Before I order, any suggestions?

[Sihs]

Well, I posted a thread one month ago saying that I was going to upgrade and I wanted your suggestions. I said I will order after one month and here it is. Now,I have almost settled on some things and I wanted to know if any of you have any suggestions regarding my new pc.
1- Athlon 1.33 OEM for 150$, pretty cheap (I wonder if it's going lower). The thing is, I can't test it during the first seven days (don't ask) so if the CPU is busted, so am I. What are the odds?
2- MSI K7 Master. It sounds really good but I've always heard that ASUS is better, and since I can't get an A7M I have the choice of going for the A7A. Many people are requestioning the benefits of DDR so I am not sure. BTW, when is the Asus with SIS 735 coming out? I only have one or two weeks to wait.
3- Kingston pc2100. Couldn't find Crucial or Crosair. Is this in the same league too?
4- IBM Deskstar 40 gig (This was 160$ last month. Now it's only 116$, WOW). Although I love seagate for their customer support.
5- ATI Radeon LE. Sounds like a catch at this price. I wonder what the odds are of overclocking to 166+.
6- Plextor 16x10x40x.
7- AOpen DVD 12x for 41$. I hope it's not crap. Is Creative supposed to be better?
8- Thermaltake MINI COPPER ORB Heatsink + Ball bearing Fan, Pure Copper base & contact face.
Your input is pretty much appreciated.

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Sihs]

I forgot to say that I'm getting these things from <A HREF="http://www.NewEgg.com" target="_new">http://www.NewEgg.com</A>. They seem good and cheap. Has anybody done any business with them? Or better yet, got an LE or a 1.33 chip from them?
I also think I'll get me a live value. The live 5.1 is 15$ more. I am not using a 5.1 speaker system so is there any other differences between the two cards?

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Guest]

crucial isnt a brand really, they are a memory only reseller that carries micron and (not sure if any other types). Go to crucial.com. I got a 256mb ddr 2100 stick for about $60 and no s&h just this week.

 

[jlanka]

newegg is great. They are now charging for shipping, but they're still worthwhile. Price is great, ships out ASAP.



<i>It's always the one thing you never suspected.</i>

 

[Sihs]

Well, if you get all the stuff together it gets cheaper. All these things cost about 33$ shipping. They say it ships in four days.

Sh!t Happens.

 

[phsstpok]

crucial isnt a brand really, they are a memory only reseller that carries micron and (not sure if any other types).

from Crucial's website...

"Crucial Technology is a division of Micron Semiconductor Products, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Micron Technology, Inc. Located in Boise, Idaho, Micron manufactures dynamic random access memory (DRAM) chips and assembles them into memory modules for the global computer industry"

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by phsstpok on 06/15/01 03:15 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[noko]

Well I bought the Deskstar 40gb from NewEgg as well as a 1.2gh T-Bird which turned out to be a AXIA and overclocks like a charm. The IBM hard drive is a 7200 RPM speedster and runs great. I also bought memory from Crucial SDRAM and I thought I was getting a good deal at $95 for 256mb CAS2. Also bought a 12x Aopen DVD Rom drive which worked perfect as well. Service is very fast, prices are good. My one complaint is that they shipped everything in one box but charged the individual rate for shipping on everything.

Well to eat your <b>C kie</b> and have it too, gotta get <b>Rade n II</b>

 

[Renegade87]

sihs,

I know the Orbs look cool, but I've yet to see any tests that show them to be anymore than mediocre.

Tom's has three cooler comparisonshttp://www4.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q2/010521/index.html)
(http://www4.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q1/010306/index.html)
(http://www4.tomshardware.com/cpu/00q4/001211/index.html)

You might want to look at Swiftech, Alpha, GlobalWin, or AOC, depending on your budget.

Swiftech:http://www.swiftnets.com/Welcome.htm

Alpha:http://www.micforg.co.jp/cat_pfe.html
(FYI:Swiftech server was down when I wrote this)

Both of these options are fairly expensive, especially the Swiftech MC371, but as you know without a good cooler, your cpu will burn up.

I have an Alpha P3125S on my SECC PIII 733EB and it works awesome. Never gets above 35c !!

GlobalWin:http://www.globalwin.com.tw/ (Another server down)

The AOC Low Profile Cooler is an ALL COPPER solution that is only 25mm high and has a c\w of 0.35 !! Not bad for only $22 !!

Here:http://www.maxcooler.com/lowprofcophe.html

The Cooler Gouy's have all these and more:
Here:http://www.coolerguys.com/

Hope this gives you more quality choices.

