My First PC Build

[hondaf17]

Hi Everyone,

Although this is the first time I have logged in and posted, other forums/posts in this community have been very helpful for me in deciding how to build my first computer. That said, I'd like to post the following components I've picked out and get comments/suggetions from the community. To help, I'll tell you that I'll be using this computer mainly for gaming, and a little bit of video editing. I do not multitask all that much. I'm not interested in dual videos, so SLI is out. I'd like to keep total cost under $900.

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego Socket 939

MOBO - ABIT AN8 Ultra Socket 939 nForce4

Video Card - Sapphire Radeon X800 GT 256 MB GDDR3 - PCI-e x 16

Hard Drive - Western Digital 160 GB SATA II

Case - Aspire X-Plorer with 420 W PSU

I have 1 GB (2 x 512) of PC 3200 DDR RAM that I will be using.

Do most motherboards come with the SATA cables? Is SATA II a serious advantage over SATA I and worth the extra money to get a motherboard with this feature (even though it seems OEM SATA II hard drives are less expensive). It looks like that is a 24-pin mobo - does that cause any problems? I've read other forums in here that state a 20-pin PSU should be compatabile in a 24-pin mobo. Anyway, enough rambling. If you ladies and gentlemen would be so kind to offer your suggests/comments, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance!

 

[Bona Fide]

I would suggest you switch out the 4000+ for an X2 3800+. Even if you don't multitask, the X2's are much smoother and once multithreaded games and apps go mainstream, you won't be left in the dust.

 

[knothead34]

i wouldnt use an aspire psu. hardcop reviewed a motherboard i thought it was the abit an8 but im not sure and they didnt like it.most nforce 4 boards like native 24 pin psu. you might have a problem with an adapter you might not. yes all the boards ive gotten came with sata cables.

 

[hemmy]

I would get an Antec TP-II 550 power supply, the mobo i have used the non-heatpiped version, and it works very good

Aspire cases come with Turbolink powersupplies, made by the same company as Powmax. Their company is called Pow for a reason, their PSU's usually go out with a Bang

 

[raildogg]

Fortron 500 Blue Storm power supply.

san diego 3700+ or x2 3800

epox 9npa ultra or dfi lanparty ultra

those are the components i would add instead of the ones you picked

 

[akugami]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811119076 Cooler Master Centurion 5 for about $85 shipped and $65 after $20 mail in rebate.

Get a nice PSU, check the suggestions from other posters or the OCZ Powerstream series is decent as well. Not all PSU's are created equal.

A64 X2 3800+ would be better than getting the A64 4000+. While you lose a little single CPU performance, it'll help in video encoding and future games should make use of dual cores.

If you can, I'd go for 2x1GB of value RAM. If you edit videos you'll have to edit sounds eventually and some of those apps like a lot of RAM. Newer games also like lots of RAM.

 

[JE78]

I have that motherboard and I love it. The 20 pin PSU works fine, i'm using a Enermax 460 watt PSU with it and haven't had any problems. The board is a bit picky with the type of RAM it likes. I use 1gb (2x 512) 3200 OCZ Performance RAM ($110 @ Newegg) and I haven't had any problems with it. It seems over at the Abit forums for this board the popular choice is OCZ and Crucial. The heat pipe is great, one less fan I have to listen too and the board comes with Sata cables.

 

[royce]

nice system

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Get the EPoX 9nPA+ Ultra instead. It's one of the best nForce4 overclocking boards on the market. For the CPU, either get a 3700+ or 3800+ X2 and overclock. I wouldn't trust an Aspire case/PSU. You can get a decent case for about ~$50, then throw in the Fortron 450W, which is $50. Or, you could get the Antec Solution with included 350W SmartPower for about ~$65 I think.

 

[deptrai]

Good choice on the motherboard (abit an8 ultra) and processor (athlon 64 4000 SE).

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Originally posted by: deptrai
Good choice on the motherboard (abit an8 ultra) and processor (athlon 64 4000 SE).

Eh, not really... They're good products, but there are better things out there (see above post)...

 

[Fullmetal Chocobo]

Originally posted by: hondaf17
Hi Everyone,

Although this is the first time I have logged in and posted, other forums/posts in this community have been very helpful for me in deciding how to build my first computer. That said, I'd like to post the following components I've picked out and get comments/suggetions from the community. To help, I'll tell you that I'll be using this computer mainly for gaming, and a little bit of video editing. I do not multitask all that much. I'm not interested in dual videos, so SLI is out. I'd like to keep total cost under $900.

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 4000+ San Diego Socket 939

MOBO - ABIT AN8 Ultra Socket 939 nForce4

Video Card - Sapphire Radeon X800 GT 256 MB GDDR3 - PCI-e x 16

Hard Drive - Western Digital 160 GB SATA II

Case - Aspire X-Plorer with 420 W PSU

I have 1 GB (2 x 512) of PC 3200 DDR RAM that I will be using.

Do most motherboards come with the SATA cables? Is SATA II a serious advantage over SATA I and worth the extra money to get a motherboard with this feature (even though it seems OEM SATA II hard drives are less expensive). It looks like that is a 24-pin mobo - does that cause any problems? I've read other forums in here that state a 20-pin PSU should be compatabile in a 24-pin mobo. Anyway, enough rambling. If you ladies and gentlemen would be so kind to offer your suggests/comments, I would really appreciate it. Thank you in advance!

