Buying a new pc
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by willow on Wed Feb 23rd at 11:19pm 2005


? quote:
Orph it wouldn't stay cheap if he got 64 stuff.

Right now, that computer is a pretty good price (although, considering you're not buying a video card, it should be a little lower, but whatever)

The processor isn't "old". It will probably perform about the same as the processor you're getting. Not a big deal really. It'll last a good 2 years or so (until it's actually outdated).

Phasing out means the perfect time to buy
Do you honestly think anything that may come out in the next couple years would require at the absolute minumum amount more then what this system will have (past maybe video)? Because it wont.


Actually, the 3200+ XP and 3200+ 64, as of now, are the same price on newegg. So 64 would be the way to go... However, if you're trying to save money, the 2500+ oced is going to be best buy for buck, also keep in mind to use that 64 Bit processor you're going to have to have a mobo that supports Socket 939, preferably Nforce 3 or 4, and that mobo is going to end up costing you $25-40 more then other, so you'd eb spending more money. As said, it's up to you as it is your cash, we're just recommending stuff for ya to get the best bang for buck.
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Orpheus on Wed Feb 23rd at 11:26pm 2005


? quoting Crono

The processor isn't "old". It will probably perform about the same as the processor you're getting.

see, thats all i truly needed to know. as i said, i wasn't being mean, just curious.

IMO, its the results that count, and if it gives him his fondest wish, tis all good.

[addsig]




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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Thu Feb 24th at 5:59am 2005


From www.newegg.com:

AeroCool Silver ATX Mid Tower Case With Side window & jet, Model "AEROENGINE-C SS" - Retail
$55.00

CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives)
NEC 16X Double Layer DVD?RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3520A BK, OEM
$59.99

CPU Thermal Paste / Grease
Arctic Silver Premium Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound, Model "Arctic Silver 5", 3.5-gram( 1 cc. ) tube
$7.59

Hard Drives
Seagate 200GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model ST3200822AS, OEM Drive Only
$121.00

Memory (System Memory)
Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
$128.00

Motherboards - AMD
ASUS "A7N8X-E Deluxe" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL
$90.00

Power Supplies
Antec 430W Power Supply, Model "TRUE430" - Retail
$79.00

Processors
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ "Barton", 400MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
$165.00

Video Cards
ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -RETAIL
$259.00

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Missing anything? What heat sink should I get? What about a sound card? How can I tell if the PSU has SATA cable? Do I need data cable for the HDD (with OEM packaging)?

I am going to use my current monitor. Any recommendation on a wireless network card?
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Crono on Thu Feb 24th at 6:29am 2005


? quote:

Missing anything? What about a sound card?


If it's built in on the board it's probably substantial (it would be at least 5.1 sound).

? quote:

How can I tell if the
PSU has SATA cable? Do I need data cable for the HDD (with OEM
packaging)?


It isn't that big of a deal. If it doesn't have the proper connections you can buy a converter (cheap)



? quote:

I am going to use my current monitor. Any recommendation on a wireless network card?


Yeah, don't use one with a desktop. They're slow. Just use a physical connection. [addsig]




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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by omegaslayer on Thu Feb 24th at 6:37am 2005


I'd give it the thumbs up if it were a 64 bit processor (good for gaming and anything else). My only suggestion when building your own PC is to make sure your mother board supports the RAM you buy (and anything else for that matter), I made the mistake of buying some expensive RAM with ECC and it turns out the mother board doesn't support ECC (Its still up for sale )

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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Orpheus on Thu Feb 24th at 7:07am 2005


? quoting satchmo

-----

Missing anything?

you virtually copied korns system. you sure ? you didn't even research any others.

you are giving $965.00 for your system. i gave $953.00 for mine. i am not comparing systems so much as prices. you can do a powerful lot with 1,000 bucks. why settle for the first system you saw tonight?

even if you stuck with the same hardware config, consider that there are other boards and other processors. at the very least visit some sites on benching those 2.

in some cases, bigger numbered processors run at a slower speed than some smaller ones. i dunno why, but i have seen it.

also, my 939 pin vs. your 754 pin.. did you compare them at all online in benches vs. pricing?

what i am saying is, it may be easier to gain a certain type of machine here in the US than it would be for korn where he lives. research your options.

visit www.pricewatch.com it will show you what you need to know.

for the record. if i didn't have my machine, i would not complain about yours at all i promise

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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Gorbachev on Thu Feb 24th at 7:08am 2005


? quote:
Without having read the replies, here are my comments.

