Need advice on what parts to get for a new system

[godfire]

Hey,

So, I'm somewhat new to these forums, and I get the impression that the community here generally knows a lot more about computers than I do. So, I am humbly asking for any hardware advice that you may want to bestow on me.

Here are the parts that I need recommendations on, and some details on what I want for each:

Case: I do not want to skimp here. I hate the case I have right now SO FREAKING MUCH that I want to make sure it's done right this time. I need a case that has very good cooling, is big enough to fit a bunch of drives, an easy-access side panel, and that looks stylish. A side window is nice, but if it isn't the most important thing to me.

Hard Drives: I need a lot of space, as I'm sure we all do...so I was thinking about getting 2 large IDE drives. That's probably all I can fit. One is going to be just for storage, so it doesn't need to have a particularly large buffer...as for the other, I'll probably partition off maybe 15 gigs for my primary (programs, etc), and the rest will also be storage.

Motherboard: I need a motherboard which can handle the large drives, which has onboard sound (which can handle my 4.1 Klipsch), and is very reliable. This is another part that I really don't want to skimp on.

DVD/CD-R Drive: I'm not sure what I want to do with this one. I was thinking about getting a combo drive, but then again having 2 drives is pretty nice. In any case, I definitely need a new CD-R drive, because my old one is SCSI and I'm trying to avoid having SCSI. So, I can either buy a new combo drive, or buy a new CD-R drive and use my old DVD-ROM drive (it's a few years old, but it should be fine right?).

CPU: This is another one I'm unsure of. I currently have an AMD Athlon 1700, but I certainly wouldn't be adverse to more speed if it's affordable. I use my computer for games, work, and video capture/rendering.

Hmm...I think that's it. I already have a video card I'm satisfied with for now (Geforce 4 4200), and enough RAM. So, I would GREATLY appreciate any advice you guys can give me on the parts I just mentioned. Thanks...

 

[Markfw]

What kind of ram ? What speed ? For the case I love my Antec AWG1080, room for lots of drives, good cooling, and lots of power (along with an easy access side panel with the fan where it belongs, over the video card) Motherboard ASUS A7N8X deluxe with soundstorm. CPU Barton 2500. For Dries I like Maxtor with the fluid bearings for HDs, and for the burner ??? Somebody else can recommend

 

[DaveSimmons]

Welcome to the forums!

Case: I like the Antec SLK3700AMB I use for my windows development / FLAC audio server. It comfortably fits 5 hard drives with good airflow, and uses 120mm case fans for good cooling with less noise. It's a nice glossy grey, not exciting but not beige either. Pics at newegg.com, the place most of us recommend for buying parts.

Mobo + CPU:
You'll need to choose between AMD and intel.

AMD is the best value-for-money up to about a 2500+ CPU, and you can read a few of the existing "building a budget system" threads for motherboards. Nforce + soundstorm = great audio. Use search "budget" or just go through the thread pages.

intel is the fastest for gaming, and for most applications (especially gaming) offers better value for money compared to the XP 3000+/3200+ (in my opinion, because the "3000+" and "3200+" are not even close in speed to P4 3.0C and 3.2C). Read threads like "I have $1500 to spend" to see suggested parts, though the Abit IS-7 is probably the favorite motherboard. P4 motherboard sound isn't always even close to soundcard-quality so you may need an Audigy2 if you go with P4.

ps - visit the Hot Deals forum for deals on WD 200 GB drives and Maxtor 160 GB drives. Outpost.com had a deal on a Maxtor 300 GB last week, not sure if it's still on sale.

 

[DCAC]

For a case, I would recommend the Kingwin KT-424-(S/B)-WM where S = silver and B = black. Great review from AT and others, and it just came back in stock at Newegg. I got one a couple days ago... it's awesome.

 

[fredtam]

Don't know your budjet so I figured on less than a thousand dollars.

Case- Chieftec AX-01BLD Window/Side Fan/ Lots of space/drive cages/drive rails/front usb and firewire/ room for extra fans

Power Supply- Antec True430 Haven't had a bad one yet/quiet

Motherboard- Abit IS7 Onboard LAN/ AC97 6channel audio/ two ATA 100connectors/ two SATA ports/6 USB& 3 firewire/Dual channel memory

CPU- P4 2.8C 800MHz FSB/Hyperthreading

Ram- 512 kt (2x256) hyperx 3200 You said you had ram but I don't know what speed

Hard Drives- 2 Seagate SATA 120GB This will give you the option of running Raid 0 or just the two large drives/ 8Mb buffer

DVD Drive- Samsung Combo 16XDVD/52XCDRW This or a Lite On combo are both great drives

Cost : $895

 

[godfire]

Hey guys,

Thanks for the advice so far. As for budget, I'm *hoping* to keep it under $500...but like I said, I would much rather have quality parts that are are slightly more expensive than skimp on the $20 and have subpar parts.

