Building first computer, here's the plan...

[StinkyMeat]

Hey guys. I'm building my first computer after watching 3 friends successfully build their own. They encouraged me to post on gen. hard. about it, claiming they got a lot of help here. The plan for this puppy is to use it for good gaming, and some amateur video/audio editing. Nothing past Adobe Premeire. And of course, to surf the net and play mp3's. Here's what BigNate and I decided on last night:

Case: Antec SX630 (PP303XP PSU)

AMD: Athlon XP 2100+

Thermaltake VOLCANO 7 Variable Fan Speed Control.

Thermaltake CPU Shim

Athlon Motherboard: MSI KT3 Ultra-ARU

System Memory: 512-MB DDR

IBM 120GXP Deskstar

VGA EVGA|GF4 TI4200 128M with VIVO/TV out RETAIL BOX.

SONY CDRW 32x10x40 CD RECORDER DRIVE

CD/DVD-ROM Player: LITE-ON 16X DVD ROM

NIC: D-Link DFE-530TX

Operating system: Windows XP Home

Name Brand Floppy

Any suggestions? Opinions? I'm pretty excited about the whole thing, and if you have anything to say that could help me out, please feel free to respond. Thanks.

 

[Technonut]

Just my opinion of course, but I would:

Substitute a WD or Maxtor HD for the IBM

Substitute a Lite-On 40x12x48 CDRW for the Sony. (The Lite-On can be flashed to the 48x12x48 model. I did it with no trouble )

 

[StinkyMeat]

Cool, seem like some good ideas. Any idea about the price difference of the WD or Maxtor HD vs. the IBM? or the Lite-On 40x12x48 CDRW vs. the Sony?

 

[Zugzwang152]

nice case/cpu selection. Nice to see someone sticking by AMD instead of running off to their little p4 1.6A's.
for your RAM: have you decided on what speed to get? Since this is your first build you may be hesitant to OC, in which case PC2100 will do fine. Go for Crucial as the brand, there might be a special AT discount still floating around.
HD: dont get IBM. period. Maxtor or WD for sure.
NIC: I have the exact same NIC, except it has a + tacked on to the model number for who knows what heh. Hasn't given me any problems whatsoever.
Mobo: dunno if you want an MSI board, although I hear they're pretty good. If you wanna try your hand at OC'ing, go for an ASUS.

 

[Technonut]

These are Newegg prices:

SONY CDRW 32x10x40 CD RECORDER DRIVE: $65.00 shipped
Lite On 40X12X48 CDRW Model: LTR40125S-Full OEM with all accessories: $64.00 shipped

You did not mention which size IBM 120GXP that you wanted, but the price difference between it and the WD or Maxtor should not be much.

 

[jonmullen]

Technonut is right. I would go with a Maxtor drive over the IBM since Maxtor is the only HD company to support ATA 133 (which you motherboard has). As far as price differance, I am kinda of having to guess since you never specified a size for the drive. But the 80gb Maxtor is $15 more than the 80gb IBM at Newegg.com. As far as the cd-rw is concerned the Lite-On is $4 more at newegg.com. Now if you are going to be doing any serious burrning I would really think about the Plextor burrner. Even at twice the price (about $120) it is well worth the price. I have had a Plextor 24x for about a year and have never had a single Cd mis-burn. You never specified what type of Ram you are getting. I would suggest Pc2700 from crucial of mushikin. If you plan on over clocking I would go with Pc 3000 Corsair XMS series. Also besure to by just one 512mb stick instead of 2 256's. That way you get a little better speed. As far as the processor goes I would think about getitng the 2200 since you are already speending some money. That way you get the benifits of the T-bred core. I don't really think a shim is nessecary, I have beard they often do more harm than good. The truth is aslong as you are careful you are not going to cruch the core. I fyo do use a shim then be sure the watch you temps when you first boot that way you can make sure your HSF is making good contact with the core. Since we are on the supject of HSF I would go ahead and spend the $6 to get some AS3. Since you are already using a high end HSF you might as well use a high thermal compound. You never talked about what type of case fans you are using. If you don't know then I wuld suggest that you use a Vantech stealth or a Thermaltake temp controlled fan (The same fan you HSF uses. It s good fan. I have 4 in my case right now.) Any way good luck.

