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Help with my first system build

M

MisterPresident

Golden Member
Ok I told myself a few years ago no upgrades until THIS summer. I'm finally ditching the old P41.6Ghz Dell setup I bought for $399 off Hot Deals back in the day.

I'm mostly going to be using this rig for student work/music/movies/TV/HTPC type stuff with occasional gaming. Just to give you an idea of my type of gaming, I play more SNES roms than anything else... Last "major" game I played was probably Battlefield Vietnam.

Case:Broadway Com 4in1 Black ATX Mid Tower Case With 500W PSU & Side Window $51.50

Motherboard:CHAINTECH NVIDIA nForce4 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "VNF4"$87.50

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor $146.00

RAM: 2 Rosewill 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC3200 2 x $39.99 = $79.98

Optical Drive: NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3520A BK[/L] $53.99

Hard drive: Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA$177.00
That comes up to $595.97 so far.
I think I'll pickup a 200GB hard drive from someplace cheap after rebate for storage purposes.


I need to know what to do about video card. Really, I'd be more interested in TV tuning than anything. Seems like PCI-Xpress may not be the best way to go... of course that means a new CPU/mobo are required.

Also, hoe's the onboard sound on the chaintech? I don't really care about 7.1 sound, just quality stereo. Would it be worth picking up a decent PCI card?

Is the RAM ok? haven't really dealt with rosewill. Raptor might be overkill?

Am I forgetting anything else?
 
Originally posted by: MisterPresident
Hmm.. I just noticed the HDD is the most expensive component... that's not normal is it?
Click to expand...

It is when you have a raptor and no VC listed.
As for the TV tuning, you can always buy a seperate TV tuner card.
Don't know about Chaintech's on board sound, but it's most likely decent. Get a MB, and if you don't like the sound, then buy a sound card.
 
dont buy tv tuner enabled video cards. buy a seperate add on card for tv tuning. the built in ones generally have less options/features. also, for your next build, no need for a additional aiw card.

i recommend a 6600 or 6600gt for your needs and a seperate tv tuner.(6600 or equalivent (like a unlocked 6200 non tc) minimum for any sort of gaming)

VIDEO CARD
CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce 6200 Video Card, 128MB DDR,-sometimes can be unlocked, oc'ed to 6600 speeds-$93.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-145-108&depa=1

Gigabyte nVIDIA GeForce 6600 Video Card 128mb- fanless- silent operation-$117.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-125-176&depa=1

MSI nVIDIA GeForce 6600GT Video Card, 128MB DDR3-not so quiet-$187.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=14-127-147&depa=1

TV TUNING

KWORLD PCI TV Tuner, Video Capture Card, REMOTE, Model "VS-TV878RF"-standard definition tuner-$36.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=15-100-103&depa=0

ATI HDTV Wonder Remote Control Edition PCI TV Tuner, Model "100-714127"-HDTV tuner-$199.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=15-116-310&depa=0

dont go 256mb 6600. worthless.

stay away form evga, xfx and you'll be fine.
 
if you are going to get another drive, i'd go with a 36GB raptor. you really shouldn't need much more than that for a master boot drive. as far as your RAM is concerned... here's a thread by a reputable member of AT concerning expensive memory and the Athlon's on die memory controller.

linky

also.... i'd personally get a PSU seperately from my case. buying a quality PSU like a fortron, ocz, enermax, or the like is a good investment.

actually... i'd toss that case, or at least get some more airflow. a 120mm in the back would help. here's a case i was eyeing for someone else's build.

linky

 
meh, go for the more storage. recorded tv and ripped dvds eat up gigabytes like mlb players go through steroids.
 
The Panaflow carries a hefty price tag. ^^

And that PSU is the best deal out... trying to cheap out below that is just asking for trouble
 
That "OKIA" PSU included with the case puts out just 18 amps on its SINGLE 12V rail. For a "500W" PSU that's pretty pathetic.

Definitely NOT a quality unit.

My Seasonic Super Tornado 400 puts out 22 amps on its 12V rail, at 80% efficiency throughout its range. AND, it's the quietest fan-cooled PSU you can ever buy. A steal at $80.

HTH.
 
First, don't get use that generic PSU that comes with the case. They're prone to failure, and more than half the time they'll at least cause instability. So, get a decent PSU. Considering that the case you selected would be $67.50 shipped and you'd need to spend another $70 for a quality PSU, you'd be much better off with an Antec Sonata, which can be had for as low as $95-$99 shipped depending on the day of the week (Newegg frequently provides free shipping on it, but not today). That would be much cheaper, quieter, and you'll get a reliable and powerful PSU. Yes, the Antec PSU is "only" 380 watts, but it's a quality PSU and will actually provide more power than a generic 500W PSU. For example, a few years ago I tried 3 different generic PSUs from 350W up to 450W. None of them would power my computer reliably (crashes). I put in an Enermax 431W (a respectable brand) and everything worked great from then on.

Next, you seem to be building a budget machine. Why then are you buying the fastest consumer hard drive on the market? I love my WD 74gb Raptor, but I'll admit that it has no business being in a budget PC, unless hard drive reliability and performance are your foremost concerns. Thus, if you don't need extreme hard drive performance, go with a standard 7200rpm hd. I recommend these alternatives:

Western Digital 80GB 8mb cache SATA: It's about 1/3 the price of the 74GB Raptor, yet it will provide a bit more space and perform acceptably. Also, it has FDBs, so it should be fairly quiet.

Samsung 120GB 8mb cache SATA: It's the quietest hard drive I've ever used, easily surpassing my Seagate drives. It has mediocre seek times according to benchmarks, but it feels just as fast as any other 7200rpm drives. Read/write performance is on par with other average 7200rpm 8mb cache hds. Although it's not as fast as the cheaper WD 80GB drive, it's silent and provides a greater amount of storage. However, that may be a moot point since you said you're going to add a 200GB drive for storage.

Last, you're spending $86 on that Rosewill 2x512MB memory, which has mixed reviews and poor timings. Personally, I'd much rather spend the extra $11 to go with this: Corsair 2x512MB PC3200. Not only does the Corsair have much better timings, but it has top-notch reviews. Consequently, it would be much less likely for you to have memory problems with the new system, and it'd be 1-5% faster.
 
i have a smasung drive. VERY quiet buy relatively poor performers.(games and windows startup just take too long to load-I have the 160gb 8mb cache version.)id say go with 2x seagate hdds. fast, quiet, relaible. raid0.

lastyl go for the g.skill ram posted by Ribbon13. cas2 is still better than cas 2.5 and for a minimum price bump. the total step up form rosewill to corsair will net you maybe 1-2% performance increase. bumping ti up to cas 2 will net you another 1-2% performance increase(amd64s dont particularly care about memory, but buying better memory never hurts)
 
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