Building first ever rig...

[bramma]

Hey, guys. Well, after redoing my budget, I will be able o spend about $900 on my computer. So, I would like any advice on he parts I am choosing and if they are compatible with eachothe. Also, any advice for a novice on his first build would be greatly appreciated. Here are a few quesions I have though:

Should I use a nvidia based graphics card for a nforce 2 motheboard or does it matter?

What is the difference between the amd regular processors and the "Bartons"




Case: Antec solution series Super mid tower case with 350W Smartpower power supply 'SLK3700AMB) $69

CPU: AMD Athlon Xp 2500 333 fsb, 512K Cache processor $80

Motherboard: Epox 8rda3+ $96

Ram:Kingston ValueRAM 184 PIN 256 MB DDR PC-2700 $48

Sound: Built into motherboard. Figure I can get a cheap set of speakrs for $15 to $20 bucks.

Video Card: Powercolor ATI Radeon 9600 PRO Video card, 128 MB DDR, 128 bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8x AGP, model R96A-C3N" $124

Hard Drive:Samsung 80 GB 7200 RPM hard erive, oem $68

Also, I may need a case fan or two for cooling, because I'm not sure if this case comes with enough to keep the system cool.

Optical drives: Lite-On 52x32x52x CD-RW drive, model LTR-52327S $33

Floppy Drive: OEM drive from newegg $10

Keyboard: Saw a nice cordless at walmart for $30

Monitor: Samsung 753DF-T/T 17" Dynaflat crt monitor $169

Operating system: at a loss for this one. Was looking for a lost-cost solution for windows xp. But retail, it is about $150

Extra IDE Cable for hard drive: $5 at dealsonic.com

Antistatic wrist strap: $7 at dealsonic.com

Right now, this comes to about $900. Iany help and suggestions are greatly appreciated. Also, let me know if all of these components are compatible.

 

[AristoV300]

The Barton 2500 is a good overclocker. It is just the name for that group of processors. No an ATI card will work good with that setup. Might want to go with a 9600xt 256 card, they shouldn't be much more now. Also for that price you should be able to find a bigger hard drive then 80gb.

 

[HeroOfPellinor]

Originally posted by: bramma
Hey, guys.

1) Get the mobile 2400+ for $77 instead.
2) Windows XP Home OEM for ~$85.
3) You'll need more ram. I just bought 512MB Kingston PC3200 for $60 AR. Check the HD forum.

Other than that, everything you've picked out is excellent. Great MB, great case.

 

[CtlAltl33t]

3) You'll need more ram. I just bought 512MB Kingston PC3200 for $60 AR. Check the HD forum.

That deal is dead, isn't it?

As for your pics, if you're going to shell out almost $200 for a 17" monitor, I'd suggest looking into some deals on 19"-ers

just my opinion, though

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: AristoV300
The Barton 2500 is a good overclocker. It is just the name for that group of processors. No an ATI card will work good with that setup. Might want to go with a 9600xt 256 card, they shouldn't be much more now. Also for that price you should be able to find a bigger hard drive then 80gb.

Just to correct this post:

"Barton" is not just a name, it means the CPU has 512KB of cache, which means higher performance than a 256KB chip.

The 9600XT 256MB videocard is one of the worst values on the market right now. You would be much better served by a 9800PRO; they will cost nearly the same.

 

[mechBgon]

I made a computer-assembly guide that happens to use that case: click here I also did a heatsink-installation guide that covers clip-down heatsinks: link It goes into a little more detail. I had to remove the .AVI clip of the thermal compound for now, I'm out of space at my ISP.

The case should be ok with its stock 120mm rear exhaust fan. If it were me, I'd consider the Abit NF7-S motherboard, which has earned a pretty good reputation for itself.

Actually, WinXP Pro is about $250 at retail, not $150 You could go with WinXP Home but you might want to find out what you're missing: link, unfortunately down at the moment.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Actually, WinXP Pro is about $250 at retail, not $150 You could go with WinXP Home but you might want to find out what you're missing: link, unfortunately down at the moment.

Yeah but can't you get an OEM copy of XP Pro for MUCH cheaper than that? I'm pretty sure my boss paid about $50 for XP Home OEM.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: HeroOfPellinor

Originally posted by: bramma
Hey, guys.

1) Get the mobile 2400+ for $77 instead.
2) Windows XP Home OEM for ~$85.
3) You'll need more ram. I just bought 512MB Kingston PC3200 for $60 AR. Check the HD forum.

Other than that, everything you've picked out is excellent. Great MB, great case.

I agree with this 100%.

If you're going to overclock at all, definitely get the mobile Athlon.

The Epox board you list is actually only $87 at Newegg. The ABIT NF7-S is only $82 currently, though, and it is one of the best boards out there. ABIT has sold so many NF7-S boards that I'm sure they have all the bugs worked out of the newer 2.0 boards. It's a great board all around.

I doubt I would pay $5 for a regular IDE cable when you can get a big 24" round IDE cable for $7.55 with shipping at Newegg.

I'm not going to argue with anybody who wants to get an anti-static wrist strap, but if you take your shoes off and ground yourself by touching a monitor (or even just touching the case first if the PSU is plugged in), you won't have any problems. The people who need to wear wrist straps are the people working in a service center who have to leave their shoes on and come and go a lot.