Processor is a good choice, however I recommend a smaller HSF. I like the Thermaltake Silent Boost myself. Im scared that big one might crush the CPU core.

I would get that same hard drive, but in SATA, so that it will last you longer.



Getting Standard ATA or SATA won't make much difference in how long it will last you, the only real advantage right now is the fact that the cable is smaller. You may also need drivers from a floppy for SATA, so be sure you look it up before you go and get a system...especially if you forego a floppy. Unless you frequently hotswap there isn't any real advantage in this case, if anything you won't be able to diagnose it on older systems which puts you at more of a loss in my opinion.

And a bigger heatsink will almost always put more pressure on the outside edges, not the core (especially in the case of the Barton...the exposed core is tiny and recessed) and it would have a lot of risk of pulling the whole shebang off (the socket along with the chip.) The more the computer is moved (i.e. LAN parties) the more likelihood of this happening. Or just bending/warping the chip in such a way that the transistors inside get buggered...rare, but possible.

I'm in school for being a computer and network hardware technician...so if you have questions feel free to ask. I'm not as in the know for the absolute cutting edge, but I can chalk that up to being stuck in my books so much.

Satchmo, go with the 2500+...it OCs to 3200+ pretty much stock. Just up the bus from 333MHz to 400MHz and voila. And for an A64, isn't the 939-pin where the A64s were transistioning to anyway? Go for that, you'll get more options if anything ever comes up.
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by $loth on Thu Feb 24th at 8:20am 2005


Couldn't you get an SKT754 mobo but get a sempron, it would leave you able to upgrade in the future.
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by willow on Thu Feb 24th at 4:42pm 2005


Not a bad build Satchmo, however, it's not cost efficent, below I have a computer I'm speccing out for a friend, and I can promise you if you OC the 2500 to 3200 it will out run your PC you specced for $200 less almost, check it out:

Abit NF7-S: $ 81.00
AMD Barton XP 2500+: $ 76.00
Crucial PC2700 512MB DDR: $ 70.00 (2x)
EVGA Nvidia 6600GT: $199.00
Seagate 120GB SATA: $ 93.00
Sony Black 52x32x52x16: $ 35.00
Sony Black Floppy 3.5": $ 11.00
Vantec CCK-6040 Heatsink: $ 14.00
Ceramique HSF Paste: $ 4.00
Misc Cables: $ 10.00
---------------------------------
Total: $663.00
---------------------------------

all of the prices are updated off of Newegg as of today, all you have to do is add a case and a good 400+ Watt Powersupply, so another $100 or so, and that's a strong computer. Just ender those words into NewEgg for the product.
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Thu Feb 24th at 4:52pm 2005


Thanks, willow.

? quote:
Misc Cables: $ 10.00


What kinds of cables do I need to get?

This case is reasonable?

http://www.newegg.com/app/Showimage.asp?image=11-196-004-15.jpg/11-196-004-03.jpg/11-196-004-04.jpg/11-196-004-05.jpg/11-196-004-06.jpg/11-196-004-07.jpg/11-196-004-11.jpg/11-196-004-10.jpg/11-196-004-08.jpg/11-196-004-09.jpg/11-196-004-12.jpg/11-196-004-02.jpg/11-196-004-13.jpg

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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by willow on Thu Feb 24th at 6:06pm 2005


? quote:
Thanks, willow.

