Is this a good Pentium 4 system? Please take a look!

[EngineChauffer]

Hi guys, nice forum!

I have done so much reading in the past few days my brain hurts. I have never even seen the inside of a computer, but with some pushing from another forum, I have decided to build my first one!

Explanations of why I chose what I chose so far:

I do not think I am going to overclock this system, but I am getting a 2.50Ghz P4 processor in case I decide to later on. I was told that the step 1 processors are better for OC than the one I was gonna get (2.53)

I also realize that 8x AGP is new and might be of no benefit. The main reason I am considering this board is because of the other benefits (no jumpers/dip switches and ease of installation)

The only RAM that is recognized and proven to work with this board at high speeds stock is Mushakin DDR 400. I was considering the Corsair before that, but I saw a few posts that there were recognition/compatibility issues.

Please look over this computer and let me know what you think. If you suggest another component, please explain why, don't just say... hey that sucks...get this cause I got it. I need to understand why I am picking/changing things.

Boy this can get confusing! Here is what I am thinking of building:

CASE:
Lian-Li PC-6099 USB2, 12-Bay, Black Aluminum Case with Clear Front Cover Door. Color: Black, Model: PC-6099. Large side window. 2 x USB 2.0 ports and 2 LED Temperature Display at the front. MID ATX Tower with 4 80mm fans and 2 black aluminum floppy bezels. Size: 490(L)x210(W)x450(H)mm Total 11 device bays: 4 X 5.25, 3 X 3.5 External and 5 X 5.25(hidden). Pentium 4 compatible.

POWER SUPPLY:
Antec Power supply True480 with Blue LED Fan Retail Antecs's True480 power supply with blue LED internal illumination.
Specifications:
+5V Stand-By & Logic On/Off
Antec Low Noise Technology
Maximum Power 480W
Dimensions - L5.9" x W5.5" x H3.4"
UL, CSA, TUV, CB, CE, NEMKO Approved
Antec Low Noise ATX12V, for AMD®
AQ3 - Antec Quality 3-year parts & labor warranty

MOTHERBOARD:
SOYO **DDR400 Supported** SY-P4X400 DRAGON ULTRA ATX Motherboard for Intel Processors Retail
Sigma Box (SB-P4SX) featuring 4 front USB 2.0 ports
Specifications:
Supported CPU:Socket-478 P4 (1.4G - 2.53GHz)
Chipset:VIA P4X400/8235 chipset
FSB:533/400 MHz
RAM:3x DDR400/266 PC2100-3200 184 Pin up to 3GB
IDE+RAID:UDMA 66/100/133 Up to 8 Devices
Slots:1x AGP Pro (4x,8x, 1.5v) 5x PCI Bus Master V2.0
Ports:2xCOM,1xLPT,1xFDD,2xPS2,6xUSB2.0 and Audio and LAN ports
Onboard LAN: Realtek 10/100 Mbps
Onboard Audio:CMI 8738 6-channel audio

PROCESSOR:
Intel Pentium 4 / 2.5GHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 400MHz Retail box
Specifications:
CPU: 2.5 GHz
Type: Pentium 4 Northwood
Cache: 512K
BUS: 400 MHz
Socket: 478 Retail (Box with Heatsink and fan) (CPU ONLY NO RAMBUS RAM)

RAM:
MUSHKIN DDR 512MB PC-3200 - OEM
AMD, VIA, ALI Approved, PC3200 = 333MHz FSB, Rated 2.5-3-3, 6ns DDR333, 6-Layer PCB, Unbuffered. LifeTime Warranty.

HARD DRIVE:
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB - OEM, DRIVE ONLY
Specifications:
Size: 80 Gigabytes
Interface: IDE ULTRA ATA100
Seek time: 8.9ms
RPM:7200
Cache 8MB
OEM(Drive alone) 1 Year Manufacturer Warranty

VIDEO CARD:
Gigabyte GV-R9700PRO RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB DDR 8X AGP RETAIL
Specifications:
CPU:RADEON™ 9700 Visual Processing Unit (VPU
Mem:128MB of double data rate memory(DDR)
Supports the new AGP 8X standard (2.0 GB/sec)
Complete DirectX® 9.0 support for unprecedented realism and sophisticated visual effects.
Supports: SMARTSHADER™ 2.0, SMOOTHVISION™ 2.0 VIDEOSHADER™ FULLSTREAM™ Ati's newest Engine Formats
256-bit memory interface
Ports: D-Sub , S-Video , DVI-I
Bundled Software:CyberLink PowerDVD XP, Serious Sam (Game CD) Heavy Metal F.A.K.K.2 (Game CD), Rune (Game CD) Motocross Mania (Game CD) , 4X4 EVO and Oni (in 1 CD, Lite version)

SOUND CARD:
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy Platinum Retail Box Stunning 24-bit multi-channel performance and 100dB SNR for high definition audio. Innovative EAX® ADVANCED HD technology delivers high definition audio environments for ultra-realistic gaming and enriched music effects. Fully integrated SB1394 (IEEE® 1394 compliant) ensures optimum performance for qualified products like DV Camcorders, digital audio players, external hard drives/high speed CD-RWs, and home entertainment equipment.

