Opinions requested

[MojoKrunch]

I'm putting together a box for the first of the year and I've been looking around and this is what I've come up with.

AMD Duron 800MHz(for eventual overclocking)
ABIT KT7
256MB Micron ECC PC133 SDRAM
IBM Deskstar 75gxp 60GB
Guillemot Hercules 3D Prophet II Ultra 64MB AGP
PlexWriter CDRW 12/10/32
Pioneer DVD-115 16X DVD/40X CD
Iomega ZIP 250 IDE
Aopen HQ08 Full Tower Case with 300W PS
MS Natural Pro keyboard-USB
Logictech Mouseman Wheel Optical-USB
Windows 98ME

From my old system I'm keeping:
17" monitor
floppy drive
Iomega Ditto drive
Ensoniq soundcard (upgrading to SB Live! Platinum 5.1 later)
Altec Lansing speakers
Linksys ethernet card
Wacom 12x12 digital tablet

I work as a graphic designer/artist/web designer.
Software is mostly Photoshop, Painter, Illustrator, Fireworks, Dreamweaver and play games, Diablo2, Q2, Mech4 and Jet sims.
With DSL I surf quite a bit and have mainly used Navigator, though I'll likely switch to IE with the active desktop.

I will also add an HP ScanJet5370cxi and an Epson Stylus Photo 870 when I can.

A couple of questions... does ECC help at all with the RAM?
Would I be better served getting another 256MB stick of non-ECC RAM instead?

Does anyone see any possible compatibility problems?

Suggestion and comments welcomed.

The total, minus the printer/scanner, is just under $2000.

brett

 

[Dulanic]

ECC is for when ABSOLUTE stability is needed... like in servers. Normal RAM very rarely has errors in the first place. However if its stability your looking for youd be better off with a MSI Pro II board instead of the Abit. MSI seems to be the most stable, more so than Asus and more so than Abit.

 

[AMB]

This is what I would suggest

AMD Duron 800MHz(for eventual overclocking)
Tai Sol HSF
ABIT KT7
256MB Crucial PC133 SDRAM
Maxtor Diamond Max Plus 45, 45Gb
Hercules 3D Prophet II Ultra 64MB AGP (or Creative, Asus?)
PlexWriter CDRW 12/10/32
Pioneer DVD 105S Slot Loading
Fong Kai FK320B
MS Natural Pro keyboard-USB
MS Intellimouse Explorer

You do not really need ECC, or 512 Mb either.

The Epson printer is good, but I would go with an Epson scanner as well.

 

[Dulanic]

Actually with programs like Dreamweaver an extra 256 would hurt, but it wouldnt be an extreme difference either.

 

[apologetic]

I would definately go with the Fong case. But I disagree with switching the motherboard, I prefer Abit over MSI. As for the rest, damn, I wish I had that system...