Socket 939, build+ Old parts

[A2lacrosse]

Alright, i had a Old desktop computer with a p4 2.4gh, that crapped out on me. i want to use as many as the old parts as possible.

i have a 120gb IDE hdd, 350 antec psu, dvd drive, cdrw drive, floppy drive, 80mm fan, (2)256mb pc2100 ddr memory.


I plan on spending 300 dollars or less to get it running and started. And then Add my old graphics card, later on.

so here is what ive chosen so far.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811156018

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827152058

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=1559988&CatId=2017


http://www.directron.com/winkitblue.html#caption

i plan on having (3) 80mm fans running, with a cheapo fan controller from compusa, all blue led, I plan on buying 2 of those light kits, because good deal on Round IDE cables, and 80mm led fans. and the cold cathode light.

the Motherboard, supports all my old stuff, and with the PCIe slot, it can use my graphics card, once im done with it in my main rig. I might have to purchase a new power supply as my Antec Smartpower is only 20 pin, and 350watt is not enough for a PCIE card.

tell me what you guys think, i probably am just going to use this as a fun computer, in the basement, and i have a TV tuner card that i can put into it to make it into a tivo. As for CPU, im gonna wait till the prices go down all the way on socket 939's.

The lowest i'll go is a amd 3700+ but im waiting to see if prices go down further so i can possibly pay a little more for something much better.

 

[dougie_boy]

try this foxxcon board. on board 6100 but cheaper and from newegg

3700+

 

[Newf]

Foxconn is an good choice and is cheaper. The Biostar has had poor reviews. For something a little better consider this, also through Newegg:

Asus A8N-VM CSM 939 microATX nF6150/430 $77+6 8/18/06
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570

Asus A8N-VM CSM reviews 12/05
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2626
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1898&page=1

I currently use this board and have had absolutely no problems with it.

 

[A2lacrosse]

but does the asus motherboard, support my older pc2100 ddr memory?
thats what ive been worrying about.

 

[col-p-todd]

Foxconn is an good choice and is cheaper. The Biostar has had poor reviews. For something a little better consider this, also through Newegg:

Asus A8N-VM CSM 939 microATX nF6150/430 $77+6 8/18/06
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813131570

Asus A8N-VM CSM reviews 12/05
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2626
http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=1898&page=1

I currently use this board and have had absolutely no problems with it.

Yes this is a really good board, I used this board for my sisters pc. this board will peform as well as my board which was $140.

This is the board to buy.

 

[Newf]

but does the asus motherboard, support my older pc2100 ddr memory?
thats what ive been worrying about.

It will support 2100, 2700 and 3200 ddr. Of course both the speed and small amount of ram you have will hurt performance no matter which motherboard you choose for a new 3700+ cpu.

 

[A2lacrosse]

just purchased the case, asus mobo, and dvd burner. still gonna purchase the window mod kit, fan controller and cpu. later on, thanks for the help

 

[Newf]

You're welcome.

 

[A2lacrosse]

Alright, all the parts are one the way. current build looks to be

Raidmax case
Athlon 3700+
512mb ddr
120gb hdd
dvd burner
dvd drive
fan controller
Hauppauge tv tuner
wireless network card
XP professional

also got 2 blue cathode lights, and all round ide cables for the hard drive, and the 2 dvd drives. and it will most likely get a memory upgrade, and a 7300gt in a few months. giving it gig of ram and a gpu, should make it play all the lastest crap.

 

[dougie_boy]

and a 7300gt in a few months. giving it gig of ram and a gpu, should make it play all the lastest crap.

really? a 7300gt? aim a bit higher me thinks.

 

[sirheck]

agreed he needs to go with the 76gt

and atleast no one mentioned conroe

 

[A2lacrosse]

hmm well, this isnt my main rig. and really cpu speed doesnt matter to me nearly as much, i dont need the cutting edge. i have a 7300gt in my main computer, that i will most likely upgrade around xmas time when a 7600gt is a little cheaper, and i can ask for it for x-mas. cause right now its basically twice as good as my current card.

as for conroe, ehh, i dont need that much speed. id keep my p4, if it still worked. it was fast enough.

and maybe in a year or two, i'd rebuild it with conroe, and a sli mobo.

this build was purely to just do it, most of the parts i'll be able to use for a very long time, case, fans,dvd drives, etc.

anyone know how long a 7200 rpm ide hard drive usually lasts? mine is 3 years old, just wondering

 

[sirheck]

well for the price a conroe cant beat a 3700 thats what i ment
and a 76gt will do heavy gaming <meaning it will play all games>
at good settings until the dx10 and vista stuff

 

[dougie_boy]

hard drives can last for a while but 3 years is getting on a bit. keep it cool and it will last for longer. 50c drives are more likly to fu.ck up. low thirtys is about right...

 

[A2lacrosse]

ya, alright. i mean i think by the end. ill have 2 hdd fans, 2 side fans, and 2 rear fans. so hopefully ill be alright. basement+where i live means its gonna be very well cooled. so hopefully it'll last

 

[randomizer]

hard drives can last for a while but 3 years is getting on a bit. keep it cool and it will last for longer. 50c drives are more likly to fu.ck up. low thirtys is about right...

Getting on a bit? It's hardly matured unless your constantly accessing the drive or it was running at 50C (mine is running at around 16C at the moment). I have a 6 year old hard drive that makes almost the most annoying noise but works fine. Ive seen 10 year old hard drives (the old 3gb ones that cost as much as a 300gb does now back then) in amazing condition and I would use them if i could fit more than one game on them, they were actually fast enuf to use and they didnt make the most annoying high pitched whine you could ever hear from a hard drive.

 

[dougie_boy]

hard drives can last for a while but 3 years is getting on a bit. keep it cool and it will last for longer. 50c drives are more likly to fu.ck up. low thirtys is about right...

Getting on a bit? It's hardly matured unless your constantly accessing the drive or it was running at 50C (mine is running at around 16C at the moment). I have a 6 year old hard drive that makes almost the most annoying noise but works fine.


3 years for any piece of equipment which spins at 7200rpm is quite a while. constant use 24/7. i would replace it just to be safe. and just look at how far HD have come in 3 years..

 

[randomizer]

I totally agree with you but he didn't say that he used it 24/7. He could buy a new one and keep his old one as a backup for less important stuff, theres no point throwing out a hard drive that works fine just because its three years old. And yea they have come a long way in 3 years, SATA is now the norm basically, and we now have 750gb hard drives widely available for desktop (rather than purely server) use.