Finalizing computer build

[Ariste]

Hey everyone. I posted one of these threads a while back, but since then I've changed some stuff around and am looking for some feedback on my setup. Here's what I've got planned:

Case- A-Top X-Blade Mid-Tower Case w/ blue cold cathode and 120mm top blowhole options (before you slam me on this one, I've done some research and read some reviews like this one that say it's a pretty solid case)

-$91.95 (after cost of options)

Power Supply- Antec True 550W Power Supply (going with 550W because of my video card and also as a "future-proofing" attempt since it's not that much to go from 480W to 550W)

-$106.00

Motherboard- Epox EP-8KDA3+ nForce 3 250Gb motherboard

-$158.00

CPU/HSF- AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 2.0GHz/1MB L2 Cache, OEM (-$279.99) and Thermaltake SilentTower Heatpipe (-$44.99)

-$324.98 total

Hard Drive- 74GB Western Digital Raptor 10,000RPM SATA Drive

-$181.00

Video Card- BFG GeForce 6800GT

-$399.99

RAM- 1GB (512MBx2) Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series DDR PC-3200

-$234.00


DVD/Floppy Drives- NEC 8x Dual Layer DVD +/- RW Drive, OEM w/ Roxio software (-$89.99) and Sony 1.44MB 3.5 Inch Floppy Drive (-$10.99)

-$97.98 total

Keyboard/Mouse- Logitech Cordless MX Duo

-$69.00

Speakers/Sound Card- Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers (-$49.00) and Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS (-$87.99)

-$136.99 total

Monitor- ViewSonic P95F+B 19" PerfectFlat CRT Monitor

-$239.00

OS- Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition w/ Service Pack SP1a

-$90.00



That's what I have planned so far. Everything I listed, plus a few other things like cables, thermal paste, a Hardcano 12 Fan Controller and some software comes out to be $2277.86 before shipping. The reason I am going with socket 754 is because by the time I am ready to upgrade, I will want a new mobo that supports PCI-E, DDR2 etc., so the upgradability of socket 939 was not a reason for me to go with it, and there was no real reason for me to spend an extra 250 or so bucks for a slight increase in speed and dual channel memory.

So how does it look? Anything you guys would change? Any advice you have would be greatly appreciated.


Thanks,

 

[CaptnKirk]

Never in the life of this system, even with upgrades will
you even need as much as 430W power supply, let alone
anything in the 480 to 550W range. Budgetary overkill.

I think that either an Asus or an Abit
would be a more reliable choice.

 

[someone16]

Better speakers IMO, those Z-640's arn't really that good compared to what you are spending for the system. Try Z680's?

 

[PhoenixOrion]

weakest link - speakers.

 

[Ariste]

Well I'm not willing to spend 255 bucks on speakers, as would be the case with the Z-680's. How about the Z-5300's?

The reason I don't really want to go high-end with speakers is because, well... I'm used to the 2-speakers setup that comes with most retail computers. I think basically any decent speaker system will sound amazing to me.


Thanks for the advice,

 

[PhoenixOrion]

Now that completes a rockin system.

 

[CaptnKirk]

I replaced a $ 200 set of Altec Lansings with those Logitec Z-640's
and they were a much better sounding and more reliable system.
I'm terribly disapointed with Altec Lansing and would discourage
anyone from buying their inferior products and the accompanying
sub-par customer service for any reason.

But those Logitecs on the other hand . . .
and if you get the better ones ! Zounds !

 

[Jeff7181]

I like my Altec Lansing speakers... a set of 4.1 100 watt one that are about... oh... 5 or 6 years old. They don't get extremely loud, but loud enough... any louder and family members would probably throw things at me.

If you want a high quality power supply go with PC Power and Cooling. You might like to know, I just RMA'd an Antec TruePower 430 because of a weak 5V rail. If you go for the big Antec PSU... get the True Control 550... it has adjustable voltage rails so you can fine tune each rail to be as close to the specified voltage as possible. Make sure you use a DMM to measure it though, motherboard readings are often off by 5-10% even.

 

[Frew]

If your going to spend that much on a case get something more like this.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Never in the life of this system, even with upgrades will
you even need as much as 430W power supply, let alone
anything in the 480 to 550W range. Budgetary overkill.

I think that either an Asus or an Abit
would be a more reliable choice.

Rank amatuer

Seriously cappy I've smoked quality 400 and 450W PSU's when heavily overclcoking..These nEW processorS use well above 100W when overclcoking... THE PRESSCOT USES OVER THAT NON-OVERCLCOKED.. same for video cards.. Each HD uses between 11-20W etc etc.


I guess you'd be very disappointed with my enermax 651


Keep in mind PSU's are only 60-75% effecient so a 400W, if they are telling the truth, is really ~300W DC and much less than that on each rail.

 

[Jeff7181]

20 watts is a pretty high estimation for a hard drive... MAYBE on startup before it's up to full speed.

 

[CaptnKirk]

Scotty, Zebo needs more power !

"I'm givin' it all she'll take Captn, I think she's a gonna blow !"

Quick ! Get Clinton to the Bridge !.

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
20 watts is a pretty high estimation for a hard drive... MAYBE on startup before it's up to full speed.

Which is why I gave that range 11-20...

Not an estimate data is here: http://www.silentpcreview.com/article145-page1.html

 

[Zebo]

Originally posted by: CaptnKirk
Scotty, Zebo needs more power !

"I'm givin' it all she'll take Captn, I think she's a gonna blow !"

Quick ! Get Clinton to the Bridge !.

 

[Ariste]

Originally posted by: LeadFrog
If your going to spend that much on a case get something more like this.

Why? It's plain and ugly... I want a cool looking case, which is why I went with the pre-modded X-Blade. I don't like the way the Praetorian looks and I don't think that it really offers me anything more than the X-Blade anyway. I don't need 6 million drive bays... all I'm installing is one DVD RW drive and a Floppy drive. The X-Blade comes with more drive bays than I'll need already anyway. The X-Blade I'll be getting will have a cooling system of 1 80mm side intake fan, 1 120mm front intake fan, 1 120mm rear exhaust fan, and 1 120mm top blowhole fan, which is much more cooling power than the Praetorian. I just fail to see why I should go with the Praetorian over the X-Blade.

Thanks for the info on the power supplies. I think I'm going to stick with the 550W. The reason that I didn't go with the True Control version is that it has a 24-pin connector instead of the standard 20-pin ATX connector. I'm pretty sure that my mobo won't support the 24-pin connector. Otherwise I would definitely go with the True Control version.

Thanks for the help with the speakers as well,everyone. I really appreciate it.


Thanks,