Keep it coming, the suggestions are great.

 

[TSDible]

Here is a wishlist that I made up at newegg.

Wishlist at Newegg.com

In summary...

• Case: Antec SLK3700AMB (great cooling, stylish, high quality PSU)
• MB: Asus A7N8X (great, mb, superb sound, lots of features)
• CPU: AMD Barton 2500+ (You could wait on this option since you do have a 1700+. You could probably OC that chip well on this board)
• 2x80 GB WD JB model Hard Drives (good drives for the money)
• Lite-On 52x32x52 CD-RW (one of the best)

Ok...

Total: $499.97

Pretty close to $500 eh...

I didn't put a DVD on there, the combo drives just aren't as good for burning as a stand alone Lite-On. You can add one easy enough. I would choose a Lite-On DVD as well. That would add about $35 to the price.

I just threw this together really quick. You may want to look into SATA drives.

 

[modestninja]

Originally posted by: TSDible
Here is a wishlist that I made up at newegg.

• Case: Antec SLK3700AMB (great cooling, stylish, high quality PSU)
• MB: Asus A7N8X (great, mb, superb sound, lots of features)
• CPU: AMD Barton 2500+ (You could wait on this option since you do have a 1700+. You could probably OC that chip well on this board)
• 2x80 GB WD JB model Hard Drives (good drives for the money)
• Lite-On 52x32x52 CD-RW (one of the best)

I would choose the same setup but would suggest getting an Abit nf7-s instead of the Asus. Abit tends to have better tech support and have been known to OC a little better than the A7N8X-dx. BTW, I'm an owner of the A7N8X-dx and am very happy with it. You can't really go wrong with either.

I'm not sure what kind of RAM you have, but if you can afford it the best and probably cheapest on the market right now is the Buffalo Tech pc3200 with Winbond CH-5 chips. It is very fast and costs ~$45 for 256mb or ~$90 for 512mb. <--- I have no idea how many times I've posted this recently... Also, look in the hot deals forum, they have that lite-on for $14.99 somewhere (I'm too lazy too look.)

 

[TSDible]

Originally posted by: modestninja

Originally posted by: TSDible
Here is a wishlist that I made up at newegg.

• Case: Antec SLK3700AMB (great cooling, stylish, high quality PSU)
• MB: Asus A7N8X (great, mb, superb sound, lots of features)
• CPU: AMD Barton 2500+ (You could wait on this option since you do have a 1700+. You could probably OC that chip well on this board)
• 2x80 GB WD JB model Hard Drives (good drives for the money)
• Lite-On 52x32x52 CD-RW (one of the best)

I would choose the same setup but would suggest getting an Abit nf7-s instead of the Asus. Abit tends to have better tech support and have been known to OC a little better than the A7N8X-dx. BTW, I'm an owner of the A7N8X-dx and am very happy with it. You can't really go wrong with either.

I'm not sure what kind of RAM you have, but if you can afford it the best and probably cheapest on the market right now is the Buffalo Tech pc3200 with Winbond CH-5 chips. It is very fast and costs ~$45 for 256mb or ~$90 for 512mb. <--- I have no idea how many times I've posted this recently... Also, look in the hot deals forum, they have that lite-on for $14.99 somewhere (I'm too lazy too look.)

I actually use the NF7-S myself, and I'm very happy with it.

Either board would be great.

 

[godfire]

Ok, so...I picked up 2 WD 200 gig hard drives today from BB (courtesy of the Hot Deals section). As for the rest of the hardware, here's what I'm thinking:

Case: Chieftec AX-01BLD
Motherboard: Abit IS7
CDRW: The $15 Lite On deal (although I just went to CC and they were out)
CPU: A P4 2.4GHz+ 800

What do you guys think of that? Comments on the parts I chose? I want to make sure I get a decent system, so any further suggestions are appreciated, especially if you know of a great deal somewhere.

