Novice Building a New System - Please Help!

[dthyer]

I haven't built a computer in years. I've agreed to build a new system for my cousin. This will be good practice as I hope to upgrade myself in a few months.

She is looking for a system that will not be obsolete for a while. It should also be upgradeable in the future. They will do a bit of gaming (they already own a PS2 and XBox), standard MS Office apps, MP3 downloading, DV NLE editing and DVD authoring of home movies in the near future, and watching DVD's on a small TV through the TV out. Their budget is not defined, however, I need to keep the costs at the best performance/value for the buck while preserving upgradeability.

Below is what I am considering for them. Please share any advice that you have. (I'm not sensative.) Will I need any additional fans, accessories or anyhing else when I get ready to assemble?

Qty Product Item # Unit Price Qty x Price

Cases (Computer Cases, ATX Form)
AMS GMONO Model#CF-2029 (BLACK) MID-TOWER CASE- RETAIL
Unique High Gloss Car Paint Finish case w/ 1/3" Clear Acrylic Front Bezel, All Folded Edges, Front USB/Audio ports, 250/300/350w P4 Power Supply ready, & a strong Steel Construction.
Specifications:
Material: Steel
Driver Bays: External 4 X 5.25" - 2 X 3.5" Internal 4 X 3.5"
System Board: AT/ATX
Expansion Slot: 7 Slots
Standard Fans: 1 X 80mm (front)
Optional Fans: 2 X 80mm (rear) or 1 X 120mm Intake Fan Option (rear)
Dimension:19"(L) x 8"(W) x 17"(H) ***No Power Supply*** more info>
N82E16811180013 $45.00
I'm hoping that they offer the version with the clear window that they now make. Is there a better sub-$50 case?

CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives)
►Hot Item! Lite On 48x24x48 CDRW Model LTR-48246SBlack OEMBuffer underrun error free & automatically adjust writing strategy plus running OPC to meet various burning condition.
Specifications:
Speed : Recording 48Xmax CAV Re-writing 24X High-Speed CLV Reading 48Xmax CAV
Interface : ATAPI-E/IDE, support up to Ultra-DMA Mode2 33.3MB/sec
Access Time : 80ms (typical)
Buffer Memory Size: 2MB
Operating System : Windows 95/98/NT/XP/2000/ME
MTBF : 70'000 Power On Hours with 25% Duty
OEM (Comes with Software, Manual and Audio cable.) more info>
N82E16827106189 $59.99
$59.99

CD/DVD ROM Drives
Lite-On 16x DVD Model LTD-166 Black
Specifications:
Speed VD-ROM 16X (6.4X~16X) - CD-ROM 48X (20X~48X)
Interface : ATAPI-E/IDE
Sustained Transfer Rate : Support up to Ultra-DMA/33 33.3MB/sec
Burst Transfer Rate : Support up to Ultra-DMA/33 33.3MB/sec
Access Time : 120ms (typical)
MTBF : 70'000 Power On Hours with 20% Duty
Supported OS: DOS 6.xx, Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, OS2 Warp
OEM (Contains Power DVD software) **Black Color** more info>
N82E16827131109 $46.99
$46.99

Memory (System Memory)
CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series 256MB PC3000 DDR RAM 370MHz - OEM
CMX256A-3000C2 DDR, PC3000 32x64, Non-ECC, 184-Pin, CAS2 -Unbuffered Requires DDR supported Motherboard - Lifetime Warranty. more info>
N82E16820145402 $104.00
$208.00
This may be overkill, but they may upgrade the CPU in the future.

Motherboards - AMD
Asus Motherboard for AMD Athlon/XP/Duron Processors, Model# A7N8X Deluxe Retail
Specifications:
CPU Supported: Socket A AMD Athlon/XP/Duron (support AMD XP2800) Throughbred core CPU ready
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 SPP, nForce2 MCP-T
FSB: 333/266/200MHz
IDE: 2x channel ATA133
RAM: 3x 184-pin DIMM Sockets (PC3200/PC2700/PC2100 non-ECC DDR Ram)
Slots: 1x AGP (Pro/8X), 5x PCI
Ports: 6x USB(2.0),
Onboard Serial ATA: Silicon Image Sil 3112A Controller with 2 ports, support RAID 0/1
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650 6-ch w/built in amplifier, integrated APU (Audio Processor Unit), Soundstorm Encoder
Onboard LAN: MCP integrated 3Com MAC + Broadcom AC101L PHY
Onboard Firewire 1394: 2 Ports MCP-T integrated IEEE 1394a + Realtek PHY 8801B more info>
N82E16813131436 $153.00
$153.00
Do I need to get the Asus SPDiF attachment with this board to use the Labtec Z-640 speakers?

Power Supplies
Antec 480W Power Supply TRUE480 ATX Form Factor, ATX12V compliant for Pentium 4 (backward compatible with previous Pentium versions) and AMD systems
+5V Stand-By & Logic On/Off Antec Low Noise Technology Maximum Power 480W Dimensions - L5.9" x W5.5" x H3.4" UL, CSA, TUV, CB, CE, NEMKO Approved more info>
N82E16817103909 $91.00
$91.00
I may downgrade this to the TRUE380

Processors
►Hot Item! AMD Athlon XP 2000+/266 FSB Processor CPU - 2000+/ 1.67GHz -Retail Box
BOX2000DMT3C. 3 Years Warranty. The AMD Athlon XP processor with QuantiSpeed architecture powers the next generation in computing platforms, delivering extra performance for cutting-edge applications and an extra-ordinary computing experience.world's highest overall performing PC processor.
Specifications:
CPU: 1.67 GHz
Type: 2000 XP
Cache: 256K
BUS: 266MHz
Socket A (PGA)
Retail (Box with Heatsink and Fan) more info>
N82E16819103327 $90.00
$90.00
The 2100+ is out of stock. They may opt for the 2400+ .13 micron or the 2700+. Would they notice the performance increase as much as the dent in their wallet?

