Building a PC for the first time, need opinions

[CookiePuss]

Hi everyone, this is my very first time ever bulding a pc, and I value the opinions of the members on this board. I was wondering how the components Ive selected stack up? Ive been debating with myself whether to get the Radeon 8500, or a GF3 Ti500??? Also, stability is probably one of my biggest concerns as I had an old compaq years ago that froze up all the time, driving me absolutely nuts, which is why I opted for the K7N420 (most of the reviews claim this is a stable mobo, unless someone can prove me wrong, which would be helpful?), also to shave a few dollars off of the price of an audigy. Also, as you can see I will be using Win XP, and I WONT be overclocking, well, atleast not for the forseeable future anyways. So, with all that into consideration, what do you guys think? The price comes to $2400 Canadian, or $1500 US, w/o shipping.

Processor AMD® Athlon?XP 1900+(1.60GHz) w/266Mhz FSB Retail
Motherboard MSI K7N420 Pro (Would a KT266A + Audigy be better?)
Memory 512MB PC2100 266Mhz 184pin DDR (Micron) 256x2
Hard Drive IDE Seagate Barracuda IV 80GB 7200rpm 2MB
DVD Rom IDE LiteOn 40x16x DVD ROM
CDRW IDE LiteOn 40x24x10 Retail
Floppy Teac 3.5IN 1.44MB IBM PS/2 IVORY FDD
Video Card LEADTEK Geforce3 TI500 64MB TV/DVI Retail (or possibly Radeon?)
Keyboard Microsoft Internet Keyboard Pro
Mouse Microsoft INTELLIMOUSE EXPLORER 3.0
Case Antec SX1040 10BAY 400W & 2 Case Fans
Monitor SONY 19IN/18.0V 24MM CPD-G420S FLAT TRINITRON CRT
Headphones Sennheiser HD 575
OS Windows XP Professional

One more thing, what fans do you recommend for the SX1040? Or will the 2 stock fans be sufficient, remember, I wont be overclocking

 

[arynn]

I would get a slower processor 1600+, 1700+ and save the money.

I am considering the MSI nforce board myself to build a system but will be using the integrated video as it's not for gaming.

If you are planning on buying a video card, you'd probably make out cheaper with the KT266A and Audigy.

As far as I know, the Audigy and nForce sound are comparable (I'm not sure which is better).

From what I hear LiteOn makes really well performing burners - similar to Plextor, much cheaper.

Depending on how much you plan on gaming, the GeForce 3 TI500 may be overkill.

Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Darkhawk28]

Let's go down the line here.... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.......

CPU Groovy
MB Go with a KT266A ... it's much faster. Get the Audigy as well.
RAM Sounds good, look at Mushkin and Kingston as well.
HD Cool.
DVD Ok.
CDRW Ok.
Floppy Who cares?
Video Stick with the Ti500, forget Radeon. (uh oh, flame war coming)
KB Ok.
Mouse OK.
Case Antec's are nice. 2 Case fans should do you just fine.
Monitor Very nice.
Headphones As a musician, I know that Sennheiser products are very sweet and it's a classy touch.
OS Works for me.

Hope that helped.

 

[E3Art]

first of all, theres no such thing as overkill when it comes to gaming!! I would consider the Radeon 8500 if i were you, ive got one and its spectacular to say the least, and the slight performance increase you will get with the Gforce3 Ti 500, wont be noticable to you. and if it is the Radeon 8500 more than makes up for it, its a better card. Yes the drivers need work, but when they get pollished, it will be even better.

Dont know much about your motherboard but i would get a 266A board, its much better bandwidth for memory. i have an Epox 8KHA+ and ive put them in a couple of systems ive built and they seem to be pretty stable. Most people here will recommend the Epox or the Dragon.

You may want to consider going a step down on your processor, the increase in performance dosent justify the extra cost. I got a 1800+ that i can over clock easily to 1900+ with FSB only. Even if you dont want to overclock I would get the 1800+ unless you just have to have the best.

i have the same case you do i have the Antec sx1040b, which is a server case. it still has 10 bays but comes with an extra fan, and ive added 3 fans to it. You can get it at newegg.com for $119 US shipped. i think they call it the Ennermax sx1040b (comes with an ennermax 330W PSU) I would go ahead and get another fan or two if i were you there really cheap and it cant hurt to have too much cooling.

 

[tecumseh]

"Monitor SONY 19IN/18.0V 24MM CPD-G420S FLAT TRINITRON CRT"

Hey I allmost have that monitor!! My monitor is a G420 Flat Trinitron Crt. I love it!! You'll love your monitor to!

Also, I'm buildng my first computer soon and I'm thinking about going with the bundle route. They put it together, and they test the motherboard, proc and memory for you. You might wanna look into that idea

 

[veryape]

I'd only change a couple of things like i'd consider getting the Radeon 8500 and also i'd change the motherboard to a 266A. Other than that though it looks really nice. As far as saving on the processor, I say if you got the cash go for it because if you don't you will wish you did. My rig wouldn't look to much different were I to build one right now, although I am not sorry to say. Maybe in a couple of months when the money is flowing a bit more freely. Anyhow, good luck on the build.