Parts for a new system (suggestions please)

[ryzbre_x]

This forum seemed as good for this as any so...
I’m trying to get some feedback on the system I want to build before I go buy all the parts. The system is as follows:

Case: Voyuermods Cheiftec case
PSU: Fortron 530W (P530XF530W)
CPU: Pentium 4 “c”, 2.4Ghz (800Mhz FSB)
HSF: Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu
Mobo: MSI Neo2-LS (i865PE)
RAM: Kingston value RAM 2x512MB DDR400 (KVR400X64C3AK2/1G) *
Video: MSI FX5900-TD128 (nVidia FX5900, 128MB)
Hard Drive: Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 80GB SATA150
CD-RW: Plextor 52x32x52 PlexWriter Premium
Sound Card: Creative Labs Audigy 2

* This was the recommended type of RAM on MSI’s website. Not sure, but I may be able to just use 512MB and not notice a difference in performance.

Any feedback on parts that don’t work together or substitutes that work better would be most helpful.

Thanks

 

[gothitbycar]

Feedback in order

1. Is 530 watt power source really needed? I dont see any components that would require that much juice, i bet you could get away with a good quality 300 or 350 watt ps.

2. That choice hits the price/performance issue on the head, its really a great processor. Though if you want to save a few dollars wait till the P5 or Athlon 64 come out, guarenteed price drops.

3. HSF sounds fine.

4. Im not to good with Intel M/B's. MSI is a good company but see if you can get a board with PAT enabled. It's only supposed to be in the i875 but some companys enabled it to get better performance.

5. Ram is fine I guess. How much you needs depends on the type of stuff. 1 GB is future proofing it now. Two sticks is recommended because of dual channel operation.

6. Video card is fine. Dont let any ATi fanboys change your mind. The top end cards are about equal (9800 Pro vs 5900 Ultra and 9800 vs. 5900)

7. Hard drive is good to go, though you might want to get a bigger one if you plan to do any video editing or even music because that stuff can add up quick.

8. I doubt you will ever burn a cd at a full 52x. The speed difference is marginal when compared to a 48x one, if you can save money then get a 48x one but they are all comparatively cheep. Even better maybe get a slower one that supports DVD's too. Im guessing you'll want to play some games on your computer and Half life 2 or Doom 3 (I forget which one) is supposed to be on a DVD. Best combo would be a CD-RW drive and a DVD drive. Copy CD's too.

9. Unless you have good speakers or need 7.1 sound or want to record stuff the original audigy will due. The only difference is the 7.1 support and it wont resample the sound I believe. Oh, and EAX 2.0 or 3.0. I dont know which one but the choice there is yours. I never found sound cards to be critical while making a computer. The Sound Blaster Live suits me well.

That should be helpful a bit. If you follow the advice you could probably save a hundred or two which you can use to buy another CD drive or afford the 1 GB of ram a bit easier.

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Add witty comment here.

 

[Cloaked]

-similar feedback-
i agree you dont need such a big ps, and you should get a bigger hdd (getting two of those drives and running them in raid 0 would be a better choice, unless you dont want to deal with that. I am pretty sure that msi mobo has native sata raid support, as i think it runs the ich5r southbridge.) I think that is a good board, i think it is the best out of the 865pe bunch. I dont know if your mobo would support it, but if it did 512MB of some corsair xms ram would be better, get 2 sticks whatever you do though, as he said above that is the only way you will have dual channel functioning. Definatly get a dvd drive in addition to your cdrw. is that a 5900 or 5900 ultra you have there?

 

[recruit370]

neo mobo not to good

ALWAYS AIM LOW SO YOU CAN'T BE DISSAPOINTED

 

[Crashman]

If there were a large price difference, I'd say go with the Fortron 400W. However, since it's small, I say you've made a good choice!

Most people don't realize how CHEAP it is to upgrade from great to overkill!

