You probably get a lot of these but...

[Sqube]

So I'm looking forward to building a new system of mine. I don't have any friends who are really knowledgeable about computers. I figured I'd go ahead and post this here and see what people thought about it. Nothing's 100% set in stone, but I figure some of the things you'd have to give some pretty compelling evidence to change my mind. Anyways, here's my upcoming specs:

Tower: CoolerMaster Wave Master Aluminum
Motherboard: Gigabyte K8NXP-9 or MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum
PSU: Antec True480
CPU: Athlon64 3200+ (Winchester)
CPU Cooling: Thermalright XP-120 or Thermaltake Pipe101 Heatpipe Cooler "CL-P0006" (1)
RAM: 1 GB DDR400 Crucial Ballistix
Hard Drives: 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 ST3160827AS 160GB
Optical Drive: NEC ND-3500A
Video Card: Geforce 6800GT (2)
Sound Card: Creative Labs SG Audigy ZS 7.1 (3)
Floppy Drive: Alps Silver 3.5inch Floppy Disk Drive, Model DF354H168F (4)
Keyboard and Mouse: ... no idea. I was thinking Logitech Cordless MX Duo, but that Razer Diamondback Optical looks like a nice mouse... anyone have any suggestions on this one?
Thermal Paste: Arctic Silver 5
Fans: I don't know anything about this... what's good and inexpensive?

(1) Since I won't be overclocking, will extra CPU cooling be necessary, or will I be able to get by with the stock cooling solution?

(2) This card and the X800 Pro are neck and neck, but I like this one more in the long run because of the extra pipelines. What I don't know, however, is what card maker to go with. Any and all suggetions would be greatly appreciated.

(3) Overkill? I've got 2.1 speakers and don't even have the space for 5.1 speakers where the computer's currently located. Maybe I should just go with onboard audio?

(4) I searched for a couple minutes and found this one; I only went with it because it's silver. If you've got a link to something else that's better quality I'm all ears.


This is a list of everything that I'll be needing, so please let me know if I missed anything. So... yeah, thanks in advance for any and all suggestions!

 

[Philippine Mango]

With that kind of cooling setup, you could easily overclock your CPU. Default cooling/stock does what it's intended to do, keep the CPU cool. If you really want that cooling setup, you mind as well overclock the system a little bit. I'm sure the ram will overclock a bit and the cpu should as well. The gigabyte should be a better option but you don't have to trust me because I don't have any amd boards.

 

[Sqube]

You're probably right that I could overclock that stuff, but I am feeling kinda leery about the whole thing. If I didn't overclock, would either of those be fine? One of them is like $30 more expensive the last time I checked (I can't remember which one though...)

Anyone have any suggestions about the fans or mouse+keyboard? Now that Christmas is over, I'm really thinking about trying to keep my eyes open for deals and I'd like to start buying parts.

 

[Sc4freak]

If you aren't overclocking then the stock CPU cooler and thermal pad will be fine.

 

[icejunkie]

Actually, I think the MSI Neo2 overclocked pretty good. Thing is, no one has reviewed the new generation nForce4 boards, so it's hard to say if the Neo4 will do the same since little is known about stability/reliability/overclockability.
If you aren't planning on overclocking, save the money and settle for stock cooling. There's a reason it's there, and the reason isn't to go and buy a different HSF

 

[Astu222]

and if you arent overclocking then just regular corsair value select would be fine. right?

 

[Mik3y]

Originally posted by: Sc4freak
If you aren't overclocking then the stock CPU cooler and thermal pad will be fine.

stock cooler's plenty fine for ocing. as for the compilation, that setup is great. i recommend the epox mobo for it's better reliability over the msi board. as for the video card, get the 6800 gt. it beats the x800 pro in everything and is a way better bang for your buck. if you are not going to overclock, value select memory is fine. memory timings dont have a lot to do with amd platforms because of the shorter pipelines and the athlon 64's integrated memory controllers.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Astu222
and if you arent overclocking then just regular corsair value select would be fine. right?

this is true. get value RAM if you arnt overclocking

 

[ts3433]

Let's run down the list..

1. Use stock cooling if not overclocking. Value RAM, as stated above, is fine then too.

2. For board makers, eVGA, BFG, and Leadtek seem to be good; I know there are others. Decide on price, service, and maybe how good the heatsink is.

3. Ditch the sound card if the speakers aren't really high-end; if you find you need better music quality, get a Chaintech AV710 for $25.

