Building New PC!! need advice

[biofobia]

Hello, I am going to build a new system and I wanted some tips, information, and suggestions on hardware.. I already have a AMD XP 1900+ CPU, Lite-On DVD-ROM 16x/48x, Mitsumi Burner 16x/8x/40x.... But I still need to get a Case,Fans,Heatsink,Floppy,HD,Memory(DDR),Motherboard,and a Network Card

Case: I was wondering which cases are better to get, I want one that has efficient cooling, but not too loud (like maybe a harddrive fan,one in back or maybe 2, and maybe top or side panel fans. Most people that I asked said that case is up to me, but i want your opinions of a good and price worthy case maybe $110 or under..also what companies make good cases?.. this is the case i found ( myurl ) Please post your suggestions and tips on good cases that i can pick from

Fans: What fans should i get installed extra? What companies make good fans?

Heatsink: This is one of the main ones... what heatsink should I get.. what company makes good heatsinks too!?!?.. which are better copper or aluminum..etc.. tell me about please advise me on which heatsink to get for a AMD ATHLON XP 1900+ processor and maybe overclock it, i want very good heatsink.. even if it cost like $40

Floppy: I heard sony makes the best floppy drives.. what do you think? *this is not a big one*

HardDrive: From my cousin I heard maxtor makes the best HD's what do you say?... whats the difference between 7200rpm and 5400rpm... does it make a difference.. worthit?.. please advise on which HD to get!!

Memory: Which brand of MEMORY should i get.. i heard corsair or crucial.. i want to get 512mb of DDR memory...dont know which brand to get that is very good and cheaper than rest but at same performance and quality

*IMPORTANT*MOTHERBOARD*IMPORTANT*: This is the biggest i need help with choosing, because i need a good mother board.. i heard ABIT makes the best motherboards for XP Athlon processor and they have 4 DDR slots... i do not understand that much on the chipsets either.. but i was advised on getting the ABIT KR7A-Raid-133 .. What do you say?

Network Card: Which network card should i get? I was told that Linksys makes good network cards, and its only like $15 on Newegg.com


Thank you, Please give me your tips, suggestions, and opionions PLEASE!!!!! Im going to build this pc and need your advice!!

 

[o1die]

I replied with info about the maxtop case on another forum (at newegg for $49). For motherboards, the abit kr7a without raid, unless you have more than 1 hardrive. Forget ata 133. I have it, and notice no difference over ata 100. I would get 1 quality stick of 256 megs of ram if that's all you can afford. All I know about ram is to look for pc2700 with 5 or 6 ns speed rating. Samsung is recommended by some people, but more research on your part may be necessary. The volcano 7 is recommended by some for a good heatsink. Noise level is your biggest concern. If you're not sure, buy the heatsink and fan separately at a cooling specialist such as directron or coolerexpress.com.

 

[Smags87]

r u going to oc?? thatll influence the fan/case/hs dec.


who cares about the floopy lol...

hard drive wise, GET A 7200 rpm drive its important...trust me

dont worry about mem its all the same.....well not really but u will live

"*IMPORTANT*MOTHERBOARD*IMPORTANT*: This is the biggest i need help with choosing, because i need a good mother board.. i heard ABIT makes the best motherboards for XP Athlon processor and they have 4 DDR slots... i do not understand that much on the
chipsets either.. but i was advised on getting the ABIT KR7A-Raid-133 .. What do you say?"

yes, that abit board ROCKS....its solid and fast. PLUS u get the raid!!!

get a nic at bb or compusa...really doesnt matter

 

[RadioactiveMagpies]

what is your budget?

 

[Zap]

CASE: Check out the Maxtop cases at Newegg.

FANS: Get a decent (Panaflo or Enermax if buying from Newegg) for the rear. Before mounting the fan, cut out the case (you can use diagonal cutters and a rounded file) so that the stock fan grill (just holes punched into the case) gets replaced by a wire finger guard. This will probably be more than enough cooling for you unless you're gonna do something extreme.

