

If any of you are still following this thread, can you tell if I need to buy any cables seperately? I'm having a hard time determining if the cables that come with the power supply and mother board are enough for the 2 hard drives, DVD/R, and floppy.

Thanks again,

GaryJ

 

[Dashel]

Originally posted by: Kipa
.

If any of you are still following this thread, can you tell if I need to buy any cables seperately? I'm having a hard time determining if the cables that come with the power supply and mother board are enough for the 2 hard drives, DVD/R, and floppy.

Thanks again,

GaryJ

I think you should be good on the Cables. The ASUS board I have came with a floppy cable, the IDE (which is good for 2 HDD's) and a CD/DVD cable. You should be set.

 

[Kipa]

Thanks again Dashel - makes sense with the cables: 1 cable = 2 hard drives. I'm guessing that's what the master and slave designations mean (i.e. they share the same cable).

GaryJ

 

[BigJelly]

Just a sugestion, but if i were you id get a 16xDVD drive so i wouldnt use my DVD-RW drive as much. But thats me, not sure if it will make the DVD-RW drive last longer but it wouldnt hurt ($40 drive becomes work-horse drive compared to $200+ drive being the work horse). I'm 99.9999% sure i'm wrong, but as the saying goes better safe than sorry.

 

[Overkast]

Originally posted by: Dashel

Originally posted by: Kipa
.

If any of you are still following this thread, can you tell if I need to buy any cables seperately? I'm having a hard time determining if the cables that come with the power supply and mother board are enough for the 2 hard drives, DVD/R, and floppy.

Thanks again,

GaryJ

I think you should be good on the Cables. The ASUS board I have came with a floppy cable, the IDE (which is good for 2 HDD's) and a CD/DVD cable. You should be set.

No, he won't be all set. He's buying 2 Raptor drives... he's gonna need 2 SATA cables for them, not IDE. If that mobo doesn't come with any SATA cables, then you'll need to buy them seperately Kipa.

Kipa, I recently built my own machine for the first time as well. I highly recommend it. I encountered a slew of problems, but I was able to troubleshoot them all myself, and now I have a rock-solid machine that I am really proud of.

Based on my troubleshooting experience, here is some advice and opinions I have for you:

1) Check to see if your RAM is tested and certified to work with your mobo. If not, the RAM may still work, but you may need to manually adjust your RAM timings to achieve system stability (RAM timings are where I encountered the most problems that I had to troubleshoot). Check both the mobo AND RAM manufacturer's websites.
2) Make sure your old PC is still connected to the Internet while you're building so you can come here in the event of any problem-solving questions you need answers for.
3) Does your Power Supply have enough juice for all that hardware? You might want to consider getting a 400+watt PSU.
4) I also have two 36GB Raptors... I had absolutely no issues installing WinXP with them. Also, I think the 5 year warranty on them is worth the money alone, but I also think they're nice and fast too. I say splurge and get em'... because I did and I sure as hell don't regret it (and won't regret it).
5) Considerng you're building your own machine, I think you should buy a P4 2.6c processor now and swap it out 6 months down the road when the 3.0 and 3.2 get lower in price.
6) I would get a Radeon 9600 Pro for now... the 9800 Pro is a great card but you won't be using it to it's fullest until Halflife 2 comes out in April 2004. besides, I'm pretty sure your system will have enough juice to run HL2 smoothly even with a 9600 Pro when it DOES come out.
7) Great mobo choice, but don't rule-out the ABIT brand mobos. I think the IS-7 and IC-7 are fantastic mobos for the most part. If you REALLY wanted to splurge though, an IC-7 Max 3 is top of the line ABIT right now (I think it compares or surpasses your P4C800-E Deluxe choice)

Good luck my man. We'll be here for you if you need us!

 

[Kipa]

Big Jelly - thanks for tip (great suggestion). I do have a 16x "play only" DVD drive now, so don't need one.

Overcast - really appreciate your comments and suggestions (I think I finally understand the whole cable thing). Thanks for taking the time to put 'em down for me. As far as the ABIT board, I actually was deciding between it and the Asus board. From what I can tell, they're pretty much the same performance/features wise, and I found the internet world to be about 50/50 split on which is better, faster, more stable, etc. so I really had nothing to help me make my choice. The board I have in my 3 year old 600mHz is an Asus and has given me no issues in 3 years - that's what I chose the Asus board. What makes you favor the Abit board?

GaryJ

 

[Overkast]

You're welcome Kipa.

I don't really "favor" the ABIT board, I just wanted to make sure you "considered" it in your search, that's all.

I'm sure the ASUS will suit you just fine.

 

[piasabird]

So you going to buy the special SATA power cable/adapters?