G
Guest
Guest
I need some advice on putting together my hopefully awesome new system.
I’ve spent ages looking at many sites and with things coming out nearly every
week, it doesn’t make it easy with something else also just around the corner.
I have an existing Pentium II 450 with 512Mb RAM, a Diamond Monster 3dII Video
card and 2 SCSI hard drives - all rather out of date.
It’s networked to 2 other similar PC’s with a hub and Compaq 17” V710 Monitor.
I’m looking at moving over to the AMD Athlon way of things running Windows XP.
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 1800 - too much or should I go 1700 for £30 less?
Motherboard: I’m interested in the VIA 266A chipset. Currently the only mobo
I’ve spotted is the Epox 8KHA+. The only reason I haven’t decided on this is
that it only has 3 Memory sockets. I’d really like to have 1Gb of DDR SDRAM and
with Crucial 256Mb at about £25-£30, a gig is fairly cheap. The 512Mb’s much
more expensive and Crucial don’t have them, I think. So for a gig I need 4
slots.
Memory: 4xCrucial 256Mb DDR SDRAM
Case: I’ve seen the AOpen A600A. I like the front side USB/Audio/Firewire
connections. I need at least 3 external drive bays and 2 internal. This case
seems to do the trick. Only hassle I have is that it comes with it’s own PSU.
Don’t know if this is any good and it talks of options of 300W/350W/400W but
can’t find a place to buy that I can specify what PSU model. Also it says the
front I/O panel is optional, how do I get this?
Heatsink, Fans and Coolant: I’m nowhere to finding something yet. My PC will
live in my lounge connected to a DSL modem and I’d like to leave it on all the
time, so want a quiet fan so it doesn’t buzz in my ear when I watch TV. With my
CPU and graphics card which I’d like to overclock, can I find a heat sink
without fan or with an ultra quiet fan. Will I need additional fans for my
case? What about heatsink compound?
CD/DVD Drives: I’m going to get a stock standard CD-Rom drive and I’m looking at
a Toshiba DVD-ROM/CDRW combo drive. I know the reader is rather slow but that’s
what the other reader will be for and for copying it’s definitely needed.
Sound Card: Pretty much decided on the Soundblaster Audigy Platinum, I like the
external bay unit. It’s a pain to get to the back of my PC so the front
connections look really’s useful for MiniDisc and to connect to my Cambridge
DT3550 Speaker set.
Video Card: I’m wanting to go GeForce3 but the reviews say the Titanium 500 and
ATI 8500 are too expensive for what you get. The Leadtek Ti200 seems the
business. I’m definitely going to be playing on-line games - Counterstrike and
the like so a good graphics card is a must. I also want the TV out to have 1 PC
on a monitor and the other on the TV. Counter-strike and the girlfriend can
check email!
Keyboard and Mouse. Quite sold on the Logitec Cordless Desktop Optical.
Overkill but that mouse rocks.
Hard Drives. I already have SCSI controllers and drives so no money spent
there.
Monitor. Now I’m thinking of being really greedy but can’t justify it yet. I
have two work colleagues, one with a 19” and one with a 21” and the 21” looks
great. They’re Compaq Trinitron ones which are really good but the money can’t
be justified but Iiyama look good and others. Is it really worth spending far
more on a 21” or should I stick with my 17” or go for a 19”. Any
recommendations?
So, that’s the plan so far, please flood me with comments. Am I barking up the
wrong tree or just get a new GeForce 2 MX video card and get my current system
to keep going for a few more months until prices go down.
I’ve spent ages looking at many sites and with things coming out nearly every
week, it doesn’t make it easy with something else also just around the corner.
I have an existing Pentium II 450 with 512Mb RAM, a Diamond Monster 3dII Video
card and 2 SCSI hard drives - all rather out of date.
It’s networked to 2 other similar PC’s with a hub and Compaq 17” V710 Monitor.
I’m looking at moving over to the AMD Athlon way of things running Windows XP.
Processor: AMD Athlon XP 1800 - too much or should I go 1700 for £30 less?
Motherboard: I’m interested in the VIA 266A chipset. Currently the only mobo
I’ve spotted is the Epox 8KHA+. The only reason I haven’t decided on this is
that it only has 3 Memory sockets. I’d really like to have 1Gb of DDR SDRAM and
with Crucial 256Mb at about £25-£30, a gig is fairly cheap. The 512Mb’s much
more expensive and Crucial don’t have them, I think. So for a gig I need 4
slots.
Memory: 4xCrucial 256Mb DDR SDRAM
Case: I’ve seen the AOpen A600A. I like the front side USB/Audio/Firewire
connections. I need at least 3 external drive bays and 2 internal. This case
seems to do the trick. Only hassle I have is that it comes with it’s own PSU.
Don’t know if this is any good and it talks of options of 300W/350W/400W but
can’t find a place to buy that I can specify what PSU model. Also it says the
front I/O panel is optional, how do I get this?
Heatsink, Fans and Coolant: I’m nowhere to finding something yet. My PC will
live in my lounge connected to a DSL modem and I’d like to leave it on all the
time, so want a quiet fan so it doesn’t buzz in my ear when I watch TV. With my
CPU and graphics card which I’d like to overclock, can I find a heat sink
without fan or with an ultra quiet fan. Will I need additional fans for my
case? What about heatsink compound?
CD/DVD Drives: I’m going to get a stock standard CD-Rom drive and I’m looking at
a Toshiba DVD-ROM/CDRW combo drive. I know the reader is rather slow but that’s
what the other reader will be for and for copying it’s definitely needed.
Sound Card: Pretty much decided on the Soundblaster Audigy Platinum, I like the
external bay unit. It’s a pain to get to the back of my PC so the front
connections look really’s useful for MiniDisc and to connect to my Cambridge
DT3550 Speaker set.
Video Card: I’m wanting to go GeForce3 but the reviews say the Titanium 500 and
ATI 8500 are too expensive for what you get. The Leadtek Ti200 seems the
business. I’m definitely going to be playing on-line games - Counterstrike and
the like so a good graphics card is a must. I also want the TV out to have 1 PC
on a monitor and the other on the TV. Counter-strike and the girlfriend can
check email!
Keyboard and Mouse. Quite sold on the Logitec Cordless Desktop Optical.
Overkill but that mouse rocks.
Hard Drives. I already have SCSI controllers and drives so no money spent
there.
Monitor. Now I’m thinking of being really greedy but can’t justify it yet. I
have two work colleagues, one with a 19” and one with a 21” and the 21” looks
great. They’re Compaq Trinitron ones which are really good but the money can’t
be justified but Iiyama look good and others. Is it really worth spending far
more on a 21” or should I stick with my 17” or go for a 19”. Any
recommendations?
So, that’s the plan so far, please flood me with comments. Am I barking up the
wrong tree or just get a new GeForce 2 MX video card and get my current system
to keep going for a few more months until prices go down.