Critique my rig

[Feldenak]

Hey folks, going to try my hand a building my own machine in the next week or two. Probably begin buying components next week(Yay, newegg). I'm hoping some of you can poke holes in my setup, offer suggestions, or find potential compatability issues.

Antec Performance+ 1080
Giga-byte SINXP1394 (When I can find one)
P4 2.4
512MB Corsair XMS PC-3200LL (2 256 pieces)
IBM 180GXP 80GB
Lite-On 48x24x48
Radeon 9700 Pro (not sure what brand yet...suggestions?)
SB Audigy
Logitech Z340 (Mainly for gaming...don't need anything more than 2.1)
Viewsonic G90f 19" (keeping it from my current rig)


Thanks in advance.

 

[Spac3d]

What is the goal of your rig? Email? Gaming? Workstation?
Do you plan on upgrading any time soon?
What OS do you plan on running?
Does the Antec case come with a power supply?

and finally, What is your budget?

 

[Feldenak]

I'll be using WinXP Pro
Comp will be used for school (MIS major), gaming, and maybe eventually trying my hand at OC'ing
I have no current plans to upgrade but want keep my options open
Yes, the Antec case comes with the TruePower430

Budget is around $1400-$1500. Assuming the D-DDR board costs around $220, this setup has me right around $1350 or so.

 

[newbiepcuser]

You might want to check out the hot deal on altecs ---->Altec 19.99 after rebate

Definetly search the hotdeals forum on Maxtors and Western Digital with the 8mb buffers. Not sure about IBMs anymore and their reliablity records.

dealsonic.com has pretty price on the Antec lanboy case. See through case, etc., lights. 350 watt powersupply with LED fans.
Lanboy

I have the Audigy 1, it sometimes crackles etc with mp3s with the latest drivers. Not often but noticeable. If you save some money with the deals, i would bump up to an Audigy 2.

 

[Ophir]

Terrible. Worst rig ever

 

[Ophir]

Just kidding. It looks good, those are all top rated parts, it's tough to go wrong with that.

 

[Feldenak]

Anyone else?

Also, is it sufficient just to get a 9700 Pro from ATi or am I better off going for a "Powered by ATi" card?

 

[Ophir]

I don't know what anyone else can say, other than maybe waiting on the WD 10K SATA drive. That IBM drive is the only weak link I can find, try looking into WD or Maxtor. I don't think you'll find many compatibility issues using those components, as they are from major brands with well integrated XP drivers. About the only place I can find a problem is with the Audigy, but usually these are related to IRQ problems which can be remedied by moving the card to another PCI slot. I think a problem may be very unlikely, though.

You're getting a top notch computer, built from top notch parts. You'll get a good balance between performance and price. Also, look around, there are about 10 threads floating around right now about this very topic. It's tough to be satisfied in the quest for the best.

Regarding the Radeon, I believe they'll all, stock, run about the same. The difference really comes into play when overclocking. Try to look for Sapphire or Crucial cards, they tend to be lower cost and are of very good quality.