newbie needs help putting together system

[sbw]

It been a long while since I put together a system( 386 3.x days!). Things have changed so much but I have tryed to read here and learn. I have read many recomendations on various components. But I am still undecided on a few components. I won't be OC'ing, very little gaming , would like to do digital photography. Overall I'm just looking for a new system that will be easy to setup and use. Also, I'm hoping for components are well matched and don't conflict with each other. Here it goes, please tell me what you think. What would you use that would be different and why?

MB Epox 8k-5a2 or MSI KT3 ultra 2 ???
AMD 1700xp or 2000xp retail ???
HD WD 800jb retail
ATI all in one 64mb 7500 radeon retail (I like all the tv out stuff but how does it work?)
MEM 512 mb crucial brand 2100 DDR
LG 16x DVD
LG 32x10x40 cd-rw
PSU HEC 350old duel fan 350w(would a 300w of same quality work?)
Case reuse old atx w/ two vantec fans

Your help and input would be greatly appreciated!





















yuor help and input would be graetly

 

[MarquesTGB]

For a professional photo editing system, i would go with processing power around the 1.4-1.8 GHz area with as much ram as you can afford. Ram will help programs like Photoshop. As for the All in wonder, you really don't need it unless you want to output images to a TV, or Full motion video or whatever. Hmm.. I think thats about it.. that other stuff is a matter of preferance. The main thing is if you wil be doing a lot of processor intensive photo editing then you're going to need processor. Which ever video card offers the best 2d quality. I'm sure there's something out that that Stomps on the ATI Radeon, and GF4 in terms of 2D quality.

*but thats just my opinion* Everyone does a system differently.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Both MSI and Epox are well respected and should both be very fine choices. What chipset do they use though? VIA KT are best avoided if you don't care about o/c'ing, a SiS735/745 is the best choice for you or else an nForce mobo if you want o/b goodies like great LAN (dual on some nF2), 5.1 sound (D denotes Dolby decoding ability) and GF2MX gfx card for nF220/420 (nF2-IGP use the much better GF4MX). nF2 is the most future proof but I doubt that will matter to you. I'd let chipset be your first criteria followd by features then price.

No need to go retail but do so if you wish, XP2000+ makes a lot more sense given the prices.

AIW cards are great if you need all that functionality, Rad7500, 9000 or 8500 are the cards to go for (in order of 3D speed/ability). Rad8500 (inc 8500LE) is really the least you should go for, 9000PRO AIW is fine while Rad7500 though old isn't awful. Do consider if you need AIW and what other options there are, eg. a cheap GF4 VIVO card esp with a PCI TVcard.

512MB is fine and can easily be added to later anyway, DDR266-PC2100 is all you need for Athlons, DDR333-PC2700 is faster on VIA KT333/400 and nF2 but not hugely and only really offers better future-proofing.

All modern CDRW and DVD drives are good and LG are fine, I'd go LiteOn myself but it hardly matters anyway.

Brand is the most vital part of any PSU, Antec and Enermax are tops but also good are ToPower, SFlower, Sparkle and Cheiftech. 350W is the lowest you should buy, 400W P4 ready doesn't cost a whole lot more but is good for better future-proofing.

I wouldn't rec reusing your old case. Newer cases tend to have MUCH better ventilation, design, air flow, case fan mounts, room etc etc.

 

[sbw]

Thanks so much for the great replys! I guess I just liked all the features that the all in wonder card provided. Tv in/tv out and the price point of the 7500 I didn't consider using a stand alone tv tuner. I'll look into the different chipsets I didn't even consider the differences between them (pretty green, huh?) The case that I have is a fairly new case with what I think is good airflow. Unfortuately, I only have a 250w psu. So I am Hoping to install a duel fan 350w antec.

 

[Deeko]

I have the epox board, its pretty sweet. As for vid card, AIW 7500 is great for someone who isn't really interested in gaming and prefers features/2D.

 

[sbw]

Since I should maybe stay away from VIA, what SiS or Nforce boards would you recommend, AnAnn?