Speakers
Logitech Z640 5.1 Speaker - RETAIL
Patented subwoofer design delivers twice the bass energy of conventional designs
Innovative satellite design with rotating pedestals that allow for wall or desk placement
Internal power supply eliminates bulky wall adapters
Easily hook it up to your video game console with our included adapter cable... no need for an external amplifier or receiver! more info>
N82E16836121104 $67.00
$67.00
$20.00 mail in rebate on these now as well. These are the cheapest 5.1 speakers I could find. How will I connect these to the A7n8x board to get DD 5.1?

Video Cards
ATI RADEON 9500 PRO 128MB DDR DVI AGP RETAIL
Specifications:
Chipset:9500 PRO Visual Processing Unit
Engine clock: 275 MHz
Memory:128MB of double data rate SDRAM
Memory speed: 540 MHz
Eight parallel rendering pipelines
Four parallel geometry engines
128-bit DDR memory interface
BUS: AGP 8X support
OS Support: Windows® XP, Windows® 2000, Windows® Me
Ports; VGA + DVI + S-Video
Retail box (see pics for details) more info>
N82E16814102256 $201.00
$201.00
I'm open to a cheaper card if you have a recommendation. It should have a good TV-Out. They may add a realtime DV editing card in the future.

Subtotal » $961.98
Shipping and Handling Charge »
>How Newegg.com calculates shipping< $ 30.00
Grand Total » $ 991.98

I plan to build this with an old ATA 100 hard drive. I plan to add two of the Seagate Serial ATA 80 or 120 MB drives in a RAID 0 configuration next month when they are available. To best utilize the board for future video editing.

OS - Windows XP Home-SP1 upgrade.

Thanks for the help! -Drew Text

 

[Wolfsraider]

very nice layout

on the drives the seagates are quiet but the wd 80 gig 8mb cache drives would get my vote

you have done a good bit of research and picked some very quality parts

i woud either get the 430 or 380 watt psu unless you really feel the need for more

other than that ...very nice system

 

[dthyer]

"on the drives the seagates are quiet but the wd 80 gig 8mb cache drives would get my vote"

Thanks Wolfsraider.

Actually the new seagates look to have 8mb cache like the IBM and WDs. Let's hope this becomes a standard on all new Serial Drives
http://www.seagate.com/docs/pdf/datasheet/disc/ds_barracudaata5_1554002_2002_10.pdf

 

[ArmchairAthlete]

If you want to use two websites Googlegear.com has cheaper RAM. The Corsair PC-3200 I got was about $10 cheaper per stick than newegg.com. They also had cheaper Athlon's and 9700 Pros, might have cheaper 9500 Pros too.

You should check Googlegear if you want to save a bit.

 

[optimistic]

Nicer looking & quieter operating optical drives.

$45 black DVD 16X
$56 black 48/24/48 CDRW

 

[sniperruff]

huh dthyer the first error that i want to point out: WHY GET A VIDEO CARD WHEN YOU WANT A N-FORCE2 BOARD?

well the other parts are all up to personal preferecnes, but here's what i would get:

case--- chieftec Model DH-01B $69 shipped. newegg. or the big chieftec tower with a 450W PS for $99. they either have or have the option for a clear window

CDRW--- liteon's can be found at staples, bestbuy, OD etc for around $40 after rebate. check hotdeal forum

DVD--- don't know those. liteon is a good brand i guess

RAM--- that is some very expensive memory. i guess it is good for upgrading but micron PC2100's are $56 each at newegg.

mobo--- that is top of the line asus with integrated everything. again, i think it has decent integraterd graphics so a video card is not required.

PS--- i don't think 480W is necessary! anything above 350W is enough IMO

CPU--- nice choice. it is a great processor for the money. isn't the 2000 already throughbred? (.13 micron)

speakers--- also nice. i think the n-fprce2 board has a 5 (or 6) channel sound right? no sound card is needed

video card--- if you DO need a video card i would go with a GF4 Ti. i wouldn't want to mess with driver bugs constantly. though some people don't mind i guess

how about a nice LCD for a nice system too? or a comfortable keyboard/ mouse? dell sometimes has LCD sales and the MS multimedia keyboard is $15 at staples.

i would also suggest a TV TUNER so you can play video games too. something with S-video input like the leadtek tuner on newegg i guess

hope it helps and good luck

 

[CurtCold]

Where did you get the $20 coupon for those speakers, as I would like to buy some as well...?

 

[Dufusyte]

When building a system I would take into consideration the noise produced as well. Try to build a quiet system; it is an important aspect of the PC. The biggest noise makers are the PowerSupply fans, case fans, and cpu fan.

 

[Casper5748]

Actually, the A7N8X does not have on board video. You will need a video card. You can get it cheaper at ajump.com. Here is a link to the motherboard. Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motheboard Also if you want this motherboard, you should get two sticks of RAM instead of one stick of 256mb. This way you can utilize the Dual DDR feature. (Dual DDR needs to be paired)

480watts is a little bit overkill. Try a 350watt power supply. It will save you money and it will be plenty powerful.

Im not to sure about the speakers. I'm just not familiar with that product. Make sure you get speakers that support Dolby Digital though so that you can use that feature. It would be too hard for me to describe how you would set up Dolby Digital but once you get the board its really self explanitory. I'm running the Creative Labs Megaworks THX on my A7N8X and it was really easy to set up and sounds really great.

Great Choice in components though, your cousin should be very thankful

Good luck

 

[mrlayance]

I would get XP pro over XP Home
Home just seems gutless.