Final List of Parts

[JustysRule]

This is my "final" list of the parts I'm using to build my computer. Just kind of curious of what you guys thought, and if you could suggest anything better. It'll be used for some autocad, watching movies, burning cds, etc. Mabye an occasional game, but nothing serious, and no overclocking. Main thing is I wanted a good budget pc thats quiet and stable.

Antec Black ATX Mini Tower PC Case with 350W PSU

ATI RADEON PRO 128MB 256bit w/R360 core - plan to do the XT flash, and then whenever I get into college and need it for autocad, the FIREGL flash

Athlon 64 Socket 754 3400+ @ 2.4ghz OEM

Mushkin Dual Pack 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) PC3200

Aopen 16X Double Layer DVD+/- RW

ZALMAN CNPS7000B-AlCu Aluminum + Copper CPU

SOLTEK "SL-K8AN2E-GR" NVIDIA nForce3 250Gb

2 80gb MAXTOR HDDs w/ SATA & Raid 0


I'm gonna wait and buy a LCD monitor, new keyboard, mouse, and printer right before I leave for school. All that is coming from New Egg, and will run me about 900 bucks. Any comments?

 

[pat]

I would just get maybe a bigger PSU and bigger HDD, like 2 x120Gigs.

-Always put the blame on you first, then on the hardware !!!

 

[JustysRule]

Yeah, I was going to get a silent coolmax 420W, but the stupid case comes with the power supply, so I figure I might as well give it a try, its a quiet power supply and people say they're good.

It seems like I can't find any normal cases. All I want is a decent black-mini tower case thats normal looking, no fancy doors, lights, windows, etc.

 

[Cybercraig]

Two things:

Not all R360 cores can be flashed-up successfully. Mine won't. I would look at a 6600GT also.

Mushkin ram is warranted only as long as YOU own it. Sell it to your buddy and bye bye warranty.



Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot

 

[JustysRule]

Thanks for the information. I thought all R360 cores could be flashed. Thats not a big deal though, if it doesn't it doesn't, I wouldn't pay extra to get the FIREGL anyways, and I won't be playing that many games. I'm not worried about the ram though, once it goes in, it'll stay in. All I care if it is stable, reliable, an has decent performance (2.5 CAS Latency for 130 bucks).

As for the case, I gave up and decided I'd get an Evercase mid tower w/ fan duct and a Noisetaker 420W. I decided to go for the noistaker instead because of the dual 12V rails and I looked at some voltage benchmarks and saw that it was right on the money, even better than the coolmax. That, and its more efficient too.

 

[jammydodger]

I flashed my R350 core and it still works fine. How do you know you are def getting the R360 core though?

 

[JustysRule]

If you look at a picture of the R350 Radeon 128mb PRO w/ the boxy looking hsf, you can see the differences in the placement of the capacitors and some other things than the same version of the card with the R360 core. I just looked on New Egg, and looked at all the pictures until one matched exactly like the ones with the R360 cores.

Thats probably not enough to convince you, so you have to look at it another way, Saphire sells 2 OEM Radeon 128mb PRO 256bit cards on New egg, exact same cards, but one is 25 dollars more (the one that looks exactly like the R360 core) for no apparent reason. Then, if you look at the reviews, everybody says they got the R360 core and flashed it, plus, the p.o.s. keeps going out of stock like crazy, so obviously people are buying it over the cheaper one that is exactly the same for no reason.

And finally, the saphires are more likely to have the R360 cores. So, it may not be a "guarantee," but I'd bet money on it, and as I said, if it isn't a R360, I'm not that concerned about it.

 

[Cybercraig]

And finally, the saphires are more likely to have the R360 cores.
___________________________________________________________


Hey, that's exactly why I bought mine. But, as soon as I push the core past 392mhz it snows like winter! Since the XT runs at 412mhz, flashing my R360 to the XT Bios will KILL IT. They put the R360's that won't run XT speeds in the Pro cards just like they put the Athlons that run at 1.45v into the MP bin. There is no guarantee that you are going to get a good XT core unless you buy an XT card. Some will clock up fine and some won't.


Abit IS7 - 3.0C @ 3.6ghz - Mushkin PC4000 (2 X 512) - Sapphire 9800Pro - TT 420 watt Pure Power
Samsung 120gb ATA-100 - Maxtor 40gb ATA - 100
Sony DRU-510A - Yellowtail Merlot

 

[JustysRule]

Well, like I said, I'm gonan try a flash, I'd still buy the same one if it couldn't be flashed. Plus I'm more concerned about flashing it to a Firegl-128 than I am an XT, and they run at the same clock speeds as the pros so thats a guarantee flash there anyways. Also, did you change your hsf? The flash doesn't work unless you get better cooling, the things run hot anyways.

 

[jammydodger]

Bear in mind that I got snow when I overclocked to XT speeds (its watercooled so I doubt heat was the issue)but when I flashed to XT speeds it was fine. A lot of people say the BIOS flash also gives a small voltage increase.

 

[tweebel]

You don't really need a dual pack with socket 754 unless it's for future reasons. 2 512 MB chips, not matched, from the same brand, will do just fine and probably be cheaper.

 

[jammydodger]

Yeh you dont need a dual pack, I would get a single 1GB stick which will leave you more room to upgrade l8r.

 

[endyen]

The 1 gig stick will also be easier on the odmc. Put it in the slot closest to the chip. It makes a difference.

 

[tweebel]

Most 1 GB sticks are really a lot more expensive than 2 512 sticks of the same brand... At least, they are here.

 

[jammydodger]

How much more expensive we talking? If its a lot then get the 2x512, if its a few $ then get the 1GB.

 

[JustysRule]

2x512mb is 129.99, 1 512mb is 66.99, and 1 gig is 184.99. Its cheapest to buy the matched pair.