 

[Deeko]

Some people complain about the stability of Via platforms, my last two Athlon-based systems were both based on Via chipsets, so I've got nothing but good things to say about them. I can personally attest to the Epox board you are looking at, it was the only DDR333 board that I found that had all of the features I wanted. The Asus board based on the same chipset was nice as well, however, it used the Promise RAID controller, I am using a RAID 0 array, so I definitely wanted the HighPoint.

 

[AnAndAustin]

Any SiS735 or above should be very good regardless of manu, I'd rec you decide what features you want and see how the prices compare. If you want great LAN and 5.1 sound the nForce mobos are tops plus you can get versions with decent o/b gfx too (nF1: 220 & 420 have GF2MX while nF2-IGP has GF4MX). Do look out that the mobos use the official nVidia chips (esp for sound) as some down, also the 'D' on nF1 mobos denotes hw Dolby decoding. The other thing nForce mobos can do is Dual Channel DDR for which you need 2 sticks of RAM, in nF1 mobos it's only worth it if you intend to use the o/b gfx but nF2 gain in other things too. As with SiS, manu doesn't tend to matter much at all so again it's a matter of looking for the features you want and then the prices. Don't stress too much (or pay too much) as AFAIK there are no turkeys! If you shop around and post a few of the manu boards you are considering the good guys here at AnAndTech will point you in the right direction.

 

[Shimmishim]

if i were you, if you're willing to overclock, i'd get an amd xp 1600+ and overclock that baby.. you can get really good overclocks from those... visit the cpu/overclock forum and check it out

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: Shimmishim
if i were you, if you're willing to overclock, i'd get an amd xp 1600+ and overclock that baby.. you can get really good overclocks from those... visit the cpu/overclock forum and check it out

He'd have to do all kindsa extra stuff tho like worry about cooling/ventilation, unlocking his cpu, getting better RAM, PSU, components etc. etc. etc.

He's better off with his initial listing of components with the advice added by the others here.

As for the mobo though, what benefits would a KT333 offer over a KT266A mobo if you're gonna use pc2100 RAM and not OC?

AIW would be a nice touch considering you won't be in for the gaming, and it also has video capture capabilities IIRC, which seems more your niche. You could get a silly 50'' Plasma HDTV and flash your favorite pics on it like wall art!!! Enough of my dreams about toys though

Chiz

 

[sbw]

I don't think I'll be messing with the OC thing. I just want to keep this build simple as I can and wouldn't feel comfortable doing that. Maybe, I would be better off doing with a 266 board since I already have 2100 DDR. Regardless of which board (sis,nforce, or via) that I go with which would be the best ob sound chip? 50" plasma? HUMMMMM! Once again, Thanks for all the great input. Also, thanks for not trashing me for posting this topic in this room. The main room is so crowded it's hard to get much of a response there.

 

[AnAndAustin]

I'd avoid the VIA KT266, it's the KT266A which would be worth considering although the KT333 is a little more future proof and hardly tends to cost any more. As for o/b sound the chips to look out for are:

1. nForce's sound chip.
2. Realtek ALC650 AC97.
3. C-Media 8738MX.

All come in 6-channel audio, and some may also include SP/DIF output which is essentially a true digital output for speakers etc which support it (correct me if I'm wrong on that). nForce is the best but the other 2 are close behind, the ALC650 tends to perf a tad better than the C-Media although the C-Media supports more formats, it is pretty even. The only ones to avoid are the simple 'AC97' or unknown branded chips as these although very cheap and passable don't compare to the above.

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: sbw
Once again, Thanks for all the great input. Also, thanks for not trashing me for posting this topic in this room. The main room is so crowded it's hard to get much of a response there.

[/i]

Hehe don't worry, the same people that troll around this forum also patrol the CPU/OC, MOBO, FS/FT and right down the line. You did the right thing, instead of spamming your post in 5 different forums, you stuck it out in one forum and waited for a response.

Chiz