Upgrading soon, need help on some components

[Guest]

I know this post might not be best suited in the CPU section but I couldn't work out where to put it.

I’m upgrading soon and I still have a few problems. So here they are in a simple and not very well explained form.

Processor
I’m almost certainly going to get an Athlon XP 1700+.

RAM
I want to get 256mb PC2100 DDR, but the question is ECC or non-parity. Non-parity is cheaper by £15-£20. I’ve asked around and most people have said to go for the non-parity because ECC isn’t used much anymore and it can actually slow the RAM down.

Motherboard
I’ve got my eyes set on the Abit KR7A, but which one? There’s the KR7A, KR7A-133 and KR7A-RAID. If the KR7A is just the same as the KR7A-RAID (which is the one always reviewed) except without RAID then it’s the one I want as I don’t want or need RAID (as I understand it anyway). Anyone know more about the different models because as I said before only the KR7A-RAID is ever mentioned?

PSU
I’m going to be running an Athlon XP, GeForce 2 GTS and whatever else matters (the monitor has its own cable) so I’m guessing 300w minimum. All I need is something reliable and not terribly noisy to do the job, as well as reasonably priced.

Fan + Heatsink
As well as PSUs I have no experience in this area at all. Again I just need something reliable, quiet and a good price. I like the look of the Zalman Flower CNPS6000-Cu.


I’m on a budget of up to £400, but I would like to stay more around £370. Some basic pricing:
Processor - ~£120
RAM - ~£60
Motherboard - ~£130
PSU – ~£30
Fan + Heatsink - ~£30


Thanks for any help.

 

[Matisaro]

Processor
I’m almost certainly going to get an Athlon XP 1700+.

Good choice, it is right now tied for best price/performance cpu with the xp1600+, either is an excellent choice.

RAM
I want to get 256mb PC2100 DDR, but the question is ECC or non-parity. Non-parity is cheaper by £15-£20. I’ve asked around and most people have said to go for the non-parity because ECC isn’t used much anymore and it can actually slow the RAM down.

ECC ram is used alot....for servers, it is slower than regular ddr ram because every byte has error correction and control(I believe thats what ecc stands for). A home user does not need ecc. Non parity just means the ram dosent need to be used in pairs(rdram and older edo needed to be in pairs) sdram hasnt been parity for a long time. Just get a good brand and you should be fine.(crucial.com is my fav).

Motherboard
I’ve got my eyes set on the Abit KR7A, but which one? There’s the KR7A, KR7A-133 and KR7A-RAID. If the KR7A is just the same as the KR7A-RAID (which is the one always reviewed) except without RAID then it’s the one I want as I don’t want or need RAID (as I understand it anyway). Anyone know more about the different models because as I said before only the KR7A-RAID is ever mentioned?

Great choice, abit makes godly mobos, you do indeed want the kr7-raid, from quickly looking at their site(damn its slow) I see the kr7a is the new version with ata133 on board, if you dont want raid, just get the kr7a non raid version. They are the same motherboard, there is no difference asides from price and raid.

PSU
I’m going to be running an Athlon XP, GeForce 2 GTS and whatever else matters (the monitor has its own cable) so I’m guessing 300w minimum. All I need is something reliable and not terribly noisy to do the job, as well as reasonably priced.

Just avoid no name brands, enermax makes a killer psu, a 300w will be fine, 350 if you can swing the extra cash.

Fan + Heatsink
As well as PSUs I have no experience in this area at all. Again I just need something reliable, quiet and a good price. I like the look of the Zalman Flower CNPS6000-Cu.

DONT BUY A SEPERATE HEATSINK. Just buy the retail boxxed athlon1700+ and it comes with a perfectly quiet perfectly adequate hsf, plus a 3 year warrantee. From the tone of your post I will assume you do not plan to overclock, that would be the ONLY reason to get a more expensive hsf IMO, and since you arent, just get the retail.


Summing it up, you saved £30 for not buying the hsf. Use that to get a killer videocard or a bigger hdd or something.

Good luck.

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!

 

[taiwoong]

awesome.... well how about these components??
can you save me some money too? =)

Lian Li PC65 USB 175.00
Enermax 431w (FC) 88.00

corsair DDR Memory (512 mb) 172.00
--- is it better to have two sticks of 256mb or 1 stick of 512mb??


Arctic Silver 3 Thermal paste 7.00
EPOX 8kha+ 98.00
CPU (xp 1700+) 122.00
leadtek GF3 ti200 128mb 199.99

and either one of these
ALPHA PAL8045U. Heat Sink + Fan 47.00
or
Swiftech MCX462 Heatsink + Fan 69.00
---would these fit Epox 8kha+ with xp 1700+???

i have brand new liteon 24x cd-rw and liteon 16x Dvd-rom
also have old s/b live! 5.1 .. i think that would work just fine....

what do you think of my computer guys?? too expensive??

oh yeah... i will try to overclock everything to its limit... hehe (it's my first time overclocking...) =)
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by taiwoong on 01/26/02 01:25 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Matisaro]

Lian Li PC65 USB 175.00
Enermax 431w (FC) 88.00

Lian li's are nice, but you dont really need a 431W psu, drop it to 350, and rest comfortably.

corsair DDR Memory (512 mb) 172.00
--- is it better to have two sticks of 256mb or 1 stick of 512mb??