4. Stock thermal pad's fine for stock cooling.

Also, you're planning on going PCIe, right? If you don't plan to do SLI, consider the new Chaintech VNF4/Ultra board (I think the MSI is a pseudo-SLI with an NF4U chipset).

 

[Sqube]

Yeah, I'm going PCI-E and non-SLI. So regular Crucial RAM would be just as good, n'est-ce pas? I don't want to just go cheap on the RAM, I'm looking for quality. That's why I was using Ballistix in the first place.

I'll take a look at that Chaintech; I'm definitely trying to get a high quality mobo since I'll be using it for the forseeable future.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: Sqube
Yeah, I'm going PCI-E and non-SLI. So regular Crucial RAM would be just as good, n'est-ce pas? I don't want to just go cheap on the RAM, I'm looking for quality. That's why I was using Ballistix in the first place.

I'll take a look at that Chaintech; I'm definitely trying to get a high quality mobo since I'll be using it for the forseeable future.

RAM

get this RAM if you are not overclocking. Its cheap, it is a GREAT brand, and it has a lifetime warrant.y what more could you ask for?

 

[jdogg707]

If you want equally good memory with a bit tighter timings, these will work when not overclocking...PDP 1GB (512MB x 2) Dual Channel Kit

I have had very good luck with them in various system builds, no problems at all!

 

[Viggilyboy]

Both mice that you are looking at are very nice, but I myself decided on the Razer. If you play FPS then you will not be able to find anything to match it in accuracy. Also the on-the-fly sensitivity can be very useful in games where you will be sniping. I don't think that anyone else has this feature.

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: jdogg707
If you want equally good memory with a bit tighter timings, these will work when not overclocking...PDP 1GB (512MB x 2) Dual Channel Kit

I have had very good luck with them in various system builds, no problems at all!

Timings themselves don't really make a noticeable difference in performance, but that [[I am an idiot... see the next post]] RAM is still [[maybe; seek confirmation]] a good deal if you want to fool around with some overclocking later.

^Fixed

 

[jdogg707]

Originally posted by: ts3433

Originally posted by: jdogg707
If you want equally good memory with a bit tighter timings, these will work when not overclocking...PDP 1GB (512MB x 2) Dual Channel Kit

I have had very good luck with them in various system builds, no problems at all!

Timings themselves don't really make a noticeable difference in performance, but that TCCD-based RAM is still a good deal if you want to fool around with some overclocking later.

These are not the TCCD based chips, only the XBL chips are based on the Samsung TCCD RAM.

 

[Sqube]

If I understood how RAM latencies worked, I'd probably be able to get into that bit a lot more effectively... I'm glad to see a confirmation on the RAZER mouse though.

What about keyboards though? The ones that have 1,000,001 shortcuts for everything you could possibly want, and a lot of things you couldn't, don't interest me in the slightest. The only shortcut keys I use on my current keyboard are the volume controls.

They wouldn't happen to have a regular keyboard (or maybe even split for that whole ergonomics thing) that has nothing but volume control in terms of extra buttons, would they?

 

[Rhin0]

Forgot the Artic silver and the aftermarket CPU cooler...... Only real thing I see I don't like.

Fans should come with the case... Those drives will be fine. If you'd rather have only one check out the next size Seagate or the Hitachi 250.

 

[Sqube]

What's wrong with the Arctic Silver and the aftermarket CPU coolers?

 

[BOLt]

Creative Labs SB Audigy 2 ZS Sound Card.
Logitech Z-2200 2.1 Speakers (hurry and get the $50 rebate! expires 12/31).
Crucial Ballistix 1GB (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 RAM.
NEC or Lite-On Floppy Drive > Alps IMO.
Logitech MX510 Mouse.
BFG GeForce 6800 GT OC PCIe.
Logitech Elite Keyboard.

BFG and Gainward own the GPU market for NVIDIA cards. Since Gainward is AGP only for the NVIDIA GeForce 6800/GT/Ultra, go BFG from Chumbo. If you are not doing SLI, then get a Sapphire X800XL. It is $100 less and outperforms the 6800 GT. I almost considered the Razer Diamondback, but it just might be too sensitive. Besides, I don't wanna make it seem like my l337 flying skills in Battlefield or my godly Doom 3 pwnage or my CS game is all down to a mouse . Be careful what you splurge on!

Good system overall. Good luck.

 

[Sqube]

Any other takers on this system? Rhin0 says that s/he doesn't like Arctic Silver and the aftermarket CPU cooling; anyone care to take a guess as to why?

Also, am I missing anything that I'll need to purchase before I can finish putting this system together, or does the above cover everything I'll need?