1st time building computer

jonesy2crazy · Apr 24, 2005

Hi all,

This will be my first time building a new computer from scratch..i have experience installing parts from upgrading my old computer, however I'm giving that one to my little brothers and building a new one. If anyone could go over these specs and let me know what you think about them, whether this will be a fully compatible machine, whether i'm missing anything important, and if you think i could get any parts that are better and/or for a better price.

XION XION II XON-101 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811208005

ASUS K8V SE DELUXE Socket 754 VIA K8T800 ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131490

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Newcastle 800MHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 754 Processor
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103486

CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) System Memory
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820145505

I already have:
sound card (Create SB Live! 5.1)
video card (NVIDIA GeForce 6800)
mouse, keyboard, network adapter, monitor, HDs

Thanks for all your help!

Flinx · Apr 24, 2005

Can tell you if it's 100 compatible. Looks nice though

The loving are the daring!

jonesy2crazy · Apr 24, 2005

Thanks,

anyone else have any comments?

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

thanks for the reply...from a standpoint of me getting either board, will the CPU and my video card (NVIDIA GeForce 6800) be compatible?

Crashman · Apr 25, 2005

I'd settle for an XP processor on an nForce2 before I'd stoop so low as to use a VIA chipset.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

well i'm glad that i consulted tomshardware before I did anything. ;-)

Any other suggestions?

My friend keeps telling me to get a P4 instead of an AMD 64...I've read up on AMDs being better for the money and I think I will convert to AMD from using P4s since i've heard so many good things. I don't think he knows what he's talking about. I think what he just sees is the P4s are higher in GHz, but isn't an AMD 64 at 2GHz comparible to a P4 at 2.2/4 GHz? Atleast that's what I read somewhere.

Crashman · Apr 25, 2005

Newegg has several nForce3 250GB boards for under $100. I saw one for $89, think it might have been a chaintech.

Chaintech makes good boards, so does Epox, both should meet your budget goals. nForce3 250GB is the best chipset for Socket 754.

A64 offers similar performance to a P4, but better gaming performance overall, with lower power consumption and less heat output. In fact, it has 30-50% lower power consumption, with equal reductions in heat output.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Rugger · Apr 25, 2005

<A HREF="http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813180061" target="_new">Soltek K8AN2E-GR</A> is a great board for $75 at Newegg. The <A HREF="http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813127190" target="_new">Abit NF8</A> is another great board for $89 at Newegg.

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

Thanks for all the help.

I narrowed my motherboard down to 3 choices of Epox.

http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123219
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123242
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813123220

Which one do you think is best in terms of performance?

thanks again for the help.

EDIT: sorry rugger, didn't see your post until after i posted mine. ;-)Edited by jonesy2crazy on 04/24/05 11:22 PM.

Rugger · Apr 25, 2005

Stock performance will be roughly the same on these boards. Make your choice on features that are on the board - be realistic about the features you will use. Paying more money for features that you will never use is a waste of money.

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

Well I do plan on overclocking my AMD, from 2.0 to 2.2. I know one of the boards offered options for easier overclocking.

BTW, what's the highest I can overclock my CPU
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103486 without overheating it?

EDIT: as you can tell, this will be my first time overclocking as well. Thanks for the helpEdited by jonesy2crazy on 04/24/05 11:36 PM.

Rugger · Apr 25, 2005

Depends on the particular chip you get, mobo, cooling and RAM being the other largest factors. Using Value RAM and stock HSF you cshould be able to get to 2.2Ghz without any issues. If you're lucky you could get 2.4Ghz.

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

Thanks for the info on overclocking.

one last question...I will be doing gaming as well as audio/video encoding/processing. Are these boards good for those or do i need something better?

Crashman · Apr 25, 2005

They should all offer the same performance, with features setting one apart from the other.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

Crashman · Apr 25, 2005

None of the boards will affect your audio/video encoding speeds. More memory/faster memory helps encoding more. More is better than faster when it comes to encoding.

Only a place as big as the internet could be home to a hero as big as Crashman!
Only a place as big as the internet could be home to an ego as large as Crashman's!

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

A little update. I've been reading around that socked 754 is giong to be phased out and that everything is moving towards 939...so i'm thinking maybe I should get a 939. I have the NVIDIA GeForce 6800, which is a pretty good video card, without spending over 300 dollars for the higher performance 6800 models.

I do a lot of gaming so maybe I should go with the 939 incase I decided to upgrade my CPU in the future.

EDIT: ok, maybe i'll just stick with the 754...i just took a look at the prices for the AMD 939's.Edited by jonesy2crazy on 04/25/05 01:46 AM.

endyen · Apr 25, 2005

Wise decission, it's hard to find a decent mobo that will take a 939 chip, and has agp.

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

thanks.

should I stick with the corsair 1GB DDR or is there something better out there that i'm overlooking?

thanks again for answering my barrage of questions. ;-)

endyen · Apr 25, 2005

To be honest, a local shop sells samsung TCCC ram at a discount. It works well for me. I cant justify the extra price of corsair.

jonesy2crazy · Apr 25, 2005

In the past I have gone to http://www.datamem.com/default.asp because their quality and service is excellent and their prices are modest.

However the 1GB sticks are a little too much for me with all that i'm going to be buying.

jonesy2crazy · Apr 27, 2005

ok, a little update, since I'm giving away my old computer to my little brothers, my parents have "bought" it from me and I have some more funds for this computer (college loans are a pain in the arse.)

Here's the set up, I'm not sure about the memory so if you know of a brand of 1GB PC3200 modeule that is not too expensive, please let know....and of course, if you see anything else in here that I could get something else better for relatively the same price, do tell me please!

1 x XION XION II XON-101 Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 450W Power Supply
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=0-N82E16811208005

1 x PRINCETON LCD19D Black 19" 25ms LCD Monitor
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=0-N82E16824008011

1 x MSI K8N NEO2 PLATINUM Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce3 Ultra ATX AMD Motherboard
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=0-N82E16813130468

1 x
Update AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3200BIBOX
http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=0-N82E16819103502

Total: $775.99 -100$ rebate for LCD = 675.99 + shipping

Rugger · Apr 27, 2005

<A HREF="http://www2.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146299" target="_new">Mushkin 1GB (2X512)</A> for $81.35

__________________________________________________
You're a boil on the arse of progress - don't make me squeeze you!

jonesy2crazy · Apr 27, 2005

I'm sorry, I meant to say 2 sticks of 512MB PC3500.

jonesy2crazy · Apr 27, 2005

One question: I will have 4 memory slots, and I know most boards have you place chips in slots 1 and 3 for dual channel capability. Can i have 2 sets of dual channels? ie (1+3, 2+4).

If i can only have one, then i'd probably be better off getting two 1GB sticks of PC3200.

If i can do 2 dual channel sets, i'd probably be better of getting 2 sticks of 512MB PC3500 now and 2 more later on. (1GB sticks of 3500 are really expensive right now)

endyen · Apr 27, 2005

Unless you wait for the venice core (should be out in a few weeks now) more than 2 sticks of ram will default mem bus to 333.
It's not that important though, there is little dif in perf.
With the price of 3500 or higher DDR, I would probably use a divider on the ram anyhow, for OCing.
BTW, the slots you want to use are the 2 closest to the chip, then the next 2, as the second pair.

1st time building computer

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