FLOPPY/DVD/CD-RW
*BLACK* PANASONIC 1.44 MB DENSITY FLOPPY DISK DRIVE, MODEL # JU-257A-907P - OEM, DRIVE ONLY BLACK Bezel - One Year Warranty

Lite-On 16x DVD Model LTD-163 Black
Specifications:
Speed VD-ROM 16X (6.4X~16X) - CD-ROM 48X (20X~48X)
Interface : ATAPI-E/IDE
Sustained Transfer Rate : Support up to Ultra-DMA/33 33.3MB/sec
Burst Transfer Rate : Support up to Ultra-DMA/33 33.3MB/sec
Access Time : 120ms (typical)
MTBF : 70'000 Power On Hours with 20% Duty
Supported OS: DOS 6.xx, Windows 95/98/NT/2000/XP, OS2 Warp
OEM (Contains Power DVD software and Audio Cable) Black

Lite On 40X12X48 CDRW Model: RTL40125S-OEM BLACK Color
Specifications:
Recording 40X(6000KB/sec) Z-CLV (20X, 24X@8min, 32X@18min, 40X@53min)
Re-writing 12X High-Speed (1800KB/sec) CLV
Reading 48Xmax (7200KB/sec) CAV (20X~48X)
Interface : ATAPI-E/IDE, support up to Ultra-DMA Mode2, 33.3MB/sec
Buffer Memory Size: 2MB
Access Time : 80ms (typical)
SMART-BURN® technology Underun protection,
MTBF : 70'000 Power On Hours with 25% Duty
OEM

BACK-UP MODEM:
US Robotics 2977 56K V.90 Internal PCI Modem Data/Fax Only (No Voice) - OEM

MONITOR:
HITACHI CM721FB 19 INCH FLAT-FACED SHORT NECK - RETAIL 0.20mm DP 1600x1200 18 Inch Viewable. BLACK Monitor The CM721FB (19"/18" V) features Hitachi’s Flat-Squared technology with a flat screen that provides more realistic, vibrant images, less distortion and reduced glare. Using Hitachi’s Flat-Squared technology you can now get all the advantages of an Invar Shadow Mask tube on a flat-faced monitor. 5-Year Man

KEYBOARD/MOUSE:
Microsoft 114 keys (10 internet Hot Keys) Internet Keyboard PS/2 - BLACK - OEM One-touch access to the Internet and more.

Microsoft Optical Wheel Mouse PS/2 & USB BLACK - OEM
A unique IntelliEye® optical sensor replaces the old-fashion mechanical mouse ball and works on virtually any surface.
Convenient scroll wheel and comfortable design.
Left or Right Handed use.
Two buttons.

SPEAKERS:
Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 THX Certified 6 piece Personal Audio System
FREQUENCY RESPONSE: 25Hz-20kHz (range)
SENSITIVITY: Closed loop system
MAXIMUM BURST POWER OUTPUT: 500W Note: Simultaneously all amplifier channels driven
MAXIMUM ACOUSTIC OUTPUT: 113dB maximum at listening position
COVERAGE ANGLE: Near field design
DISPERSION ANGLE: 90° x 40° MicroTractrix™ Horn
OVERLOAD PROTECTION: Limiter circuit
ENCLOSURE TYPE: Satellites and center—sealed; Subwoofer—6th order bass reflex
AMPLIFIER: BASH®, dual supply
LOW PASS CROSSOVER: To satellites @ 120Hz
INPUTS: Six analog discrete channels (three stereo miniplugs)
OUTPUTS: Five speaker level outputs (spring clips)

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Microsoft Windows XP Professional - OEM Full Version Disk ONLY, no Manual Designed for reliability, security and privacy, high performance, and ease of use, the Windows XP operating system provides a host of benefits for business and home users. A clean and simple desktop, rock-solid reliability, and easy-to-use features that take advantage of the digital age all contribute to the value of Windows XP. Enhancements in real-time voice, video, and data communications will allow the PC to become a center of communications and creativity beyond just e-mail and instant messaging. Windows XP will also allow the user to connect back to the desktop from any location, and support for new wireless networks will be built in.

OTHER:
Arctic Silver's NEW Premium Silver Polysynthetic Thermal Compound: Arctic Silver 3. 3-gram( 1 cc. ) tube. Artic Silver


Thanks for looking this over and please don't hesitate to give your 2 cents. Links to products you suggest and reviews would be appreciated so I can make my brain hurt some more

Thanks,

--Ed

 

[BaldHeadedDork]

Damn, that might be a record for cut and paste.

Welcome to the forums! Now about this mojo...

There are a couple of things on your list that I would not recommend for building your first system. (Because they have questionable reliability or problems that could complicate the build process when you're learning everything.)

First is the Soyo board. I think I've heard about more reliability problems with Soyo motherboards than any other brand, and their brand-new models are the worst. The Dragon Ultra you're looking at is a brand new board.

