Please comment on the computer I want to build--does everything seem in order?

[nate1dog99]

I am planning on building the following system which will not be overclocked at the beginning. I plan on overclocking it when it becomes more outdated. I am trying not to spend alot of money. Please tell me what you think and if there is anything I should change.

Case: Enermax CS-10182 (http://www.ocsystem.com/ocsystem/encs12baywor.html)

Power Supply: Fortron 400W (http://www.censuspc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=FSP400-60PN-R1)

Motherboard: ABIT IC7-MAX3

Processor: P4 3GHz Prescott or should I go with the Northwood?

Memory: PMI PC-3200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-209-041&depa=0)
or OCZ PC-3200 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-146-883&depa=0)

These are both 1GB kits. My question is the PMI memory any good. Or, should I pay more and go with the OCZ(currently OUT OF STOCK)

Video Card: ATI 9800 Pro

Hard Drive: WD 160 GB SATA (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-152&depa=0)

Fan Controller: 6 Fan Controller (http://www.frozencpu.com/cgi-bin/frozencpu/bus-34.html)

DVD Drive: Taking one from my old computer

CD-Burner: " "

Cooling: AIR, hope to eventually upgrade to WATER

[Bacchana1]

I think the northwood would be a better buy for now. You won't have to worry about the extra cooling required by the prescott and I think they actually run a bit faster too. Overclocking should be pretty good with the northwood too since it has been around awhile. Prescotts overclock okay i think, but you have to figure out how to deal with all that heat

good idea to get a fan controller, cause all those 8cm fans could cause quite a racket otherwise

You'll probably eventually want a soundcard too if you're into audio at all. On board sound is okay, but just okay...then again most computer speaker packages suck too

[gamer004]

i agree with all Bacchana1 says. Also, maybe you could consider a WD rapter. You could get one or two and put them in raid. they blow any 7200RPM away since they run at 10,000RPM.

~gamer

[nate1dog99]

Oh, I forgot to mention. I do have an Audio Card. I'm not sure what type it is but it seems to work well enough for my gaming needs.

Between the Northwood and Prescott. I've heard good and bad about both. It's almost to the point, to flip a quarter and see which one to buy.

I did look at the Raptors, but those are insanely expensive for such a small hard drive. I know they are superfast, but I can't justify at this time forking out that much money. Maybe that can be one of the future upgrades.

Any other comments or questions?

[nate1dog99]

Well, I didn't get as many responses as I was hoping for. Maybe that means everything is in good order? I guess it's time to start ordering. Thanks to those who did reply.

[Lejend]

You might want to consider a better power supply. Antec or Enermax make some good ones. A good psu can save you a lot of problems down the road.

[gamer004]

another note on power supply is to get at least a 420W power supply if you intense work such as gaming or video encoding. A really hot buy is a Antec 480 trueblue located at zipzoomfly at this (http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetail.jsp?ProductCode=270018) link. This cost $94.00 at zipzoomfly which is slightly more expensive the the $89.00 one at newegg which link is here. (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-914&depa=1)

gamer