ready to build my 1st PC.....any advice welcome!

[Guest]

Do these parts look to be all compatable, and a good match?

CPU: PIII733/133MHz/256k,FC-PGA ($164 box-retail)
Mobo:Tekram S3815ANE i815E LAN VGA Audio S370 ATA100,133FSB
ATX ($127)
Mem: Samsung 128MB PC133 SDRAM 7.5ns 168pin,CL3 ($47)
HD: IBM 750GXP DeskStar 30GB 7200,ATA100,2MB ($146)
CDRW:Aopen CDW-1232, 12x10x32x MP3,software,cables ($141)
case:Antec 250wATX or Antec 350wATX ($65)

Thoughts on this proposed system an prices??


The motherboard has 3Dgraphics/AC97sound onboard,but has an APG slot and 6PCI, so appears upgradable..an also says its upgradable to a PIII 1GB. So I wouldnt need any other adapters to get the system up an running??
With this system would the 250w or 300w case be best? They're both the same price?? Expensive,but thought I'd buy the CPU,motherboard,memory,and case from the same place in case there's problems.

Thoughts on FC-PGA vs. slot 1 ??
Thoughts on buying components OEM vs. Retail box??
Thoughts on windows millenium vs. 98 with these components??

thanks for any input!! can't wait to start!!!!

 

[Guest]

Well if you are buying Intel, don't get a 133mhz FSB CPU if you intend to overclock. Get a 700mhz, 100mhz FSB CPU, get the PC133 RAM, and run it on a 133mhz FSB, getting you 933mhz out of the 700mhz CPU with ease. I am not a big fan of Tekram mobo's, but if you are going to be using the onboard video instead of a performance video card, than it won't matter what brand you get as long as it is the i815 chipset. The price of the mobo is too high, you can get it or many other like it for around $130.00. The harddisk is too expensive, you can get the 45gb version for $145.90 at mwave.com, the 30gb version sells for $137.00. Memory is good price. The AOpen CDRW drive is good price, and the case price is good too. I come up with about $730.00 with the components I listed for the AMD system, but like I said, what do you want?

Why are you not interested in a better video card solution? The onboard i815 video is OK if you don't intend to play games at nice resolutions with good speed. Otherwise the video is OK. Look into the NVIdia GeForce 2 MX for a cheap, fast video card, most sell for $95.00+

Do you intend to overclock? If so, why not AMD? Intel is as good as the current AMD's, but more expensive, and not completely on-par for performance either. You may have a need for Intel, and I am not knocking them, I still use a PIII 600E in one of my systems, running at 850mhz, 6x142mhz FSB.

The harddisk and CDRW you chose are good solutions for performance computers.

The Audio on the i815 leaves some to be desired. Look into the Creative SB Live. You can get the card for $47.90 on mwave.com. It is an OEM version, the same as a retail version without all of the useless software you pay for. It comes with the card, sound cable, and CD with the drivers.

You have so many options, just depends on what you will be using your computer for now, and in the next year. I would look at the AMD Duron 700mhz CPU, $60.00 can be overclock to 950mhz with stability, a motherboard for it will run about $140.00+, same RAM, harddisk, CDRW, Case, etc... but get a better video card like I mentioned above, and the Creative SB Live.

As for retail to OEM versions of the CPU's, their was once a difference from Intel's stand, but not anymore. The only thing you get from retail is a longer warranty. The last time I had a CPU die? NEVER!!! As long as you put a good heatsink on your CPU, check the fan once a month to make sure it works, and blow out dust, it will always work. Don't get SLOT 1, as Intel and AMD no longer support Slot interfaces. The Socket is better.

For the OS, stay with Win98SE if you have it. The only thing I find useful for WinME is for the users that don't know how to repair or fix problems themselves, as it will do it for you now. Also, WinME consumes more memory and hard disk space, I don't like it. It does support some newer hardware like Firewire, but drops support for some legacy devices too. Either will be OK, but I prefer Win98SE.

 

[Guest]

What are you using that system for? Seems to me if you're not concerned with the video card you might as well spend $250 on a system that will be more than sufficent for business stuff and web browsing.

If you actually care about games or something of that nature then I wouldn't recommend you get an Intel platform.

