Making a System... Questions about OEM as well..

[ParasiticFly]

OK I am building a new system. Please tell me whatcha think

Inwin IW-Q500N w/300W PS Price: $70 (11/28/2000)

256MB PC133 SDRAM Cost: $98 (TODAY)

ABIT KT7-RAID Price: $139 (TODAY)

Athlon 1GHz (TBird) Cost: $248 (TODAY)
Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live! Value Cost: $37 (TODAY)

Creative Labs Modem Blaster 56k Price: $29 (11/28/2000)

Intel EtherExpress Pro 100+ PCI Price: $33 (11/28/2000)

IBM Deskstar 75GXP 30GB Price: $131 (TODAY)

Guillemot 3D Prophet II GTS 64MB
Cost: $295 (TODAY)

Acer 8432A 8/4/32x Price: $134 (11/28/2000)

Pioneer DVD-115 16X
Price: $75 (11/28/2000)

Optiquest Q95
Price: $277 (TODAY)

Microsoft IntelliMouse PS2 OEM Cost: $9 (TODAY)

OK OEM Q's
For the OEM CPU what will I need for the fan heatsink, everything.
Also what really is the diff?

Cheaper better deals? TELL ME. Vid card? Best Deal?
Monitor?

Also what kind of heatsink/ paste or whatever would I need....

 

[ParasiticFly]

bumpity dumpity fell off a wall...

 

[spamboy]

I have that CDRW and wouldn't recommend it. It has some weird things about it, but my main bone to pick with it is that it doesn't burn at 8x reliably, even with my blazing hard drive and fast processor. Often it has "buffer underruns" or if the CD is audio it is distorted unless you burn at 4x... it still works, and it's not a terrible drive, but you might have better luck with another brand... anyone love their CDRW and can recommend one for the poor guy?

 

[ParasiticFly]

Hmm Ill think about that spamboy.. thx...

Any more helpful advice everyone?

 

[TimeKeeper]

Honest suggestion:...

Case..ok
RAM...ok
mobo..........(don't waste money on RAID, if PERFORMANCE IS WHAT YOU NEED, get SCSI)
CPU....ok .....(T-900 or 850 can reach 1Ghz very easily)
Sound..ok ......(although I am still using SB 64AWE)
Modem..ok
NIC....ok
HD.....ok
video..ok ......(I'd go w/ 32mb GTS and use that extra $150 for Ultra 160 SCSI card)
CDRW.....(try yamaha, plextor, ricoh... SCSI preferred)
DVD.......(I'd rather watch it on home TV, instead of monitor)
Monitor....ok....(iiyama S900 cost $265 + $28 ground shipping)

 

[ParasiticFly]

Why exactically would you use scsi and drop from 64 to 32 meg?

Also what is the best card for the money in your opinion?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

For OEM CPU you will need a heatsink and fan.
The Taisol(sp?) are supposedly good, but when I tried to order one they charged my card and my order seemed to drop out of there database. So goodluck getting one.
I would go with this

They also have the T-bird 1GHz instock. It is $11 higher but you don't have to call them to get it at the listed price.

Shipping isn't bad either. It's $10.70 for both items. So you'd be looking at $286 for the whole thing.


Also spend the extra money and get name brand memory.
Also save a couple of bucks and go D-link on the NIC. Or if you want to spend that much on a NIC get a 3Com.

Monitor I'd go with KDS VS-195e
Size - 19-inch diagonal measure (18.0" viewable)
Screen - Anti-reflective, anti-static coated, flat-square type
Dot Pitch - Samsung 0.22(H) Horizontal Dot Pitch mm
$300 w/shipping

Or

Samsung 19

And use a coupon from the bargaintech site.
its right at $300-$30 rebate

 

[LXi]

I recommend getting the MSI K7T Pro2A over the Abit KT7-RAID, from the setup I can see you'll not take advantage of the RAID features, even if you do want RAID you should get SCSI RAID or a true hardware IDE RAID card.

I also think that you can get a better monitor, the NEC AccuSync 95F is in the same price range, a little bit more expensive but it's a flat face monitor with the smallest dot pitch. Check it out at Amazon, they're having a good deal on this, dont forget to use the coupon as well.

 

[ParasiticFly]

Thx for the advice Jeffrey

Any advice on the type of Vid card to get?

 

[TimeKeeper]

As why SCSI over RAID, try this discussion

I got Tekram 390U3W, since it is cheaper than Adaptec 29160. Also comes w/ cable, Terminator.

Why would I drop 64MB GTS? Simply I don't play that much games. Although, I would play UT occasionally 1024X768X16 w/ Geforce2 MX (I got my MX for $79) is well adequate. Thus, I really can't justified paying $300 for a video card.

Futhermore, w/ SCSI setup, I can play UT, w/ ICQ and CD burning on background.

 

[ParasiticFly]

Thanks LXI.

That happens to be a much better deal

 

[LXi]

Sadly its out of stock now.

My second pick would be the Samsung SyncMaster 955DF, $339 with $30 Samsung rebate and possibly a $15 coupon as well.

 

[ParasiticFly]

Timekeeper... I have to look into SCSI deeper... never really paid much attention to it..

What Vid card would you recommend that would last awhile?

Ive done a *little* looking in and it seems to me that the 3D Prophet is the best deal...

Thanks for all your input so far