another Rate this Rig post :)

cyn1k · Feb 20, 2002

Going to be buying a new system very soon, and these are the components that
I've chosen so far.. I'll be getting that soltek board unless the new kt333
board's show up in the next 2 weeks and aren't too much more expensive. If
you have any suggestions on the components please give me some feedback.
Also I'm not too certain about the ata133 mobo's right now, since I heard
someone on another forum saying they dont actually support ata133 at the moment?
He was specifically talking about the abit kr7a. That won't matter if the kt333
boards come out soon anyways I guess, since they should all support it. I should
also mention, I'm on a tight budget (bout $1700 CAD) so I'm always looking for the best bang/buck
components, without sacraficing any stability or performance I hope.

(these are taken from www.ncix.com, seems to be the best canadian store to buy from)
CPU: AMD ATHLON XP 1700+ 1.47GHZ 256K FSB266 OEM
COOLER: THERMALTAKE VOLCANO 6 COPPER BASE 7000RPM 39DBA 1.5GHZ+ INTEL 2.0GHZ
MOTHERBOAR: SOLTEK SL-75DRV4 PURPLE RAY KT266A SOCKET A ATA133 AGP 5PCI W/ SND
RAM: SAMSUNG PC2100 256MB DDR 266MHZ CAS2.5 OEM
HARD DRIVE: MAXTOR D740X-6L 40GB 7200RPM 2MB 8.5MS ATA133 INT IDE
FLOPPY DRI: 1.44 MB High Density Floppy Drive
MONITOR: SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 753DF DYNAFLAT 17IN 1280x1024 .20/.25
KEYBOARD: MICROSOFT INTERNET KEYBOARD (PS/2) OEM
MOUSE: Logitech 2B NetMouse w/ Scrolling PS/2
CASE: ANTEC SX1030B 10BAY 300W P/S BLACK PERFORMANCE SERIES WORKSTATION
CD-ROM DRI: ACER 52X INT. IDE CD-ROM
subtotal: $1182.72 CAD

add Ati Radeon 8500 retail (170.00 USD = 270.086 CAD)

with vid card: $1452.81 CDN
tax: $203.39 (14%)

Total Price: $1656.20 CDN ($1042.40 US)

shipping will probably add a few bucks on there too but thats pretty close to
what im expecting to pay.. Hopefully some of those US comp stores listed on
pricewatch with the cheap Radeon 8500's listed will ship to Canada.. all of the
US sites ive visited say they don't ship internationally, but I'm wondering if
that includes Canada or not, since we are so close.. (I hope not)

P.S. I was going to use the crappy ac'97 onboard sound until I can find either
a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or Hercules Fortissimo II soundcard cheap in Canada..
squeezing every penny for the time being.

cyn1k · Feb 21, 2002

Oh I also thought I would ask.. how high can you OC an athlon xp 1700 (1.47ghz) without unlocking the cpu.. I'm going to stay away from unlocking it since I'm not willing to try

[edit]: I just saw there's a long amd overclocking thread started, ill read about it there

overclocking the xp isnt a big concern of mine I was just curious and thought id ask

oh and OT: cheer for team canada tonight ;0

Edited by cyn1k on 02/20/02 06:14 PM.

labdog · Feb 21, 2002

Hopefully some of those US comp stores listed on
pricewatch with the cheap Radeon 8500's listed will ship to Canada.. all of the US sites ive visited say they don't ship internationally, but I'm wondering if that includes Canada or not, since we are so close.. (I hope not)

us companies ship often to Canada. u hav to check it on the company site itself.

if you know you don't know, the way could be more easy.

lhgpoobaa · Feb 21, 2002

couple of comments to make.

1. you CAN get a quieter cooler for you cpu, 39dBa isnt exactly silent. depending on where the pc sits and how much u can stand noise u may find it ittitating. coolermaster also make good heatsinks.

2. only maxtor drives at the moment support ata133, so u will be able to utilise it on a mobo as your getting a D740X... that said, the performance benifits from ata133 are marginal at best 5% tops. im running my D740X on ata100 with no problems and its still extreemly quick. Make sure the drive is a D740X L, not the J like mine. (L = fluid bearings = better).

3. kt333 boards really arnt worth it UNLESS you buy considerably more costly PC2700 DDR ram and use it at 333Mhz. a KT266A should be quite acceptable.

