My First Build - Pls Rate this Rig!! (part II)

endless_n00b · Feb 14, 2002

OK I've made several revisions based on suggestions from the forum. Thanks to everyone that replied!

Athlon XP 1700+
Volcano 6cu+ fan 7000 rpm 38 CFM (and Actic Silver II)
Leadtek 7350KDA (SiS735 chipset) w/ onboard LAN and sound
512 meg DDR from Kingston

HD - Maxtor 7200rpm - 30gig or 40 gig
CDRW ??? I dont care about write speed really, only READ speed (maybe the Aopen 16/10/40 ?)
3d card - Gainward GF3 Ti200
FDD - Mitsumi FDD (does it really matter? lol)
Modem - Creative Modem Blaster 56k
Case - Maxtop ATX case and 350W PSU and 3 case fans
Logitech Optical Mouse
Windows XP

Using my old speakers, keyboard, cable modem and monitor. This is for gaming and internet, and mild overclocking (thats my next project!). I am trying to get the best price/performance as well as easy to install.

Comments/suggestions/flames etc are all welcome!

thanks!

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A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

pr497 · Feb 14, 2002

Leadtek 7350KDA (SiS735 chipset) w/ onboard LAN and sound

im not too sure about that motherboard (in general that is)...but its probably a good one.

512 meg DDR from Kingston

you sure you dont want crucial ram?...kingston is good and all...but its not the best for overclocking....but if you're not an overclocker...then kingston is fine...

CDRW ??? I dont care about write speed really, only READ speed (maybe the Aopen 16/10/40 ?)

you will care about the write speed...plextor's or lite on's are good, cheap burners.
everything else seems fine...

<A HREF="http://gamershq.madonion.com/compare2k1.shtml?2649487" target="_new">P4 NW + DDR</A> = Not Bad

Jusphil · Feb 14, 2002

Have you read any posts on overclocking XP's? you might want to try a different motherboard (unless you are just doing FSB). I heard the Epox 8kha+ should be ok for small overclocking projectsi agree plextor would be the best way to go with the burner, a little more expensive, but should be worth it

endless_n00b · Feb 14, 2002

yeah, I know not many people have/are familiar with the Leadtek board, but everyone that I have talked to that does have it, loves it. Theres a Leadtek forum at ocworkbench and anadtech too I think, and they all say its fast, rock stable, oc-able, and easy to install. Faster than some KT266A boards, and only 1-3% slower than the best ones that cost more. I was getting that EPOX board all the way, up until about a week ago, but bumped it for the Leadtek. I think both are a good choice, but I keep hearing about the mysterious "VIA bugs" so I said screw it, get the SiS from Leadtek. There is too much info for me to weed through as it is, being a newb and all.

As for overclocking, no I haven't read too much about it yet. Just too much info to digest as it is. I just want the option in the future, and the Leadtek (with the latest BIOS) is said to be the most overclockable SiS735 board. The Gainward is said to be EASILY overclockable, and the kingston memory, well I just learned its *not* very overclockable thanks to pr497. Thanks man! I think I might be ok with that though, since better memory is being released almost every month nowadays. DDR333 (or pc2700? whaddevadahell you call it, why must DDR names be so confusing? Isn't pc2100 really pc166 DDR SDRAM?) Anyway, I might wait for that to drop in price and upgrade in a year when half a gig isn't enough for me anymore anyway, lol. And I think the Leadtek board supports DDR333 too, albeit unofficially.

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A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

FatBurger · Feb 14, 2002

No sound card?

You might look for Kingmax RAM, I've heard unbelieveable stories about their PC2100 OCing ability.

Oh, and once again I recommend against that HSF. This time, because it's not the best performer. Since you're overclocking, look for a bare Alpha Pal8045 ($30?), and possibly a Panaflo fan.

Quarter Pounder InsideEdited by FatBurger on 02/14/02 10:58 AM.

Tiberius13 · Feb 14, 2002

Just one comment:

Get Crucial RAM! Go to www.crucial.com and check out there price and order some. I have heard there is a 15% discount for anandtech users also... might be worth checking it out.

Crucial memory is very overclockable, and I have never heard of any problems when people increase the memory timing to 2-2-2 with it.

