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Couple Questions for you Mechbgon

B

Blacktharne

Member
About a month ago you gave me some advice with regard to rebuilding my computer...I finally have the time and money, so I'm going to order the goods today or tomorrow...

A quick recap...

Gateway 700 series
Pentium4 2.66Ghz
512MB RDRAM
GeForce 4200


I need a total of 1GB and RDRAM is a pain so you recommended buying a new case, mobo, and a gig of DDR RAM...I just want to make sure I'm ordering the right stuff, so I'd greatly appreciate it if you could look the following over:

1) You recommended 'Dual-pack of 512MB Corsair PC3200 Value Select modules'...which I found cheapest here at Newegg...

The only thing I'm not solid on is the difference between SDRAM and DIMM...at pricegrabber its listed as DIMM, but at Newegg its SDRAM...are they the same? which do I need?

2) You recommended 'Asus P4P800 SE' mobo...which I found cheapest here at ZipZoomFly....I'm pretty sure that's the right thing...

3) You recommended 'Antec SLK3700 AMB case,' but I've been persuaded to spend a bit more and get an Aspire Turbo whcih I found here at ChiefValue...mainly becaues it has a removeable mobo tray, drive rails, and a bigger power supply...


I think I've got someone who is more savy than I with regard to computers that's going to be able to help me put things together, so that's a plus...I think all should go well - thanks for all the help


Oh, and are ZipZoomFly and ChiefValue reputable merchants? I'm pretty sure NewEgg has a good reputation, but I haven't heard much about the other two...
 
Hi again 🙂

1) DIMM refers to the physical aspects of the module (plugs into a slot, has electrical contacts on both sides of its edge) and SDRAM refers to the type of memory chiplets on it and the signalling scheme used. Actually, all the memory modules since the days of the PentiumMMX back in the '90's are SDRAM DIMMs, so it's sort of a given that any SDR or DDR module is an SDRAM DIMM, and vendors may not bother saying so. It's like saying "A Ford Taurus with four tires" in a car advertisement... well duh, they all have four tires 😀

2) that's the right mobo, yeah. 🙂

3) the Aspire's Turbolink PSU... mmm, sort of generic-ish. PSUs are like gasoline, there's more to gas than how many gallons. What octane is it, high-quality or low? Maybe I'm being too fussy... 😕 Give it a try, I guess. If you throw in a fancy video card later and it's having problems, then slap in an aftermarket PSU like one of those Enermaxes with the dual 12V rails, Enermax is good stuff.


ZZF is a pretty reputable outfit, never heard of ChiefValue, though... well, but they have an 8.89 Resellerrating so that's pretty encouraging 🙂 Good luck with your upgrade! 🙂
 
Thanks for the quick reply, Mechbgon...

I don't have my heart set by any means on the Aspire...It was appealing because it seemed more user friendly (which I very much need) and that it might have more room for upgrades...

In the next 6 months I will definitely upgrade my graphics card and I'd like to have a rig that I could hang on to for some time and regularly upgrade...so if you've another recommendation or think otherwise, I'm all ears...

Basically, I didn't want to upgrade my graphics in a few months and then have to get a bigger power supply or another type of upgrade (this may not even be an issue with the Antec you recommended...again, this is all pretty new to me, I'm learning)

Thanks again for the help
 
Actually, for a high-end video card, I'm not sure even the Antec SL350 in the SLK3700AMB case is really the right tool for the job. It's got 16 amps on the 12-volt line, well-regulated amps maybe, but I would still veer towards something like this one, which has a lot more of its power available on the 12V lines where the high-end cards and the mobo's power circuitry will both be looking for it.

Motherboards are switching to 24-pin for their main power cable now, and I keep eyeing this Enermax for the long haul, except it's so expensive! 😕 But it can do either 20-pin or 24-pin ATX and also has the PCI-Express video power plug on it, plus obviously a ton of wattage. If you want to use the PSU that you buy today with the mobos a year or two down the line, then that's something to consider. Of course, for the price difference, you could buy another $70 PSU later when necessary.

When you do your Windows installation, watch out for worms... suggestions against worm infection on new Windows builds
 
Cool man, thanks for the suggestions...

I like em...I was already considering spending $100 on the Aspire...You've got me seriously considering the 2.0...Hmmm....

The manufacture website lists this: Dimentions W150 * H86 * D140 (mm)

Now that's a small case...I'm going to guess that those specs are wrong...I can't find them anywhere else...It looks like this thing sits different than most vertical towers...bigger width and smaller height...is that right or am I seeing it wrong?

The slot in my desk for my case is only ~11" wide...my lady will have a fit on me if get a case that doesn't fit in there...


While I'm at it, since I'm learning, maybe you could help me out and define the following:
ATX, PSI, and PSU

BTW, the link to the worm infection prevention is to the Enermax 2.0...You must really like that one 🙂

Hey, and if you get tired of responding to my never ending string of questions, just ignore me, I'll understand

Thanks for helpin
 
I have over 18000 posts, obviously I don't get tired of questions too easily, or else I'm a slow learner! 😉

I've got to jam for work but I'll drop back in at break time and spout some more advice. 😀 The correct link 😱 is this and while it all looks very tiresome, with the malware that is going around nowdays I really suggest battening the hatches in advance.

