Building new PC - HELP!

[imihsas]

Hi, any help here would be immensely appreciated!!!

I would like to construct my own PC. I have reviewed books and surfed the internet (anandtech, toms harware, etc.), but I always manage to get back to square one in terms of whether I think its worth it to construct my own, and, what to use if I do construct my own.

With the system I have now, I have added (on my own) an ethernet card, firewire, and CDRW drive, so, although I know it will be considerably more complicated to construct my own PC from scratch, I think I can do it. The system I have now is a PIII, 500Mhz, 4x DVD (40x CD???), Yamaha 8/8/24 CDRW, 200W power supply, I assume an ATX case (?), a 20GB HD IBM Deskstar 7200 (60GXP???), Voodoo3 16MB 3000, SoundBlaster Live Value, running Win2K. I bought it from Gateway. My opinion of Gateway could take up an entirely different thread, however, this system has been very stable for my uses.....I use Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere, Toon Boom, Bryce, etc. As you can see, I primarily use 2D graphics programs (some 3D), and DV editing. On occassion, I play a game. ...........I would like to upgrade to a 1.4 AMD or 1.8 P4 system. If I construct this thing on my own, my main concern, besides wanting to see a huge difference in processing speed and multi-tasking, would be stability, and, I would like to keep the construction simple - "plug n' play" if at all possible, if you know what I mean. I do not need to overclock. I would like to keep costs under $1,500.00 and use some of my old hardware. Lastly, I should point out that I know nothing about fans and heatsinks (except for the reviews).

Any thoughts are appreciated. Also, I would like some opinions on:

Asus P4T mobo with P4 1.8 (retail or OEM?)
IBM Deskstar 7200 60GXP 40-60GB HDs (can I install one along with my 20GB HD?)
Samsung or Kingston RDRAM - Do I need to purchasee ECC?
Opinions/compatibility with Hercules 3D Prophet 64MB?
Case make/model with 300 or 400+ watt power supply?

If anyone can help or has suggestions, thats great! If you have suggestions on a reliable retail vendor, that would be great, too. I am impressed with VooDooPC's apparent customer service, but the prices are very high.

Sorry so long! Marc

 

[AMDPwred]

For what you mentioned you use the PC for I'd go with:

Antec SX1040
1.4ghz T-Bird
Epox DDR MB (forget exact number)
512MB PC2100
Maxtor 40-60GB HHD

You guys can fill in the rest but that core would give you a great and affordable start to a killer PC.

 

[Andrew111]

<< If you have suggestions on a reliable retail vendor, that would be great, too. >>



I would like to suggest a visit to Oxford PC. I can vouch for their excellent customer service, and I haven't found any other custom computer manufactorer with lower prices than what they offer.

 

[edjam]

For the case, the Globalwin 802 is great.

 

[Antoneo]

Hey there, have you checked out Anandtech's guides for systems (ie. value, gamer, SOHO)? Their recommendations are pretty good (some will argue but will do for most people).

OEM parts are cheaper but sometimes may not come with everything in the retail box such as software cds (although the drivers and manuals are usually included).

ECC you dont really need unless it is a mission critical computer. as for the heatsinks, if you buy a retail CPU, the manufacturer will include a decent heatsink and fan combo. Oh and maybe you'd want to wait until the new P4s come out (socket 478) because uprgadability is sorta limited...

Dell.com is excellent although a bit pricey. I recommend building a computer by yourself because it is a rewarding experience.

 

[WHipLAsh13]

I would get my parts from NewEgg. They have some of the best prices on the web and a pretty good reseller rating.

 

[wfbberzerker]

the epox board you want to get is the Epox 8k7a.
go amd, not p4

 

[johndoe52]

Go amd. Better performance at a lower cost.

 

[AMDPwred]

<< the epox board you want to get is the Epox 8k7a. >>



Yeah, that's the one I was talking about.