AMD 1.2GHz Dream System- NEED ADVICE!

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Alright I've got a few more notes...

I've got a CD-Burner on the computer I'm using right now. It's a creative 24/4/2 .. not terribly fast I know, but practically new, I'd hate to spend a bunch of extra money getting an second one. I'm just going to move this one to my new computer.

Also, I will likely get the X-gamer rather than the platinum. The reason I chose Klispch is that they got an excellent review, although, maybe I'll still get the Soundblaster Desktop Theatre package.

DDR SDRAM will be a decision I make based on the availability and price of PC2100 and 266MHz FSB T-birds with AMD 760 boards.

A crappy 17" LCD is a LOT more than a top of the line 19" Viewsonic... I don't see the value here? I can't get a 17" LCD for the 550 Canadian Dollars I'm going to spend on a CRT. And LCDs tend to be lower quality, with a smaller viewing angle.

I've never even seen a screen set to 1600x1200 -- I think it will do just fine. I've been living with 800x600 all along ... 🙂

I think 512 RAM is insane. I'll buy one 256 MB Stick. If that's not enough, that's why I've got more than one DIMM slot -- for future expansion.

Whoever said things about the mouse and keyboard and my having already decided -- you're right. I like the intellimouse explorer and the keyboard I picked, it's really just personal preference beyond a certain point.

I have made some changes to my system list based on the suggestions in this thread -- As I said, I'm going to get the X-gamer now, and I'm considering the Creative rather than the Klipsch speakers. Maybe I'll go 1.1GHz Tbird instead of 1.2, I don't know.

As for the whole strip smaller hard drives cheaper faster thing - huh? I've never built a system before, I don't want to make it more difficult for myself by having some fancy HDD array that I have no clue how to setup.

Further comments are appreciated. 🙂


"My software never has bugs. It just develops random features."
 
ok, i agree with the ram expansion option, by 17" flatscreen it was not implied to be a flat monitor but a normal monitor with a flat screen like the sony Wega tvs like trinitron but flat vertically and horisontally, not just vertically, good idea on the speakers, logitec mouse is actually amazing, ive designed quite a few machines with a budget around the same as yours seems to be, youve got quite a nice balance of hardware there, youve already got a cd writer, 4 speed is enough, if a little slow, im making do, 12 speed ends up being little faster than twice as fast. i would still suggest getting an extra 128 meg stick but its your choice in the end, the monitor 17" flatSCREEN (not monitor) is cheaper than a 19" normal or trinitron, and a lot nicer to look at with higher refresh rates and less warpage of images, good luck with the box
 
Sony Wega you're recommending...?

"My software never has bugs. It just develops random features."
 
Seems the Sony Wega is a television, not a monitor? I'm confused.

"My software never has bugs. It just develops random features."
 
An Asus v7700DX wouls be to consider

The A7Vpro is not a good choice since there is no ATA100 on this board you should consider using the A7V without audio the ATA100 controler is a must if you're gaming...

On the Hard drive a maxtor 40gig 7200rpm should be considered because of it's lower price and the building desing of this drive is derived from the deskstar

The speakers i'm using are ACS56 from altec lansing... great bang for the buck in OEM...

On the monitor side... The PF-790 is the one i almost bought! buuuut... i got the very same performance and quality from my Philips! PHILIPS 109B 19IN .25MM
SHORT 1920X1440 @ 60HZ TC099
MF36 LIGHTFRAME TECH

Taske the time to compare it... for 550 CDN i just love this monitor and i sell tons of them.
 
I built something similar but used 2 ibm 75gxp in raid0 since the HD is the slowest component in the entire system, I wanted it to be as fast as possible. I believe the board you are buying does not come with raid but I got the Promise 100 raid card and my drive performance jumped tremendously after implementing the raid setup.
 
As I said several times earlier, I don't know how to setup a RAID and without very specific guidance I wouldn't want to try.

Furthermore, I've had conflicting viewpoints on both ATA 100 and RAID. Some say they're must haves, others say less than 1% performance increases and not worth it.

