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New System SPECS Opinions, comments, advice

V

Vigilante82

Member
I'm finally getting my new system after a long long wait. I've decided upon these parts:

Motherboard: EPoX 8KHA+ VIA KT266A
CPU: Athlon XP 1900+ OEM
Video: Leadtek GeForce4 4400 128MB
RAM: 512MB PC-2100 $234 CC
HD: Maxtor 40.0GB 7200 RPMS ATA-100
Mouse & Keyboard: Microsoft Optical Mouse and Internet Keyboard
Cooler: Thermaltake Volcano 7

I'm not an expert or anything, but from the information I gathered from several hardward sites and these forums, these parts seem ideal for my price range. The only two components that i'm not 100% sure on are the motherboard and cooler. I know the Volcano 7 isn't the best out there, but its the only one available to me without ordering online. Secondly, the motherboard concerns me as i've heard that there are issues between it and some of the Leadtek Geforce 4s. I've only heard of issues with the 4600 card, but can somebody please confirm for me that there are no issues with the 4200 Leadtek card? I can go for the ABIT KR7A instead of Epox. Which one do you guys think is a better choice? '

Any comments, suggestions, or advice would be helpful! Thanks !

M.N.
 
The Epox and KR7A-RAID are both very good motherboards (even though I didn't have a very good experience with my KR7A), but people like them both equally I would say. Can you get a KT333 chipset based motherboard? They aren't that much more expensive and they are a little faster. Do you plan on overclocking? I don't know too much about the Volcano 7, but I know the Alpha PAL8045 and the Thermalright AX-7 are very very good heatsinks, but they are a little expensive. What kind of ram are you getting? I wouldn't advise getting cheap-o generic ram. Crucial, Samsung, Corsair, Mushkin, and Kingmax make good memory.
 
Thanks for your help! I can get the Alpha PAL8045, but considering that i'm not overclocking my CPU, there isn't much point in spending money on that.

What was the bad experience you had with your KR7A?
 
Raid is the only difference between the Abit boards. I think if the Epox board is cheaper (which it should be) than the Abit board, then you should get the Epox. The Epox doesn't have any problems with Leadtek GeForce 4 cards. Visiontek was the only one that had problems (maybe PNY too, but I don't remember). By the way, what are you doing for sound?
 
For sound, i'm recycling my old SB Live Value card. And my old Cambridge 4 four points. I was considering getting Logitech Z560.

What is so bad about generic RAM? Should I spend an extra 100 or so dollars on Brand name RAM?
 
That's a nice system there Vigilante82, skimping out on the RAM and buying generic stuff for it would be digital blashphemy 😉 Basically, it's a good general rule of thumb not to buy 'generic' RAM (and for that matter power supplies too!). Thing is you don't have to spend $100.00 more for some premium stuff, there are plenty of hot deals right now on great memory from Samsung, Crucial, Micron, etc. - check em out (over at HOT DEALS forum too!). You just never know IMO w/generic RAM, you could troubleshoot weird problems for hours (while driving you crazy) and it could all be attributed to cheap memory.

-VTrider
 
Nice system.
I've got the Epox board and I love it. I've had no problems at all with it. My friend got the Abit KR7A a couple of weeks ago and it is a great board too. Both would be good choices.

I don't know about the video card issues, but I thought the 4200's were smaller. I would double-check that with someone from Leadtek.

The Volcano has gotten mixed reviews. Some love it, others don't. Is that the one with the adjustable fan? If so, and if your not overclocking, you can turn the fan speed down and it's supposed to be quiet. I run my system with the stock retail athlon heatsink and it stays cool enough when I don't OC.

I would suggest you order your memory from Crucial.com. It's top-quality memory and they provide free 2nd day fedex shipping. As of today, 512MB is $170.99.
Here's thelink to crucial. Mushkin, Corsair, and Kingmax are also highly praised by the enthusiasts here.
 
Thanks for all your input guys!! Its all very helpful, especially your comments concerning RAM. Any further comments are welcome. Thanks again!

M.N.
 
Some but NOT all generic RAM will either corrupt or have some faults that cause programs to quit or some such. Not overclocking the RAm is a good idea if you're unsure.

May I suggest upgrading your soundcard to something with a few extra features? If you were considering the Logitech Z560s you should also think about a better soundcard. Such as the Turtle beach Santa Cruz (best bang for the buck) or go top of the line for gamers and music listeners with the hercules Game Theater Xp. If you plan to do any recording I suggest the Audigy platnum because it has most of the required software. Plus the Audigy Drive which basically has the connections for Midi, digital in out (optical and coax) etc

The Game Theater Xp comes with a breakout box that you connect your speakers to with Optical and coax digital in/out and a 4port USb HUB Midi in and out etc.

The Gametheater Xp uses the same DSP as the Turtle beach, but can also support 6.1 sound if you connect through the analog outputs.
I own a Gametheater XP and I recommend it to everyone. For specs check out this URL http://us.hercules.com/products/product.php3?id=17

FYI: The gametheater Xp is going for $87 on pricewatch right about now. Not bad IMO.
 
