Yet another "check my rig before I hit the 'buy' button" thread

[Acacius]

I know, I know, it's overdone to death, but I just feel better if I have you folks check it over before I actually spend this much money.

I just got a new job that allows employees to take out an interest free computer loan of up to $2500 every 24 months. Which is nice as I'd been wanting to upgrade from my 1.2GHZ TBird anyways. Of course, I'd prefer $1000 every 12 months, but what can you do? Due to the nature of the loan, I'm going to go ahead and get a p4 rather than a Barton. What I currently have planned (all from newegg as I can only turn in one invoice for the loan)

- Antec 3700AMB w/Antec smart power 350W (Enough power? Should I bite the bullet and just go with a 1080AMB?) - $64.99

- 2x YS-tech 120mm fans - $15.98(total)

- ABIT IS-7 mobo - $109

- Intel 2.4C processor (I'm hoping to get 3.0GHz out of this. From what I've read on the boards, that should be a fairly safe bet. Is the extra $50 for the 2.6C worth it?) - $175

- Zalman CNPS7000-Cu - $41.99

- 2x WD Raptors (I don't download much media, so this ought to be enough storage for me. Worst case I grab the 40MB harddrive out of my current computer that I've never come especially close to filling.) - $280(total)

- NEC floppy drive (Still gotta have it, sadly enough) - $7

- 2x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC3200 memory (Is the 3500 worth the extra $31 per stick? It seems this rig is getting kinda expensive, even prorated over 24 months. ) - $218(total)

- Guillemont ATI 9800pro - $365 after $30 savings (same price after savings as the Sapphire. Guillemont's a good company, I assume that with the prices being equal, the Guillemont is preferable?) (Ouch, that's a lot of dough to lay out for one card.)

- Logitech z640 5.1 speakers - $65

- WinXP pro, full (using win98 currently, I've been meaning to upgrade for a while) - $143

- Use the monitor, keyboard, mouse, and cd-rw from my current computer. I'm somewhat tempted to add an lcd monitor, but I'm inclined to save up until 16ms 19" monitors are available and somewhat reasonable in price. My crt should do just fine until then

Total - $1,484.95

Anyways, thoughts, comments or suggestions?

 

[Ionizer86]

I read that Bestbuy has HyperX on sale. Check the Hot Deals thread.

Wow, that Zalman is expensive. Are you going for a quiet system or no? You do have Raptors, which probably aren't very quiet.

 

[PCHPlayer]

A little more info on what you plan to do with the computer. It you are not playing games or using an 3D apps you could save a bundle on the video card.

 

[Acacius]

Ionizer: Noise level is secondary to cooling. It isn't completely trivial (no Vantec Tornados for me), but efficient cooling is definitely more important.

PCH: I spend more time than I really ought to on MMORPGs. When I hit town, SWG has a distressing habit of making my current system whimper, even with low detail settings. That said, I'm not really huge into FPSs, so I'm not really terribly worried about Doom3 or HL2. SWG, EQ2 and World of Warcraft are my primary concerns.

 

[Tab]

If your not downloading alot of stuff why buy the 2 Raptors? As for the video card, the Herculas was the slowest of the all the 9800Ps.

 

[miri]

You in college? I got full version of XP pro from my university for $69.

 

[Acacius]

Tabb: Well, the dual Raptors are so I can put them in RAID 0. Well, that and 36GB does seem a bit cramped. While I don't do much downloading, I do tend to install games and not uninstall them when I'm done with them. And at least 72GB does give me the option of doing a little d/l'ing if I get the desire to. And thanks for the heads up on the 9800. I guess I should have done a bit more research. The Sapphire it is then.

miri: Sadly, no. I've been a "productive" member of society since '99. Cheap software is just one of the many things I miss about life as a college student.

 

[TheInvincibleMustard]

Originally posted by: Tabb
As for the video card, the Herculas was the slowest of the all the 9800Ps.

Where'd you find that? I haven't seen a comparison between different makers of 9800's ...

Hercules/Guillemont does have phenomenal technical support, though (which is why the cost a little more). A toll-free number and a live person on the other end who actually speaks English is something that's very rare these days.

If it were up to me, I'd go with the Hercules/Guillemont if it's the same price as the Sapphire, even if it is a touch slower, just for that reason ... one less headache to worry about.

The PSU might be a little on the smaller side, but I'm not sure exactly how much power Raptors take, so I can't tell you for sure. There's plenty of threads on the forums, though, that can help you with your PSU purchase.

 

[Acacius]

Originally posted by: TheInvincibleMustard
The PSU might be a little on the smaller side, but I'm not sure exactly how much power Raptors take, so I can't tell you for sure. There's plenty of threads on the forums, though, that can help you with your PSU purchase.

But, but, I want all my information spoon-fed to me.

Seriously though, it is one thing that worries me. Most of the threads on "is this power supply enough" would seem to suggest that a 350W Antec would be enough, but one of the calculators that was linkified in one of the posts (http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/) suggested 344W as the minimum recommended power supply idea. And, well, not only am I guessing the Raptor's draw more power, but that's skating things kinda close. I dunno, I might just get the 3700AMB from Directron where I can go ahead and upgrade the power supply just to be on the safe side. It might be a decent compromise between the somewhat smallish power supply and the almost comical (given what I'll be filling it with) size of the 1080AMG. Granted, keeping everthing on one invoice'd be better, but it's not like $100 up front is going to break the bank.

 

[DGath]

I just bought a similiar system, so here's my advice.

Is that 2.6c worth it? I actually decided to go with the 2.8c since it is only $100 more. Think about how tempted you'll be when the 3.2c's drop in price months from now. Upgrading 800 mhz is something that would be tempting, but there's not many of us out there that would upgrade from a 2.8c to a 3.2c. Just think about your future plans for this system and if you *think* you might upgrade to a 3.2c, or even be tempted, just go with the 2.8c. You'll be more comfortable with the decision.

I also bought a gig kit of HyperX3200. Someone mentioned that BestBuy is selling 3500 for whatever amount of dollars. While it's a good deal, don't bite. I think those are lesser quality, albeit... faster. The rebate is only good for 1 stick, not two. And finally, you want to buy a gig kit, not two unmatched 512 meg sticks. So yeah... good choice with the RAM. Is the 3500 worth it? If you are planning on doing a good amount of overclocking, sure, but 3200 is good enough for standard overclocking. I'll be happy as can be if I can get mine over 3.2 ghz.

I bought the same motherboard and now I think I should have bought the E realizing I can't use RAID since I don't have SATA drives, just matching ATA drives. While I can buy converters, I think I'll just wait to do RAID. It was only $10 more for SATA RAID and FireWire on the standard IS7 so I'm not regreting my decision at all though. But since you are using the raptors (SATA) that a good choice of motherboard.

About the power supply, that's plenty. Everyone always says quality over quantity and 350 Antec watts is quite a bit. Don't pay attention to those power supply calculators, almost worthless IMO.

That's it in terms of advice that I can give you. So if it was me I'd just go ahead and fork out the $100 and get the 2.8c, but other than that, it looks pretty good. Only thing I'd change about your setup is move that 40gb HDD you said you have into the new system as a backup drive for the RAID drives. I'd just use that for backup storage to make me sleep better at night incase the array got jacked up.

My system should be here by Friday and it should be a fun one. Only differences is you are getting the 9800 and raptors, and I'm just going to move over my 8500 and ATA 7200 HDDs, so yours should be that much more fun. Although I am getting the 2.8c, but I'd still rather have your system.

Enjoy.

 

[Corporate Thug]

ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB AGP (Retail) for $360 @ mwave (built by Ati)