4. I am always careful about stock Power supplies provided with Cases... As your case is an antec it should be ok, just make sure its also got an antec PSU. personally if u want the best get an enermax, will give you more leeway if u wish to overclock.

cheers

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

AMD_Man · Feb 21, 2002

COOLER: THERMALTAKE VOLCANO 6 COPPER BASE 7000RPM 39DBA 1.5GHZ+ INTEL 2.0GHZ

Don't get the Volcano 6CU+. Get the Volcano 6CU instead. It provides nearly equivalent cooling with significantly less sound.

P.S. I was going to use the crappy ac'97 onboard sound until I can find either
a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz or Hercules Fortissimo II soundcard cheap in Canada..
squeezing every penny for the time being.

You can find both <A HREF="http://www.canadacomputers.com" target="_new">here</A>.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the ULTIMATE PC processor

FatBurger · Feb 21, 2002

1) Read the reviews, KT333 is a waste of money. Stick with KT266a.

2) The KR7a-RAID and the KR7a-133 both support ATA133, the KR7a (original) does not. ATA133 is pointless though, don't waste your money if the ATA133 version costs more.

CPU: AMD ATHLON XP 1700+ 1.47GHZ 256K FSB266 OEM - Good choice
COOLER: THERMALTAKE VOLCANO 6 COPPER BASE 7000RPM 39DBA 1.5GHZ+ INTEL 2.0GHZ - That's very loud, are you planning on overclocking?
MOTHERBOAR: SOLTEK SL-75DRV4 PURPLE RAY KT266A SOCKET A ATA133 AGP 5PCI W/ SND - Good board, from what I hear.
RAM: SAMSUNG PC2100 256MB DDR 266MHZ CAS2.5 OEM - I'd recommend Crucial over Samsung for PC2100
HARD DRIVE: MAXTOR D740X-6L 40GB 7200RPM 2MB 8.5MS ATA133 INT IDE - If you're paying extra for the ATA133, then don't. If the price is comparable, then go for it.
FLOPPY DRI: 1.44 MB High Density Floppy Drive - Nothing to be said about this...
MONITOR: SAMSUNG SYNCMASTER 753DF DYNAFLAT 17IN 1280x1024 .20/.25 - Good monitor.
KEYBOARD: MICROSOFT INTERNET KEYBOARD (PS/2) OEM - Ok
MOUSE: Logitech 2B NetMouse w/ Scrolling PS/2 - Might want to look at an optical mouse.
CASE: ANTEC SX1030B 10BAY 300W P/S BLACK PERFORMANCE SERIES WORKSTATION - Good case
CD-ROM DRI: ACER 52X INT. IDE CD-ROM - Fair enough

No sound card, DVD-ROM or CD-RW?

Quarter Pounder Inside

cyn1k · Feb 21, 2002

Thanks for the input so far, the antec case comes with an antec 300W p/s which I've heard is a pretty good psu for an xp so I'll stick with that one and see how it goes.. hopefully 300w is enough juice

amd_man: if you think the 6cu at 4500rpm will do the job okay, then I'll grab it. The comp should be sitting in my room so it'd be nice if its quieter

. I just didnt want to have a red hot cpu either. I couldnt see the santa cruz on canadacomputers.com but you are right the fortissimo is there. I'm still undecided between the 2 of 'em

- I'm definatly trying to stay away from sblive tho'

cyn1k · Feb 21, 2002

fatburger: the site I was looking at didnt offer crucial so I just added the samsung ram, however I'll look into getting some crucial ram if the price is close

. The maxtor ata133 drive was at a good price.. even cheaper than the ata100 diamondmax version I believe, so yeah I'll stick with that hd I think. As for an optical mouse.. I had heard when they first came out that gamers had trouble with quick wrist movements and optical mouses, so I've always stuck with a trackball

I'll give that some consideration though and read a few more recent reviews.

I really wasn't sure about the DVD-Rom Versus a normal CD-Rom.. Being able to play DVD's would be nice, I just didnt want to pay a lot more just to play DVD's on my cpu.. is there any other advantage to a DVD-rom?

