Motherboard now or wait?

[msb2ncsu]

I am in the process of buying the parts to assemble a new PC. I have already purchased an Enermax FS-710 (Antec 1030 w/330W), an IBM Deskstar 60GXP 40.0Gb hardrive with ATA 100 IDE cables, and a Sony 1.44 drive all for $235 at newegg.

My next order will have the bulk of the components with an AMD Athlon XP 1600+, Thermalright SK-6 with Delta (hesitant because I heard the noise was extremely annoying) or GLOBALWIN's WBK68, EPOX EP-8KHA+ board, 2x256MB Crucial PC2100, PIONEER 106S 16X/40x DVD/CD, and a CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER LIVE! 5.1 OEM all for about $450.

My question is that I won't be finished ordering these until early/mid December and was wondering if I should hold off on the motherboard. I know the Epox is a good board but Anands article on the Comdex boards has me wondering if I should wait a couple more weeks until those boards come out and get one of those (like the 8KHA2).

Oh also if you see anything you might think I could chang then let me know. Thanks

 

[Kingofcomputer]

if you wait, when you're ready to buy, there will be new stuff coming out,
then you wait again, when you're ready to buy, there will be new stuff coming out,
then you wait again, ......

 

[BuckMaster]

What Kingofcomputer said.

 

[chizow]

<< I am in the process of buying the parts to assemble a new PC. I have already purchased an Enermax FS-710 (Antec 1030 w/330W), an IBM Deskstar 60GXP 40.0Gb hardrive with ATA 100 IDE cables, and a Sony 1.44 drive all for $235 at newegg. >>



I would swap out the IBM "Deathstar" 40 giger. Haven't you heard about the class action lawsuit revolving around these things? Anyways, its like the 7 degrees of separation with these things, everyone knows at least 1 person who has had one die on them. I'd swap that out for the Maxtor 40gig D740X. Its silent, supports DMA 133 (for the future), and its fast! Being cheaper than the Deathstar is just a bonus (its at NewEgg too). WD is also very reliable. The Antec is a good choice...just curious though, how much more would it cost for a 400W supply in there? Might be worth it for the extra headroom. I would also look into at least 2 good 80mm fans (Sunon are the best at newegg I believe) for your case.

My next order will have the bulk of the components with an AMD Athlon XP 1600+, Thermalright SK-6 with Delta (hesitant because I heard the noise was extremely annoying) or GLOBALWIN's WBK68, EPOX EP-8KHA+ board, 2x256MB Crucial PC2100, PIONEER 106S 16X/40x DVD/CD, and a CREATIVE LABS SOUND BLASTER LIVE! 5.1 OEM all for about $450.

If you are concerned about the SK-6s noise, or any 60mm fans noise, go with the Alpha Pal8045 for like $10 bucks more. It fits on the 8KHA+ and it is quiet compared to a high-CFM 60mm. Don't buy your Crucial from NewEgg if you can help it. Buy it direct from Crucial its about $6 cheaper per stick (NewEgg's Crucial goes up weekly it seems...dunno why), and its free shipping. Newegg unfortunately still charges a good bit of shipping on little items bundled up with bigger items. Also, depending on if you are actually going to use your DVD player for movies or not, I would instead go with a Lite-On 24X10X40X CD-RW. I personally would rather watch movies on my 32'' Sony with all my stereo components than on my computer, but I can't burn a CD in 3 minutes on my TV

My question is that I won't be finished ordering these until early/mid December and was wondering if I should hold off on the motherboard. I know the Epox is a good board but Anands article on the Comdex boards has me wondering if I should wait a couple more weeks until those boards come out and get one of those (like the 8KHA2).

Oh also if you see anything you might think I could chang then let me know. Thanks

As for waiting, it really depends on what you are looking for in your board. If you go with Abit's KR7A, Asus' A7V266-E, Epox' 8KHA2, Soyo's Dragon+, MSI K7T266 Pro2RU then you get some extra features, not all of which you will need or use. With all of these boards, you will be paying some premium, but you will also be getting some nice features. All of these boards have cmedia 6 channel sound which is supposed to be excellent so you wouldn't need the SBlive. Most of them have RAID controllers, and a few even have RAID DMA-133, which is pretty new on mobos. The Maxtor would be able to use this, just need to make sure the RAID controller can function as a normal IDE controller when not set in an array. I think a few have built-in NICs, and AGP Pro. Just need to balance out your needs, price, and features. I know, I know...its harder said than done

Chiz

 

[microAmp]

The Sk-6 is extremely loud. I just put one in my case and I know it's there very easliy. I don't mind it though, but you probably wouldn't. If you don't get your mobo until Dec. time, there might be the nForce boards to consider they should be out by then. But as far as waiting for a different chipset, like Kingofcomputer said you'll be waiting and waiting for the next mobo. The good thing about buying a KT266A over the nForce board is that the revisions on those board will be better than the nForce once, possiblity of less bugs that may hit you.