 

[SickBeast]

Rounded IDE HD cables cause interference and data corruption and should not be used.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: SickBeast

Originally posted by: mechBgon
Actually, WinXP Pro is about $250 at retail, not $150 You could go with WinXP Home but you might want to find out what you're missing: link, unfortunately down at the moment.

Yeah but can't you get an OEM copy of XP Pro for MUCH cheaper than that? I'm pretty sure my boss paid about $50 for XP Home OEM.

OEM WinXP Pro is around $140, I was making a point about the actual retail-boxed version I've been kicking around the Home v. Pro thing in my mind for my little sister, and I may get Pro just for the Automated System Recovery aspect alone, since she is a bit prone to messing things up. It has other perks too, like the ability to function in an Active Directory domain down the road.

 

[Tostada]

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Rounded IDE HD cables cause interference and data corruption and should not be used.

LOL!

Say that to the thousands of people who have rounded cables with drives that work just fine. Maybe really cheap ones are bad, but give me a break.

 

[SickBeast]

Originally posted by: Tostada

Originally posted by: SickBeast
Rounded IDE HD cables cause interference and data corruption and should not be used.

LOL!

Say that to the thousands of people who have rounded cables with drives that work just fine. Maybe really cheap ones are bad, but give me a break.

I'm being serious!! I read on the internet that they are terrible and cause data corruption. Believe what you want.

 

[Tostada]

Now, here's just some random advice of what I would do personally. Take it or leave it. I do applaud your honesty for not just downloading Windows XP Corporate Retail. The problem is that $900 really isn't that big of a budget when you're including the monitor, OS, keyboard and mouse. If you weren't including the monitor/OS/keyboard/mouse, you could get a Radeon 9800 Pro, 1 GB RAM and a 160 GB hard drive. As it is, I think the 9800 is pushing the budget. I mean, look at your system. It can't read DVD-ROM's.

You want parts that will last a long time, right? A year from now, you want to be able to upgrade you video card, add a little memory and still have a good system, right? You've picked out a good case with a good power supply, and I don't think you want this machine to be disposable. With that said, I would get a nice monitor that will still look good 5 years from now. A 17-inch monitor just screams "budget system." Honestly, I would get by with nForce2 integraded graphics before I would get a 17" shadow mask monitor. The monitor is the part of your machine that will last longer than any other. It's an investment.

Here's what I'd build:

245.00 + 37.00 NEC/Mitsubishi 19" SuperBright Diamondtron
87.00 Windows XP Home
36.00 + 4.00Microsoft Keyboard & optical mouse combo
77.00 Mobile Athlon XP 2400+ Barton
82.00 ABIT NF7-S
94.00 Sapphire Radeon 9600 128MB
69.50 Hitachi 80GB SATA Deskstar 7K250, 8MB cache, 3-year warranty
77.00 Musnkin Basic 512MB PC3200 CL 2.5
46.99 Lite-On 52X CDR / 16X DVD combo drive
64.00 + 15.00 Antek SLK3700AMB Solution Series 350W
14.99 + 5.00 Arctic Cooling Copper Silent 2TC Revision 2

Total = $954.48 with shipping

That's an absolutely beautiful monitor. The CPU is easily overclockable to 3200+ speed. It's the fastest 7200RPM drive currently available, and it has a 3-year warranty. You don't have any disposable parts in that build. The video card isn't blindingly fast, but it's good enough for 1024x768 in anything, even Far Cry and Doom III. It's also a passive card, so you can use it in a silent system when you upgrade your video.

Honestly, if $954 is too far above your budget, I would save $14 by going with the 300W Antec case (with a quality PS, 300W is plenty for that system). The 350W is just leaving room for the future. Beyond that, I would switch to the $65 Biostar nForce2 IGP board and get by with integrated graphics until I could afford a Radeon 9800 or whatever.

I just see a 17" monitor as a waste when a high-end 19" Trinitron/Diamondtron is $85 more.

 

[someone16]

I doubt you'd need the extra IDE cable or the anti static wrap. I'm pretty sure the mobo would come with 2 IDE cables. Also, if you think you won't need the SATA or soundstorm get a SHuttle AN35N Ultra for $54 @ newegg. Then use the money to buy a single stick of Kingston 512 Value PC3200.

 

[Cawchy87]

Motherboad: Abit NF7-S
Vid card: ATI 9800pro (256bit!!!!!!)
ram: Corsair 512mb (I would recommend getting another 512 or 256 stick when you have some money)
Harddrive: If you a normal computer user, then 80 gigs should be more than enough! And you cd burner will be your best friend if you start to fill it up fast!
Monitor: 17 inch diamondtron - better picture and a little cheaper

 

[mechBgon]

I'd lean towards PATA (ATA100, ATA133) for a true first-timer. Granted, the NF7-S's SATA setup isn't the worst-case scenario (so far, I rate the IC7/IS7 family the worst I've tried to help with). Still, on boards that don't support SATA without a driver floppy, it is turning out to be a daunting challenge for some people, both first-timers and just first-timers to SATA and/or RAID controllers.

So here's that Hitachi with 8MB cache in the ATA100 flavor for your consideration, bramma: link Although if you must have the SATA version for some reason, I will be glad to help you if you run into problems. Tip #1: read the owner's manual carefully, it is definitely useful