home build Athlon 64 - please comment

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

Hi,

I am thinking of building a new PC, mainly for developing from home
(java/eclipse) and multimedia (digital imaging, and DV editing) (and
very little gaming)


I have few questions,
1. I am thinking of using 2 HD in raid 0 configurations, can I use only
them, or do I need an additional hard drive for the OS?
2. What types of cables do I need for the Hard drive (it's an OEM
without cables).
3. any comments about the parts I choose are more then welcomed.
4. can you recommend a good 17" LCD monitor?

Here are the parts I am considering:
Short version:
Athlon 64 +3200/K8N/2x512M/2x160G(raid 0)/DVD +/-RW 16X/ASPIRE 350W =>
$767.02

Long version:

Case:
ASPIRE X-Dreamer II Silver ATX Mid-Tower Case with 350W Power Supply,
Model "ATXB4KLW-AL/350"
Model# ATXB4KLW-AL/350W
Item # N82E16811144025
Specifications:
Case Type: Mid-Tower Case
Color: Silver
Material: Metal
Drive Bays: 4x5.25"/ 2x3.5"/ 4x3.5"Hidden
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Ports: 2 USB+Audio(Microphone Jack & Earphone Jack)
Power Supply: 350W
Cooling System: 2 x 80mm Illuminated
Motherboard Compatibility: ATX/ BABY AT
Dimensions: 17"x7.8"x16.7"
Special Features: Acrylic Added to Front Panel for polished Appearance,
Automatic Drop-Down Doors for Color Case, Extended Body for All the
Drives and Motherboards to Fit in
$54.50

DVD Burner:
LG Electronics DVD+/-RW 16X Mulitformat Drive, Model GSA-4163BI -
Retail
Model# GSA-4163BI
Item # N82E16827136047
Specifications:
Write Speed: 16X DVD+R, 8X DVD+RW, 16X DVD-R, 6X DVD-RW, 4X DVD+R DL,
5X DVD-RAM, 40X CD-R, 24X CD-RW
Read Speed: 40X CD-ROM, 16X DVD-ROM
Interface: ATAPI / E-IDE
Buffer: 2MB
Features: Supports Double Layer DVD+R Disc (8.5GB)
Packaging: Retail (see pictures for details)
$78.99

Hard drive: (I am thinking of RAID 0 configuration)
2 x Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model HDS722516VLSA80 Part#
13G0254, OEM Drive Only
Model# HDS722516VLSA80
Item # N82E16822145051
Specifications:
Capacity: 160GB
Average Seek Time: 8.5 ms
Buffer: 8MB
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Interface: Serial ATA
Features: Lowest power requirements, Optional low acoustic and power
modes
Manufacturer Warranty: 1 year
Packaging: OEM Drive Only
2 x $89.88 = $179.76

Memory:
Mushkin Dual Pack 184-Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - Retail
Model# 991145
Item # N82E16820146299
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Mushkin
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184-Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 2.5-3-3
Support Voltage: 2.5V-2.6V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit
Warranty: Lifetime
$136.27

Motherboard:
ASUS "K8N" NVIDIA nForce3 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 754 CPU
-RETAIL
Model# K8N
Item # N82E16813131512
Specifications:
Supported CPU: AMD Athlon 64 / Sempron Processor
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce3 250
FSB: 800 MHz
RAM: 3x DIMM Supports DDR266/333/400 Max 3GB
Slots: 1x AGP 8X/4X, 5x PCI
Ports: 2x PS/2, 1x COM, 1x LPT, 8x USB2.0(Rear 4), 1xRJ45, Audio Ports
IDE: 2x ATA 133 up to 4 Devices
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x SATA RAID with 0, 1, 0+1, JBOD
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC850(8-Ch)
Onboard LAN: Built-in MAC with external PHY 10/100 Mbps Ethernet
Form Factor: ATX
$84.50

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible
Processor - Retail
Model# ADA3200AXBOX
Item # N82E16819103483
Specification
Model: AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Core: Newcastle
Operating Frequency: 2.2GHz
FSB: Integrated int chip
Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/512K
Voltage: 1.5V
Process: 0.13Micron
Socket: Socket 754
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+
Warranty: 3-year MFG
Packaging: Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included)
$193.00

Total: $727.02 + 40$ S&H from newegg

p.s.
I currently own a P4-1.7/D845GBV/512M/80+120G/MSI FX5900XT, which I
built 2 years ago. I am going to use the graphics card for the new
computer, and pass the rest to my kids (theirs old PC just die).

p.s.2
I don't believe I am going to upgrade it, and I hope it will last for
atleast 18 months.