As for the monitor, once again, personal preference... I've pretty much decided on the one I've got there unless 17" LCDs drop about 75% in price 🙂


"My software never has bugs. It just develops random features."
 
He Alhpathree

When one of the guys above suggested that u get a FLAT 17" monitor... he/she is <b>NOT</b> refering to an LCD...

but rather a normal Arperature Grill CRT (like the Samsung 700NF)

anyways....your dream machine looks good.

EnJoY! :)
 
Setting up a promise RAID card is VERY simple, and dependable. As to raid 0 your performance will increase to almost double a single drive performace (When moving LARGE files). what kills is seek time. As to your monitor I personally could not live without my 21" Sun monitor, and it only cost me $387 used. It kicks much glute at 1600*1400. I also would get the Asus 7700 32mb it has real good performace, and it would be a great match with the Asus motherboard. Check out WWW.pricewatch.com for prices. Thanks for your time

The destination is of no importance, it is the trip that is of importance.
 
Good choice on the Klipsch speakers. I just bought an Altec Lansing ADA 885 a month ago (top of the line for them) and one of the circuit boards melted. They had it encased in a box inside of a box. And we all thought the whole point was to NOT insulate the board.
 
I would opt for the 5.1 Live! Platinum just because of the front panel inputs and the remote control. As far as the Klipsh Promedia speakers, there isn't a better set for the money on the market....dolby digital or not. The Cambridges are good yes, and they offer 5.1 support, but they don't test the structural rigidity of your walls like the Klipsch speakers do. I wouldn't doubt if Klipsch developed a system that was 5.1 compatible in the future.
 
I can actually shed a little light regarding the sound card, surprisingly enough. I have a 5.1 compatible SbLive with just a 4.1 channel speaker system, but I went with the SBLive because of the very low line noise characteristics (my old AWE64 had very high line noise). It's ture; if you're not planning on working with high definition audio files and doing music composition, you probably won't be able to tell the difference between the SBLive platinum and a much cheaper card (I myself do a lot of audio work and the SBLive value works just fine).
 
Yes, as for the hard drive, definitely buying IBM (although I'd never buy an actual computer from IBM, Aptivas scare me... ever heard of MWave? Combined modem and sound card? ICK!)

"My software never has bugs. It just develops random features."
 
If you want my honest advice, I would drop the 1.2ghz athlon, and instead buy something in the 800mhz range and spend some of the arseload of money you would save by doing this on another 256meg RAM 😉

Above a certain point, processor speed doesn't do that much. You can ALWAYS use more ram.

-inq
 
allright, here goes.

the klipsch speakers 4 sats (front left and right, back left and right) and one sub. Thus, the 4.1 designation.

5.1 speakers have what the klipsch system has, plus a center channel.

The new sound blaster lives can power a center channel as well as four sattelites.

Of course, IMHO, the klipsch rock so hardcore you won't miss the center channel.

-inq
 
also, let me don my asbestos vest before I make one final suggestion (*zippp!*):

If your primary OS is going to be win98, drop the CLAP and go Radeon 64MB DDR.

I will be the first to admit that performance of the Radeons blow goats in win2k (that's my config right now, to sucks) but that under win98 performance is on par with the vanilla GF2.

Now, the reason I would recommend the Radeon over the GF2 is that obviously you are building a system that you don't want to have to upgrade every 6 months to keep currect. As games get more and more complex, the GF2U will have a harder and harder time keeping up with the Radeon 64MB DDR because of the Radeon's Z Buffer compression. The Radeon is more future proof than the GF2U.

my two cents. flame away!