 

[StinkyMeat]

I'm not looking to overclock, so that mobo should be ok. I will definitely take in to consideration your HD suggestions. And the CDRW switch seems like a good idea!

The HD is going to be 120gig. I don't know if the $ difference is substantial between IBM and WD or Maxtor, but I also assume it won't be too much.

 

[gf4200isdabest]

WD special edition hard drives over Maxtor or IBM anyday...

I think you're making a grave mistake by picking AMD vs Intel. Northwoods are just faster than Athlons. If you're building a rig which you want to keep around for a while you'd be well advised to get a Northwood. You'll thank me once Doom3 comes out and you want to play 1024x768x32...Intel is cutting their prices again to make room for the 2.8GHZ and you would be able to pick up a 1.8GHZ Northwood cheap.

You said you're not looking to overclock. Why is that? You do realize that all that is involved is changing the FSB number in your bios by 10 or 15...No skills or other mods are usually required...

Its your computer, buy what you want but I'll tell you right now that my 2.26GHZ Northwood with a GF4 4400 beats the hell out of my friends XP 2000+ with a GF4 4600!! And that's in every benchmark/game; not just 3dmark2001...

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: gf4200isdabest
WD special edition hard drives over Maxtor or IBM anyday...

I think you're making a grave mistake by picking AMD vs Intel. Northwoods are just faster than Athlons. If you're building a rig which you want to keep around for a while you'd be well advised to get a Northwood. You'll thank me once Doom3 comes out and you want to play 1024x768x32...Intel is cutting their prices again to make room for the 2.8GHZ and you would be able to pick up a 1.8GHZ Northwood cheap.

You said you're not looking to overclock. Why is that? You do realize that all that is involved is changing the FSB number in your bios by 10 or 15...No skills or other mods are usually required...

Its your computer, buy what you want but I'll tell you right now that my 2.26GHZ Northwood with a GF4 4400 beats the hell out of my friends XP 2000+ with a GF4 4600!! And that's in every benchmark/game; not just 3dmark2001...

OC isn't guaranteed.

 

[StinkyMeat]

Hmm, it seems there are definitely some things I should think about. Also I was told this:

I would suggest getting a different heatsink. Go for the alpha 8045 or thermalright ax-7. Also you do not need a shim.

Any opinions?

 

[ElFenix]

Originally posted by: StinkyMeat
Hmm, it seems there are definitely some things I should think about. Also I was told this:

I would suggest getting a different heatsink. Go for the alpha 8045 or thermalright ax-7. Also you do not need a shim.

Any opinions?

ax7. just as good and less $$$

 

[vanderStoep]

Originally posted by: jonmullen
Technonut is right. I would go with a Maxtor drive over the IBM since Maxtor is the only HD company to support ATA 133 (which you motherboard has).

In real the world ATA133 does not offer any performance increase over ATA 100. Shouldn`t be an argument in favor of the maxtor.

I personally like the Seagate Barracuda IV

 

[SaintGeorge]

Course your 2.26 beats your friends XP2000 it costs about twice as much. XP2200 is same price about I think and is faster almost all of the time.

Northwoods are only good if your going to overclock, or you want a very high end pc that AMD cannot reach yet. I'm getting a 1.8a soon enough but only because i'm overclocking, the XP1800 is faster and much cheaper with both at stock speeds. If I was you i'd get an XP2000 and not pay the quite a bit extra for only 66mhz more of the XP2100. Use the money to buy some really good RAM instead of normal stuff. Good RAM has more effect on speeds that a lot of people think.

Just a few, Mark

 

[RanDum72]

Go with Maxtor; reliable drives, awesome support. ATA-133 doesn't hurt either. The AX7 is a good suggestion since you can use 80mm fans on it (good cooling/noise ratio).