Questions about ordering from NewEgg

[joejccva]

I have an $800 budget for a new pc w/o monitor.

This is what I want in specs:

Asus A8N nForce4 SLI 939 mobo - $142 (retail) / $109 (oem)
AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice - $190 (retail) / $194? (oem) is that a mistake? how is oem more expensive?
Corsair 1GB (2x512mb) DDR 400 (PC 3200) RAM - $80 (retail)
Leadtek Geforce 6600GT 128mb PCI-Ex - $164 (retail)
Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 9 80GB SATA 8mb - $64 (oem)


This is what I have as a wish list so far, and here are my questions.

What does OEM mean? Is it a used part or brand new sold out of the box without manuals or anything?

Do you guys buy OEM or always Retail?

Also based on this system...

1. Which case and PSU do you recommend? I'd like to spend about $100 or less on a decent one.
2. Should I get a case that has a minimum of a 400W PSU?
3. Which are better cases for space and airflow? Thermaltake or Antec?
4. Do the Thermaltake and/or Antec cases have PSU's that have the 24 pin connector?
5. Do the Asus A8N SLI motherboards all require the 24 pin PSUs?

Sorry for the ignorance in some of the questions but just want to make a good decision. I have heard alot of good things about the Thermaltake cases/PSUs but they are more expensive, Antec seems to have good airflow but I just wanted another opinion.

Thanks!
Joe

 

[The Pentium Guy]

Thermaltake makes loud cases and crappy PSUs. if you're into the gamer/modded look go TT, but their cases can usually be heard from another room .

"Asus A8N nForce4 SLI 939 mobo - $142 (retail) / $109 (oem) "
Where the hell do you find an OEM motherboard? NEVER get an OEM board anyways. It means it'll come in a plain white box with no cables and no warantees. Just the board.

"AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Venice - $190 (retail) / $194? (oem) is that a mistake? how is oem more expensive? "
Supply/Demand. Get the retail. Although the 3000+ is a better deal (you save $50 and you only loose 200mhz...)

"Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 9 80GB SATA 8mb - $64 (oem) "
HardDrives, go OEM. For some reason OEM hdd's have warantees. However they don't come with the cabls (your motherboard comes with them).

1. Which case and PSU do you recommend? I'd like to spend about $100 or less on a decent one.
2. Should I get a case that has a minimum of a 400W PSU?
3. Which are better cases for space and airflow? Thermaltake or Antec?
4. Do the Thermaltake and/or Antec cases have PSU's that have the 24 pin connector?
5. Do the Asus A8N SLI motherboards all require the 24 pin PSUs?

1) Antec SmartPower II 400W
2) Well.... it depends. Antec makes solid PSUs, but most cases (ex: LINKWORLD and random stuff like that) come with genric psu's and you have a possibility of frying your parts.If you go with a trusted brand (ex: Antec) it'll come with a nice PSU, but be sure it's a 24-pin (atx 2.0) instead of 20-pin.
3) Cooler Master makes some awesome cases. Check the Cavalier and the Centurion 5
4) Antec Sonata II and the Antec TX line of case have them.
5) Yeah. You might be able to get away with 20-pin, but it's risky.

I'd get the ASUS A8N-E though (it's a really popular board, but sold out at Newegg). The only thing it doesn't have is Firewire. For features the Gigabyte GA-K8N-Ultra should be awesome. For the price of your ASUS A8N-SLI,theGigabyte GA-K8NXP-SLi comes with a wireless card and DPS 6-phase power module + loads of features.

If you're interestedin that board, do a serach for Gigabyte 3D1+. It's a package taht comes with:
-GA-K8NXP-SLI
-Wireless Card
-DPS 6phase power module
-DualCore 6600GT (Similar in performance to 6800GT, but worse with AA/AF enabled, where 6800GT kicks it).

For $400 or $450.

-The Pentium Guy

 

[Nick5324]

OEM = original equipment manufacturer. It is brand new, w/o a fancy retail box, and usually, but not always, without any software. Also, there is a good chance you won't receive any cables (i.e. the MB, and you probably want the cables). Otherwise, yes, buy OEM, it's worth the price break. Of course, if retail is cheaper, then go that route. In the case of your CPU, retail is cheaper and it means you also get the HSF.

 

[NiKeFiDO]

Originally posted by: Nick5324
OEM = original equipment manufacturer. It is brand new, w/o a fancy retail box, and usually, but not always, without any software. Also, there is a good chance you won't receive any cables (i.e. the MB, and you probably want the cables). Otherwise, yes, buy OEM, it's worth the price break. Of course, if retail is cheaper, then go that route. In the case of your CPU, retail is cheaper and it means you also get the HSF.

the HSF (heat sink fan) is very important in your case as you wont have to spend additional money on cooling since you arent planning on overclocking (uh, which i assumed...if you want to OC, go OEM or w/e is cheaper then buy additional cooling and a good psu, like recommended above)

 

[joejccva]

Originally posted by: NiKeFiDO

Originally posted by: Nick5324
OEM = original equipment manufacturer. It is brand new, w/o a fancy retail box, and usually, but not always, without any software. Also, there is a good chance you won't receive any cables (i.e. the MB, and you probably want the cables). Otherwise, yes, buy OEM, it's worth the price break. Of course, if retail is cheaper, then go that route. In the case of your CPU, retail is cheaper and it means you also get the HSF.

the HSF (heat sink fan) is very important in your case as you wont have to spend additional money on cooling since you arent planning on overclocking (uh, which i assumed...if you want to OC, go OEM or w/e is cheaper then buy additional cooling and a good psu, like recommended above)

I actually plan on overclocking the 3200+ it even though I have no clue how. I'm sure there is a "how-to" somewhere on overcloking unless you can give me a few tips on what to do.

That being said, do you recommend a decent (not too high priced) HSF that would be good for the motherboard and CPU I want?

 

[bREwIn dOdgEr dUDe]

consider the zalman hs/fans cnps7700alcu (alum/copper) or 7700cu (copper)... less expensive cnps7000b-cu (copper) or 7000balcu (alum/copper)... to go with the OEM cpu... good luck on the build/OC...

 

[joejccva]

Originally posted by: bREwIn dOdgEr dUDe
consider the zalman hs/fans cnps7700alcu (alum/copper) or 7700cu (copper)... less expensive cnps7000b-cu (copper) or 7000balcu (alum/copper)... to go with the OEM cpu... good luck on the build/OC...

Thanks for the info.

One more question.

"The Pentium Guy" said to get the Antec SmartPower II 400W PSU. If I am going to be OC'ing my A64 3200+, wouldn't I need something like a 480W ? Or will 400W suit all my needs? Comments ? Suggestions?

Thanks again.

 

[bREwIn dOdgEr dUDe]

400w should suffice... unless one day in the future you decide to go duallie processor with more drives, etc...

 

[knothead34]

thats an sli board. i would get more then 400watts. if your going with 6600gt i would get fortron blue storm its native 24 pin and 500watts and the cables are sleaved. can be had for under 100.00 bucks.