building first system

[Leeharvey]

Hello everyone. This is my first post but i have been reading these forums for a couple of weeks. I will get to the point.
I really dont know too much about computers but i have decided to build one to better understand all the ins and outs. After reading everything i could online about cpu's i decided to buy a p4 2.4ghz 512k 533fsb. The motherboard i ordered is an intel d850emv2. The memory i am putting in is 2 sticks of Viking 256mb rimm 165 pin RDRAM 800mhz. I went this this combo because i dont want to overclock and i want as few problems as possible.
Does this sound like a good start to you pc veterns? I know you guys all probably prefer AMD but bare with me
also i was thinking of getting soundblaster audigy platinum so i could do a little home recording and i play a lot of games. Vidcard i was thinking about was the geForce4 128mb.
Any suggestions on different cards that are better, speakers, cases, or if you want to tell me i am a fool for my cpu motherboard selection, are greatly appreciated.
thanks for your time.

 

[lhgpoobaa]

hmmm
its not bad, but PC800 with a 533 fsb P4 isnt the best solution.

PC800 is enough to satisfy a P4 running at 400fsb, but not 533. you really should get PC1066 for optimal performance (or possibly sambsung PC800 that can overclock to PC1066 speeds)

as for the processor... possibly the 2.26 is better value for money.

best value for money would currently have to be the Geforce 4 4200.

<b>Before visiting THG i was a clueless noob. Now im still clueless, but look at my nice title!<b>

 

[AMD_Man]

its not bad, but PC800 with a 533 fsb P4 isnt the best solution.

PC800 is enough to satisfy a P4 running at 400fsb, but not 533. you really should get PC1066 for optimal performance (or possibly sambsung PC800 that can overclock to PC1066 speeds)

He went with an Intel motherboard so he won't be able to overclock. Intel mobos don't even officially support PC1066. In fact, if you want to get technical, the i850E doesn't officially support PC1066. Intel is always seemingly behind the times in terms of chipset specs.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[Stiffler]

Well I think thats a great system, all be it an exspensive one but if you have got it flaunt it

That is a very nice sound card and front panel. If you are still a man with money to burn after all that a Lian Li Aluminium case looks great and has excellent airflow keeping you system happy (Also holds your harddrives at a slot at the bottom front side of the case where two fans blow air in keeping them cool)
Also Coolermaster cases are very highly thought of. If you want to save a bit of money but want a nice case that has lots of room Chieftech Scorpio's are great and available in more colours than your average Car ) they can be seen here: <A HREF="http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Chieftech_Cases_93.html" target="_new">Chiftech Pics</A>

Which Geforce 4 is that ? Ti200, Ti400, or Ti600
Since your a gamer these are the only choices for a new system ideally (Although the new Raddeon 9700 is on the horizon and that leaves all these for dead)

You have not mentioned a Hard disc ? Western Digital do some very nice drives with *8mb cache* which offer very high performance.

AND lastly but by no means unimportantly what Power supply have you planned on ? A good one such as an Enermax 350Watt is highly recomended.

Tim

I can call you Betty, and Betty when you call me... You can call me Al

 

[chuck232]

There's an aluminum case (Aspire IIRC) that looks quite nice. They look almost exactly like the Chieftec cases (probably cause they're from the same manufacturer :tongue: ) and are ~ $200CDN. I'm not sure what that is in your parts, but it's a pretty good case. Lian Li's and Coolermasters are probably even better, but they're real expensive ! Since it seems like you've got the dough to blow, you should look into getting one of those. If not, then look into the Aspire ones, and if not those, the chieftec are pretty good too.

EDIT: Forgot something, have you ordered the CPU/mobo/RAM already??

<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by Chuck232 on 08/10/02 11:26 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[Leeharvey]

So it sounds like i have already run into my first problem. I have already ordered the processer and motherboard. The motherboard i ordered may not support pc1066. Does this mean it WONT support it? Should i return the mobo and get one that officially supports pc1066 since the cpu is 533mhz? If so maybe you could list a couple of good ones for me...basically im going for max preformance with the most stability. Thats why im spending too much
I was planning on goin with the westeren digital*se with the 8mb cache. A friend was telling me to get two matching hard drives for better preformance but wouldnt my mobo have to be RAID?
As for vidcards that raddeon9700 sounds like it is going to be awesome but i dont know if i can wait for them to come out. I was thinking of going with the geforce4 128mg Ti600. Thanks for the suggestions on cases,i wasnt sure which ones were good.
Thanks a lot for helping me out with this stuff. I really appreciate it.

 

[grassapa]

1) wait for radeon 9700 to come out, dont get desperate. it will help u in either: having a beter graphics card by buyin r9700 or it will lower the geforce4 prices. it comes out in around 10 days anyways.
2) if you want RDRAM PC800 your mobo should be fine, but if u wanna use RDRAM Pc1066 you should get a better mobo
my suggestions:
ga-8ihxp-by gigabyte
p4t533-by asus

if you arent into video editing or anything like that, one hdd should be fine, and the Western Digital Special Edition with 8mb buffer my friend, is a fine fine choice. 80Gb should be enuff.

a question for you: why dont u wanna overclock? it could save u tons of money, i.e you could buy a P4 1.8GHZ and overclock it to 2.4GHZ and you pay less for the 1.8GHZ

anyways its your money, your computer, good luck

real philosophy of life: "do onto others what you dont want them do onto you"

 

[AMD_Man]

As for vidcards that raddeon9700 sounds like it is going to be awesome but i dont know if i can wait for them to come out. I was thinking of going with the geforce4 128mg Ti600.

