Building New PC, Have Ideas, Suggestions?

[Kawzman]

I'm putting a new pc together. I'm still a beginner in the pc realm but I've been researching for a few months now and here's what i was thinking about putting together...

-1080AMG Performance Plus ATX Tower
-Asus Motherboard Model# A7N8X Deluxe
-AMD ATHLON XP 3000 "Barton" 400MHz FSB PROCESSOR CPU- OEM
-VANTEC AeroFlow VA4-C7040. For AMD socket A 462 and Intel 370/FC-PGA/FC-PGA2
-CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) TWINX1024-3200C2 PRO Matched Pair
-Asus Geforce FX 5600 Video Card 256MB DDR Model V9560TD

The greatest uncertainty i have is in the video card area, greatest weakness in pc knowledge. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Cheers,
Kawzman

 

[bluestreakLB]

Case is great

Motherboard is ok, i'd prefer a abit nf7-s

CPU is good, but a barton will yeild the same or even better overclock for a much cheaper price

I have a hard time recomending any other heatsink other then thermalright, although i supose i have heard good tihngs about the aeroflow

Memory is good, i'm sure there are better options (i'm not a "memory guy"

Unless you can get a 5900 i'd go ATI, with the money you'd save going with a 2500 maybe you could afford a 9800 non pro

 

[L337 M33P]

Case = good++

Motherboard = I have one, very happy with it

CPU = If you want to overclock, you may be able to find a JIUHB stepping XP1700 or XP1800 that goes up to that speed. Or alternatively buy a Barton core 2500+ - most newer steppings get 2.3ghz on air, well beyond a 3000+ speed. Plus you save money for the video card.

Memory = I don't know much about this, but Mushkin Level 2 Black PCB is excellent stuff - PC3200 yet it overclocks like mad. TwinMOS PC3200 also overclocks excellently if you are lucky enough to get Winbond CH-5 chips on the modules. Don't bother with "matched sets" as they are just marketing BS, just buy 2 ordinary sticks that are the same. The dual channel mode will work fine.

Video card = Bleh, there are better alternatives to that card. Radeon 9600Pro is better for less money, but if you save money on the proc and cheap RAM (that is very good ) then you could go all out and buy a R9800 or FX5900 - both are top performers but for better compatability/framerates (HL2 cough cough) get a Radeon.

 

[MRip]

If the system is for mostly gaming I would cut back on the processor and go with a Radeon 9700PRO-9800PRO. Pretty much switch the money you plan to spend on the vid card to the processor and the other way around. I would think you'd get much better game performance that way.

 

[MRip]

Just realized you said 3000, not 3200. You can still get a 9700PRO for that.

 

[mbekkali]

Buy Radeon 9500 non-pro (red card with L shaped memory) for about $130 at newegg and overclock it to 9700 pro, or even 9800 pro. Forget 3000+, buy Barton 2500+ for just $90 and easily overclock it to 3200+. Cheers

 

[Deathknight]

I would opt for a different heatsink personally. Possibly a thermalright sk-7 and depending on your noise preferences either a nice low speed fan or an adjustable fan like the thermaltake smartfan2. If you really want good cooling though spring for the slk-800 or slk-900.

As for motherboard the asus is not bad but I would go with the Abit NF7-S. I have owned both and definatly prefer the Abit.

I gotta agree with everyone else on the video card thing. If you do plan to oc you can get a cheaper chip and most likely will not impact your max oc at all. Throw that money at a good ATI video card. A 2500+ barton will oc very well as would a 1700+

 

[\dev\goat]

Would recommend the 2500+ barton and the SK-7, ~$100 together, then money for video card

 

[zachj]

A gaming machine these days relies on the video card. Don't think that the fastest CPU out there is going to get you "better" frame rates. It might well give you a few more, but you're not going to need the difference between a 2500+ and a 3000+, and CERTAINLY not for what AMD wants to to pay for it! Get a 2500+. Even without overclocking, you won't miss the speed difference . . . Don't feel pressured to overclock anything. As you have no stars under your name, I can only guess you're a newbie. If this is the case, focus your attention on getting the system together and working. Overclocking comes later. But it's important to buy good parts. If you decide to overclock later, you'll thank yourself. If you don't decide to overclock, then you just get a "better" system to play with. What you need is a good video card for gaming. So go with a 2500+ and save the money from that and get a Radeon card. The 9600Pro is a good card (not the non Pro) but, again, you'll have to overclock that to get great performance, and that's not the objective at this point. Spend the money you saved on a 9700/9800. They're very overclockable, and you're guaranteed to get better performance than the card you were looking at and the 9600. Buying a 9500np these days is a pretty big risk, since most of the ones that were soft-modable are gone (that's my opinion . . . I haven't seen too many people get good cards recently). I think RAM is a very subjective thing here. Some will tell you to get one brand, others another. Ultimately, though, you can't argue about brand, so long as it works. I'll tell you right now, there's Centon RAM in my computer right now, and it works just fine, and I've never even heard of Centon. Don't buy no-name, but don't go spend 500 dollars on RAM, either. Crucial, Mushkin, Corsair are all good brands. If you're not overclocking, don't be taken for all the righteous-looking heat spreaders and such. All you need is RAM that will take aggressive settings. The RAM you've got is fine. It'll work well at aggressive settings at 200MHz+, which will work fine with a 2500+.

So get:

2500+

same RAM

9700 (save some bucks, since sooner or later, PCI Express cards will come out, and what you get now will not likely work in your next machine).

Case is totally up to you. So long as you like it, get it. Worst case is that it'll weigh a lot, and then it's just less fun to take to LAN parties . . .

I've not heard anything one way or the other about the Vantec. I really like the SLK-800, but it's expensive. The SK7s will work fine in duallies, and considering the difference in heat output of a duallie, it'll work just fine in a single setup, so consider saving a few bucks over the SLK-800.

WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!

Z

 

[Kawzman]

Thanks for all of the input. Here's what ill likely be going w/:

-Asus Motherboard A7N8X Deluxe
-AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU
-Thermalright SLK-947-U
-Thermaltake SMART CASE FAN II
-CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, (Twin Pack) 1GB(2 x 512MB) 2x(64MX64) TWINX1024-3200C2 PRO Matched Pair
-ATI RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB 8X AGP DVI/TV
-Antec 1080AMG Case

Cheers,
Kawzman

 

[zachj]

Sounds like a good system. Only thing I would change (personally) would be the video card, if I could swing it.

Z