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appsdba   01-13-2004 at 07:30:31 PM

I am building a new PC this weekend and have a few questions. (I won't be overclocking)

This is the final config:

Abit IS7
Pentium 4 2.6 GHZ 800FSB
1 GB (512MBx2) Corsair XMS PC3200LLPT
Plextor Black 8X DVD-RW/+RW Drive, Model PX-708A/SW-BL
Seagate Baracudda 160 GB SATA Drive
ATI Radeon 9600 XT 128MB
Sony Floppy Drive (OEM)
Windows XP Pro with Service Pack SP1a (OEM)

Here are the questions:

1. Since I am not overclocking, the RAM is good enough, right?
2. Someone said I should partition the hard drive as the size will cause XP to take a long time to boot up. Is that true? If ture, how do I do this? And what size partitions should I choose? Would XP OS alone reside on one partition and everything else on another?
3. I got an OEM Floppy drive. It came with no cables. Don't I need Data, Power cable?
4. When I put the PC together, how is the DVD drive going to be recognized before installing the OS? (don't laugh...a newbie here)

Anything else I must keep in mind?

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Vapor   01-13-2004 at 07:37:39 PM
- 0 +

1) RAM is very good
2) Never heard of that problem before...you should be fine with SP1a. Not really sure, though.
3) Power should be on the PSU, it's a three-pin (or at least mine is).
4) The Windows Installer and BIOS will recognize it. Just go into BIOS and set the DVD/CD-ROM as one of the first on the boot order.

Also, do you have the drivers for your Seagate on a floppy disk, you will need them. Press F6 when XP install asks on the bottom and insert the floppy and select the appropriate driver. Also, get the newest BIOS update, the current one MIGHT not recognize the full 160GB.

Maxtor disgraces the six letters that make Matrox.

Reply to Vapor
Coop   01-13-2004 at 08:27:43 PM
- 0 +

Why did you choose for P4 appsdba ???
Surtenly when you`r not gooing to overclocking an AMD would be much better !!!
Read this review, an Athlon64 3000+ smacks the P4 3.2 GHz, and is much cheaper !!!
Read : http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1946

When Windows64 bit comes out in a few months the A64 will be 20 - 30% faster, and its already faster in 32 bit !
(i realy have to watch this forum, many people are willing to buy an Intel instead of AMD while AMD is the smarter/better buy !)

Reply to Coop
Vapor   01-13-2004 at 08:32:31 PM
- 0 +

I'd go the same route if I weren't going to OC, but I think he already ordered....

Maxtor disgraces the six letters that make Matrox.

Reply to Vapor
appsdba   01-13-2004 at 09:11:58 PM
- 0 +

What about data cable for the floppy?

I got the hard drive as retail (only $90 after rebate from CompUSA) so I am sure it has the driver disks.

As for why I went with P4, I don't know AMD at all. I have no need for the latest and greatest (64-Bit).

I wish I was able to wait another 6 months but I need to build now. I will deal with 64-bit on my next build (2 years or so from now)

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