HEATSINK: The Coolermaster HHC-001 (whatever... the one that's copper with heatpipes) is good but loud. The Thermaltake Volcano 7+ is copper and the fans can be turned down in speed. The Thermaltake Volcano 7 is aluminum with copper base and would be okay. Kinda depends on how much you're willing to spend, how much you intend to overclock and how LOUD a fan you are willing to use.

FLOPPY: Get whatever. They're all the same and you'll never use it.

HARD DRIVE: For performance I'd recommend 7200 RPM. IBM and Seagate drives seem okay, but people have had problems with them in the past so... Western Digital makes great high-end drives. For the BEST performance available their 100GB or 120GB drives with 8MB cache (the "BB" model) are the fastest at around $200+ per drive. Below that, I'd recommend the Maxtor "L" series drive (fluid bearings). Maxtor is the only HDD manufacturer that uses ATA133. The performance increase is only theoretical. The real benefit is the ability to use the 160GB 5400RPM Maxtor drive.

MEMORY: Dunno, probably any name brand would be fine. I've heard that Crucial 512MB sticks don't use Micron chips, but still should be good.

MOTHERBOARD: I kinda like Shuttle boards. The AK35GTR seems like a good board. The AK31A also seems good, but lacks RAID (if needed) and has a BIOS voltage glitch (it will let you set it higher than 1.85, but will go to default if you try). Probably most KT266a (or KT333) chipset boards from major manufacturers would be good.

NETWORK CARD: I like the cheap ones that use the Realtek 8139C chips (C is the latest revision). You should be able to find these around $10-15 and Windows Me and higher will have drivers built-in.

 

[FPSguy]

My recommendations:

Case: I like the EN-72370AZ from Newegg for $79 shipped.

Floppy: Get a cheap one.

HardDrive: The RPM is how many Revolutions Per Minute the platters spin. Generally the faster they spin the quicker the drive can read data from them. Get a 7200RPM drive. Maxtor is fine.

Memory: Muskin.

Motherboard: ABIT-KR7A. It won Anandtech's Editors Choice Gold Award. See this article.

Network Card: Whichever 10/100 card is on sale for $10 at your local computer store. Comes built into some motherboards, but not the KR7A.

You don't list a video card or a sound card but if you don't have those you will need those as well (unless you get them built into the motherboard, which usually means lower quality components).

 

[biofobia]

I already ordered my parts a couple days ago, Saturday....

Motherboard: Abit KR7A-133Raid
Processor: Amd Athlon XP 1900+
Heatsink: Alpha PAL 8045 w/ Panaflo 80mm H1A Fan at 39CFM and 32DB Noise
Memory: Crucial 512mb PC2100 DDR 64x64
Memory Heatspreader: ThermalTake Heatspreader w/ Ramsinks
HD: Maxtor Quiet Drive 80GB 7200RPM ATA 133/100
Case: Enermax CS-003-01WB 300W
Cooling Fans: 1 120mm Panaflo L1A (68.9 CFM/ 30 DB) Intake in front -- 1 80mm exhaust on side -- 1 80mm exhaust on top -- 1 80mm Panaflo H1A exhaust on rear
Network Card: Linksys LNE100TX ETHERFAST 10/100 LAN CARD
Floppy: Sony Floppy Drive
Graphics Card: Visiontek Xtasy 6964 Geforce 3 TI 500
Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live 5.1 X-Gamer
DVD-Rom: Lite-On 16x/48x
CD-RW: Mitsumi 16x/8x/40x


graf and sound i already had as well as processor and dvd and burner, thanks for the reply's

 

[CoDerEd]

great choice...
i have a similar setting too and it works great
i run it on fsb 145*12=1740 it can be stable on 150 but the cpu temp scared me

btw/ i suggest you install the hd on the raid controller so you can
take the advantage of ata 133' cause this mobo doesn't have the
ata 133 on the ide1&2, their brother kr7a133-raid support
ata133 on the ide 1 & 2

peace