 

[Crashman]

Don't get the Tekram mobo, especially if you think you might want to try overclocking. Get the Asus CUSL2 or CUSL2-C. The CUSL2 has the same onboard video as the Tekram because it has the same chipset. The -C version has the video port removed.
Crucial is selling their high end Cas2 memory for about $60 right now, and it is some of the best stuff out there for the money.
The 733 is kind of slow compared to stuff a lot of people are running-if you want more speed get the 700 and overclock it to 933.
The boards I mentioned are available with onboard sound, but a separate sound card is cheap anyway. ESS chip soundcards produce good quality and can be had for under $20.

Suicide is painless...........

 

[flavio321]

$164 for a 733mhz? too much man...be smart and logical. get yourself a duron 800 for 70 bucks. after oc'ing that sucker, it'll kick that p3 733's ass.

If you can't beat 'em kill 'em
athlon "SLOTA" thunderbird 700@1050mhz

 

[camieabz]

Get a case that can take major wattage. This lets you upgrade safely. Try to get one that allows extra fans. This will allow overclocking, and extra add-ons.

Nothing wrong with Win98.

If you want that mobo, fine. I'd go for something a little more widely used, and if you run into problems, more people can help you.

 

[Guest]

I am probably like you, a novice computer user. I built my first system about 8 - 10 months ago. I had a great time researching the whole thing, it was very exciting. My advice would be to do as much research on components as you can. Personally I used Tom's Hardware Guide for much of my information and another good site was called "theregistry.co.uk" Admittidly I know very little about hardware but by reading the articles I was able to destinguish between what I wanted and what I didn't. The next thing I did was to accept the fact that I would have to be prepared to pay for better components. As an example, I chose an ASUS A7V motherboard which cost me more money than some other boards, but from the research I did at the time I felt the ASUS was the way to go, and after operating the system for some time I have no regrets. The one exception to this rule came with monitors. As much as I may have wanted the latest state of the art flat screen I could not justify it and frankly could not afford it, so I compromised on a 19" with .24 pitch. Again I am very happy with my choice. Lastly, because I really don't know what I am doing with computers but like to play with them and eventually render them unstable and unuseable, I bought a copy of Norton Ghost 2001. It is a great utility. I created two partitions on my harddrive and after I had my system set up exactly as I wanted, all preferences set in Outlook and Explorer for example, I then ghosted an image of this operating system onto my second partition. Now, no matter how screwed up I get, I am only a simple ghosting away from a full restore. And I never loose any data because all my files such as Excel and Word are default saved to my D: drive (second partion). It is very cool and very reasuring.

Good luck and have fun.

 

[Guest]

Here's my recommendation:

CPU: Duron 800 - $71.00
Mobo: Abit KT7A - $138.00
Mem: Kingmax Tiny BGA 128MB PC133 CAS2 - $62.00
HSF: Globalwin FOP32-1 - $19.00

 

[FUGGER]

Intel 700E, 800E, or 850E if you plan to overclock.

Also get a CUSL2 by Abit motherboard

PC 133 SDRAM

 

[crapple0]

it's www.theregister.co.uk

~Crapple0

"intel inside, idiot outside"

 

[rcf84]

sounds good ecotraveler. Well good choice in i815 chipset. If you have to get another make sure its not VIA. VIA + p3 or athlon = BUGGY as Hell.

First person to get a topic banned. ABIT BP6 Lives FOREVER!!!

 

[Crashman]

Hey you mugger fugger, why would you suggest the 800E or 850E for overclcoking? That is rediculous! He could not reach even 133MHZ FSB with those chips! In fact, the 700, 800E, and 850 all reach the SAME speed when overclocked, but the 700 provides MUCH higher bus speeds and MUCH lower PCI speeds in the process! This is because you MUST reach 133 in order to activate the 1/4 PCI and 1/2 AGP mutipliers. The 700 is good. If he wants even more bus speed he should choose the 866EB, but at the risk of overclocking the PCI bus too far. The 700E will do 933 at 133 or 980 at 140. The 866EB will do 975 at 150 (the same as the 650, but probably at a cooler temp).

Suicide is painless...........