Planning System - Opinions Please!

[Strike]

Hi People,

I am about ready to purchase a system from Mwave.com and have a couple questions and would like some opinions. Here are the specs for the system I am planning:

Asus A7V MB w/ 800 Mhz T-bird
Asus v7100 Pure GeForce2 MX 32Mb
128 Meg Ram ( not sure if I should get CAS3 or CAS2, or even Corsair, or an off brand. Would like opinions on this. )
IBM 30 Gig Ultra ATA100, 7200 rpm
Turtle Beach Montego II ( not sure about this, but am fairly certain I do NOT want a SbLive ! )
Creative Labs CDRW 8432 ( ? )
3com 3C905bTxnm
Mitsumi 3.5 Floppy ( ? )
Enlight Full Server Tower, 250 Watts.

I am not sure about my motherboard choice as I have seen a lot of negative articles about the Asus A7V. My second choice would either be a MSI K7T Pro, or the Abit Kt7-Raid ( but heard lots of bad things about Abit, too ).

Please comment on the items I have listed with questions or ( ? ) as I just picked what I thought would work out best.

I also have an old SCSI card that is ISA and is one reason why I am still considering the MSI mobo. I would probably overclock my CPU a little, but am not trying to push it to its limits. I want stability. I do plan games a bit, but all develope software, use Photoshop, run a DB engine at times, so really need power and stability.

Thanks. I really appreciate and want opinions / suggestions.

Strike.

 

[celery550]

all sounds good but I would go with the Abit KT7 non-raid, I've seen alot of posts with people having trouble with that onboard raid and I think you can get a better raid card. I have the KT7 non-raid and have had no problem at all AND you have too love softmenu III.

 

[Blayze]

also if you can get a 300 watt powersupply

 

[Dan]

Looks good. You don't need the RAID feature. Definitely get CAS2 RAM. Do you really need a full tower? Enlight's 7237 (a midtower) should do the job for you. You're looking at spending big bucks on a case when, IMHO, you should redirect some of that money into a 300 Watt power supply, superior cooling and better RAM.

My system specs (partial):

Abit KT7 mobo (w/o RAID)
Duron 600 @ 900MHz
Cooler Master DP5-6H11 Heatsink/Fan
NEC PC-133 128MB DIMM, CAS2
CL TNT-2U, 32MB 2xAGP, 218.4MHz/200.5MHz
Enlight 7237 w/300 Watt p/s

 

[Citadel]

Be sure to get good quality RAM. How much for the Creative CDRW? IMHO Plextor is much better. Why do you NOT want a SBlive? I agree with the Enlight 7237 and 300 W power supply. They usually come with a Sparkle 300. Everything else looks good.

 

[Strike]

Thanks for all the comments.

To answer some questions.

RAM - After a bit of ready and thinking, I am planning on going with Mushkin CAS2, Tbird tested, Rev 2 or Rev 1.5 ( rev or reference )

CDRW - I think I read a good review on the Creative Labs CDRW. Price is $139. I will read up on the Plextors.

Sound - I have read tons about issues getting the SBlive board to work with the Asus mobo. Thought I would go with something different to avoid issues.

Case - Price I found was 69 for the full tower. I like lots of space, but will check height of the mid. Why go with 300 watts? just curious. Is Antec about the same?

Mobo - I am still a bit gun shy going with either the Asus or the Abit. Due to stability, I am considering the MSI K7T Pro, but would prefer the MSI K7T Master....but figure it is not due for a while.

Thanks, Strike

 

[rmblam]

IMO the stability issues you refer to are due to inexperience and resulting frustration of the USER not the boards.

Either the ABIT or the ASUS are my preferences for overclocking. Unless they have revised it you can't overclock on the MSI. Unless you hard mod the L bridges on the chip with a laser that I am sure you have on your shelf.....

Yes, you will likely have a few bugs to work out with either or any board. Expect it. Don't build one if you are not willing or prepared to deal with it.

See my sig for my suggestion (cheap and good).

Good luck and enjoy, they are a sweet system.

 

[Strike]

Well, after reading more, I have made a few changes and am about ready to order.

More opinions would be appreciated...

Mobo - Abit KT7-Raid ( need ISA, want ATA100 )
CDRW - Plextor 8x4x32
Sound - Sb Live
Case - purchasing locally, with 300 watt pws
Modem - 3com PCI V.90 Fax Modem
RAM - Muskin 128mb CAS2 Rev 2

Strike

 

[fake]

Looks good, but if you can afford it .. get the 12x plextor because it has burnproof technology.

 

[pugh]

Hi,
If you want real stability.Then go with the MSI K7T Pro. Its not for overclockers but it is a very very good Mobo..I recommend it if you dont plan on fooling with that expensive system of yours..to much money to waste on it burning it up ..lol..

 

[CraigRT]

Make sure you get a 300 watt power supply, it's very important with Athlon systems, AMD even has a list of power supplies they approve for use with their CPU's.
also definitely make sure you get CAS2 RAM, it's definitely worth the extra money for it. it's not alot either.
also, Go with the A7V, it's a good board, some people have problems with it but it's their setup or a defective product usually..
you should be okay with your setup, my buddy has one with a T-Bird 800 and he loves it to death!

good luck to yah!