Building 1st PC. Need Help!!!

[Tyl3n0L]

Hello!!!

I'll buy a Athlon64 3200 Soon, 9800Pro 128mb, new motherboard ( still don't know which one ), RAM, HD etc.. etc.. etc..

I'll be honest with you... I'm a real newbie when talking about Hardware... I just know Athlon64 kick ass... That's why i want one...

I have some questions for you guys:

I Heard all N-Force3 MB had problem with something somewhere lol.... Something non optimized i think.
I want the best motherboard! Overclocking my CPU is not my primary objective and money isn't a problem...

2: I'm planing to buy a Seagate 80GB S-ATA150 / 7200... My questions is:
Is there any big difference between a Serial ATA and a standard ATA133?
And is there difference between 2MB of Cache and 8MB?

3: Which RAM should i buy for this PC?

4: I'm planning to buy a ATi 9800PRO 128MB. Is there danger for my card if I overlock it at 412/365
(The speed of the XT) And do i need to buy a new fan or heatsink or something for it or the standard fan can do the job?

5: Is the Lian-Li PC61 a good choice?

Right now i have a Pentium III 666MHz / 384MB PC 100 / Geforce 2 TI / 15GB 5400
As you can see.. I REALLY NEED a good update... In your opinion. Do you think i should wait for the Athlon FX line and the new generation of video card?

Thank's for your time!

 

[Lyfer]

Congratulations on you're FIRST build and WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!:beer:

The Lian-Li PC61 is a good case but you can get a better looking Kingwin KT-424-S-WM case which is all aluminum and features window with motherboard tray for just $97. There is NO performance difference between SATA and reg. IDE drives other than the convience of SATA cables. The fastest IDE drives (WD RAPTORS) peak at ~72mbps, while most IDE 7200 drives will peak ~45-50mbps. The extra 8mb cache will help marginally, but won't be noticable. Seagate makes pretty good and RELIABLE drives. What is you're budget btw?

The Athlon 64's are very competive cpus and good for the money, only downside is that if you plan on doing it overclocking there is NO board available with PCI/AGP lock or multiplyer adjustments over 10x. But at $433 for the Athlon 64 XP3200, it sure gives the more expensive P4 3.2 a run for its money at stock speeds


I would recommend the following if you're taking the A64 route:

Gigabyte GA-K8NPRO Nforce 3 150 board - $141
Athlon 64 XP 3200 OEM - $433
Zalman CNPS7000 Heatsink- $35
512mb x 2 PC3200 Winbond CH-5 (buffalo tech ram)- $83 x2 = $166
Sapphire Radeon 9800 PRO OEM - $310
Lilian PC61 chassis or Kingwin KT-424 chassis
Allied True 450W- $39 (excellent PSU for the $$$)

 

[Tyl3n0L]

Thank you dude :beer:

Where I live, I have a very limited choice for ram / casing

I just spotted the ThermalTake XASER III V1000D with 7fans included.
For the RAM I only have this choice: Kingston 512MB 400MHz

Is there any big difference between this RAM and XMS Low Latency RAM?

And my budget is 3000$ Canadian 2500$ USD

 

[sniperruff]

i know i shouldn't rain on your parade but...

if it were up to me, i'd wait a few months before i would buy an athlon64. they are so expensive now and it is quite unknown whether what chipset is better than the other one for the motherboard...

so there i said it. if you can wait a few months, i can guarantee that you won't regret it

 

[Torghn]

Originally posted by: Tyl3n0L
Thank you dude :beer: Where I live, I have a very limited choice for ram / casing I just spotted the ThermalTake XASER III V1000D with 7fans included. For the RAM I only have this choice: Kingston 512MB 400MHz Is there any big difference between this RAM and XMS Low Latency RAM? And my budget is 3000$ Canadian 2500$ USD

Can't you just buy the stuff online? Even with shipping I'd think it would be cheaper than getting it locally.

 

[Tyl3n0L]

Nope i can't.
I don't have Credit Card

 

[sniperruff]

Originally posted by: Tyl3n0L
Nope i can't.
I don't have Credit Card

ask your parents...?

or maybe time to get one...?

get a student card. they'll probably give you some crap credit (i got $500 from amex). but after a year it'll double

 

[yhelothar]

There is NO performance difference between SATA and reg. IDE drives other than the convience of SATA cables.

that's what I thought at first.. until I saw the comparison of all the drives at StorageReview.com, which showed that SATA drives has substantially higher I/Os than traditional PATA drives. It had marginally higher transfer rates too. Maybe it's the controller?

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Tyl3n0L
Nope i can't.
I don't have Credit Card

newegg allows for money orders.

 

[Tyl3n0L]

Does newegg deliver in Canada?

 

[jimmyl930]

A good case is the Antec Sonata. Crucial RAM is good.

 

[Twista]

Originally posted by: Tyl3n0L
Does newegg deliver in Canada?

no

 

[Torghn]

Originally posted by: Tyl3n0L
Nope i can't. I don't have Credit Card

Can you get a debit card? I had one before I was 18. If not find a friend or family member. It's not like you need to borrow the money from then as you can had them the cash as they place the order.

 

[MainFramed]

OK:

So your intrested in buying a Li Lian-Li case huh? Well smart choice!

Xoxide Cases <----- If you havent really decided on a case look here, they have many nice modded cases inculding some nice Li Lian-Li's

 

[Steven the Leech]

And is there difference between 2MB of Cache and 8MB?


Yes, by all means get an 8m cache drive. The warranty is usually 3 years, on retail models, and they do install programs much quicker.

 

[Tyl3n0L]

Well thank you everyone

Is the ThermalTake XASER III V1000D better than the Lian-Li?

 

[Tyl3n0L]

Bump

 

[MainFramed]

Originally posted by: Tyl3n0L
Well thank you everyone

Is the ThermalTake XASER III V1000D better than the Lian-Li?

I think so, there both nice cases but it depends on which Lian-Li your looking at. I bought the SS Warrior last year and Xoxide is currently out of stock but its real similar to the LL Warrior These are Lian-Li cases modded by Xoxide themselves. I really like my SS Warrior (its the case at the very top of the Xoxide Banner above 'Show Order'