Get which ever one is cheaper, 1 512 or 2 256's.

Arctic Silver 3 Thermal paste 7.00
EPOX 8kha+ 98.00
CPU (xp 1700+) 122.00
leadtek GF3 ti200 128mb 199.99

You in the us? That gf price is 50 bucks too high, go to www.pricewatch.com and order one online, I believe they are starting at 150.

Good mobo.

Good cpu.

You dont need artic silver paste, which will lead me to my next point.

and either one of these
ALPHA PAL8045U. Heat Sink + Fan 47.00
or
Swiftech MCX462 Heatsink + Fan 69.00
---would these fit Epox 8kha+ with xp 1700+???

Do you plan on overclocking, if so, go for the swiftech.
If you do not, DONT BUY A SEPERATE HEATSINK, get a retail amdxp and use the included heatsink. Use the thermal pad, dont worry about buying extra as2. You will at most need 1 case fan(actually none if you get an enermax psu with dual fans) to maintain case temps.

Super heatsinks and 5 case fans are only for overclockers, a regular non overclocked user does not need any of those things.


"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!

 

[Matisaro]

And then I read the bottom part, if you are overclocking, go for the swifttech and as2, and 2 case fans.

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!

 

[taiwoong]

leadtek GF3 ti200 starts at 190.00 bucks at pricewatch.com too..

and it's only 64 mb...

i saw leadtek GF3 ti200 128 mb at newegg.com for $ 199.00
is there any other place where i can get this at lower price?
and you think 350w would be enough for my system??
hmm 30 bucks is a lot of money, but do you think ..it would be enough for 2 HDs, 1 DVD-rom, 1 CD-RW, GF3 ti200, (might get hercules home theater XP system), and quite a few fans..

if it would be more than enough... i would go for 350w..

 

[Matisaro]

All Gf3's are pretty much the same, does it have to be leadtek.

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!

 

[svol]

I run 4 HDs, 3 CDROMs, 2 FDs and my Abit KG7-RAID with Athlon XP1600, 512 MB RAM. GeForce2 MX, and 2 PCI-cards on one EnerMax 350W, rock stable. I also have one extra Codegen 350W to power my 14 fans (see sig), but as you see my EnerMax is heavely loaded and it runs perfect.

My case has so many fans that it hovers above the ground .

 

[taiwoong]

that's good.. i guess i can go with 350w... enermax..
it's with sleeping mode.. right??

and about the GF3..
why does leadtek GF3 is so expensive compare to other GF3..
but as you said.. if all GF3 ti200 are pretty much same,, i can go with cheaper one...
does any of GF3 ti200 has advantage over DVD ripping??

hmmm and about the heat sink...
is delta that LOUD?? how do you switch to other fan??

hehe i have so many questions..

 

[svol]

Yes it has StandBy mode in Windows (if you mean that).
Not all Delta fan are loud, but I own a Delta HP (HighPower) 60mm 7000rpm fan which makes a lot of noise, but the slower 4000rpm fans are less loud.

My case has so many fans that it hovers above the ground .

 

[Grifter]

ECC = Error Check and Correction
or
Error Correction Code
??
I cant remember


Trying is the first step to failure

 

[FatBurger]

Most commonly, <A HREF="http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia/defineterm?term=ecc&x=24&y=17" target="_new">ECC</A> stands for Error Correction Code.

<font color=orange>Quarter</font color=orange> <font color=blue>Pounder</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Inside</font color=orange>

 

[Pettytheft]

The Alpha 8045 is cheaper and performs on par or better than the swiftech.

Blah, Blah Blahh, Blahh, blahh blah blahh, blah blah.

 

[TheAntipop]

Also one thing that should be cleared up is that ECC doesn't slow down performance in reality. It performs at the very least 97% as good as non-parity ram which equates to under 1% of total system performance. Also, something important to note is that it only takes 40 volts to create a 1 bit hole in your RAM (you can feel a minimum of 4000 volts). So if you plan on handling your ram a lot without electricity discharge, then ECC ram can help ensure you dont run into a problem with bit errors.

Hard work often pays off in time, but laziness always pays off now.

 

[Matisaro]

Also one thing that should be cleared up is that ECC doesn't slow down performance in reality.

It performs at the very least 97% as good as non-parity ram which equates to under 1% of total system performance.

You proved yourself wrong with your own comment lol.



"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!

 

[FatBurger]

But I understand what he's saying.

It doesn't noticeably slow down your computer, but since the average person doesn't need it (and it's more expensive), why bother?

<font color=orange>Quarter</font color=orange> <font color=blue>Pounder</font color=blue> <font color=orange>Inside</font color=orange>

 

[Matisaro]

Yeah, no home user needs ecc.

"The Cash Left In My Pocket,The BEST Benchmark"
No Overclock+stock hsf=GOOD!