This is something I can't recommend strongly enough. Look at the boards using the Intel 845 chipset. They are rock solid, have the best reliability of any board on the market, and have a lot of headroom when you want to overclock. My personal favorites are the Asus P4B533-E, Abit BD7II RAID and Gigabyte GA-8IEXP.

Next is the video card. The Radeon 9700 has some incredible benchmark numbers and the picture quality is great. But there are also some still unresolved driver problems and compatability issues with some popular games. If you don't know what to expect when setting up a system and working out these kinks, this can be a source of incredible frustration. And that's something I wouldn't wish on a newbie.

My video pick would be a hot 64MB version of the GeForce 4 Ti4600. It'll cost $150 less, too, which you can use for a second hard drive (for a RAID setup) or a good new desk chair.

For your memory, buy the lowest CAS Latency and the highest speed you can find in a quality brand. In other words, get CAS2 instead of the CAS2.5 you have listed. This will help most when you start to overclock.

You can also save a few bucks by looking for OEM versions of drives and cards instead of the retail versions, like the Audigy you have spec'ed.

I know I wrote a lot, but for a first rig you have picked a lot of sweet gear. Good luck and let us know how its going.


BHD

 

[imgod2u]

Well, if you're not going to be overclocking, I would suggest you get a processor with a 133MHz QDR FSB (533 effective). It makes a pretty big difference. A 2.53 P4 costs around $250 right now. A very good price. Secondly, I'd suggest a Gigabyte motherboard with an i850e chipset or i845g chipset or wait for Granite Bay. The i845g board can use PC2700 memory and the i850e board can use 533 RDRAM. The latter would cost more but would give higher performance.

 

[AEsnowboarding]

I would go with the radeon 9700 instead of the ti4600. Ati has updated the card to work on agp 8x systems and even though there are problems Ati has great driver support. I suggest you go over to Rage3d and check out what is being done. Plus it sounds like you want the fastest system and your not gonna get that with a ti4600 IF you want aa and aniso on a high res monitor. Now i am not saying the ti4600 is not fast but if you want to play at 1280x1024 and higher with 4xaa and 16xaniso then the 9700 is you best option

 

[yfan]

stay away from Soyo boards, having headaches with upping the voltage and memory timing settings. Plus I haven't been able to successfully flash my board to the new bios'

 

[Kino]

thats a nice rig you got in your hands man
like the other guy said, look into a different mobo, and get OEM stuff, which will save you some bucks so you can get some orange soda and some pizza after oyure done buiding to celebrate

 

[MadBlade]

LET IT DIE!!!
The post is 9 months old!!

 

[Shade00]

I'll never figure out why people dig 8 pages into old threads and post without ever thinking that it might be months old.

 

[ArBiTaL 24]

It'd e nice if he told us if he ever built the system, and what ended up like... Are you still there?

*edit*...ok, ok, i'll let it die */edit*

 

[BaldHeadedDork]

Hey! If you haven't built it yet, forget what I said about the Radeon. The drivers are fixed now!

 

[ArBiTaL 24]

LOL

Damn, this is making my graphics card feel old... *there, there little 9700pro...*

 

[Cjwinnit]

Holy Thread Resurrection!

 

[SuperDave1685]

WOW. 9 months? lol. reminds me of the Walmart and Yatta threads

 

[tutrinh]

MOTHERBOARD:
SOYO **DDR400 Supported** SY-P4X400 DRAGON ULTRA ATX Motherboard for Intel Processors Retail
Sigma Box (SB-P4SX) featuring 4 front USB 2.0 ports
Specifications:
Supported CPU:Socket-478 P4 (1.4G - 2.53GHz)
Chipset:VIA P4X400/8235 chipset
FSB:533/400 MHz
RAM:3x DDR400/266 PC2100-3200 184 Pin up to 3GB
IDE+RAID:UDMA 66/100/133 Up to 8 Devices
Slots:1x AGP Pro (4x,8x, 1.5v) 5x PCI Bus Master V2.0
Ports:2xCOM,1xLPT,1xFDD,2xPS2,6xUSB2.0 and Audio and LAN ports
Onboard LAN: Realtek 10/100 Mbps
Onboard Audio:CMI 8738 6-channel audio

PROCESSOR:
Intel Pentium 4 / 2.5GHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 400MHz Retail box
Specifications:
CPU: 2.5 GHz
Type: Pentium 4 Northwood
Cache: 512K
BUS: 400 MHz
Socket: 478 Retail (Box with Heatsink and fan) (CPU ONLY NO RAMBUS RAM)

If you build a new system. Why picks those??? get a FSB800 CPU and a good board ( if you don't want to overclock , why not try INTEL board )

 

[BaldHeadedDork]

Uh tutrinh, check the date of EngineChauffer's post. Back then the Springwood (or is it Canterdale?) and Northwood C was just a gleam in Daddy Intel's eye.



BHD

 

[tutrinh]

Uh tutrinh, check the date of EngineChauffer's post. Back then the Springwood (or is it Canterdale?) and Northwood C was just a gleam in Daddy Intel's eye.



BHD

ah hah
I am blind. Sorry.