Guest · Feb 14, 2002

CDRW:
get smt with 8mb buffer.
FDD:
they are all the same

endless_n00b · Feb 14, 2002

hmm, can't find the discount at anandtech, anybody else hear of this?

fatburger - easy solution on the sound card - build it for now and later if I hate the onboard sound I'll get a sound card (and I know who to ask

otherwise stick with what I got.

sad to hear on the hsf

I'm sure that Alpha is great, but I bet its 45-50 dBA too (I think, kinda guessing on that). I was hoping for a happy medium between the cheap stock hsf's and the jet turbine Alpha/Swiftech's. The Volcano 6cu+ pushes 38 CFM at 39 dBA. Is 38 CFM enough? I don't need to OC like a madman.

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A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

CoOLMaNX · Feb 14, 2002

actually if u buy from crucial.com you automatically receive 15% off..and about the alpha8045, its just the heatsink..what makes the noise level go up is the fan..you can chose which fan to throw on top of that. i have the alpha myself, great heatsink and on top of that i have a delta fan..very loud

didnt have one of em electronic pens so ill just type my name,CoOoLMaNX

kief · Feb 14, 2002

Crucial does rule. If you are not OCing the Kingston is excellent also, never got a bad stick from either company and at stock speeds never had problems....

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

Guest · Feb 15, 2002

(...) I keep hearing about the mysterious "VIA bugs"

Please tell me more, I was just going for a mb w/ via kt266a. I've read some posting about it in mb/chipset, but that got refuted/flamed

so I didn't take any notice.
Where did you read about this?

<A HREF="http://uk.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=6047" target="_new">my pacifist summer holiday</A> :frown:

FatBurger · Feb 15, 2002

That's why I'm saying you get the BARE heatsink (no fan), and get a Panaflo fan to go on it.

Quarter Pounder Inside

Matisaro · Feb 15, 2002

I'm sure that Alpha is great, but I bet its 45-50 dBA too (I think, kinda guessing on that).

No, the alphapal8045 is an 80mm heatsink, and it uses 80mm fans, which are much quieter than 60mm fans, I just bought one, and with an 80mm sunon on their, temps are frosty and its nice and quiet.

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

Matisaro · Feb 15, 2002

Please tell me more, I was just going for a mb w/ via kt266a. I've read some posting about it in mb/chipset, but that got refuted/flamed so I didn't take any notice.
Where did you read about this?

The kt266a chipset is stable so far.

When people say they dislike via, or distrust via, it is due to the bugs which occured with the kt133 and kt133a chipsets. Via's current platform dosent have any bugs that I am aware of, but old mistrust dies hard.

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

lhgpoobaa · Feb 15, 2002

as far as i can see the 7350kda is great for overclocking as it has the 1/5 and 1/6 dividers for high fsb/ram speeds.

i want one too, but impossible to find here
plus, im kinda broke

the idea is you unlock your processor, reduce the multiplier, set the fsb to 166 then install some PC2700 ram and let rip!
out of all the types of PC2700 corsiar looks the best i think, tested and rated for Cas2

Overclocked athlon 1200C @ 8.5 x 166FSB + PC2700 = GOOD!

Ncogneto · Feb 15, 2002

Via's current platform dosent have any bugs that I am aware of, but old mistrust dies hard.

Have you not heard of the pci bus limitations that all via chipsets have? with faster hard drives and raid controllers becoming the norm, this is becoming a real issue.

It's not what they tell you, its what they don't tell you!

Matisaro · Feb 15, 2002

Oh, you mean the same bug found in this chipset?

<A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/17010203.htm" target="_new">http://www.theinquirer.net/17010203.htm</A>

SO I suppose its ok never to buy intel motherboards either, because of some bugs?

BTW.

<A HREF="http://www.theinquirer.net/01020217.htm" target="_new">http://www.theinquirer.net/01020217.htm</A>

The bug you mentioned has been patched and repaired...so, as I said before, the current kt266a chipset has no bugs that I am aware of.

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

dhlucke · Feb 15, 2002

The fan on the <A HREF="http://www.dansdata.com/coolercomp.htm" target="_new">6cu+</A> (note the plus) just makes more noise. It's no better than the 6cu, which I have and really recommend.

God Bless America!

