Building Computer, need advice, please.

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Hi folks,

I'm about to start putting together my fourth build, and I'm at the point
where I can use mucho advice. The new mchine will be primarily for CPU-
intensive stuff, such as high quality audio compression and editing or
high definition fractals, and also general "house-office" stuff. I'm not
much into games or fast 3-D video, and am not planning to overclock, or
not extensively.

My present two year old machine, which is getting increasingly ragged
around the edges, has a Soyo KT400 Dragon and Athlon 1400. I am looking
for a decent real world speed improvement, but without the hassles of
building to the cutting edge. My highest priority is a stable and trouble
free machine made up of tried and tested components. Speed is my next
highest priority. Third priority is a quiet system. My budget can stand
some moderate upgrading of the components below, if it will mean a better
machine.

Here is my first and very tentative approximation of how to go about it.

Thank you all very much for any input and recommendations about better
alternatives, and for pointing out any bottleneck or overkill.

MOTHERBOARD:
ABIT NF7-S
or ASUS A7N8X-E DELUXE Rev.2.0 ?
(or possibly GIGABYTE GA-7N400 Pro2 ?)
CPU:
Barton XP2800
(or XP2500 OC to FSB 400 ?)
MEMORY: 2x512MB DDR400 operating as dual channel,
HD: Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM
DVD WRITER: Dual Layer, 12X or 16X
FLOPPY/MEMORY CARD READER: MITSUMI FA404A
VIDEO CARD: Chaintech FX20 (GeForce 5200, 128MB)
CASE: EVERCASE E4252

CPU SINK/FAN:
Speeze WHISPER ROCK II, #5F263B1M3G (2700rpm, 38CFM, 26.5dB)
or Speeze "FALCONROCK" #5F286B (2300rpm, 28cfm, 25db)
CASE FANS:
Back: 12cm, NMB 4710NL-04W-B29 (72cfm, 30dB, will use at 7V)
Front: 8cm: Speeze FDC08025S1M, (37.8cfm, 25.0 DB)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Sat, 28 Aug 2004 02:16:40 GMT, <yogi_berra@neverspamnever.org>
wrote:

>Hi folks,
>
>I'm about to start putting together my fourth build, and I'm at the point
>where I can use mucho advice. The new mchine will be primarily for CPU-
>intensive stuff, such as high quality audio compression and editing or
>high definition fractals, and also general "house-office" stuff. I'm not
>much into games or fast 3-D video, and am not planning to overclock, or
>not extensively.
>
>My present two year old machine, which is getting increasingly ragged
>around the edges, has a Soyo KT400 Dragon and Athlon 1400. I am looking
>for a decent real world speed improvement, but without the hassles of
>building to the cutting edge. My highest priority is a stable and trouble
>free machine made up of tried and tested components. Speed is my next
>highest priority. Third priority is a quiet system. My budget can stand
>some moderate upgrading of the components below, if it will mean a better
>machine.
>
>Here is my first and very tentative approximation of how to go about it.
>
>Thank you all very much for any input and recommendations about better
>alternatives, and for pointing out any bottleneck or overkill.
>
>MOTHERBOARD:
> ABIT NF7-S
> or ASUS A7N8X-E DELUXE Rev.2.0 ?
> (or possibly GIGABYTE GA-7N400 Pro2 ?)


Not needed, reuse the KT400 and put the $$ towards other areas.
If you really don't want to reuse the KT400 board, I'd advise
increasing the budget slightly and getting an Athlon 64 board &
CPU instead.

>CPU:
> Barton XP2800
> (or XP2500 OC to FSB 400 ?)


Xp2500 o'c sounds nice... get a good heatsink, low RPM fan so
this can be done quietly.

>MEMORY: 2x512MB DDR400 operating as dual channel,

Err, OK, but it's not going to be but a few % faster than same
memory in the KT400.


>HD: Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM

WD Raptor for primary drive, Hitachi (or whatever) for bulk
storage.


>DVD WRITER: Dual Layer, 12X or 16X
>FLOPPY/MEMORY CARD READER: MITSUMI FA404A
>VIDEO CARD: Chaintech FX20 (GeForce 5200, 128MB)
>CASE: EVERCASE E4252
>

The case seems a bit boring, but admittedly mine is tucked under
a desk and looks matter not. Thicker cases may tend to be
quieter than that one.