A+ on the layout and linkage. Welcome to the forums. My only other comment / suggestion would be to pay extra consideration to your PSU. Many people try to go off with a cheap PSU, and a killer system, and that just makes me cringe. Let us know how your system goes.
Tas.
Tas.

 

[GamerExpress]

Originally posted by: Bona Fide
I would suggest you switch out the 4000+ for an X2 3800+. Even if you don't multitask, the X2's are much smoother and once multithreaded games and apps go mainstream, you won't be left in the dust.

I agree that he should go for the X2, not for the reason you list though. Once there are actually enough multithreaded apps out on the market this machine would be outdated anyway.

 

[Sonikku]

The 4000+ isn't worth it. Go with a 3500+ Venice for $219. It will save you some cash and should OC to 4000+ without much trouble.

 

[imported_Frallan]

Originally posted by: raildogg
Fortron 500 Blue Storm power supply.

san diego 3700+ or x2 3800

epox 9npa ultra or dfi lanparty ultra

those are the components i would add instead of the ones you picked

Ill second all he said. That way I don't have to type so much...

 

[jlbenedict]

Ignore the comments about replacing the AN8 Ultra.. that board is just fine
good choice on the X800GT.. I wish that card was out back in February when I purchased the X700 Pro.. not that my X700 is a bad card, its just the X800GT is the card that should have competed and blew the 6600GT back into oblivion

 

[hondaf17]

Once there are actually enough multithreaded apps out on the market this machine would be outdated anyway.

First and foremost, thanks to everyone for their excellent opinions and suggestions. It seems views are mixed on mobos, majority would opt for 3800+ X2 and that I should get a case w/o power supply and buy a quality one. Thanks for everything, I'll keep you guys posted on changes I make, etc and will update back with mosts. I'd still welcome more suggestions though, as I'm a noob at building. Thanks!

Hah! This is true...two things:

1) My new system will be replacing a P3 1.0 Ghz machine with a 32 MB video card that is over 4 years old! In reality, it runs all my daily apps just fine, but can't handle the newer games and struggles with video encoding. This sucker is outdated!

2) Why not wait to buy a X2 a year from now, when apps are more main stream and all I'd need to do to upgrade is buy a processor - for cheaper by then. Then I'll have an updated dual core when apps become main stream rather than having an outdated dual core when apps become main stream. Just to add to the debate! Thanks for all the input and opinions.

 

[akugami]

Keep your old system as a family room computer or something. Clean it out and keep a minimal install on it for web browsing and the like. It's still a perfectly fine computer that will satisfy most people's demands. Which are, very simplistic games like those found on yahoo.com, web browsing, viewing videos. Alternatively if no one in the household needs it, and you don't feel like selling it, consider giving it away to charity such as your local library.

Any cost savings on a future X2 purchase is wiped out by the fact that you have to buy a CPU now. Most likely you will sell your old CPU and at a loss when buying the new CPU. In the end, barring a huge drop in X2 prices, the monetary costs mostly even out. Not to mention the time spent uninstalling and installing a new CPU.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

Originally posted by: Frallan

Originally posted by: raildogg
Fortron 500 Blue Storm power supply.

san diego 3700+ or x2 3800

epox 9npa ultra or dfi lanparty ultra

those are the components i would add instead of the ones you picked

Ill second all he said. That way I don't have to type so much...

I don't k now about Fortron but that will be definitely 200x better than Aspire. throw the Aspire out and pick any other brand. OCZ, Fortron, Antec, Enermax, Tagan.

Mobo? Lan Party NF4!. 3700+ is definitely sufficient. 4000+ isn't gonna get you higher clocks or anything. That 11x multiplier will not even be your limit, the chip will.... I can hit FX-55 speeds easily even with my horrible 3700+. If I got a horrible 4000+, I wouldn't be getting any better, so you'd be better off saving a bit by getting the 3700+

 

[Bona Fide]

Originally posted by: GamerExpress

Originally posted by: Bona Fide
I would suggest you switch out the 4000+ for an X2 3800+. Even if you don't multitask, the X2's are much smoother and once multithreaded games and apps go mainstream, you won't be left in the dust.

I agree that he should go for the X2, not for the reason you list though. Once there are actually enough multithreaded apps out on the market this machine would be outdated anyway.

Are you kidding? Here's a short list of multithreaded apps. Almost any app that has to do with 3d graphics or any design is multithreaded. 2 SMP-aware games, ES4blivion and Unreal 3, are coming out in December. The age of dual-core is arriving pretty fast, and I'd be prepared if I was you.

 

[t3h l337 n3wb]

Yeah, and things run a LOT smoother, since your computer will be able to do much more at once. You'll be able to do video encoding and antivirus while you game.

 

[hondaf17]

Originally posted by: Bona Fide


Are you kidding? Here's a short list of multithreaded apps. Almost any app that has to do with 3d graphics or any design is multithreaded. 2 SMP-aware games, ES4blivion and Unreal 3, are coming out in December. The age of dual-core is arriving pretty fast, and I'd be prepared if I was you.

Any word if Microsoft Vista is going to be "smp-aware?" What the heck does smp stand for anyway? Thanks.

 

i'd recommend upgrading your hard drive if you're spending this much on your system in the first place. maybe the Western Digital SATA II w/16mb cache (i'm not sure if it comes in 160gb but it does come in 250gb for about $117)