Thanks in advance,
Ofir.

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

ofiroren@gmail.com wrote:

> I am thinking of building a new PC, mainly for developing from home
> (java/eclipse) and multimedia (digital imaging, and DV editing) (and
> very little gaming)

For the record, I believe the P4 is better at digital video.

> I have few questions,
> 1. I am thinking of using 2 HD in raid 0 configurations, can I use only
> them, or do I need an additional hard drive for the OS?

Nope, but you'll want to get something to backup your files to. I nice large
external USB2 or Firewire drive would do. With RAID 0 (which is not really
a RAID, technically) you increase the likelihood that something is going to
go wrong by the number of drives you have. Therefore, 2 HDD's are twice as
likely to suffer from hard drive failure. Once a drive goes down, so does
the stripe, rendering the info on the other drive completely useless.

> 2. What types of cables do I need for the Hard drive (it's an OEM
> without cables).

Since you're using SATA, according to further down in your post, you need 2
SATA cables, and you Asus motherboard should provide them, along with some
molex to SATA power cable adapters.

> 3. any comments about the parts I choose are more then welcomed.
> 4. can you recommend a good 17" LCD monitor?

Not only is a 19" CRT a better bargain, but it renders colors much more
accurately and will not suffer from any effects of pixel response time.
This may be important when editing digital video. Personally, LCD screens
are just a style thing. CRT screens have superior picture, color
management, and bang for the buck.

> Here are the parts I am considering:
>
> Case:
> ASPIRE X-Dreamer II Silver ATX Mid-Tower Case with 350W Power Supply,
> Model "ATXB4KLW-AL/350"
> Model# ATXB4KLW-AL/350W
> Item # N82E16811144025
> Specifications:
> Case Type: Mid-Tower Case
> Color: Silver
> Material: Metal
> Drive Bays: 4x5.25"/ 2x3.5"/ 4x3.5"Hidden
> Expansion Slots: 7
> Front Ports: 2 USB+Audio(Microphone Jack & Earphone Jack)
> Power Supply: 350W
> Cooling System: 2 x 80mm Illuminated
> Motherboard Compatibility: ATX/ BABY AT
> Dimensions: 17"x7.8"x16.7"
> Special Features: Acrylic Added to Front Panel for polished Appearance,
> Automatic Drop-Down Doors for Color Case, Extended Body for All the
> Drives and Motherboards to Fit in
> $54.50

Consider getting a quality power supply. No name power supplies provided by
most case makers aren't reliable enough. The PSU is one of the most
important parts on the entire computer. Many phantom problems can be traced
back to the PSU. The fact that your case only costs $54.50 with a PSU
included tells me it's going to be a junk PSU.

I recommend an Antec power supply. A TruePower 430 should be plenty.

I clipped the rest, but it seemed okay.

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

Thanks Ruel,

> For the record, I believe the P4 is better at digital video.

Thanks for the note, I only do some home DV editing, and my current P4
1.7 worked fine, so I think the AMD can handle it


> Nope, but you'll want to get something to backup your files to. I
nice large
> external USB2 or Firewire drive would do. With RAID 0 (which is not
really
> a RAID, technically) you increase the likelihood that something is
going to
> go wrong by the number of drives you have. Therefore, 2 HDD's are
twice as
> likely to suffer from hard drive failure. Once a drive goes down, so
does
> the stripe, rendering the info on the other drive completely useles

Agree, adding an external HD is much easier to backup then using DVDs
(as I do now)

> Not only is a 19" CRT a better bargain, but it renders colors much
more
> accurately and will not suffer from any effects of pixel response
time.
> This may be important when editing digital video. Personally, LCD
screens
> are just a style thing. CRT screens have superior picture, color
> management, and bang for the buck.

Couldn't agree more, I am going to use my good old 21" CRT monitor,
the LCD monitor is for my kids (space issues).

Thanks again,

Ofir.

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

> Consider getting a quality power supply. No name power supplies provided by
> most case makers aren't reliable enough. The PSU is one of the most
> important parts on the entire computer. Many phantom problems can be traced
> back to the PSU. The fact that your case only costs $54.50 with a PSU
> included tells me it's going to be a junk PSU.

On the other side of the argument, I've got a junk PSU and it's
worked flawlessly for the past few months. It came with my $35
case, so it was essentially free. Who's the fool? The one who
spends nothing on a power supply and enjoys troublefree computing
while using it, or the person who buys an expensive brand name
power supply for $60-80 and has the same experience?