"This was no boating accident"

 

[Sihs]

Thanks noko.
As for their shipping, I tried to add a celeron to these things and the only increment in shipping was about 1.5$. I think they calculate the weight and so small parts have less shipping fees when you are odering a bunch of things (the same goes for the sound card).
I was really glad to hear about the AXIA and the DVD drive. All I want to know now if the LE's they have overclock well.

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Sihs]

Well I know my choice of HSF isn't the greatest. I picked the most expensive one they got. I thought I'd cut the headache in half and buy everything from one place. Do I absolutely need a 30+ HSF to get an AXIA to 1.4 gig?


Sh!t Happens.

 

[Teknoman]

if u want crucial memory at crucial prices the reason i cant buy from crucial.com is i have credit card debt(and my interest 15 percent ouch) so i use money orders for every thing go too http://www.essencompu.com/ i noticed they sell crucial memory for the same price as crucial and u can use a money orders

 

[silverpig]

If you want it to run for any length of time, then yes, you need a good cooler. Think of it this way, spending $30 now on a good cooler is much better than spending $180 later on a new cpu and cooler.

You don't always have to order online for a single part like that. If you pay $2 more at a local shop, it's not that big a deal. You save on the shipping, the hassle of getting stuff from more than one place online, and you can look at it before you buy it.

Another computer wanted. Donations accepted. :^)

 

[Ncogneto]

You don't always have to order online for a single part like that. If you pay $2 more at a local shop, it's not that big a deal. You save on the shipping, the hassle of getting stuff from more than one place online, and you can look at it before you buy it.

AMEN! If you have a local retailor ( I am not talking about best buy or CompUSA, but the little guy) support him! The peice of mind you get with easy returns and helpfull information is well worth the extra couple of bucks.

A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing!

 

[Sihs]

This question might sound really silly.
I can't find a decent power supply from shops near me. I am thinking of ordering one with the lot. I found two of them at newegg, a 400W and a 300W which is more expensive but (sounds fancier on the web site, also supports the P4, gold plated connectors, etc.). Now do all power supplies fit in all motherboards or not (excluding the P4)? I wouldn't want to get the power supply only to use it as a door stop. Should I get the 400W, the 300W or get a noname 250W that fits from the store?

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Renegade87]

From what I understand, Enermax makes the best power supplies. The bulk of the P\S have the same dimensions, and are spec'd to fit the ATX cases.

PC Power + Cooling has a 600W monster that mounts vertically instead of horizontally like most. Of course you have to buy their case to use it.

You can get an Enermax EG465P-VE for $100 or less. This is perfect for your application, and Pentium 4 ready if you choose to go that way in the future. And, at 431 watts, you can use it for a dualie system too.

For info:http://www.enermax.com.tw/products/switch-main.htm
Look under ATX +12 Volt Series.

you can buy them here:http://www.directron.com/eg465pve.html

Good Luck.

"This was no boating accident"

 

[Sihs]

I guess that's too expensive for me. I was even questioning the use of paying 50 bucks for the above mentioned power supplies. I understood 300-400W are enough right?

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Booky]

I wouldn't get anything less than a 350W for a 1.33GHz. BTW you seem to be missing a very important thought. The power supply is not something to be skimpy on. It is the heart of the PC, as the CPU is the brain. Never buy a cheap power supply unless your begging for problems. $50 dollars is only going to get you a "doorstop" as you called it when it comes to performance. Just remember this, you need a consistant flow of power in the correct paramaters to get optimal performance from you system. CPU, Memory, AGP card, they will all lose performance if there needs are not met by the PS. Going cheap on the PS is a easy mistake to make, please don't do it. Take that for what its worth, no offense intended here.

Booky

Crap, all the good ones are already taken.

 

[phiz]

go here for AMD's reccomended power supplies
http://www1.amd.com/athlon/power

 

[Sihs]

Thank you Booky. Your post was far from being offensive. I have to admit I was planning on buying a case with its power supply for about 70 bucks. That's because I know a bunch of people with slot A's and T-Bird's (One even has a geforce 1) who are managing just fine with 230-235W. Isn't the 400W one I found sufficient or should I look for something else? (they don't have anything better as I saw it)

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Kronos]

400 is fine. In fact with the leftover reserves...you will be able to offset the Californian power shortage.

I want to die like my Grandfather...in my sleep...not screaming in terror like his passengers.

 

[Sihs]

I followed your advice and went to a local shop. The best one they had was a global win w/ aluminum HS and a 6000+rpm fan for 30$. What do you think?

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Sihs]

I so much hope it doesn't add to my doorstop collection.

Sh!t Happens.

 

[Sihs]

I decided I should buy the global win HSF I found at some shop here.
I'm having second thoughts about MSI K7 master. I would love to get an Asus board, after what I heard about their quality and ease of installation.
What do you guys think?

Sh!t Happens.