The $129 Enermax is just a power supply by itself, no case included. You could pair it up with a case that doesn't come with a power supply, or take out an existing power supply to use the Enermax. So now you know why the small dimensions, anyway 🙂

Gotta run (said the cheetah)...
 
Ah, right, just the power supply...I'm pretty sharp...

I suppose that could get pricey...I'd like to be able to get case & power supply for under $130, so those are probably out of reach at the moment...Do shoot some more advice in this area when you get the time...my current case is pretty big...I haven't opened it up and I don't really know what's good or bad about cases...

As far as the virus protection goes...Alot of good information there, but I'm maybe even more confused now...Will I lose all of my programs when I do this? Will I lose mp3 files?

Currently I've got Service Pack 2 and Norton Internet Security (I end up disabling this when I play games and it's disabled half the time when I'm browsing b/c I forget to turn it back on...I don't know if this is bad or good, but I can't really figure the thing out) which I'm pretty sure is a 'firewall' ...so, given that I already have that, will I have to wory about worms when I first connect my computer? or will the rebuild cause Norton to go bye bye...in which case I'm not sure what to do as I downloaded it from their website (I should probably have bought the hardcopy)...

BTW I live a few miles out of town, I've got dial-up, so if you know of any mean persuasion techniques I could impose on SBC to get them motivated to get out here with the DSL already, then I'm listening...

Have fun at work

 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
Actually, for a high-end video card, I'm not sure even the Antec SL350 in the SLK3700AMB case is really the right tool for the job. q]

you don't have to say not sure anymore... I can tell you it won't be good for a high end vid card. I had the slk3700bqe.. which I do believe has the same psu just silent. And whenever runing a graphic intensive program on my 9800AIW it would kill the video output 🙂, changed psu and i'm good to go. Just lettin ya know, even tho you're probablly already done with this project.
Click to expand...
 
Thanks for the info...I haven't even ordered the goods yet...I'm planning on doing that today though...

Ok, Mech, if you get a chance to look at this, great, if not I think I'm gonna go ahead and order today...

I'm leaning toward the Antec SX1000II VAR Series and the Enermax 1.3 which you mentioned yesterday...

That combo will put me at my limit on how much I want to spend on a case/PSU (PSU = power supply unit?...I think I figured that one out on my own, I'm so sharp🙂 )...and from what I can tell that'll probably give me the most bang for my buck...

Thanks for helping


Oh and just to make sure...I won't need anything other than the case and the PSU to replace an all in one deal like the Antec SLK you'd mentioned initially, right?
 
I can't tell from the specs whether that case includes cooling fans or not. If in doubt, a couple of quiet-running 80mm fans in the rear will keep it cooled well, and if you are ordering anything from Newegg, the manually-adjustable or thermally-regulated Enermax 80mm fans are decently quiet. Don't power them from your mobo headers because they can give funky RPM readings that make the mobo 😕 and possibly not POST, however (happened to my A7N8X Deluxe, anyway). The Antec 1000-series cases are sturdy and heavy.

That case has one fan-coolable HDD cage that holds a max of three hard drives. The SLK3700AMB will have it beat on the expansion capabilities, with a five-drive main HDD rack. If you wanted to go a little more on the budget side, and live in the continental US, I see that CompUSA has Antec cases without power supplies for as little as $24.99 and they are running penny shipping at the moment, but they appear to only have models with a single 80mm exhaust in the rear. I would rather have dual 80's or a single 120 myself. Something to think about, anyway 🙂
 
You think I should just get the Antec 3700AMB now and then worry about getting a new PSU down the road when I actually get my new vidoe card? Maybe those Enermax products will come down in price by then anyhow...

I've been looking at alot of the cases, but I can't discern what makes one 'better' than another...It'd probably be best if I just went with the Antec 3700AMB which has everything I need at the moment...Yeah, that's what I'm gonna do

Thanks for the help Mech


Just to make sure, the Antec 3700AMB could be upgraded with one of the Enermax PSU's later and possibly another fan? (i.e. they'd fit )
 
That sounds like a good plan 🙂 The SLK3700AMB will take any ATX power supply no problem, and it has a 120mm exhaust that runs pretty quietly, plus a holder for a 120mm intake if needed. I like the five-drive HDD rack with the rubber grommets too 🙂
 
hey just lettin ya know.. if you don't mind buying slightly used i'm actually selling my case/psu. It's the SLK3700 BQE that I mentioned above, but like i said since the stock psu wasn't working i replaced it with a thermaltake i think it was 480watt... i'll double check. I added some fans and stuff check my fs thread in my sig.

also you should be aware that this case/psu is QUIET! i had a amd64 w/ cool & quiet in there, and didn't even notice it was on and accidently turned the whole comp off 1 time. 😱)

so well if interested shoot me a PM
 
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