Opinions Needed on System Components

[yabanci]

It's time for me to upgrade my system and I'd appreciate if you all could answer a few questions and/or comment on what I intend to purchase. Any help is appreciated, since I haven't paid much attention to hardware technology since I bought my last computer a few years ago.

I'm not really a gamer or aggressive overclocker, and the system primarily will be for digital imaging and video with programs such as camtasia, adobe photoshop and premiere, etc., burning dvds and cds, heavy internet use with mozilla, and typical use of office applications. I do tend tend to run multiple apllications at once.

I also need it to run (sshhhhh) peacefully and quiet.

Here is what I plan to get:

AMD XP 2500+ Barton OEM
Speeze CPU Fan Model WhisperRock II 5F263B1M3
Epox 8RDA+ (8RGA+ ???) Nforce2 chipset
2x 256 Kingston DDR-333 PC27000 HyperX (2x512???)
Antec Sonata Case with 380w power supply

I already have a Maxtor D740x ultra ata/133 7200 2mb buffer, floppy, cd-rw, external dvd+rw, wireless mouse and keyboard, speakers, and 19' monitor.

Questions:

1. Am I better off with the 2500 barton or the 2600 Thoroughbred with 333fsb?

2. I now have a nVidia GForce2 GTS 32mb agp4x card (oem from dell) - should I pay the few extra dollars to replace it by getting the nforce2 motherboard version with the integrated GeForce4MX graphics? I'm really not inclined to buy a new video card.

3. Is kingston hyperx ram the best to go with, or can I get by with something less expensive (if so, what brand?). I read somewhere that I need to make sure it is CL2 memory.

4. Are there any recommendations on cases/fans that will make it run more quietly than what I have selected? - I don't want to spend more than $100 on a case.

5. Should I go with Windows xp home or continue with Windows ME?

6. Am I missing anything obvious?

Sorry for all the questions and thanks in advance.

 

[slvr_phoenix]

Your choices look good to me.

1. Am I better off with the 2500 barton or the 2600 Thoroughbred with 333fsb?

The 2600 has a higher rating for a reason. I'd only suggest the 2500 to people who plan on OCing. If you're going to run at stock, get the 2600. Sure it has less cache, but it also runs <b>250</b>MHz faster.

2. I now have a nVidia GForce2 GTS 32mb agp4x card (oem from dell) - should I pay the few extra dollars to replace it by getting the nforce2 motherboard version with the integrated GeForce4MX graphics? I'm really not inclined to buy a new video card.

I'd say that so long as your GF2 is a 1.5v card then just stick with that.

3. Is kingston hyperx ram the best to go with, or can I get by with something less expensive (if so, what brand?). I read somewhere that I need to make sure it is CL2 memory.

Best is a subjective term. Personally, I'd refer to the 'best' as Corsair 3200LL. It's expensive though. Heh heh. Kingston's HyperX is pretty good though and costs less. You could go even cheaper if you aren't concerned with extremely low latency settings. There are others. And it doesn't <i>have</i> to be CL2 either. You could even use CL2.5 and probably be quite happy. It wouldn't have the same performance though.

4. Are there any recommendations on cases/fans that will make it run more quietly than what I have selected? - I don't want to spend more than $100 on a case.

To my knowledge, there are no better for silence in that price range. (And frankly, I like the Sonata better than most others anyway.)

However, if you want an even quieter Sonata, you could look into adding <A HREF="http://www.quietpcusa.com/acb/showdetl.cfm?&DID=8&Product_ID=32&CATID=6" target="_new">acoustic matting</A>.

5. Should I go with Windows xp home or continue with Windows ME?

Personally I'd go with WinXP Pro. If you want to go with WinXP Home though, that'd do. I never suggest WinME to anyone. I'd suggest Win98SE before WinME, and I don't even suggest Win98SE anymore because drivers for it are becoming incredibly rare.

Also the nForce2 mobos need a <A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;242937" target="_new">patch</A> for old versions of Windows. I know that it applies to Win98SE. It might also need to be done for WinME.

6. Am I missing anything obvious?

Not that I can think of.

"<i>Yeah, if you treat them like equals, it'll only encourage them to think they <b>ARE</b> your equals.</i>" - Thief from <A HREF="http://www.nuklearpower.com/daily.php?date=030603" target="_new">8-Bit Theater</A>

 

[jmecor]

One IMPORTANT NOTE: Just Avoid Windows ME.
It's the worst Microsoft OS "ever".

 

[o1die]

If you want a quiet cpu fan, get a zalman "fan mate 1" rpm adjuster for about $5-7. Some amd fans run at 4500 rpm. I lowered mine to 3000, and the cpu temp only rose a couple of degrees.