Does the E4252 even accept a 120mm rear fan?

The Evercase's power supply is junk and should be thrown away...
is worse than typical name-brand 250W.

>CPU SINK/FAN:
> Speeze WHISPER ROCK II, #5F263B1M3G (2700rpm, 38CFM, 26.5dB)
> or Speeze "FALCONROCK" #5F286B (2300rpm, 28cfm, 25db)

Get a better heatsink. http://www.svcompucycle.com/ often has the
better Thermalrights on sale, once a month or so you can pick up
an SLK-9xx for about $20, plus cost of fan if you didn't have
one... the Speeze fan mentioend below is acceptible for a case
intake, but I'd choose different higher-quality fan for the CPU
heatsink.


>CASE FANS:
> Back: 12cm, NMB 4710NL-04W-B29 (72cfm, 30dB, will use at 7V)

Well, 30 dB & 72cfm sound good, but is a free air rating. IMHO,
you'd better off with one of their 32mm thick, 4712NL-xxx-xxx
series, but for a rear case fan I'd probably go with a Panaflo
instead, perhaps FBA12G12L1A or -M1A

> Front: 8cm: Speeze FDC08025S1M, (37.8cfm, 25.0 DB)

Not a very good fan, but may be quiet enough and if it's clear
(and that's important), it should be sufficient. Even if front
fan fails, system should still be able to limp along... not that
I'm assumig front fan WILL fail, but for the sake of argument, a
front fan can be optional when rear fan is 120mm and front cutout
is large enough for a front fan (including as a passive intake).

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

I'm about to build a system for similar uses -- CPU-intensive (audio, photo,
video) but little or no 3D stuff -- with essentially the same priorities as
yours. Almost all advice I've gotten, and benchmarks I've seen, agree that
Intel is the way to go for these applications. I agree with the suggestion
to use WD Raptor drive (2 in RAID 0 is even better) for primary, large SATA
7200rpm drive(s) for bulk storage.

My current likely system is ASUS 865PE mobo, with 3.0 or 3.2 GHz processor
(haven't decided yet between Northwood and Prescott), Raptor + bulk drive as
above, with similar memory, DVD, video parts (maybe 2GB RAM if I can afford
it...).


<yogi_berra@neverspamnever.org> wrote in message
news:MPG.1b99b50a17c8e2839896a2@news.easynews.com...
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm about to start putting together my fourth build, and I'm at the point
> where I can use mucho advice. The new mchine will be primarily for CPU-
> intensive stuff, such as high quality audio compression and editing or
> high definition fractals, and also general "house-office" stuff. I'm not
> much into games or fast 3-D video, and am not planning to overclock, or
> not extensively.
>
> My present two year old machine, which is getting increasingly ragged
> around the edges, has a Soyo KT400 Dragon and Athlon 1400. I am looking
> for a decent real world speed improvement, but without the hassles of
> building to the cutting edge. My highest priority is a stable and trouble
> free machine made up of tried and tested components. Speed is my next
> highest priority. Third priority is a quiet system. My budget can stand
> some moderate upgrading of the components below, if it will mean a better
> machine.
>
> Here is my first and very tentative approximation of how to go about it.
>
> Thank you all very much for any input and recommendations about better
> alternatives, and for pointing out any bottleneck or overkill.
>
> MOTHERBOARD:
> ABIT NF7-S
> or ASUS A7N8X-E DELUXE Rev.2.0 ?
> (or possibly GIGABYTE GA-7N400 Pro2 ?)
> CPU:
> Barton XP2800
> (or XP2500 OC to FSB 400 ?)
> MEMORY: 2x512MB DDR400 operating as dual channel,
> HD: Hitachi 250GB 7200RPM
> DVD WRITER: Dual Layer, 12X or 16X
> FLOPPY/MEMORY CARD READER: MITSUMI FA404A
> VIDEO CARD: Chaintech FX20 (GeForce 5200, 128MB)
> CASE: EVERCASE E4252
>
> CPU SINK/FAN:
> Speeze WHISPER ROCK II, #5F263B1M3G (2700rpm, 38CFM, 26.5dB)
> or Speeze "FALCONROCK" #5F286B (2300rpm, 28cfm, 25db)
> CASE FANS:
> Back: 12cm, NMB 4710NL-04W-B29 (72cfm, 30dB, will use at 7V)
> Front: 8cm: Speeze FDC08025S1M, (37.8cfm, 25.0 DB)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 12:51:25 -0700, "TomSh" <dead@sherrards.org>
wrote:

