Hows this setup?

fst02ls1

Member
Aug 22, 2004
31
0
0
Hey Everyone....

Im kinda new to the pc building realm... but i have been reading up and this is what im planning on getting


ASUS P5AD2 motherboard
Intel P4 550 processor
COrsair XMS2 DDR2 667 mhz 1GB memory
Thermaltake VS3000 Tsunami Case
Samsung SyncMaster 17" LCD Monitor

Things I need are a video card and power supply and hard drives...

This motherboard is capable of ide drives and sata drives... I wanted to get a high rpm drive for the OS and do a sata raid for the data... any recommendations??

Also i have no idea what kind of power supply to get... can someone help me out with that??

And any good video carD???

any suggestions on dvd burners? dual layer?


If i forgot anything let me know... thanks guys
Thanks in advance... i cant wait to get this system
 

VulnoX

Senior member
Jan 8, 2004
353
1
91
Antec Power Supply's are great. They are reliable, not horribly expensive, and provide good power to your system. Don?t be cheap on your PSU, you don?t seem like the kind of person that would, but don?t think that a $20 600 Watt PSU is better than a $50 450 Watt PSU. The PSU is a very important part of your machine as far as keeping it running for a long time, as well as getting all the performance out of your parts. You should be good with a 450-500 Watt PSU, but someone else should be able to tell you for sure. I have not upgraded in awhile and am only running a 350 right now.

You are not going to find a solid line recommendation on Video Cards. It depends on how many games you play, and what else you might use your system for. I am running an Nvidia 5900FX and can play any game out there without a problem. I want to say stick with Nvidia because myself and many others that I know have had the best luck and greatest range of game compatibility with them. Even if there is a faster ATI out there, right now it won?t matter, and you want reliability. Nvidia seems to have that going for them. But of course, there will be several posts that go against me on this, so really, just find the card that you like and will fit your needs and budget. I will just say that my 5900FX will run Doom 3 at Ultra (although at a lower res) with almost no hiccups. So a newer Gen Nvidia would probably do a bit better, and if my CPU and Mobo weren?t so out of date, it would help a little as well. (I can run every game out there, I don?t see the reason to upgrade yet. :) )

I have for a long time been against Western Digital drives, but within the past 4 years they seem to have turned around and they are my company of choice right now. I am running a WD hard drive for my OS and it has been running flawlessly for almost 2 years. I also have a drive I use for all the stuff I want to keep, but from a different company. So I guess Raptor drives for your OS, since they seem fast and reliable, and maybe a couple large capacity (maybe 2- 100 gig drives? I don?t know what you do and how much space you need, so that?s your call).

Either way, you seem to be on the right track, get a Dual Layer DVD burner, it?s worth it. Maybe if you can hold out another month, see if the technology becomes cheaper and maybe faster or more reliable. I have not heard any bad things yet about dual layer, but it?s like when a car company releases a new redesigned vehicles, you never want to get the first year.

Good Luck!
 

fst02ls1

Member
Aug 22, 2004
31
0
0
Yea i was planning on probably a 500 watt power supply just had no idea which to get... Never bought one before....

As for the video card I will be using the computer for a variety of things... playing BF1942... Desert Combat... probably goin to get into Doom 3 as well... also i will be using it for daily tasks and for programming. I also do some ripping of videos and what not

For the hard drives i was planning on getting 2 high speed sata drives and running them in raid and then getting a few bigger drives and running them on the other sata channel in another raid configuration.

I think this will turn out to be a pretty killer system.. at least im hopin

ANyone have any comments about any part of the system let me know!!

Thanks everyone
 

fst02ls1

Member
Aug 22, 2004
31
0
0
AMD?? which one?

WHich mobo would i have to go with then??

Im not very familiar with the AMD world

I figured the setup i had now was the best i could get for the time being... am i wrong?
 

fst02ls1

Member
Aug 22, 2004
31
0
0
Is that the 64 bit AMD?

Wont I have to get 64 bit software for that?

or can i run the regular software on it still?
 

VulnoX

Senior member
Jan 8, 2004
353
1
91
64 bit AMD procs are backward compatible with 32 bit software. So Windows XP Home and Pro will run just fine, as will every game and other software out there, plus your ready for the future!

