Case Selection...

[Baztian]

I´m gonna build a new pc soon, and I was wandering if I should use a 300W or a 350W case PSU, and what kind of aircooling system I should use. As of now, I´m not going to overclock the system (but I don´t know what the future holds...)

The system will probably look like this:
amd athlon xp 1600+
abit kr7a 266 fsb
256 mb infineon ddr2100 RAM
GeForce4 mx440
32x cd-rom
Creative sb128 pci

Please help. Thank you for your reply.

Baztian

 

[Jake75]

With that system you will probably get away with 300w without any problem, but
I recommend buying a 350w, with that you don´t have to worry if you have enough
power when you want to add more gizmos to your computer.

Creative sb128...are you buying this new or using it from an old computer?
If you´re buying it then consider Sb Live 5.1 instead...it will only cost you
a "symbolic" amount of $$$ instead and offer you so much more.

Geforce4 mx440, a rule of thumb is to avoid everything that has an MX attached
to it´s name...computer wise ofcourse
Buy a Geforce3Ti200 instead, they have hardware support that the Geforce4 does´nt have and
I believe it´s even cheaper.

Oh yes, aircooling...
If your not going to overclock a "standard" fan will do just fine.
But whether your going to OC or not I recommend buying some
better stuff anyway.
For the CPU, a volcano7 is a good choice and for case fans
Papst (they are supposed to be silent).
Also, buy a tube of Artic Silver3 to slap onto your CPU!

Hmmm, that´s all I can come up with for now.

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[Baztian]

Thank you for your reply! I´ll consider the options (´cause I don´t have much money...).

 

[btvillarin]

Not much money? Check out this <A HREF="http://www.overclockers.com/articles575/" target="_new">little article at Overclockers.com</A> on some stuff that might interest you; more specifically, I'm talking about the motherboard and graphics card recommendation.

What do you wanna use your computer for?

And, make sure to not skimp on that power supply. If you want one less worry, go Enermax.

If you want a good sound card, go with either a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or an Aureal Vortex 2 SQ2500. You might find the latter on eBay, but I got mine <A HREF="http://www.compgeeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SQ2500-OPT" target="_new">here</A>. It doesn't look like they'll get any back in stock soon, thoughl.

I totally agree with Jake in getting a GeForce3 Ti200, if you're a gamer. If you want a CD writer, you can get the awesome Lite-On ones at <A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?submit=manufactory&catalog=5&manufactory=1336&DEPA=1" target="_new">Newegg</A>.

If you want to go OEM with your processor, couple it with a Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu. It includes this thermal stuff, but it should be more than adequate. Personally, I'd scrape it off and grab my half-empty (or is it half-full?) tube of AS<b>2</b>. I have it from last year, when I built my computer.

For some how-tos for building computers, I have some links on my site.

Bryan

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<A HREF="http://www.btvillarin.com" target="_new">btvillarin.com</A>
My personal website, chock full of tips and other computer stuff. No ads, banners, or catches. It's currently based on Windows XP, but Windows 2000 stuff to come.

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<i>I'm back from Hawaii, so sorry if I'm a bit slow...</i> :lol:

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[HammerBot]

I agree. 300W should be enough. But usually the 340 or 400W power supplies are not that much more expensive.
And you really should reconsider the graphics card. The G4 MX is a marketing plot. It performs worse than the best G2s. If you go for performance it does not HAVE to be G4.