YARMC - Yet Another Rate My Computer before I buy

[laurenlex]

Hello all, thanks to all you helpful forum members, I will not be getting a Dell, and will be building my first new computer. This thing should smoke my current Pentium 3 500mhz with extreme graphics.

Computer will be used for: internet, office apps, dvd backup's, photoshop, and light gaming.

Parts:
Case: Antec Solution Series SLK3700AMB $67
DVD burner: Pioner DVR-108 $81
Hard Drive: Seagate 120 gig SATA $91
Memory: Corsair Value Select 512 $82
Motherboard: Chaintech VNF3-250 $71
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ retail $164
OS: Windows XP home SP2 $94
Video: ATI 9600xt All-in-wonder $199
Total: $849
I have a floppy, monitor, printer, keyboard and speakers from old POS.

I am a little weary of installing windows on a SATA drive, but I bet you guys can help.

Any last minute suggestions, recommendations, or missing parts before I order?

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Dump the chaintech board, they are total chit

 

[DrCool]

do you have any previous experience troubleshooting or fixing computers?

if not, building your own may not be the way to go...

It's not brain surgery, but it can be frustrating and very time consuming. Unless you have an entire weekend to burn, you might want to reconsider.

If you do decide to go ahead, here are some suggestions.

As a first time builder, you want to use parts that generally require less tweaking or coaxing to work correctly.

does that case come with a power supply?

if you want a solid case / ps combo, go with an In-Win s508 ($55) and an Enermax Whisper 350W power supply ($58) http://www.mwave.com , http://www.directron.com

memory: once you've decided on your motherboard, go to http://www.crucial.com and choose the module that is guaranteed to work with your board. Memory issues are commonplace with first time builders, and can often ruin a weekend. Crucial is also a direct vendor, which means they not only make the chips but the modules as well. If you have any problems, they are very easy to RMA / exchange.

Motherboard: Chaintech is not a proven brand in motherboards, go with an ASUS or MSI board. I'd also stick with a Socket A board, as the Athlon 64 platform is still very voltile. I'd recommend theMSI K7N2 DELTA-ILSR, onboard LAN, SATA RAID, FIREWIRE, 6.1 Dolby Sound ($86) http://www.mwave.com

Processor: AMD ATHLON XP 2800+ OEM $84 http://www.mwave.com
HS/F: Taisol CGK760092 $9.95 and Artic Silver 5 $5.95 http://www.kdcomputers.com

Video Card: I'd stay far far away from any ATI videocard, they are notorious for causing headaches, and have poor driver support. They also aren't as compatible with games as nVidia based cards. XFX GEFORCE FX 5700 LE 256MB DDR AGP $138 http://www.mwave.com

with SP2 you might not have to do anything special to install windows on an SATA drive. but worst case senario is you have to load the drivers on a floppy and press F6 during install to load them.

Dr Cool

 

[RadiclDreamer]

Originally posted by: DrCool


Motherboard: Chaintech is not a proven brand in motherboards,

Dr Cool

Thats just a nice way of saying that they blow goats

 

[Yolner]

That Chaintech is one of the best mobos of the year. Read a review before your talk crap nooblets.

 

[Toro 45]

I've read some good reviews on the Chaintech board price/performance it's hard to beat.

If you can swing it get more ram. 512mb can run xp and most apps ok but 1 gig will be so much smoother.

 

[laurenlex]

Thanks, I bit the bullet and ordered it. I switched to a NEC burner and made the hard drive EIDE instead of SATA to eliminate any problems this noob might have installing the OS.

I will stay away from Newegg in the next 2 months so I will not get mad when something I just ordered just got cheaper!

 

[Nessism]

Don't let these other people scare you, your parts selection is solid

I say go for it!

My only weak reservation is the video card. You might want to consider a used 9800 Pro from the For Sale forum along with a Ledtek TV card. 9800 Pro's can be had for $160 or so and you can upgrade later if you want since the TV function is seperate.

Also regarding motherboards, make sure you take the time to research your purchase in the various forums around the net.

Good luck.

Ed

Edit: Don't worry about the SATA business. Your board will most likely load windows without any messing around, mine did anyway. Worse comes to worse, you can always load the driver during start-up. Cross this off your list of worries, you can work your way through