I did not think your choice of proc was going to change, so I didnt say anything, but I also highly highly recommend AMD. Nothing big against Intel, but as far as speed to cost, as well as reliability (My current proc I won at a LAN party almost two years ago, I use it everyday, and it still runs like a champ. AMD is my hero).

If you want something high performing, lower cost, future proof, and reliable, please consider the AMD and components listed above, you wont be sorry!

(BTW, I just got done building an Intel system for my Dad, first system in a few years I have put together by Intel, nothing bad to report, but he could have had a faster AMD for what he paid for the Intel.)
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
8
81
I would go with an A-64 system instead..with that P4 motherboard you would have to use a pci-express video card and be hard pressed to find a higher end card(6800 GT or Ultra, or X800). Plus at the moment DDR2 is not worth getting either. What kind of raid setup were you planning on using? If you were going to set up raid 0, it's not really going to be much of a performance gain, if using raid 1 for backing up your data then you'll be using 2 hard drives, but only getting the space of 1. For the Power supply, antec or enermax are 2 good choices, 400W should be more than sufficient.
 

fst02ls1

Member
Aug 22, 2004
31
0
0
well now you guys definately got me thinkin about the AMD setup


whats the best of the best for an AMD setup... im gonna be throwing down a decent penny so i figured i might as well get the best


I figured the setup i had was gonna be one of the best i could get... however i get the feeling i am wrong on that one... let me know guys... if i were to build the AMD system waht would i need for the best setup?
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
please check my signature. look at the mid-level system.

btw, i read another awesome review on the $75 Socket 754 Chaintech VNF3 motherboard.
 

fishsgood

Member
Mar 28, 2004
56
0
0
If you do go AMD get socket 939 you'll be better able to upgrade. I would go with this cpu if you have the money but definately look into the 3500+ its quite a bit cheaper. For the video card id probably go with the 6800GT from what ive heard it has the best performance to cost ratio, but to run battlefield you dont need too great of a card (ive ran it using onboard although it wasnt that smooth) so you might want to look into something cheaper. I dont know much about raid setups so i cant really help you with that. Oh and i second the antec power supply. i hope this helps.
 

fst02ls1

Member
Aug 22, 2004
31
0
0
to be honest im willing to throw down a decent penny for it... i want to get a kick A$$ system.

im going to be using it for a decent amount of media stuff... such as ripping and what not...

also play several games every now and then.. like bf1942... desert combat... farcry... doom3

also i will be using it for programming. I do a decent amount of freelance work.

So pretty much it needs to be a pretty good all around machine... i would like the best of the best if i could.... i figured the stuff i put together was pretty highend... maybe not?
 

Confusednewbie1552

Golden Member
Jun 24, 2004
1,047
0
0
If you want the best:

AMD Athlon 64 FX-53
Gigabyte Socke 939 K8NSXP
Audigy 2 ZS (I suggest the pci version unless you need the live drive)
GeForce 6800 Ultra ( you can get a GT and overclock it to an ultra, but right now the Ultra is the second best, best being the Ultra Extrememe Edition which is just an overclocked Ultra)
Corsair XMS 1 Gigabyte (I would get the value select ram from corsair, it's cheaper and latencies don't mean a thing with the Athlon 64, but if you want the best that's it)

I highly reccomend you not get this though, it is the best you can buy right now, but why would you want the best? If your looking for a good all around system just get a 9600XT or a 9800 Pro and an AMD Athlon XP (or Sempron). I'm not sure what you need for proggraming, but I know it wouldn't need a powerful video card. Also the XMS is a waste for the Athlon 64 get some corsiar value select. Anyway Good Luck!!!

Edit: Btw yes you setup a high end system, but the AMD equivelant is still better performance wise and price wise.
 

fst02ls1

Member
Aug 22, 2004
31
0
0
thanks for the input.. seems like everyone is leaning towards AMD 64.... maybe ill have to re think my system... any downfalls to AMD 64?
 

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
Moderator
Aug 23, 2003
25,375
142
116
Originally posted by: fst02ls1
thanks for the input.. seems like everyone is leaning towards AMD 64.... maybe ill have to re think my system... any downfalls to AMD 64?

Yeah, Intel will hate you.