new machine comments

[Fryguy]

I'm putting together a new machine for myself from parts from newegg.com I've been researching the forums like crazy, and this is what I've come up with. I'm mostly using this for gaming and programming. I'm thinking about overclocking as well, though I've never done it before.

<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=13-127-166" target="_new">Abit NF7-S</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=19-103-379" target="_new">Athlon XP 2500+</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=20-145-026" target="_new">Corsair Value Select PC-3200 512MB</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=14-102-268" target="_new">Sapphire Radeon 9800PRO 128MB</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=22-148-019" target="_new">Seagate 80GB 7200RPM SATA</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=27-151-024" target="_new">Samsung CD-RW/DVD-ROM SM352BRNS</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=21-103-109" target="_new">Sony Floppy Drive</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=11-125-611" target="_new">Chieftec Case BX-03B-SL-B</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=17-104-962" target="_new">Fortron Source 400W</A>
<A HREF="http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduct.asp?description=11-999-056" target="_new">4 Case Fans</A>

Total cost comes to $773.98 after shipping. Any feedback would be appreciated. I'm confident about what I've chosen for most of the stuff except maybe the power supply. Also, will I need anything else, such as cables? I'll be using my previous Sound Blaster Live 5.1 or the onboard sound, so I'm not worried about that. I also already have a wireless DLink NIC, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse, so that's not needed either.

Thanks for you help,
Jason

BTW, to the moderators or whomever, I've noticed that there are a lot of this type of post (new machine...want confirmation on parts before purchase). Perhaps a separate forum would be useful? Most people post these into the CPUs forum, simply because it is first on the list. I know it would also help on the research end.

 

[endyen]

That is a great setup. A couple of things to think about. The NF7 series mobos have soundstorm chips with dolby, so you may as well kiss the SB goodby. It also requires less work from the proccessor so even better.
Some people are having good success coupling that mobo withe the mobile xp2500+. Reports of ocs on air of 2.7 gigs are roumored, while beginers are getting 2.3 gigs. As far as factory unlocked multipliers go, the mobile xps and the A64-FX are the only games in town now. Just a thought.

 

[Spitfire_x86]

I would buy LiteOn combo drive instead of Samsung. Both combo drives are very good, but LiteOn is more tested in these forums. I'm a very satisfied owener of LiteOn CD-RW and DVD-ROM

------------
<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86" target="_new">My Website</A>

<A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/myrig.html" target="_new">My Rig</A> & <A HREF="http://geocities.com/spitfire_x86/benchmark.html" target="_new">3DMark score</A>

 

[Snaggle]

yeah,the lite on combo that reads cds x52 and dvds x16 is just as good and maybe better;but it's also noisier.

 

[potsy]

maybe get a set of 2x256 mb memory sticks (instead of 1x512) to take advantage of the nforce2's dual channel memory...

AMD XP-M 2600+ @ 2.6Ghz (12x216 @ 1.8v)
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro2
Geil 2x256MB PC3200 (2-3-3-11)
Gigabyte Radeon 9200 128MB VIVO
WD 36GB 10,000RPM 8MB SATA
Maxtor 40GB 7,200RPM 8MB ATA133

 

[Cybercraig]

Looks good to me, but I would go for a CD/DVD burner over a plain DVD-rom. Too many neat things to store on a DVD. The prices are falling daily.

 

[Fryguy]

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all your help!

Jason

 

[Crashman]

He's right, the -S has soundstorm, using nVidia's nForce APU, a more powerfull DSP than even the Audigy 2 series uses. As long as you have a digital speaker system you'll get top notch sound with low system overhead from that on-chipset feature. And the mid-quality codec outputs mid quality analog sound from that same DSP to analog speaker if you're stuck with them. Either way you're saving money and getting low system overhead.

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[Johanthegnarler]

People might get mad at me, but if it's possible you may want to go to 1gb of ram.
I went 512 and i regretted it, but this is what i needed it for.
Video game wise, SWG plays godly with it. Most FPS you can't tell a difference, minus planetside.
I make levels in Unreal editor 2003. Huge difference from 512-1gig.
You wont notice a difference though with any normal applications mostly just 3d apps, and i think i'm fairly safe for hl2 and doom3.
Seriously try the notebook cpu's if you don't want to go the gig. It's like 15 dollars more expensive, but i wish i would have went that way. A kid i go to school with said he can reach 2.7 on air as well running at about 45c loaded. But.. from what i know , you can run a locked 2500 at 3200 speeds without a problem.

<A HREF="http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=1752623717" target="_new">http://arc.aquamark3.com/arc/arc_view.php?run=1752623717</A>
45.5k mark? 85 dollars went a long way. So did that extra 15 dollars for cooling my video card.