Building a new system...need some input

[thirdeye]

ok here's the deal. i'm building/upgrading my system now and building a new system out of components from my system i have now. below are what i'm thinking of getting but i need some input on some items. thanx in advance

XP 2000+
not really sure what mobo to get thinking either the Soltek SL-75DRV2 or the Abit KR7A
512MB PC2700 (any brand suggestions) i have crucial 2100 now and am happy w/ it but i don't know if they make pc2700
Antec SX1040
Cheetah X15 (not sure what controller to get, more than likely going to be the only scsi device in the system for time being)
40GB Maxtor
SB Audigy (or if there is good nForce board i would consider that)
Geforce 4 whenever the are here
Sony CPD-G420S (i've had 3 sonys in the past and loved every one so i'm firm on the sony)
Pioneer DVR-A03

think that's it.

 

[Mavrick007]

First off, what is your system going to be used for mainly?
Is cost a factor, cause from the look of it you want some really expensive and high quality, bleeding edge components?
What system do you have now and what parts do you want to keep?

 

[thirdeye]

well basically this system is going to be primary system for gaming, graphics and everything else. cost is somewhat a factor but not a huge deal. prefer to stay within the 2000 - 2500 range. my current system is in my profile but i will list it below and what i will keep and change.

Current system
Thunderbird 1.4 - used for secondary system
Gigabyte GA-7DX - used for secondary system
512MB PC2100 - used for secondary system
20GB ATA100 Maxtor - used for secondary system
40GB ATA100 Maxtor - left for data backup in primary system
Sony 12x8x32 - used in secondary system
Pioneer DVD-116 - left in primary
SB Live 5.1 - secondary system
Antec SX840 - primary system
Geforce2 GTS - secondary system

My primary system will consist of most of the parts listed earlier and the remaining parts will be used for the secondary system

 

[Atlantean]

What you have listed looks pretty good, are you sure you need to get scsi though?

 

[thirdeye]

i'd like to go scsi all the way eventually but that's just a lot more than what i wanna spend. one drive for booting will be fine for now and the slowly convert as time goes on. i need to know what kind of scsi card to get cuz it's been so long that i've actually dealt w/ scsi that i don't really know what's what any more.

 

[Mavrick007]

Wow, you have a good system now, I don't know why you would want to upgrade the whole thing. It's better than mine now but I'm doing a well deserved upgraded and I'm not even going as high as that.

If you're big into games, I would personally think about overclocking the 1.4G Athlon, get a better video card such as a GF3 Ti200 or Radeon 8500 and keep the rest as it is(or even get a GF3 TI500). The reason being that you will be paying more than you need for not that substantial of an increase from the current system that you have and just a couple of things done could save you big bucks. You could get by right now instead of paying $2000-2500, you could make a killer machine for under $400-500 just by buying a better cpu hsf and overclock the cpu and get a new video card.

The technology is right on the edge right now and some things are going to be dropping in price as well new products are coming out very soon. The T-bred cpu should be out soon as well as the GF4, if you wait a bit, you can upgrade the video card for even less and if you want, you could get a better cpu in about a month or two as well as new mobos that will offer better selections. An XP 2000+ will be faster but it's not worth the cost for what you have now. If you have 512Megs of ram now at pc2100, keep that. That's alot of ram and it should work fine. Scsi is nice but it's very expensive. If you are set on Scsi, get a good controller that will be upgradable for the future such as an adaptec, but it has it's price too. I would probably wait a bit on the sound if you have a live 5.1 now too especially if you wait and do an upgrade in a few months(it should be cheaper to buy a better Audigy then). If you want a nice big monitor, then go for that and the Sony is a nice choice cause you can use it into the future as well as now. Now while having a DVD burner would be nice, there is no standard out yet and that one will only do single sided as well as expensive media. You have a good cd-rw now, so I would wait til something standard comes out as well as a bit faster and more affordable.

Get good quality components for sure, but don't throw your money away just cause you want the latest and greatest.

 

[thirdeye]

well i still want to have a second system. i'm soon going to be working on some cert classes (i.e. microsoft and cisco) and would like a second system to play around w/. as far as o/c my 1.4. i can't do much w/ it. i have an alpha pal8045 and 2 panaflows on it and i can't get the system stable over 1460. i know it's my mobo tho cuz it's not really meant for o/cing. so i may not need to go all the way out. but i don't like to do major upgrades all the time so i figured if i go all out now it will last a little longer. plus some of the stuff needs upgraded. i need more HD space, a larger monitor, and would like the DVD writer. as far as the video card goes i'll either get a GF4 or an 8500DV just cuz it has so many extras that i would like.

 

[Mavrick007]

I understand the upgrading thing. I don't normally want to do a bit here and there and that's why i've waited so long to do so up til now. I have games and a bunch of applications that run real slow now so that's why I'm upgrading to an XP 1800+ which is supposed to be a good overclocker too(and the board I got is sweet.. Soltek sl-75drv4).

If you want to do an upgrade badly, wait a bit cause there's new tech coming out that will drive prices down and if you want to go all out, why not get that new stuff. The Thoroughbred is coming out very soon(prob in March) and the GF4 is coming out in the next couple of weeks (definitely look at the 460MX which looks like it might be a good deal as well as a good performer) and there's going to be alot of nice flavors out which will drive GF3 and everything else down too.

If you upgrade now, you will probably think in a few months.. man, look at all the cool new tech and I don't want to upgrade again but I want new stuff. You don't always have to wait forever, but it's very close now. Hehe I can smell it. If you want scsi, go for it now cause it's a safe bet it's not going to change all that much for awhile and it will be useful. Get the big monitor cause it will last a long while too. If you're set on a dvd recorder, get one but there isn't a standard and media is expensive still(I saw a 10pack of 4.7Gig media go for like $70 something bucks which you could buy a 40Gig ide Hd for just a bit more) compared to HD space. If you want the GF4, you will have to wait a couple of weeks anyway if not more for them to get on the market and if you wait to do your upgrade then, then you might as well just go to the new T-bred cpu and mobo. Then you shouldn't have to worry about another processor or mobo upgrade or vid card probably for over a year.

 

[jbjtkbw00]

Hi guys! I'm relatively new to this forum, but I've been computing for a while. I have a decent setup if you care to check out "Christine". Here's what I'm looking to do, though.......my current motherboard (which came with my custom built Presario 7000z) only supports 1x AGP. I've tried switching to 2x, but my system just freezes. So, I want to change out my motherboard, upgrade my processor and memory. That's all I want to do. I totally agee with what's being said by just upgrading certain elements instead of spending an arm and a leg for "state of the art" which in computer lingo means "state of the week". If you guys want to throw a mobo suggestion my way with 4x AGP support, I'll gladly go with it. Heck, I'm even happy with my 512 MB of PC100 SDRAM. I'll save some cash and just get a mobo that I can pop a faster processor in using SDRAM. I'd love to hear from you guys!

-MikeText