• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Are these good specs?

O

oSReApEr

Member
Hey guys, this is my first post, and its concerning the computer i am buying. It is the first i have ever built (I would revieve hand me downs :-\)and it will contain a:

Pentium 4 2.8ghz 800mhz bus
MSI neo2 mobo
ATi 9600 XT
1024 megs of corsair 3200 ram
Xoxide X-turbine case w/420 watt
Audigy 2 ZS platinum
120gb ulra ata-133 8mb cache buffer
Altec Lansing 4.1
Logitech MX duo
Windows xp home
56x cdrom
52*32*52 cdrw

Is this a good set up for 1350? Will this last me a good year or 2. Is their ANYTHING you guys would recommend i upgrade (I dont want to go over 1450)
Thank, Reaper
 
Scratch the CD rom and get a DVD-rom. As for mobo, I've got nothing but bad experience with MSI mobos. I would get with something like Abit, Asus, Gigabyte or others. Might want to consider the Audigy2 instead of the ZS as the audigy2 is 35-40 bucks cheaper.
 
The CDrom is overkill. It'll probably be very loud since it's at the physical limit of a cd's spin rate. Not only that, but cd's could break. If you need a DVD rom drive, you could put one in.

I see you're getting a Maxtor. To save $ and to get a quieter drive, Compusa has a Seagate 120GB for $60 this week.
You could probably save quite a bit by backing down to a P4 2.4c or save even more with an XP2500+. Either chip can overclock well.

The setup looks very costly. Is most of that because of the case? It looks like you could get the setup for quite a bit less.
 
Do not buy the MSI board. Abit or Asus. Do not buy the MSI board. MSI looks great on paper but when you get the board it probably won't work. If it does work MSI will release a bios update to make sure it doesn't. Do not buy the MSI board.
Also get a DVD/CDRW combo.

Edit: Do not buy the MSI board!
 
Well The case is 200 at www.xoxide.com Its 85 until u add 2 cathode blue lights and a 420 watt ps and a 50 buck temperature/fan controller (Case comes with 6 fans :-D)
Your telling me that 56x will break cds! Jesus thanks for tellin me. I want the 2.8 cuz i looked at prices and saw that the price difference for a 2.6 to 2.8 is 70 bucks and i dont care to much for dat. Also if u were to go with the audigy 2 should i get the pro version with that 5.5 slot?
What mobo would u guys recommend i might want to overclock in a year or so and i hear(yes hear from others not me) that asus dont oc good.
 
Originally posted by: oSReApEr
Well The case is 200 at www.xoxide.com Its 85 until u add 2 cathode blue lights and a 420 watt ps and a 50 buck temperature/fan controller (Case comes with 6 fans :-D)
Your telling me that 56x will break cds! Jesus thanks for tellin me. I want the 2.8 cuz i looked at prices and saw that the price difference for a 2.6 to 2.8 is 70 bucks and i dont care to much for dat. Also if u were to go with the audigy 2 should i get the pro version with that 5.5 slot?
What mobo would u guys recommend i might want to overclock in a year or so and i hear(yes hear from others not me) that asus dont oc good.
Click to expand...

Asus has established themselves as one of the manufacturers that provide good overclocking and fast boards. I don't think you'll be using the Live drive that comes with the Platinum version of the Audigy 2. I would just get the OEM card from newegg or something.

I would go with the 2.4C but if money is not a problem. I would say get whatever that's best for your pc.
 
Also if that case comes with a generic PSU make sure you get a quality one to replace it

and

Do not buy the MSI board!
 
Dont worry i cancelled the msi mobo. Also no its not generic psu its a raidmax. Now what asus board do u suggest i get thats around the msi neo2 price?
 
Motherbards

Asus P4C800 deluxe
Asus P4C800 deluxe-E
Asus P4P800Deluxe
Abit IS-7
Abit IS7-G
Abit IC7-G Max2 or 3
Gigabyte 8Knxp

All are great. The 865 boards will be just as fast as the 875 boards(sometimes faster).
Just pick one with the feature set you want, the color scheme you like, and connector placement that will be conducive to nice cabling in your case. I use the Abit IC7-G (pics in sig), IS7, and just got a p4p800deluxe. You can't go wrong with any of them

Edit: Also
Abit IC7
Gigabyte 8IK1100
Asus p4p800
 
How about a Abit IS7 or a IC7, I have used both boards and had good luck with them. I am currently running a 2.4C @ 3.06 on a Abit IS7.
 
No. I would highly recommend the abit IS7. Its about $100 and will perform = to or beter than any board out right now. If it has all the features you need.
While I'm highly recommending I would also recommend you switch to a maxtor or seagate sata drive.

Also, where are you buying your components?
 
ok a maxtor hd sounds good, and on the topic of hard drives what are raid controllers (if that even has anything to do with hds).
 
Originally posted by: Ionizer86
The CDrom is overkill. It'll probably be very loud since it's at the physical limit of a cd's spin rate. Not only that, but cd's could break. If you need a DVD rom drive, you could put one in.

I see you're getting a Maxtor. To save $ and to get a quieter drive, Compusa has a Seagate 120GB for $60 this week.
You could probably save quite a bit by backing down to a P4 2.4c or save even more with an XP2500+. Either chip can overclock well.

The setup looks very costly. Is most of that because of the case? It looks like you could get the setup for quite a bit less.
Click to expand...

did you see that episode of mythbusters too?
 
The 875/865 boards with the exception of the p4c800 deluxe none "e" support raid on the southbridge(ICH5R). This allows you to run two hard drives (raid 0) and "stripe" the data across the two. This increases performance a lot over using a single drive but if one drive fails you lose all data.
Some of the boards include a second raid (silicon image) controller that allows for raid 0 and raid 1 (mirror). Raid 1 allows an exact copy of everything to be made to the secondary drive. One drive fails and you still have the data on the other but there is no performance gain. Most of the boards only support sata raid but I think the Asus p4c800 also supports IDE raid.
^ simplified answer.
 
EDIT: ^^^ What he said.

Your system looks pretty nice, just get an Abit or Asus mobo, and drop the CDROM. Not sure how good/expensive the XT version of the 9600 is, but you may want to look into a 9800P or 9800XT, just judging by the performance/price difference of 9800P and 9600Ps.
 
I read in the Anandtech report about the XT versions of the 9800 and 9600 will overclock themselves as long as they stay cool. How much will it overclock itself i mean i will have 6 fans with 2 of them blasting on the video card, will that allow my 9600xt to overclock alot?(Trying not to confuse myself here:confused😉
 
9600xt overclock?
Nobody knows. It depends on what cooling solution is on the board, how efficiently you get the heat out of the case, and what the temperature has to be before the card starts to downclock, and what the upper limits of the built overclocking are set at. It doesn't look to me to be that much of a performance boost.
 
Yes the IS-7 will support the ata-133 drives. It has two IDE channels capable of supporting four devices. Again if your budget permits I would recommend using a serial ata drive.
 
Thanks Alot everyone you've all been a great help. Fredtam and Ionizer you guys probably have saved me TONS of frustration with this pc. I want this system to be very stable and whatnot and if ur telling me that 56x will break my stuff, msi mobos suck ass and wd hard drives make 2 much noise, you saved me stress and what not. Thanks guys. If you have any more recommendations plz feel free to tell. Ill be sure to post some pics of this pc beast i have yet to name.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top