>I'm about to build a system for similar uses -- CPU-intensive (audio, photo,
>video) but little or no 3D stuff -- with essentially the same priorities as
>yours. Almost all advice I've gotten, and benchmarks I've seen, agree that
>Intel is the way to go for these applications.

<snip>

.... providing you're using the same or similar newer,
P4-optimized applications... if using older software the A64
should leave the P4 in it's wake.

 

[jk]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

Also if you decide to use 64 bit applications, an Opteron or Athlon 64
would be a much better choice than Nocona.

http://www.anandtech.com/linux/showdoc.aspx?i=2163&p=1

Those who are looking backwards are looking at 32 bit performance,
while those who are looking forward are looking at 64 bit performance.


kony wrote:

> On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 12:51:25 -0700, "TomSh" <dead@sherrards.org>
> wrote:
>
> >I'm about to build a system for similar uses -- CPU-intensive (audio, photo,
> >video) but little or no 3D stuff -- with essentially the same priorities as
> >yours. Almost all advice I've gotten, and benchmarks I've seen, agree that
> >Intel is the way to go for these applications.
>
> <snip>
>
> ... providing you're using the same or similar newer,
> P4-optimized applications... if using older software the A64
> should leave the P4 in it's wake.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

In article <u1dcj09evo3b049tj5u0ktjnqkn67jrtiv@4ax.com>, spam@spam.com
says...
> On Wed, 1 Sep 2004 12:51:25 -0700, "TomSh" <dead@sherrards.org>
> wrote:
>
> >I'm about to build a system for similar uses -- CPU-intensive (audio, photo,
> >video) but little or no 3D stuff -- with essentially the same priorities as
> >yours. Almost all advice I've gotten, and benchmarks I've seen, agree that
> >Intel is the way to go for these applications.
>
> <snip>
>
> ... providing you're using the same or similar newer,
> P4-optimized applications... if using older software the A64
> should leave the P4 in it's wake.
>
Thanks for the good suggestions, Kony and Tom. I too have got some of the
same advice about going Pentium. But I am kind of attached to AMD, as I
used AMD in my first three machines. What is your take about how much
faster a machine with a midrange pentium would be for say audio
compression, as compared to a Barton 2800 on a A7N8X-E board?

I've considered taking the plunge and go Pentium, but I'm leaning toward
the Barton for this one, and for the next, in a couple of years, I'll
decide between a Pentium (or by then a Sextium? , and a 64 bits AMD.

I like the idea of a Raptor. They had some issue at first, so I
understand. Is your sense that they are over that by now?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.comp.hardware.homebuilt (More info?)

On Thu, 02 Sep 2004 20:53:54 GMT, <yogi
<yogi_berra@neverspamnever.org>> wrote:


>Thanks for the good suggestions, Kony and Tom. I too have got some of the
>same advice about going Pentium. But I am kind of attached to AMD, as I
>used AMD in my first three machines. What is your take about how much
>faster a machine with a midrange pentium would be for say audio
>compression, as compared to a Barton 2800 on a A7N8X-E board?

Depends on the "midrange Pentium", and as mentioned, the
application optmizations.

Seek benchmarks for what you have in mind, google is good for
that.


>
>I've considered taking the plunge and go Pentium, but I'm leaning toward
>the Barton for this one, and for the next, in a couple of years, I'll
>decide between a Pentium (or by then a Sextium? , and a 64 bits AMD.
>
>I like the idea of a Raptor. They had some issue at first, so I
>understand. Is your sense that they are over that by now?

They seem ok now, but I'd only put one in a system if it also had
a 2nd higher-capacity drive.