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[TheGreatGrapeApe]

ALWAYS go with the BIGGEST and BEST Quality PSU you can afford. They are too often an under-rated commodity, and with top of the line power chomping gear 300W is definitely OUT, and 350W is the BARE minimum. Fortron is good quality so it's a good choice, their ~400w version might be nice but the 500W is fine, and gives you headroom to add alot in the future (including lights, extra fans, extra drives, etc.) better a bigger one which you can use in your upgrade after this, than one that's too small and need to be replaced soon.

The Audigy 2 is NOT 7.1, and there are ALOT of differences other than that fictional one (it's 5.1 v. 6.1). I have an Audigy and want an A2, but for ME there isn't a compelling enough reason until I can find someone to buy my old one or until they offer a firewire/USB2 Extigy2. However for a new GAMING rig there is no better choice. The RME cards are the VERY best in Audio, the M-Audio have better sound than the Audigy but don't have the same gaming performance.
Main Diff. between A1 and A2;
First better sound quality (versus the other SB products) 106db S/N, 24bit 192kHZ vs 100-24/96 of the original Audigy.

-It's FASTER, gaming performance has seen it be up to 20+% faster for EAX enhanced games. And if you're getting an Audigy over an M-Audio it better be for gaming.

Plus a whole bunch more, <A HREF="http://www.soundblaster.com/products/audigy2/compare.asp" target="_new">CHECK List</A> for all the other benifits. If you weren't playing games I suggest either the M-Audio or RME (if you can afford one). And sound cardsare critical if you want your computer to sound good (well better than your old Atari)

<b>ryzbre_x </b>; Make sure the Kingston rame is <b>CL2</b> (latency 2.0 not 2.5 or higher). You can always add more later. Since the MSI board has 4 slots. Start with 2 256mb sticks and then add more if you need it later with those nice symetrical 2 empty slots. You may not need the full gig. unless you do video editing, MP3 ripping etc. And then when you do maybe 2 stick of 512mb will be cheap and you will have 1.5 gigs at the time when you truely need it.

A DVD player is a good idea. Either a combo drive or two separate drives. DVD burners are getting cheap too (might cost the diff. in the mem.)

I'd recommend the ATI R9800Pro not because I'm a fan boy but because it's usually cheaper (it's selling for $299US from <A HREF="http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=302333&pfp=SEARCH&tabtype=rb" target="_new">COMPUSA</A> after rebate from CompUsa & Visiontek [a good mfr]), and is the same class of card.


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[ryzbre_x]

>> gothitbycar said: Im guessing you'll want to play some games on your computer and Half life 2 or Doom 3 (I forget which one) is supposed to be on a DVD. Best combo would be a CD-RW drive and a DVD drive. <<

I'll go and find a combo DVD/CD-RW drive now. Originally I didn't think I'ld need the DVD, since no game companies were putting anything on DVD. Hopefully things may FINALLY be changing & companies will take advantage of the ‘new’ media.

As for RAM, I’ll go save myself $100 or so and get the 2x256 instead.

I’m probably getting the 530W power supply, since P4’s are getting to be real power hogs and my case is going to have ~7 fans + CCFL lights + some other crap that’ll need some juice.

>> TheGreatGrapeApe Siad: I'd recommend the ATI R9800Pro not because I'm a fan boy but because it's usually cheaper (it's selling for $299US from COMPUSA after rebate from CompUsa & Visiontek [a good mfr]), and is the same class of card.<<

Looks good to me. Visiontek is a fairly good manufacturer and the [H] review was very positive. Saving $100+ is always a good motivation for change : - )

>> Recruit370 said: neo mobo not to good<<
No from what I’ve been reading. What’s bad about them? MSI fixed that nasty Bios flash bug and I haven’t seen any others come up.

Thanks for the feedback. I’m going to make changes to my system as needed.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Cool! 😎

Post final specs when built, bench the mofo and post the results.

Good Luck!


- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <A HREF="http://www.redgreen.com" target="_new"><font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red></A> GA to SK