Ncogneto · Feb 15, 2002

The bug has existed ever since the mvp3 chipset. Not until Tec channel posted conclusive evidence that such a bug existed did VIA own up to and "patch" the bug. Can you say quality control? How can you muff up something as standard as a PCI bus and not find it for years? Remember the creative incidence? ( this is when a pci bandwith hog meats a pci bandwith limited chipset). at least Intel posted there bug from the get go in their white pages. supposedly VIA didn't even know about it? What else don't they know about?

It's not what they tell you, its what they don't tell you!

Matisaro · Feb 15, 2002

LoL, like I said, via's current chips are bug free as far as I know. I am not defending via, but its funny how people villify them for things which even intel does.

Via has a bad history, but their CURRENT chip does not have any unpatched bugs that I am aware of.

Thats all I said, and you claimed there was a bug, I showed there was a patch, and threw the intel thing in to show that the issue was not via specific.

Its ok not to like via, but not to like their current chipsets based on their past chipsets problems dosent make much sense to me.

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

endless_n00b · Feb 15, 2002

LOL, you see? this is why I am getting the Leadtek. You guys all make good arguments and god knows I can't refute any it cuz my brain is just too full as it is to try to make sense of it all.

Back to hsf's, so the panaflo is quiet? k, didn't know that, where can I get one? Also, what do other people use? Any other suggestions?

BTW, the link dhlucke posted is great. Its a monster article on every hsf imaginable. Thanks man. I'm reading through it right now.

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A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

endless_n00b · Feb 15, 2002

All,

That article unfortunately doesn't provide a convenient summary of all the hsf's they tested, other than a long alphabetical list down the side, so I copied and pasted that into excel, isolated the thermal resistance numbers and sorted it.

Here are the results. Lower numbers are better.

