Building first AMD rig, advice please

[Hard_Boiled]

Athlon XP 1700 or 1600 will be the cpu. From the posts I see everyone really likes their Epox 8KHA+ boards, so I guess I'll try that mobo. I just hope my PCI cards all work okay, in particular my D-Link network card based on the realtek. Other cards will be a SB Live, Tekram U2W card, and a Geforce2.

What would be a good heatsink for this? I'm just not sure how the older athlon heatsinks fit on the new XP's, and want to make sure I get one that will fit nicely and keep it real cool. I also thought about just buying the retail, how are the retail heatsinks?

 

[avedis]

The retail heatsink that comes w/ the CPU is fine if you do not plan to overclock.
If overclocking comes in the picture, you will definately have to get something better.

 

[SpecialEd]

the XP processors are the exact same shape and size of the Athlon TB's. If you want to get a decent heatsink I'd suggest the Themalright SK6 or the Alpha PAL 8045. Those seem to be the most popular heatsinks today. I'd suggest getting some ASII to go along w/those heatsinks as well. As for retail HS, I hear they work fine if you don't want to OC just like avedis said. I hear the fans they come with are loud though. I've never heard one before so i'm not the person to ask.

I'm pretty sure all your cards will work with the EPOX board. I've built three systems with the 8kha+ and haven't had any compatiability problems with old cards.

good luck!

 

[Hard_Boiled]

Thanks for the replies, I think I will order the ThermalRight SK6. I've never heard a delta fan either, but my power supply is already pretty loud and so are my SCSI drives.

 

[Kingofcomputer]

buy retail please.
even you're going to get a better aftermarket HSF - get retail please.
and you're first time building athlon - get retail please - it has manual with pictures showing you how to install HSF properly if you don't know, it has 3 years easy to abuse warranty if you damage or burn it.

and retail is just $15-20 more than oem, you're willing to spend $30-40 more on a better aftermarket HSF, why not spend a little bit more for the retail?