Everyting I've heard (and read) about the Game Theater XP has been great. The only problem is good luck finding one! I ordered one of the last ones from outpost.com (they are out of stock now). 🙁
 
I would stick with the Live! Value... I cant tell the difference between a Live Value and an Audigy at all on my Altec Lansing 4.1's. If you need the firewire or your getting some REALLY nice 5.1's and your going to be using your computer as the center of your home entertainment, then it might be worth it.

As for the memory, i would go over to newegg.com and pick up some Kingston PC2100... as its only $65 for a 256 stick or $130 for a 512 stick. Ive found that my Kingston memory is just as good as the Crucial memory ive used, and its that big chunk cheaper.

Good luck!
 
I just found out that I can get the MSI G4Ti4400-VTD for about 40 bucks cheaper than the LeakTek card. DO you guys think I should get this card instead. I don't really plan on overclocking.
 
1. Spend the extra money and get a larger (60 or 80 gig) hard drive. If you have broad band you will need it.
2. Since you are not going to overclock. Consider getting a retail XP1900+ it has a queit heatsink\fan and a three year warranty.
 
Get a bigger HD. Trust me, 40 gigs just doesn't cut it anymore! I'll be upgrading at the end of the year, and I will get about 80-120 gig HD (Maybe more, depending what gets introduced before I upgrade. Of course, I would still keep my 40 and 10 gig HD's so I would have about 150+gigs HD-space)
 
Thanks again for your input guys. Hmm .. mabye I will consider getting a bigger HD, since space would probably run out fast.

I can get a retail 1900+ for about the cost of the OEM 1900+ and the Volcano7 put together. So which one would be better? Using the stock fan that comes with the retail CPU or get a Volcano (I heard ppl have a hard time installing these). I'm not overclocking.

Thanks guys
 
No CDROM or CD/R/RW device? You'll need something to al least read CDs, if not write to CDs.

Only 2 IDE ports? I'd spend a bit more for a RAID board, just for the two additional IDE ports.

I bought Abit KR7A/RAid, and it's a fine board. For less money, I'd look closely at the Shuttle RAID boards (AK35?).

No disrespect intended, but many folks DO get interested in overclocking after a few months and DO wish they had more expansion capacity later when they buy a couple of add-on devices.

I'd also look at a PS in excess of 300W if you're buying a case, though my 300W PS is OK for now.

Hope this helps!
 
I have the epox 8KHA+ and love it
I switched to an Alpha 8045 because my old heatsink was making me deaf, get that and a quiet fan and you'll love it.
go for a larger hard drive, it's worth it
 


<< No disrespect intended, but many folks DO get interested in overclocking after a few months and DO wish they had more expansion capacity later when they buy a couple of add-on devices.
 >>


I totally agree with this. When I put together my first system a couple of months ago, I didn't think I would overclock, so I went with the retail HSF. But something about building your own computer makes you want to start tinkering with stuff.

I've started doing some overclocking now, but I can't go too high because my temps start going up, so now I'm wishing I had gotten a better heatsink in the beginning.

I don't know what the performance is like on the volcano, but the best high-performance heatsink that won't require you to get a second job is the Thermalright AX7. Last I checked, it was $27 at newegg. You then have to add a fan (probably $10 for a good one). The good thing is that the AX7 takes an 80mm fan, so you can get a slower quiet fan if you won't be overclocking much or a faster, louder one for the best possible cooling.
 
The problem's I had with the KR7A (I got the non raid version), were they just wouldn't work. One was DOA (Wouldn't even boot) and the two others were just flaky, couldn't even run Windows internet explorer. So I sent them back and got a Iwill XP333-R and it took me like 3 minutes to set it up. It's a really good board for the overclocker and tinkerer. You might wanna look into it, at default settings it is ROCK solid. They have them at Newegg. Some people say becuase the chipset it different they suck and it's slower, but it's not. It might be 1-2% slower in benches, but are you really going to notice? And if you do overclock it, it will smoke anything. Just another board you might want to look at 🙂
 
You guys are really getting me into this overclocking stuff .heheh

I'm thinking about getting the Alpha-8045. I guess this is one of the best heatsinks out there.

Just out of curiousity. To what kinds of levels would this system overclock to using a cooling system such as the Alpha-8045 on an Epox 8KHA+ ??

Thanks for your posts guys!
 
Have any other of you guys had any significant problems with the KR7A?? Besides the slight edge it has over the Epox board in terms of speed, what else is better about the KR7A?
 
I would stick with the Epox board. The KR7A is a better OC'ing board, but if your not OC'ing, its a lost cause. Also, i would shy away from built in RAID. Ive used tons of boards with built-in RAID in my systems, and ive yet to talk to a customer that actually uses it (unless i built it that way.)

Also, the cost is way too high imho. Over a $20 mark up on many boards, and unless your using more than 4 IDE devices, or have 2 identical HD's, its completly useless.

Epox makes another KT266A board you might want to look at. It has almost all the same features as the 8KHA+ but does away with any type of overclocking support. Its called the 8KHAL and its a full $13 cheaper and newegg. Something to look at. 😉
 
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