? quote:
Misc Cables: $ 10.00


What kinds of cables do I need to get?

This case is reasonable?


you'll need an SATA cable and possibley an SATA power cable and maybe a floppy cable. I'm not sure on this, I'd get em all just in case, will only be a few dollars. Case looks fine, you just need to be sure to buy a high quality Power Supply, I'd recommend Antec, but that's my preference.
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by $loth on Thu Feb 24th at 6:10pm 2005


Well seeming as this is a hardware related topic I would just like to say that I have just finised silencing my PC.

I've used these product's to do it:

2x Panaflo case fans (80mm) and 1x YS-Tech silent fan (80mm) both with the rubber vibration damperners.
ThermalTake TR2-M3 SE CPU cooler
Nexus fan controller
Enermax 350watt PSU (dual fans with the exhaust replaced with a YS-Tech silent 80mm fan)
and
ZM80C-HP graphics cooler.

I did try some acoustic absorption mats but they sucked.

Out of all my components the graphics card fan was the noisiest.
[addsig]




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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by Crono on Thu Feb 24th at 8:56pm 2005


Satchmo, what are you planning on building? A mobile hydrogen bomb? [addsig]



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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Thu Feb 24th at 9:38pm 2005


Unfortunately, I don't have enough hydrogen fuel. I do, however, have high-grade plutonium. I just need a bit more to be enough for fusion. [addsig]



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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Wed Mar 2nd at 10:00am 2005


I am in the process of assembling my new computer. I have a hardware related question.

The SATA HDD I bought is an OEM edition, so it doesn't come with any instruction manual. I've never installed a SATA drive before, and I noticed that it's quite different from installing a traditional IDE drive. The data cable is different, so is the power cable.

So far, I've connected the SATA cable to the SATA_RAID1 connector on the motherboard. I also hooked up the PSU SATA power cord to the HDD. Is this correct?

I have the DVD drive connected to IDE2. Do I have to connect it to IDE1? I don't have a second HDD besides the SATA drive, so the IDE1 connector on the motherboard is vacant.

Do I need a special connector cable to hook up DVD sound to CD1 input on the motherboard?

Sorry for all these questions. Lots have changed since the last time I built my PC. In a way, things have gotten easier, but there are also tons of new connectors.

Thanks in advance. It's 2 a.m. already, and I think I'll take a break and go to bed now.
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by $loth on Wed Mar 2nd at 10:28am 2005


Yea the SATA looks fine, but when you install say XP then you'll need some drivers on a floppy disk.
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by KoRnFlakes on Wed Mar 2nd at 12:17pm 2005


good luck with it satchmo, I should be buying some stuff within the next month
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Wed Mar 2nd at 6:16pm 2005


? quote:
you'll need some drivers on a floppy disk


Thanks. I just found that out. The only problem is that I didn't even buy a floppy drive. I am trying to use the DVD drive to install everything, and Win XP ran from it just fine, but the SATA HDD is not recognized by the motherboard or the OS.

The POST report from BIOS after booting up reports no primary HDD, only the DVD drive. When I went in the BIOS setup, auto-detection fails to find the installed SATA HDD.

However, right after the POST messages, I do see a brief message reporting the existence of the SATA drive, including its correct size. But after the message flashes for a few seconds, the motherboard still cannot recognize the HDD (reporting "None" for primary IDE).

Consequently, I cannot proceed to install Win XP because the system does not recognize a valid HDD.

Any ideas?
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Wed Mar 2nd at 6:46pm 2005


Nevermind, I solved my own problem.

http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/faq/sata_detect.html
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Re: Buying a new pc
Posted by satchmo on Thu Mar 3rd at 2:25am 2005


...except that I don't have a floppy drive.

I might yank out an old IDE hard drive from another computer and use that to set up the SATA drive for now. I don't want to buy a floppy drive so I can just use it once to boot up the computer and load the driver. I have no other use for a floppy.

[addsig]





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