Few questions before i begin to order/build...

[TopAce]

Hello all,

As you might have saw in my other thread, i'm going to be building a gaming PC hopefully soon, at least by Christmas, probably will get started when 6800 GT PCI-EXPRESS comes in. Anyway, i have some questions about general PC building, and specifics about my current system. First i will list my gaming PC...

CASE- ANTEC Performance Plus Metallic Gray SOHO File Server Case without Power Supply.
POWER SUPPLY- Fortron 530W Power Supply.
PROCESSOR- AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Winchester.
MEMORY- Corsair Value Select 2x512MB DDR PC-3200.
HARD DRIVE- Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive.
CD-ROM DRIVE- Lite-on 52X CD-ROM.
DVD/CD BURNER- Lite-On 16X DVD Dual Drive.
OPERATING SYSTEM- Microsoft Windows XP HOME Edition With Service Pack 2.
MOTHERBOARD- nForce4 SLI (I think there coming out in 1-2 weeks)
VIDEO CARD- GeForce 6800 GT PCI-EXPRESS (i think i heard Nov. 25th?)

Ok, now with some questions...

1) We currently have a hp pavilion a250n. I want a gaming PC because this one won't cut it. It has a CD-ROM and DVD writer / CD-writer combo drive. Since we have that, do i really need a DVD burner in this gaming pc? Does having 2 drives help anything in gaming?

2) A question about the Hard Drive. Let's say i go with these parts, build it, and two months later, want a Western Digital Rapter 10,000RPM. Can i install that without having to re-install Windows XP?

3) Is the Corsair Value Select RAM good? I will not be overclocking.

4) Is the case cooling good? Again, will not be overclocking.

5) this may seem kind if stupid, but how do i turn the PC on after i put everything in? I heard somewhere that you need to turn the power supply and pc on a certain way not to fry a cable or something.

Thanks in advance,
Ace

 

[CyGoR]

Hi,

That's a nice list for a new system!

1) having 2 drives won't help you when gaming. Usually a DVD-ROM drive is better for reading then a DVD-writer

2) If you want to add or change to a WD Raptor, you will need a program like Norton Ghost, which can copy your entire Windows drive to your new HD so you can boot from it. You will need to make sure that your boot partition on the 120Gb drive won't be larger then the WD Raptor drive (or the amount of data should be smaller)

3) The memory is good enough! When not overclocking, most memory will be good, so Corsair definitly will be.

4) You should make sure that there is atleast one intake and one outlet fan (preferable 120mm fans, low noise and enough air movement) But I think your case has already some fans in it, so that will be just fine.

5) I've never heard of it, When you have everything installed like it should be, you can just power it up without any problems.

One thing though, are you going to use Windows XP Home edition? With a system like this, you might want the extra's the Professional edition offers..

Good luck on assembling a great system!

 

[TopAce]

Originally posted by: CyGoR
One thing though, are you going to use Windows XP Home edition? With a system like this, you might want the extra's the Professional edition offers..

Good luck on assembling a great system!

Really? I was thinking about that a long time ago, but i heard that the only advantage Pro has over Home, is better network set-up. How would this system benefit from Pro?

Thanks,
Ace

 

[TopAce]

I've got the motherboard brands who will be making the nForce4 boards. Which brand is all around better, Asus or MSI?

Ace

 

[ApacheChief]

ASUS, MSI is getting a lot of shiza for being buggy and unreliable.