Does this even make sense??

[Lunitixx]

This is my first post here so if I'm in the wrong place maybe a mod would be so kind as to move it to the appropriate place. I decided to try my hand at building a computer for my brother as a Christmas present. I went to Newegg.com after hearing a lot of satisfied customers talk about it. I have a couple questions that I pray you can help me with.

1.) Do all of these componants work together? Do you notice any conflicts?

2.) What else do I need to get this thing running? I already have XP to put on it(got it from a friend that works at MS for next to nothing) and I have a 40 gig 7200 rpm HD to throw in there.

3.) Is this going to be enough for occasional gaming, but mostly MS word and net surfing?

Thanks a ton for any replies, this looks like a great forum so I'm looking forward to your responses.

Sorry it's so long!

Case:
Inwin IW-Q800 300 Watts Power Supply Full Tower Case ATX 5x5.25" 1X3.5",5x3.5"(Internal) total of 11bay, with one extra fan, 2nd extra fan is available-OPTIONAL, AMD Approved One Year Warranty N82E16811108152 $76.00

Cable:
24 Inch. IDE ATA-33 Flat Cable for IDE Hard Drive, or CD Rom, or CDRW, 3-Connector, 24 Inches Long. N82E16812104106 2@ $.99

MOBO:
ABIT KT7E KT133E MOTHERBOARD - RETAIL CPU Supported: AMD Athlon/Duron 700MHz ~ 1.2GHz Socket A Processors based on 200 MHz. Will not support Athlon XP processor. Chipset VIA KT133E /VIA 686B Memory. Three 168-pin DIMM sockets support up to 1.5 GB PC100/PC133 SDRAM module. BIOS SoftMenu III Technology to set CPU parameters Multi I/O 2 Channels of Bus Master IDE Ports support 4 Ultra DMA 33/66/100 Miscellaneous 1 AGP slot, 6 PCI slots and 1 ISA slot - Retail Box Version N82E16813127103 $82.00

Vid Card:
ATI RADEON VE 32MB DUAL VGA DISPLAY WITH DVI - OEM with DVI. with 2 VGA Out and one TV Out 4X AGP The RADEON VE chip features a highly integrated display architecture including two integrated DACs and CRT controllers, integrated support for DVI (Digital Flat Panel) resolutions up to 1600 x 1200 and integrated TV-Out. (no S-video to Composite cable, NO DVI to VGA connector!) N82E16814102173 $55.00

CPU:
AMD ATHLON (TBIRD) 1.13GHZ 266MHz PGA - OEM N82E16819103154 $85.00

Memory:
Crucial Micro 512MB 64x64 PC133 SDRAM RAM 168Pins DIMM, CL=3-Unbuffered, Non-parity, 7.5ns, 3.3V Requires SDRAM Support Motherboard - Lifetime Warranty. N82E16820146005 $69.00

Floppy:
SONY 1.44MB 3.5 INCH INTERNAL FDD DRIVE - OEM N82E16821103109 $9.00

CD Rom:
SONY 52X MAX EIDE INTERNAL CD-ROM DRIVE - OEM CDU5221, 7,800 KB/sec. data transfer rate, 33.3MB/s OEM version 82E16827101120 $28.00

Sound Card:
CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER LIVE! 5.1 - OEM Features: EMU10K1, Digital Signal processor EAX, advanced audio effects, Speaker mode / Creative Multi-Speaker Surround (CMSS) mode , and Dolby Digital 5.1 support N82E16829102147 $32.00

NIC:
NETGEAR FA311 ETHERNET NETWORK CARD 10/100 MBPS PCI - OEM N82E16833122101 $13.00

CPU Fan:
Thermaltake VOLCANO II. Heatsink + Dual Ball bearing Fan for AMD socket A up to 1.5GHz. 60x60x69mm. (* According to Manufacturer, This fan is designed for AMD Socket A and supports up to 1.5 GHz *) Mfr's P/N: DU0462-7 N82E16835106001 $8.00


Total was around $458

 

[KGB]

Luni,

For one thing, that MoBo is not the correct type for that CPU.
It has the VIA KT133E chipset which does not support your CPU's 266FSB.
The KT7A (KT133A) will support that CPU.

For a little more money you could go DDR and never look back.

 

[TexDotCom]

And for another thing, that ATA-33 IDE cable will work fine for your CD-ROM drive, but you will want to make sure the ribbon cable you use to connect the hard drive to the motherboard will support ATA-66 and/or ATA-100 transfer rates because I am positive that you do not want to limit that 40GB 7200 RPM hard drive to only ATA-33.

Hope this helps.

 

[Theslowone]

I would go with a different mobo, maybe a sis 735 or a kt266a (and go with ddr if you can put a little more money into it), both are newer better and cost about the same.
I would also go with another hs&fan, the volcano 2 is a beast to get on and off and it is not that good, the vantec 6027 or almost any other name brand offered by newegg would be better. The other stuff sounds good, eventhough you are skimping on the video card, it has nice features but thats about it.

Some people do have problems with via and soundblaster live.

Edit: and if you go with the sis mobo you don't have to buy a nic. And yes it would be plenty for gaming, other than speakers and such it looks pretty complete although you might want to get a cd audio cable.

 

[Lunitixx]

Thanks for the replies!

KGBMAN:
What is the advantage to going with DDR?
How much ram is enough?


What soundcard would you reccomend?

Don't most cd-roms come with cd-audio cables?

Thanks again for all the help...this place is great!

 

[Theslowone]

Usually oems do not come with the cd audio cable, I could be wrong. I couldn't recommend a better sound card for 32 bucks, and thats just a maybe that you will have a problem with it. 512 is enough ram, you could go more but with that is a very good amount for xp.

 

[sabresfan]

For occasional gaming the Visontek GTS-V offered by Newegg might be the better bargin @ only $65.

Also I'd think about a Shuttle Rev3.1A, its only $80 and comes with the KT266A chipset.

 

[MWink]

I would drop the Sony drives. I have used that CD-ROM and floppy and I would never use either of them again. The floppy drive just plain stinks (literally). I have tried 2 and they both have a strong burning smell coming from the inside (note: they both work). As for the CD-ROM, it is not very fast. Even though it is rated at 52X it benched quite a bit lower than my Panasonic DVD-ROM (which is rated 40X for CD's). It does not seem like a very high quality drive.

 

[ddeder]

May I suggest the EPOX 8K7A for your motherboard. Very stable. Integrated sound means you don't have to buy a sound card. This mobo has awesome reviews. Also, it supports DDRDRAM... Use the $$$ you save on the sound card to get a 1.33 GHz Athlon instead of the 1.13. 512 MB memory is overkill. 128 MB is probably fine, but just to be sure, go with 256MB (and make sure it is DDR!!, SDRAM will not work with this mobo).