Swiftech MCX462 0.52°C/W
OCZ Dominator 0.53°C/W
Alpha PAL8045 (variable speed fan, maximum power) 0.56°C/W
Global Win CAK38 0.56°C/W
Global Win CAK38 (updated) 0.56°C/W
Thermalright SK-6 with 7000RPM fan 0.56°C/W
Bitspower NP60CD 0.57°C/W
Bitspower NP80D 0.57°C/W
OCZ Gladiator 0.57°C/W
OCZ Goliath with very high power fan 0.57°C/W
Swiftech MCXC-370 0.57°C/W
ThermoSonic ThermoEngine with YS Tech fan 0.57°C/W
Cooler Master HHC-001 0.58°C/W
Swiftech MCX370-OA 0.58°C/W
Thermal Integration TI-V77L with high power 70mm fan 0.58°C/W
Vantec FCE-6030D 0.58°C/W
OCZ silver plated Gladiator 0.59°C/W
Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu+ 0.59°C/W
TS Heatronics Zen CPU Radiator 0.59°C/W
Vantec CCK-6035D 0.60°C/W
Global Win FOP38 0.61°C/W
OCZ Dominator 2 (Y.S. Tech fan) 0.61°C/W
Sibak Tech AE-01-625B 0.61°C/W
Thermalright CB-6L (Y.S. Tech 7.2W fan) 0.61°C/W
Thermaltake Volcano 6Cu 0.61°C/W
Thermaltake Volcano 7 (full power) 0.61°C/W
Cooler Master EP5-6ID2 0.62°C/W
Power Cooler PCH137 0.62°C/W
Thermal Integration TI-V77L with 80mm fan 0.62°C/W
Thermalright SK-6 with 4200RPM fan 0.62°C/W
Thermaltake Volcano 5 0.62°C/W
ThermoSonic ThermoEngine with Sunon 80mm fan 0.62°C/W
Zalman CNPS5000-Plus 0.62°C/W
Ideal Elethermal CBCF-AMD-3 0.63°C/W
Tiger Cooler (Sunon 4.3W fan) 0.63°C/W
Bitspower NP60CS 0.64°C/W
Global Win WBK38 0.64°C/W
Sibak Tech AC-02-625B 0.64°C/W
Bitspower NP61D 0.65°C/W
TaiSol CGK760 0.65°C/W
Thermaltake Dragon Orb 3 0.65°C/W
Alpha PAL6035 0.66°C/W
Bitspower NP60D 0.66°C/W
Vantec FCE-6254OD 0.66°C/W
Ideal Elethermal CBCF-AMD-1 0.67°C/W
Power Cooler PCH075 0.68°C/W
Alpha PEP66 0.7°C/W
Kanie Hedgehog 238M 0.7°C/W
"FYH" cooler 0.70°C/W
"Galaxy" cooler 0.70°C/W
Global Win FOP32-1 0.70°C/W
Power Cooler PCH113 0.70°C/W
Power Cooler PCH123 0.70°C/W
Thermal Integration TI-V77L 0.70°C/W
Spire 5E34B3 0.71°C/W
Thermal Integration TI-V86 0.71°C/W
Thermalright CB-6L, stock fan 0.71°C/W
Thermaltake Super Orb 0.71°C/W
Tiger Cooler (temperature controlled fan, maximum power) 0.71°C/W
Bitspower NP60E 0.72°C/W
Power Cooler PCH141 0.72°C/W
Thermaltake Mini Copper Orb 0.72°C/W
Spire 5E32B3 0.73°C/W
Zalman CNPS-6000Cu (full power) 0.73°C/W
Spire 5P53B3 0.74°C/W
Thermal Integration TI-S86 0.74°C/W
Thermaltake Dragon Orb 1 0.74°C/W
Thermaltake Volcano II 0.74°C/W
Zalman CNPS3100G 0.76°C/W
Zalman CNPS-6000AlCu (full power) 0.77 °C/W
ThermoSonic ThermoEngine 0.77°C/W
Glacial Tech Igloo 2300 0.78°C/W
Just Cooler 80mm cooler 0.78°C/W
Cooler Master EP5-6151-A1 0.79°C/W
OCZ Glacier2 0.79°C/W
Thermaltake Golden Orb (twist clip) 0.8°C/W
Global Win FNP-50 0.80°C/W
Just Cooler P-5500 0.80°C/W
Thermaltake Chrome Orb 0.81°C/W
Arctic Cooling Super Silent 2500 0.82°C/W
Cooler Master DP5-6H51 (new) 0.82°C/W
Thermaltake Mini Super Orb 0.82°C/W
Cooler Master DP5-6H51 (old) 0.86°C/W
Just Cooler P-1000 0.87°C/W
"COOC" cooler 0.88°C/W
Sibak Tech AC-01-625B 0.88°C/W
Arctic Cooling Super Silent 2000 0.90°C/W
Bitspower NP15S 0.92°C/W
Bitspower NP13D 0.94°C/W
Just Cooler P-925 0.94°C/W
Alpha FC-PAL15 0.96°C/W
Zalman CNPS3100G, "silent mode" 0.98°C/W
Thermaltake TFCF009 "Harp" 1.13°C/W
Thermaltake Mini Golden Orb 1.17°C/W

I can clean that up in table format if someone can remind me how, I used to know

but forgot. Its like ]PI[ or something (brackets facing the other way of course).

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A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran

FatBurger · Feb 15, 2002

Ok, let's get this straight. The heatsink/fan is made up of two parts, the heatsink and the fan. Now, this is the important part: YOU CAN BUY THE TWO PARTS SEPARATELY. Dammit, I can't even spell today :tongue:

Anyhow, get the Alpha PAL8045 (with no fan), and then buy a fan to put on it. Panaflo makes the best fans.

Quarter Pounder Inside

endless_n00b · Feb 15, 2002

YOU CAN BUY THE TWO PARTS SEPARATELY

I know, I was asking where I can buy a panaflow fan? Newegg has the alpha heatsink, but I don't see a panaflow fan on their site.

edit: nm, found it. its under Panasonic.

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A newbie is only a newbie for as long as you allow him to be.
-Anonymous Veteran Edited by endless_n00b on 02/15/02 02:13 PM.

tlaughrey · Feb 15, 2002

Try <A HREF="http://plycon.com" target="_new">plycon.com</A>, they have a pretty good selection of heatsinks and fans. You can add different fans to whatever HSF you buy.

For memory, I'd consider going with Corsair. [H]ardOCP, which is a pretty respected site, has named it best memory two years in a row. I push mine pretty hard and haven't had any problems with it.

<A HREF="http://www.hardocp.com/articles/hardestof21k/" target="_new">[H]ardOCP Awards</A>

Anyway, that's my $0.02 ...

I made you look. But I can't make you see.

My First Build - Pls Rate this Rig!! (part II)

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