I'll grab a CD-RW sometime this summer, but for now I won't be needing one since my old cpu has one in it and I can just use that as needed

... mentioned the soundcard above

AMD_Man · Feb 21, 2002

Yes, the 6CU is enough. Also, Canada Computers did have a Santa Cruz before, but they seem to be sold out at the moment. I would know because I bought one from them. Get either sound card, you won't notice a difference in sound quality. Also at Canada Computers (the link I originally posted) they were selling 256MB Crucial PC2100 DDR RAM for $145. That's about $25 more than Samsung. But due to the flucuating prices, you now have to call them to get the price.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the ULTIMATE PC processor

FatBurger · Feb 21, 2002

I'm using an optical mouse right now (Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer v3, best mouse I've ever used. I also have a wireless Logitech MouseMan optical at home, and it gets some lag), and I'd never go back to a ball mouse.

No, there's no other advantage to a DVD-ROM. Just seems like everyone is getting them now, so I thought I'd ask.

Quarter Pounder Inside

Matisaro · Feb 21, 2002

I'm using an optical mouse right now (Microsoft Intellimouse Explorer v3, best mouse I've ever used. I also have a wireless Logitech MouseMan optical at home, and it gets some lag), and I'd never go back to a ball mouse.

Agree with the optical part, I have a logitech Ifeel mouse(with the rumble turned off for now) and it feels so nice and it is very snappy on 3dgames.

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

AMD_Man · Feb 21, 2002

No, there's no other advantage to a DVD-ROM. Just seems like everyone is getting them now, so I thought I'd ask.

Actually, Microsoft has, for a while, been selling an edition of their Encarta encyclopedia on DVD-ROM.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the ULTIMATE PC processor

Matisaro · Feb 22, 2002

DVD roms are faster than regular cd roms arent they.

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

lhgpoobaa · Feb 22, 2002

kt333 waste of money... looks it, unless some bright spark can get the PC2700 + 166fsb goodness rumbling [grin]

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

AMD_Man · Feb 22, 2002

DVD roms are faster than regular cd roms arent they.

Yes, a lot faster.

AMD technology + Intel technology = Intel/AMD Pentathlon IV; the ULTIMATE PC processor

MeTaLrOcKeR · Feb 22, 2002

Would you mind explaining this ?????

A friend of mine has the 16X Pioneer DVD-ROM (which is equivelant to a 40x Cd-Rom)....and I have a Data Disc which is pure MP3's that fills the thing right up....anyways, I did the cd-rom benchamrk on his DVD Drive, and it scored a mere (approx.) 24x Speed...according to Sandra......Than, I tried the same disc on my 52X Asus CD-Rom..It scored a whopping (approx.) 44x Speed......Than I tried the exact same disc on my 24x10x40 CD-RW Drive (Which should be the same as the pioneer DVD-Drive) and according to Sandra once again, it scored (approx.) 36x Speed.......

So again can I ask, how is a DVD-Rom faster than a CD-ROm when there doing the same thing? Meaning, there both reading CD's, not DVD's (obviously).........Also...If DVD Rom's are faster than CD-Rom's...why are the speed ratings what they are (40X CD, etc.)??? Even the seek time and time for full-rotation was faster on both my CD and CD-RW Drives than my friends Pioneer 16X DVD........My brother, who has a Toshiba 16X DVD gets the same results as my friends Pioneer 16x....so.....please......care to explain anyone, im very intrigues by this.....

If I had some web space, i'd post a link to the pictures, I have my CD and CD-RW Screen Captures on my HDD, and my friend has his on his HDD but I can get them anytime.....i'd be willing to post the results......its just strange.....hmm......

-MeTaL RoCkEr

My Z28 can take your P4 off the line!

FatBurger · Feb 22, 2002

Slow down, fellas. I think there's some misunderstanding.
DVD-ROMs are slower at reading CD's, but DVD transfer rates (reading and writing) are faster. I mean, for a 16x reading CD-ROM and a 16x reading DVD, you can read the entire disc in the same amount of time. However, the DVD is pushing lots more data.

Quarter Pounder Inside

Search

another Rate this Rig post :)

cyn1k

Distinguished

cyn1k

Distinguished

labdog

Distinguished

lhgpoobaa

Illustrious

AMD_Man

Splendid

FatBurger

Illustrious

cyn1k

Distinguished

cyn1k

Distinguished

AMD_Man

Splendid

FatBurger

Illustrious

Matisaro

Splendid

AMD_Man

Splendid

Matisaro

Splendid

lhgpoobaa

Illustrious

AMD_Man

Splendid

MeTaLrOcKeR

Distinguished

FatBurger

Illustrious

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page