before i order my parts tomorrow can someone check my system

[homey297]

its main use will be top end accounting software
on a 3 computer lan with dsl
i chose the following:

1- p4p800-e deluxe asus
2- caviar wd1600jd 160gb sata western digital
1- p4 3.2ghz northwood 512kb
1- kvr400x64c3ak2/512 kingston 512mb x2 kit ddr400 pc3200
1- Asus A9600 SE Radeon 9600 SE AGP 8X 128MB DDR Video Card w/TV-Out & DVI
1- Mitsumi 7-in-1 USB 2.0 Media Drive + floppy
1- Kingston 512MB Hi-Speed USB 2.0 Data Traveler memory stick for backups
1- win xp oem
1- norton system utilitys
1- EZ Media 737BEG Mid Tower Gaming Case (Beige)
setup as a raid (1)
any suggestions or any thoughts at all
these parts total $998.50 except norton i already have that
and i will reuse his old cdrom
i am about 150.00 under budget for parts
he may want a flat screen next year
the only reason i went with asus for video was
the mb is asus ... does asus make good video cards ?

any thoughts at all would be greatly apreciated !!

 

[mechBgon]

I have a couple of suggestions:

1. get a quality power supply and make it nice and beefy. You undoubtedly want this to run for years, so get the "towing package" If you need a suggestion... grab an Antec Plus1080AMG case, which comes with the Antec TruePower430 power supply plus a fan-coolable hard-drive cage (add a quiet 80mm case fan)
   
2. if you get two matching memory modules, you can enable dual-channel memory for increased performance.
   
3. Make sure it's WinXP Pro and not Home. Two extra years of support at Windows Update, as well as other valuable capabilities (including the ability to create Limited-class user accounts that can't mess up the computer with unauthorized software/spyware/adware).
   
4. I avoid Western Digital anymore because they still have plenty of ball-bearing motors in their drives. Over time they can get pretty noisy. If you're picking ATA drives, pick something that uses fluid bearings, such as Seagate.
   
5. Do they actually need 160GB drives? How about a pair of 80GB drives instead? Personally, I would steer towards using a plug-in RAID card, so that if your consumer-class motherboard fails, you can transplant the array (card, drives and all) into another computer as-is, instead of slaying a goat in the graveyard at midnight in hopes of summoning The Spirit Of Data Recovery to help you get your data back after the motherboard (and its RAID controller) fails.

Hope that's some help

 

[Adn4n]

Well right now the Athlon 64 will give you better performance. For workstation performance, the Soltek K8AN2E-GR is the best according to benchmarks comparing the lead 8 motherboards.

I'd get a 3200+ Northwood, which is running at 2.2Ghz, but due to its architecture it will outperform the 3.2 Northwood.

 

[kd2777]

Originally posted by: Adn4n
Well right now the Athlon 64 will give you better performance. For workstation performance, the Soltek K8AN2E-GR is the best according to benchmarks comparing the lead 8 motherboards.

I'd get a 3200+ Northwood, which is running at 2.2Ghz, but due to its architecture it will outperform the 3.2 Northwood.

He means get 3200+ NEWCASTLE not Northwood in case you didn't know.

I like everything mechBgon and Adn4n said other than about the HDD space. If you can get 160s and are under budget get 160s, you never know how much HDD space you will need two or three years from now. I love Seagates as well, you can't go wrong with them. As Adn4n said A64 is the best way to go right now, and I'm an Intel fan.

Asus does make good Video cards. I had a 4200to that I used until last week when I upgraded, now I have pasted it to my wife, she doesn't game so it works perfest for her.

KD

 

[Adn4n]

errrr...yeah. My bad.

 

[Mik3y]

yes, go wtih an athlon 64. you will get better overall performance then with an intel. intel may be the top dog in marketing and sales, but is currently the underdog in cpu performance.

 

[homey297]

thanks guys i really appricate you guys alot
thanks thanks thanks