You can't wait for a week or two? I'd hate to see you get a TI4600 and then watch it drop 50% in price 2 weeks later.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[wanho]

As far as I know, the intel D850EMV2 does provide the proper multiplier for PC1066. As a matter of fact, Alienware offers PC1066 rdram on their intel D850EMV2 base system. However, you can not overclock PC800 rdram on an intel motherboard. If you want to maximize the performance, you need the real PC1066 on the intel motherboard.

 

[chuck232]

Yeah, if that mobo has a 4X DRAM multiplier, you'll be fine. (133FSBx4=532x2=1064.) It should as you'll need it for the 100MHz FSB CPUs. Also, try to get some real PC1066, as overclocking PC800 may not necessarily work.

<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i>

 

[Leeharvey]

I didnt realize that the raddeon9700 was comming out so soon, i think i will wait for that one, thanks for the heads up. I didnt want to overclock because i have never done it and i dont want to crash my system or make it unstable. I bought the p4 2.4ghz 533fsb so i wouldnt need to overclock, otherwise i would have bought something a bit cheaper. I am going to try to make sure i can put pc1066 dram on my d850emv2, i saw on the intel website that it has to be 40ns but i cant find anything about pc1066. Chuck i didnt really understand what you said about the multiplier but i will be trying to figure it out
Anyways, thanks a lot for your help. Sorry i am dumbing up your forums...but i will try to limit it to one thread..lol.

 

[Leeharvey]

I just found a place on intels website where it says that the d850emv2's chipset was designed for pc800 but that pc1066 sometimes works on it. It may or may not boot. As long as you have the 533mhz system it could work.... this all sounds "iffy" to me what do you guys think? thanks.

 

[grassapa]

just get a non-intel mobo man...as long as u overlock , any good mobo should just do fine. for now, i dont think there are any intel mobos that officialy support pc1066 rdram...so if u buy an intel mobo you might provoke the very thing you want to avoid, instability using pc1066: 2 options, use pc800 rdram or get another brand of mobo.

real philosophy of life: "do onto others what you dont want them do onto you"<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by grassapa on 08/10/02 06:42 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[AMD_Man]

Yes, Intel motherboards don't officially support PC1066. It'll even give you a warning message if you try to boot with PC1066. I'd try to cancel the order for the motherboard and get an Asus P4T533-C and PC1066.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[grassapa]

hey amd man, whats the difference between p4t533 and p4t533-c, i never got that straight

real philosophy of life: "do onto others what you dont want them do onto you"

 

[AMD_Man]

The P4T533-C uses dual-channel 16-bit RDRAM. The P4T533 uses "single-channel" 32-bit RDRAM. Same bandwidth and performance but different RAM.

<b><i>"A penny saved is a penny earned!"</i></b>

 

[wanho]

The 850E chipset does not support pc1066 officially as intel has not validated pc1066 rdram yet. However, the DRCG on the D850EMV2 is capable of generating the 533Mhz clock required by pc1066. When you boot up the computer, the bios of the intel motherboard will give you a warning message. You can ignore the message and the cpu will read the timing data in the spd at start up and configure the system with proper memory timing. So as long as you have a real pc1066 with the proper timing parameters stored in the spd, the configuration process is done automatically. That's why you need the real pc1066 for the intel motherboard in order to maximize the performance. There is no option in the bios to allow the user to adjust the multiplier manually.
The Asus motherboard gives you manual options to adjust the multiplier, however, the 850E chipseet still only supports pc800 officially whether it is an intel board or asus board.

 

[peternjr]

Hey lee, one thing you asked about that you never got an answer to as far as I can see is speakers. Are you serious about getting good audio or do you just want to get something to get by? With an Audigy soundcard, it would be a shame to get puny speakers. My highest recommendation goes to the Creative Inspire Digital 5700. It's a sound system with no rivel when it comes to features and technology, and it works best w/ an audigy. There may be some systems with more raw power, but none with the features, style, technology, useability, and value of the Inspire 5700. If you watch DVDs, listen to a lot of music, and want to pamper your ears (and eyes , get this system or a comparable one from Klipsch or Logitech.

 

[peternjr]

Hey lee, one thing you asked about that you never got an answer to as far as I can see is speakers. Are you serious about getting good audio or do you just want to get something to get by? With an Audigy soundcard, it would be a shame to get puny speakers. My highest recommendation goes to the Creative Inspire Digital 5700. It's a sound system with no rival when it comes to features and technology, and it works best w/ an audigy. There may be some systems with more raw power, but none with the features, style, technology, useability, and value of the Inspire 5700. If you watch DVDs, listen to a lot of music, and want to pamper your ears (and eyes , get this system or a comparable one from Klipsch or Logitech.

 

[Leeharvey]

thanks for the suggestion on speakers. I do want to get really nice speakers because i play a lot of games and want to do a little recording on my pc.

 

[grassapa]

WHAT? creative? dude get urselve some klipsch. r u kiddin me about creative? www.klipsch.com
promedia 2.1 = 3 piece system
promedia 4.1 = 5 piece system
promedia 5.1 = 6 piece system with control box.

real philosophy of life: "do onto others what you dont want them do onto you"

 

[chuck232]

Those creative speakers IIRC are the ones that are real expensive cause they have a decoder thing right? They have crap speakers compared to the Logitech Z-560s or the Klipsches. I'd say if you're gonna get a good sound card (like an Audigy platinum) then don't bother with the creative ones, just go straight for the Z-560s or Klipsch.

I'd say the Logitech ones are more worth the money, but the Klipsch are definitely better, just IMO not really worth the money, unless you've got tons to burn.

<i>Past mistakes may make you look stupid, but avoiding future ones will make you look smart!</i>