Help needed with brand new computer!

[chokes]

Hi, its my first post here on this great website that has helped me greatly in getting a better understanding on computers.

Well im getting my new pc next week specs are:

P4 3.0 Ghz 800 Fsb
P4C800 Deluxe
Onboard audio
ATI 9800 Pro
2 x 512MB DDR400
Sony DVD RW Dru510
Creative DVD Drive
2 x 120GB Seagate HD @ 7200 rpm

I'd like to ask two things;

1) What should the voltage of the PSU i buy be to run everything smoothly?
2) How many fans should my case have?
(Note: I wont be overclocking much but i might use the options on my motherboard and use the 'safe' overclocking option to just increase it a bit)

Thanks in advance, Charlie

 

[mister_e]

1) What should the voltage of the PSU i buy be to run everything smoothly?

I would recommend a quality (i.e. Enermax, Antec, Fortron) 450W power supply. You could get away with less, but it's better to be safe than sorry.

2) How many fans should my case have?

As many as you can stand . Seriously though, you'd probably be fine with one 80mm intake and one 80mm exhaust plus the fans on the PSU.

 

[ltj311]

I don't understand why people want the Canterwood board. I would strongly suggest getting the P4P800 unless you don't mind spending more money for about the same performance.

I would also suggest getting PC3500.

And are those Seagates SATA drives?

 

[chokes]

Thx , well i didn't know it had the same performance but its too late now. Those hard disks i bought a while back so i believe they're ata.

 

[svol]

PC3500 is a tad useless unles you OC the system as your PC is DDR400 (PC3200).

A 350W high-quality PSU (Antec, Enermax, Fortron) will be enough but will leave you with zero upgrade space so I suggest going to 400W or above.

2 Fans should be enough in theory... one in the bottom front blowing in and one at the upper rear blowing out.

My CPU fan spins so fast that it creates a wormhole

 

[ltj311]

I was recommending PC3500 for stability issues.

 

[svol]

Stability issues?

My CPU fan spins so fast that it creates a wormhole

 

[ltj311]

I've heard alot about stability problems between the Canterwood board and PC3200 memory. Is this not true? I just though I might warn him. Getting PC3500 would at least give him better stability if not any performance increase.

 

[camieabz]

If the price difference is minimal, then why not. I put 512MB of PC3500 into my Dad's system and it ticks at 200MHz happily.

<b><font color=blue>~ <A HREF="http://forums.btvillarin.com/index.php?act=ST&f=41&t=324&s=58e94ba84a16bedfebbf0f416d5bac48" target="_new">System Specs</A> ~<font color=blue></b>

 

[svol]

But PC3500 memory is just OC'ed PC3200 memory.

My CPU fan spins so fast that it creates a wormhole

 

[ltj311]

Uh, ok.

Instead of having unstable DDR400, he can have DDR433 underclocked at 400. Hence the better stability.

 

[svol]

Well I think the stability problem is not in the quality of the memory (because any good branded PC3200 should be of good quality) but in problems within the BIOS and/or northbridge.

My CPU fan spins so fast that it creates a wormhole