Edit: Fixed a typo, thanks =P

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Originally posted by: godfire
Ok, so...I picked up 2 WD 200 gig hard drives today from BB (courtesy of the Hot Deals section). As for the rest of the hardware, here's what I'm thinking:

Case: Chieftec AX-01BLD
Motherboard: Abit IS7
CDRW: The $15 Lite On deal (although I just went to CC and they were out)
CPU: A P4 2.5GHz+ 800

What do you guys think of that? Comments on the parts I chose? I want to make sure I get a decent system, so any further suggestions are appreciated, especially if you know of a great deal somewhere.

Hmm 2.5 havent seen one of those yet I hope you mean 2.4 or 2.6 both are good and can overclock well.

 

[godfire]

How many fans do most cases come with? Will the Chieftec have enough? I'm just paranoid about overheating.

 

[Lyfer]

get this: (all from newegg)

Board: Abit NF7-S (Soundstorm, LAN, and serial ATA)
cpu: Athlon XP 2500+ OEM
HSF: Thermalright SK7 w/80MM
RAM: Buffalo PC3200 512mb x 2 (Winbond)
Video card: Geforce TI4200 or Radeon 9800 if you've got the $$$
HD: WD 120gb or 80GB SE
Case: Maxtop midtower (awesome airflow for only $28)
PSU: Fortron 350W (IMO is better than Enermax)
Should be under $750-800 ish depending on video card.

 

[godfire]

Brief question about the Abit IS7 mobo - will I need to buy a sound card for my Klipsch 4.1 speakers? I'd rather ditch what I have right now and go with an onboard, but I don't know if that's going to work or not. My speakers need 2 inputs to work properly since it's 4 speakers...can the motherboard itself handle it or do I need to buy a sound card?

 

[Lyfer]

The Abit IS7 uses the Intel 865 chipset, its on-board sound is decent but not out of this world. If you're gonna spend $200 on speakers I would pony up the cash for atleast a Sound Blaster Audigy 2 or even a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. BTW the Abit NF7-S which uses the Nforce 2 chipset has "Soundstorm"for the onboard sound. The sound on the Nforce 2 IMO rivals the Santa Cruz and will be more than adaquate for the Promedia 4.1's. But if you want really good sound I'll get the Audigy 2 or even the New Audigy 2-Z.

 

[godfire]

Is there a big difference between a steel case and a comparable aluminum case, quality wise? I don't care about the weight.

 

[TSDible]

Originally posted by: godfire
Is there a big difference between a steel case and a comparable aluminum case, quality wise? I don't care about the weight.

You can easily find a high quality aluminum or steel case. If you don't care about weight... I've found that steel cases are a bit more sturdy in general.

 

[godfire]

Ok, so, I was all ready to buy the Abit IS7 board, but then I read a bunch of review over at newegg. A lot of the reviews were very good - but then again, a lot of them were very bad. It seems people have conflicting opinions about this board, and compatibility/certain quality issues. I know most people at anandtech love this board, but is there something I'm missing here? I want a good board, but I also don't want one that I'll have to play around with a lot to get to work right. I'm also tempted to OC the P4 I'll be getting, but I've never done it before and I want stability more than anything else in my new system. Think it would be too risky?

Also, after much deliberation, I think I'm going to get the Chieftec case mentioned above from newegg instead of from xtremegear. I'd rather pay a little bit more and know that I'm getting quality service. I think newegg says it comes with 3 fans, 2 rear and one side. Is that going to be enough, or should I be buying more?

And how important is the power supply? I read some reviews of the Antec 430W True430, and it sounds amazing...but it's also like $80. How different is that going to be from your standard $20 power supply?

Thanks for the continued help and advice. Don't know where I'd be without you guys...probably buying some crap package from Dell

 

[godfire]

So, any advice on what I said?

 

[godfire]

anybody?

 

[tweeve2002]

the board that you are about to buy is fine, with any product there are going to be people who hate it and love it. as for the Power Supply got for the Antec True430 it is much better than a $20 generic. With a Generic you have the Risk of it not suppling or over supply too much power on one of the rails, or is going out some time down the road and taking your system with it. The Antec True430 is a great PS i have the 480, The Rails almost dead on 99% of the time, and very little fluxation. and the little there is is not much.

 

[godfire]

Thought you guys might be interested in what I finally got:

Mobo: Abit IS7
CDRW: Lite On 52x32x52
Case: Chieftec AX-01BD
CPU: P4 2.6 800
PS: Antec True430
HD: 2 x 200GB WD

All of the above cost just under $800 including tax and shipping and all that. I'm hovering about whether or not to get a turtle beach or something...but I guess I'll see how well the Abit handles my Klipsch 4.1.

Thanks for all the help guys, really appreciate it.