Building new PC and want something powerful

[fruitgum]

i'm about to take my first foray into building a pc from scratch and was looking for some advice on the more fundamental components.

i've decided to go for an AMD 1800 but i don't know:

1) which motherboard to go for - the EPox 8KHA gets a good write up but i've heard good things about ASUS and ABIT.

2) which case to chose given the higher temperatures that AMDs run at compared to P4s

3) which memory i can use with a typical processor / motherboard combinaiton.

any advice or pointers to information appreciated.

Steve.

 

[ku]

1) the EpoX 8KHA+ is a great board. ASUS and ABIT boards have always been up to par or better but their kt266a chipset motherboards are not out yet. If you are planning to get it soon, go with the EpoX 8kha+. Also, get the EpoX 8kha+ if money is an issue. ASUS and ABIT aren't known for having cheap opening prices.

2) I've asked this question one too many times and the answer I always got was Antec SX1040. If you need something cheaper, go with the Enlight 7237. However, the Antec is definately worth it (according to others o_0)

3)DDR!

 

[fruitgum]

thanks ku - very useful information - just going through pricewatch / google getting more information.

i was tempted to wait for the nForce but as a beginner, i'd rather have a more tried and tested solution.

any recommendations about which DDR memory should i go for ?

 

[gariig]

crucial memory should be fine unless some serious OCing is going to happen, but from the CPU your getting I doubt that is going to happen

cheap prices+high quality memory=crucial!!!

Gariig

 

[E3Art]

based on the reccomendations of Anandtech members i got the Epox 8kha+, antec sx1040, and 256mb crucial memory. They havent steared me in the wrong direction yet.

 

[ucvb6]

this is a very informative thread b/c i was actually thinking about building another PC with the Epox 8KHA mobo. i'm sold now.
also gonna get the antec case, very nice, but isnt the Antec 1040 a 400 watt power supply?
also, in terms of memory, definitely Crucial, want to take advantage of the Free 2nd day shipping.

good luck

 

[Remnant2]

I just upgraded to an XP1600, PC2100 Crucial, Epox 8KHA+, and 3227 case. Went together pretty well, if you go with an XP1800 or higher I'd bump the power supply up to a 350W unit though.

 

[fruitgum]

ok, just got back from Frys (palo alto) and there was a managers special on the Soyo Dragon Plus bundled with a boxed 1700,1800 or 1900+ processor.. the prices were ($309, $399 and $439 respectively)

i came *this* close to walking out with one, along with a gig of ram and a big old HD but i figured i'd better see if this was a good deal or not and see if it was a good combo or not.

a couple of things concerned me - cooling - the sales guy assured me that the built in fan would be enough - i'm not planning on doing any overclocking so maybe he's right but i'd like to here to opinion of the folk here... and the memory seemed expensive - they wanted about $280 including tax for a gig of DDR 2100 Mushkin RAM... seemed a lot to me but then what do i know

i like the idea of stuff being built onto the board - not having to buy network or sound cards is going to save me a bit of cash.

i'm off to read all the reviews i can, visit pricewatch and quite probably go back tomorrow

any feedback appreciated.

thanks.

 

[m1ke101]

yikes! i just checked ddr prices, and they've seemed to gone up. i remember when i got a 256mb stick for $35 shipped. $120 for a 512mb....didn't mushkin have a special for like 80 or 90 a while back? the hsf that comes with the cpu is fine if you're not going to oc. a gig of ram seems a lil like overkill to me, don't really see why you'd need so much unless you specifically had a purpose.

 

[Bignate603]

Epox hasn't been thought of as a performance board maker compared to Asus and Abit, but the board preforms well. I'm wondering about other things though, i'm building a similar system for a friend. How's stability and features? Anybody have any info?

 

[E3Art]

If you go with the Antec sx1040 case you wont have to worry about cooling, it comes with 3 fans. Also i would definatly go with the Epox 8kha+ (266A chipset) I just bought that motherboard and a 1600+ processor for around $250, check out pricewatch.com. $260 does sound like a lot for 1 gig of memory, even though prices are going up, check out www.crucial.com for their memory prices

 

[fruitgum]

So, I did a Fry's run yesterday evening

Soyo Dragon Plus / 1700+ ($309)
2 x 512MB of unbranded RAM ($160)
WD 60GB boxed drive ($129) [after $50 rebate]
Antec SX1040 case ($109) [after Amex PM to online store]
Floppy drive ($12.95)
Cable ties ($1.49)

now all i need is the SK6 cooler and a slot load DVD i'm going to order from NewEgg and I'm set. I'll drop my Plextor 24/10/40 CDRW in there too.

I bet Photoshop and 3DS still could use more RAM

Thanks for all the advice I everyone - will post here if I ever get it working...

 

[Poontos]

<< Epox hasn't been thought of as a performance board maker compared to Asus and Abit, but the board preforms well. I'm wondering about other things though, i'm building a similar system for a friend. How's stability and features? Anybody have any info? >>


You say that Epox hasn`t been thought of as a performance board maker, yet you are looking for reviews on an Epox board? How can you qualify this statement? BTW, Asus is known for server class reliabilty/quality motherboards and Abit is known for OC'ing and performance.

Epox are known for overclocking and performance. The 8KHA+ is one of the fastest, if not the fastest KT266A motherboard.

This is my first Epox and definitley not my last. It's a great board. Just follow all the instructions and make sure you have an AMD approved power supply.