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building my first pc...please help!!

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whitie1234

New Member
Joined
Nov 4, 2003
i am trying to build my first pc as the title states. i have about $800-900 to work w/ and i already have a monitor, mouse and keyboard. i was hopin u guys could give me some suggestions about what to use.
Here are the specs i am thinking of so far:

Aspire Turbo Case X-Pider w/420W power supply $95
Sony DVD-/+RW Recorder Drive Model DRU510A $165
Floppy drive $10
CORSAIR XMS LL(Twin Pack)(2 x 256MB)PC-3200LLPT $150
Asus A7N8X $85
Amd Barton 2500+(hope to overclock to 3200+) $91
Will i need a better HSF to overclock this much? if so, what kind would work best?
GeForce FX 5600 128 MB $130
Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM 8MB hard drive $100
Total so far: $826

What do u guys think? Will this work? Any suggestions on better parts?
do u know of any places that i can get these parts cheap?

Any help would be appreciated!!
 
1st: Yes, you will want to get some more cooling.
2nd: If you can afford it get a 512 stick of RAM, not 2x256

Not a bad comp for that price range.
 
What kind of HSF would work the best?

I've read that 2x256 is faster than a single 512, is that true?
 
doesnt matter for amd, no dual channel. might as well get a stick of 512, probably cheaper
 
biggestn00bever said:
doesnt matter for amd, no dual channel. might as well get a stick of 512, probably cheaper
unless nf2 mobos went to hell then they are dual channel!

u need 2 sticks so get that.
get a thermal right or swiftech heatsink,usually $30-40

i think the psu in that case will suck so look into one with a great psu or buy a nice sparkle or forton source <same btw

id also look into a 9600pro instead of the nvidia or look at the new 5700 at least

for $100 on the hard drive id go with a WD raptor myself.
only 36 gb but hey its alot faster.

i hate the asus a7n8x as ive owned it and many other nf2 mobos.
get the epox or abit over that. especially the abit nf7-s v2 you will want to kiss me im sure!
 
The nforce2 boards do have dual channel, but the performance boost is pretty small. If money is a factor then don't bother with the dual channel and spend the money on something that will make a bigger impact.

As for your motherboard I have owned both the Asus A7N8X and the Abit NF7-S and I would take the NF7-S any day of the week. Its an ocing beast and its a stable board.

As for a heatsink well thermalright has the best AMD heatsinks. The SK-7 is a great bang for your buck. Pair that with a thermaltake smart fan II and you are set. Or go with the slk-800 or 900 if you want even better cooling.
 
ram isnt as important for AMDs as it is for p4's. the abit nf7's are pretty cheap and good to overclock. for graphics card, i would DEFINITELY stay away from nvidia fx line- go for best radeon u can afford. the 36gb raptors are very very good, but get whatever you need for what you plan on doing, its kind of stupid just to listen to other people and do exactly what they say. decide what you will be using your pc for, and buy appropriately
 
i'll definately stay away from the Nvidia line. sounds like the Abit mobo is a lot better from what u guy are sayin. now i have some idea of what i need to be lookin for. i definately dont need the raptors yet, but maybe in a year or two.
thanks for all the suggestions.
this is the best forum for overclocking ive been to.
 
ram isnt as important for AMDs as it is for p4's.
ram is twice as important on amd as it has less bandwith and the more you get the faster the rig runs.its less important on intel is they have more bandwith than the cpu can use.

it sounds like you want to oc is why i mentioned the abit.
had it been a rig for my mom id say the asus.

you dont do what people tell you but you do listen and take advice and then go read/learn as why it was recomended.

everyone has differant views and suggestions.even some mods here would advise differantly than me.we all do things differant and certain things fit differant needs.

btw welcome to oc.com forums!
yes it is nice here and i dont go outside of here much for pc help.
 
yeah, im still tryin to learn as much as i possibly can right now.
Is Abit better for overclocking everything or just the processor? I want to overclock as much as i possibly can.
So for AMDs, memory is more important, does that mean i should get more cheaper RAM or should i stay w/ the higher quality 512mb RAM?
 
whitie1234 said:
yeah, im still tryin to learn as much as i possibly can right now.
Is Abit better for overclocking everything or just the processor? I want to overclock as much as i possibly can.
So for AMDs, memory is more important, does that mean i should get more cheaper RAM or should i stay w/ the higher quality 512mb RAM?
the mobo can overclock the cpu and memory and the agp buss.
get 2 sticks of ram.when i say its important i mean "memory bandwith" thats the pipeline the memory and cpu talk to each other on.<my simplified version
by getting a higher fsb oc on the memory it speeds and opens this pathway up.
the amount of ram MB wise is upto you.i can get away with 2x256mb myself,others wont run without 1gb of ram.

the abit mobo tends to be better as it will oc higher fsb speeds and also has more options for higher voltage control in the bios.it has a vdd control wich helps fsb ocing.
 
Wolfeinsein - run and hide! SSS is gonna slap you around for trying to sell outside the classifieds.
 
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