Critique my box

[dignant]

This is my first real post here at Tom's, so hello!
I've lurked here for years and have finally decided to join in on the forum!

Ok, the skinny, I am a graphic designer and I need a critique from anyone here on the new box i'm building. I've built a couple boxes, but its been a while since i've done it (3.5 yrs to be exact) The programs i use constantly are:
*All Adobe products
*Some Macromedia products
*Sketch-up
*Maya

So print, video, and 3d are my big chunk of work, im not a big gamer however i am looking at the ati9800pro... My whole idea here is to build an all around fairly quiet production box. I really cant afford the high end raid, nor the graphics cards specifically for the acceleration of 3d modeling like the wildcat. I'm not confident about overclocking due to the expense i am going to pay on the P4 but i am interested in the possibilities. So anyway, from my old box i have my hard drives, graphic cards (which i will be updating soon but not yet) dvd and cd burners...so on to the new stuff...


Here is the receipe so far.
--------------------------------------
case: Kingwin K-424 Silver Aluminum Case with Side Panel Window (any other reccomendations??)
power: Antec True 480 Watt
mobo: 865PE Neo2-FIS2R (picked from Tom's review! not sure if i want the 875 though, any other reccomendations??)
cpu: P4 3.2 with the 800fsb
cpu cooler: ???not sure???
ram: Kingston 2gb (2 1GB Kits 400MHz DDR PC3200 DIMM 3-3-3)
extra fans: ??should i??
accessories: lighting reccomendations???? (inexpesive please)

So please pick it apart, reccomend something completely different, any positive advice would be awesome. Remember, speed is the key here.


***About the ram I'd like to purchase the corsair with PC3200 lower latency but the buyer guide didn't reccommend the "ll" so i don't know if they are compatible with my board, also im not sure how much of a difference it will make compared to the kingstons, and the extra $$$, anyone know anything?

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Kingwin case is good. Lots of casefans. (i have a similar one rebranded under another name)

r9800pro will give you LOTS of graphical performance for everything Get a 128Mb model too as the 256mb versions offer little to no extra performance. Save you some $$$.

PSU good
mobo good
cpu good

CPU cooler - Just go with the stock one. they arnt too loud.

Ram looks good, hopefully there wont be any issues with running 4 sticks of ram. I Use the Corsair LL stuff and its good enough.
Might get a few extra % performance but it will depend on what you are doing and also IF the mobo can handle 4 sticks of fast ram running on hard mem timings.

Extra fans: shouldnt need them with that case.
Accessories: bah. rice.


All in all an awesome system.


<b>I am not a AMD fanboy.
I am not a Via fanboy.
I am not a ATI fanboy.
I AM a performance fanboy.
And a low price fanboy.
Regards,
Mr no integrity coward.</b>

 

[dignant]

lhgpoobaa: thanks for the comments! makes me feeel better about my purchaces...

However i do not have a cpu fan at all so any reccomendations would be great, the quieter the better!

Also that case seems awesome and since it has an "aquarium" window on its side i kinda want to do sumthing simple wether its a light or something else, however i do not want to spend alot of money, (more like loose change)on major accessories. The simpler the better.

I really like the corsair ram better, but the extra money for the name and lcd lights on my chips doesnt seem worth it, however they are the most reliable i have ever had in the past... im torn.. what do you think i should do?

 

[lhgpoobaa]

Can you not get a Boxed Intel CPU then?
YOu get the cpu, thermal interface material AND a decent heatsink.

If you desire uber quiet then and you have the money i recommend you get a MCX-4000 and a panaflo 92mm low speed fan.
Monsterous heatsink with a slow and quiet fan.

And if your ram has been reliable in the past you may as well stick to it.


And i dont much care for windows and lights and the like so your askin the wrong person.
I prefer the simple eligance of an all Black system

<b>I am not a AMD fanboy.
I am not a Via fanboy.
I am not a ATI fanboy.
I AM a performance fanboy.
And a low price fanboy.
Regards,
Mr no integrity coward.</b>

 

[Ubiquity]

I have read alot of news on building a quiet pc since I just barely finished ordering mystuff today.

I've heard that for silence, zalman is the way to go. Their supposed to be the leaders in the silent technology. They have a really huge heat sink that has a huge fan on top of it, the larger the fan the less rpm's it has to spin and it reduces silence. It's like 50 bucks though.

If you do a fan controller, then vantec makes the only controller where you can actually turn the fans off with the nobs. There is 201 and 205 that controll 4 fans but can't turn the fans completely off. The 305 and 301 models control 3 fans(these models do turn the fans off) and one extra knob that controlls the pc lights to either be on, off, or to flash with sound. The latter models even come with pc light tubes. If you want to monitor the temperature then you have to get a seperate case mod for it. Some of the fan controllers have temp and fan control, but half of them only perform one function. If you want to control a [-peep-] load of fans(you can't turn them off though) and be able to see many different temperatures then the king [-peep-] of the fan controllers is the digital doc+. It controllers up to 8 different fans, and monitors 8 different places or drives of your choice. It's 50 bucks compared to the normal 35 for the others.

 

[g5_inside]

If you are working with print, video, and 3d.. buy yourself a mac.. you will thank yourself later.

There is a reason that almost all professionals use apple for graphics...

 

[dignant]

i plan on it but only a powerbook, and only when they do a real upgrade with their processor... you know apples marketing department is really crappy to the buyer, they release panther after they update their platforms for an extra price, thats bull!@#$....i use macs at work, as well as pcs. both are great, both have there ups and downs, and to say that i will be happier in the longrun because i go with a g5 (which are definitly IMO, one of the greatest designs through and through thus far for computers) is just trying to spark some mac vs pc debate which has nothing to do with this thread.

 

[ImpPatience]

Cheap and easy case lighting? Go for some lighted fans -they don't cost a lot more and then you don't have to get anything else. I wouldn't go with the cold cathode lights cause they seem to run around $20 US. Two or three lighted fans ought to work.

As for your system specs - I agree with the other guys - looks good!

<font color=blue><b>Purchase object A, install object A, curse object A, repeat...</b></font color=blue>

 

[coolsquirtle]

if u want a quiet box. Antec Sonata is quiet....real quiet....

PS- get True Blue u'll have pretty blue LED

what about the rest of the comp?
HDD
CD/DVD ROM
CD/DVD burner
MOUSE/KEYBOARD
SPEAKERS
MONITOR
SOUND CARD
OTHER CARDS?!?!?!

RIP Block Heater....HELLO P4~~~~~
120% nVidia Fanboy
bring it fanATics~~ nVidia PWNS all!
SCREW aBOX! LONG LIVE nBOX!!