 

[HappyPuppy]

The lawsuit relates to the IBM 75GXP, not the 60GXP. The 60GXP has no more issues than any other high quality harddrive. I am not taking sides on the better/best harddrive issue. There are several excellent drives on the market at this time. I just want to point out that a previous post offhandedly bashed a high quality drive.

 

[XCrodo]

I'm upgrading this week and I'll either go with an Asus A7V266-E or a Soyo Dragon+. The KT266A is clearly a winner, it's up to you to decide what you want to do with it.

Right now it seems the EpoX OCs the best, the Asus and Dragon have the most features(audio 5.1, RAID & Ethernet on board), MSI has USB 2.0, Shuttle and Abit have 4 DIMMs. Choose the one with the features you want, it's that simple.

 

[AyeYou]

Hey msb2ncsu, I agree with Kingofcomputer. There will always be new stuff coming out. I have been playing this game for the last month and a-half. I was ready to put my system together about 6 weeks ago. But with all the new mobos that have been coming out lately I kept waiting for the next one that was just around the corner. In a way, I wish I would have bought the KG7-RAID that I was going to buy about a month ago because then I could have been using it all of this time instead of torturing myself in this state of hardware-envy that I'm in.

Now I've finally got it narrowed down to either a A7V266-E or a KR7A. I AM GOING TO BUY ONE OR THE OTHER OF THESE BOARDS!!! (I think)

Now if I can just make up my indecisive little mind....

 

[chizow]

<< The lawsuit relates to the IBM 75GXP, not the 60GXP. The 60GXP has no more issues than any other high quality harddrive. >>



Give it time Yah you're right though, as of now it is limited to the 75GXP's, but I heard they are trying to add the 60GXP to the lawsuit as well. My brother had his 60GXP die on him last week, I have no idea why he bought another IBM after his 75GXP died 2 weeks before that. He's in on the lawsuit, so he keeps me informed. Here's a thread I remember reading about the 60GXP's as well, not to mention the countless other threads I have read on other forums as well.

Return of the Deathstar (hums Darth Vader themesong) :Q

I haven't seen such a widespread issue with any other line of HDs. In fact, I've gone through at least a dozen HDs and none of them have died on me. All in working order, just either too small or too slow.

Chiz

 

[microAmp]

<< If you don't get your mobo until Dec. time, there might be the nForce boards to consider they should be out by then. But as far as waiting for a different chipset, like Kingofcomputer said you'll be waiting and waiting for the next mobo. The good thing about buying a KT266A over the nForce board is that the revisions on those board will be better than the nForce once, possiblity of less bugs that may hit you. >>


Nevermind about my saying of nForce boards, saw in another thread about the makers having problems, stray away from them for now.

 

[msb2ncsu]

<< If you are concerned about the SK-6s noise, or any 60mm fans noise, go with the Alpha Pal8045 for like $10 bucks more. It fits on the 8KHA+ and it is quiet compared to a high-CFM 60mm. >>



Are you refering to an Alpha with the the factory Orix fan or the Alpha that Newegg sells with a Delta (68CFM). I would think that there wouldnt be that much difference between the SK-6 (7kRPM) and an Alpha with a Delta. I'm still a newbie techie so sorry if my questions seem obvious.

I guess nixing the DVD-Rom makes sense since I did just buy a big stereo system and DVD player this summer and my current burner is an HP 4x2x24... quit laughing!. Will the onboard sound of these boards offer a good sound channel for MP3's running to my stereo or is something like an SB Live! with a Live Drive needed?

Thanks for all the input, this board is the best.

 

[chizow]

On the fan question, I'm using the stock Delta packaged with the 8045, I didn't go with a high performance Delta or a quiet Panaflo or Silencer or anything like that. I've owned the 60mm Delta black label and a few other quieter 60mm's, and my 80mm Delta pushes more air and is *much* quieter. The dBA level may be close, but trust me on this, the high-pitched blow dryer whine of 60mm's can drive you crazy. Here's a link to a sound stage, compare fan #7 and fan #13. If anything the stock Delta on the 8045 is quieter than this one, but it is enough to give you an idea of the difference.

Sidewinder Sound Stage

I would recommend against going with those crazy 80mm Delta's with like 60+ CFM. Most reviews show this gives you 2-3 degrees, which is a lot for the most hardcore OCers. A sane fan, like the stock one or a quieter one, will serve you just fine though

Hehe I think I had the same burner as you before I got my Lite-On about a month ago. I would go with a sound card....the onboard audio is horrendous. Truthfully, it might be downright scary as it could really damage your speakers (I'm not kidding, it hisses and pops a lot). You won't need anything too fancy of a soundcard for just mp3's, but an sblive 5.1 for $30 is hard to pass up. I was running a mic to rca set-up into my stereo at my frat house for mp3 DJ parties and it sounded as good as mp3's will sound with just a basic set-up (free music was a BIG deal back then ).

Chiz

 

[Flatpicker]

msb2ncsu I am waiting for a board that features both ATA133 and USB 2.0. One might be available now, but I haven't found it.