New computer build help.

[1sk8er]

I am putting together a decent system when I get my taxes this year and am needing some help here. I will name some of the things I have or plan on getting and am hoping some of you all can give me some advice on what board to go with. I would like to go with Asus as I used to work there for tech support BUT most of their boards would have to have the BIOS sent in to be flashed to go with the AMD Athlon 64 San Diego 3700+ I am wanting to go with. Here is a list of what I already have or plan on getting:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 San Diego 3700+ socket 939
CASE: Asys Z-50 RobotYLW - I haven't bought the case yet but just liked the looks of that one plus the LED that tells the temp.
VIDEO CARD: Leadtek PX6600LE 256 MB PCI-Express X16 - Liked this card as it looked like a decent card for under a $100 (I am not a gamer so an awesome video card setup is not really of that importance to me)
MEMORY: OCZ Premier Dual Channel 1 GB (2x512) PC3200 184 pin DDR (2 sets for 2 gig total)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 160 gig SATA II drive 7200 RPM (2 of these running in RAID 0) - may just go with one Seagate 300 gig
DVD+-RW: Asus 16x dual layer DRW-1608P2S (already have and love it)
DVD-ROM: Asus E616A (already have)
Here are some of the things the board must have:

# PCI Express not AGP
# 4 SATA II ports that support RAID 0
# 4 DDR slots that of course have dual channel capability
# Preferably would take the 3700+ with 1 meg L2 without having to have a BIOS update

If there is anything else you all think I should look another route or anything I am open to suggestions. Thanks for your time in advance!!

 

[professor1942]

If you're building from scratch, much better to get a 2x1GB RAM kit instead of 4x512.

 

[letstalkcisco]

I'm running the ASUS A8N-SLI Deluxe MoBo and a 3700+ and have been very happy for the past three months. Since you're not a gamer you won't actually need an SLI solution, but I'd recommend the ASUS or an ABIT for reliability and easy install.

I also doubt that you'll need more than the 2x512MB sticks of RAM, especially given that you're not a gamer. A gig of 3200 in dual-channel mode is VERY fast for regular PC use.

Make sure not to skimp on the power supply. OCZ makes great stuff, but the Powerstream 520W model is over $100. I've been happy with my coolermaster 450W that I paid about $60 for.

I can't see any problems with any of your other spec'd parts. Happy building...

 

[1sk8er]

I was doing some searching and starting thinking the same thing. Twice the chance for problems with dual channel and also twice the chance for failure. Will depend on what manufacturer I buy memory wise with what mobo I decide on. I know some mobos don't like certain types of memory.

 

[alimoalem]

go with 2x 1 gig for the ram to avoid 2T or whatever. you'll lose like 5% performance if you use 4 sticks of ram over 2. also, why not value ram?

if you can hold off a bit for the video card, the 7800gs is coming out and that'll start at around $100 or under (probable $99) and it'll own the 6600 very badly.

good choice on the cpu. asus would be a good complement for it. maybe an epox or dfi would do good as well.

for the hdd, go with a single drive. why not the Western Digital SE16? it's a better drive than the seagate.

 

[1sk8er]

If I go with Asus I will probably just go with Corsair Value Ram as I have never had a problem with the value series with Asus boards. Actually I don't think I ever received any calls when I worked for Asus about Corsair RAM. The main thing Asus mobos are picky about is usually RAM like PQI.

What about the eVGA Geforce 7300GS 256-P2-N436-LX Video Card - Retail at Newegg for $99?

As far as the hard drive I was looking at Seagate for the 5 year warranty. I was looking at a 320 gig WD drive - I could save like $15 just going with one drive. I just figured from past experience that a RAID 0 would help me with the moving of files that I will be doing. (Look at what the optical drives are.)

 

[theMan]

get 2x1gb. also, you should consider getting an X2 3800+ dual core instead of that san diego.

 

[1sk8er]

I don't see, for what I'll be using the computer for, the need to spend the extra $80 on the 3800+. If anything I might save myself some money and go with the 3500+ or the 3200+. I just liked the 3700+ for the 1 MB L2cache.

 

[Azndude2190]

Everything looks fine to me.Happy Build

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Looks good! I have both the Asus A8N-SLI deluxe and the epox 9NPA+ ultra and they are both great NF4 boards

 

[1sk8er]

OK update here. Here is what I have ALMOST chosen so far:

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 Venice 3200+ socket 939
CASE: Asys Z-50 RobotYLW - I haven't bought the case yet but just liked the looks of that one plus the LED that tells the temp.
VIDEO CARD: eVGA 256-P2-N436-LX Geforce 7300GS 256 MB GDDR2 PCI Express X16 (I am not a gamer so an awesome video card setup is not really of that importance to me)
MEMORY: Corsair TWINX2048-3200PT 2GB DDR400 XMS3200 Memory w/ Platinum Heat Spreader
HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KS 320GB Serial ATA II 7200 RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer
DVD+-RW: Asus 16x dual layer DRW-1608P2S (already have and love it)
DVD-ROM: Asus E616A (already have)

I have also chosen to get most of my stuff from zipzoomfly instead of newegg because of saving a little money on the item itself but mostly because of saving the shipping costs. Let me know what you think.

 

[letstalkcisco]

I think you'll be very happy with that setup, especially as a non-hardcore gamer. Again, get a good PSU.

 

[Bobthelost]

Looks good, but if you're not a hardcore gamer or a hardcore photoshopper you probably won't need 2gb of RAM.

 

[1sk8er]

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Looks good, but if you're not a hardcore gamer or a hardcore photoshopper you probably won't need 2gb of RAM.

You think I could get by with 1 gig of RAM even when encoding and decoding video? I MIGHT (someone in another thread gave me the idea) go with a VIVO card so I can download video from my Directv receiver to my computer and also have the ability to make copies of my massive dvd collection.

 

[Bobthelost]

What programs do you use? If you're talking DVD shrink then no, RAM is not a problem. If you have the progs already then start them going and then check what the peak charge usage in task manager reads. If it's over 1gb then you could see a benifit from more RAM, if it's less than 1gb then more RAM is pointless.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: 1sk8er

Originally posted by: Bobthelost
Looks good, but if you're not a hardcore gamer or a hardcore photoshopper you probably won't need 2gb of RAM.

You think I could get by with 1 gig of RAM even when encoding and decoding video? I MIGHT (someone in another thread gave me the idea) go with a VIVO card so I can download video from my Directv receiver to my computer and also have the ability to make copies of my massive dvd collection.

If you're encoding video, then here's another vote for the X2 3800+. Chopped my Premiere Elements encode times in half, and the system isn't jerky in the meanwhile either. YMMV depending on your chosen encoding software, of course.