-inq
 
I would make 2 minor changes to your system. First, change your memory manufacturer from Crucial to Mushkin. If you're looking for top-of-the-line CAS2 PC133, Mushkin now makes the fastest. OCing may not matter to you, but Mushkin is good up to 145Mhz... Crucial wont make it there. Second, save some $$$ and go with an Antec SX1030 or SX1040 case. I currently own a 1030 case and am OCing my 850 Tbird to 1000. My MoBo temp never changed from 29c. I added the extra 2 fans in the front of the case. Also, Antec PS are kick-ass. Not being a fan of SB audio, I would ask if you really need all the features of their Platinum card. You can save $100 if you just want 5.1 support. Also SB doesnt have the cleanest sounding cards you can buy. Look at the S/N ratios, channel seperation & distortion levels comparativley. Aureal's design was clearly a notch above the SB chips in terms of 3D sound emulation. They are, of course, not an option. However some new sound chips are making their way into the market that look very good.

<font color=green> slice-N-dice </font color=green>
Nothing travels faster than the speed of pain
Click to expand...
 
If you have decided against the DDR mother board (which i would advise waiting the week or so for them) The Abit board with raid is probably your best bet. Otherwise go with the Asues and get a raid controler. Hard drives definatly 2 IBM 7200 ata100 (make sure you get at least 2mb buffer). capacity of drives is up to you. I personaly would look at the 15.2 gb 307015-07n3927 drives but if your needing more HD space, go with higher capacity. These 15gb drives are very cheap at approximatly $100(USD) each.
 
If your a TH fan, then you know that the Radeon doesn't kick in until 32 bit mode at High Rez.... not what this guy wants. Anyway, Nvidia will conquer in the end.
 
Stick with the asus board regardless of what others say. The abit is nice but Abit still has alot of catching up to do in the customer support area, they just don't don't get there bios upgrades out there like ASUS. From there on out it is a matter of personal preference and dollars. Myself personally I would opt for a slower CPU ( 1 gig range) slighly less sound card, perhaps consider a normal gforce gts 64 meg. Take this money you saved and buy the best bad ass monitor you can afford. This is what after all is said and done you will get your most enjoyment out of after all it is what you are looking at correct? The performance you loose will only be detectable in some who cares bench mark while you are enjoying a beutifull picture. There is always value in buying the just under top of the line segment of Computer parts, and remember, three months from now your 1.2 gig will be no longer top of the line either but you are out the several hundred bucks you spent for the current "fastest"! The monitor on the other hand will give you years of enjoyment!
 
I'd go with a nice 5.1 audio system. Cambridge makes a nice one for a good price. Using a 5.1 system you get a center channel speaker, 2 front speakers, 2 rear speakers and a sub. I'd also get a MS Natural Keyboard. It may look odd to you. But, once you try one, you'll never go back. Otherwise, thats a good system.

BTW, is a A7V pro better than a A7V? I thought it wasn't.
 
It's the same board and chipset just has the longer AGP powered proslot. This slot is backwards compatable with standard 4x agp. Other than that I dont beleive there is a performace difference.
 
I like everything, except a couple things caught my eye.
Read up on tiny-bpga memory (spelling?). Its a different architecture than your normal SDRAM. I saw some advertised that claimed 10 degrees cooler running temp and easily overclocked to 150 Mhz. The stuff I saw was made by KTI and it was 6 layer CAS2.. all that.

Although I own the same Klipsch speakers you have listed and I love them, have you considered a true 5.1 system such as the Cambridge Soundworks DTT3500s? I would like to see a Smackdown! between the Klipsch and the 3500s in terms of sound quality.

Things I've heard from a ex 3Com engineer. "3Com cards are great if you are linking up with other computers that have 3Com cards as well... Otherwise ..." I don't have any personal experience with them, but other people I know have had problems. I went generic and my buddies I hook up with go all linksys... I think network card makers specifically plot against each other so that they don't work with each other simply so that they can monopolize if at least a tiny way.:)

No CD-RW (hint: Plextor 121032)? No hardware decoder for the DVD player (hint: Sigma Designs Hollywood Plus)? Those would be in my list of hardware.

With those two components added it certainly would be my dream machine. Oh don't forget the 50" plasma monitor featured in this month's issue of Maximum PC. 😉
 
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