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advice from the gurus before I buy all this stuff

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Anonymous
Motherboard Authority

Hi All,

I'm going to start buying these components for my first home build in the next few days. Any advice?

Athlon XP1700+
-particular stepping? tips re cooling. # of fans,kind?
thermal compound or tape?

Abit KR7A-raid or KG7-raid
-more reliable to go amd cpu/chipset combo?
I notice amd is not recommending abit boards for their
athlon systems. Anyone know why?

Crucial 512MB DDR PC2100 ECC
-ECC work normal if cpu oc'd?
Should I go w/ PC2700 variety for oc'ing?

Seagate 60GB 7200rpm SMART
Pioneer 16X DVD-Rom
RealMagic Hollywood Plus DVD decoder
Plextor 16X10X40X burner
19" NEC FE950+ monitor
Radeon 8500 video card
Turtlebeach Santa Cruz
Logitech z-560 speakers
Antec SX840 400W
APC Back-UPS CS 500va

Win XP Home
Norton System Works
M$ Works suite 2002

I am looking for the optimal blend of reliability and overclocking. Does one mean sacrifice of the other? If I had to choose I'd go with data integrity. I don't like the idea of my machine flipping random bits if I can avoid it.

Thanks.

Nataraj

More about : advice gurus buy stuff

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ill make this short...
1700+ is fine (best bang for the buck right now...next to the 1800+)

motherboard - no comment (but probably a good board)

crucial ram is good...but you dont need ECC unless you're running a server...so just get non-ECC. (about getting pc2700...you should get pc2700 if you dont mind spending a few more dollars).

everything else looks fine except for the HD...im wondering why you didnt opt for the maxtor, quantum or ibm drives...i like those drives better than seagate...
another thing is the UPS...i dont think you would need one unless you really want one...then i guess thats fine...
one more thing...from what ive read...abit boards seem to give the best overclocking results...
and dont forget to d/l the 6052 drivers for your R8500...if you dont know where to d/l it...<A HREF="http://www.rage3d.com" target="_new">here</A>...have fun with your new system

<b><font color=red>ATI</font color=red>'s drivers are like a broken faucet, they both keep on leaking...</b> :cool:
Motherboard Master

Get whatever version of the kr7a that's the best deal. Ata 133 is pretty worthless. I have it, and can't tell the difference over ata 100. Get the retail 1800 for a few dollars more and use the tape to keep your 3 year warranty intact. I wouldn't try unlocking the multiplier unless you have someone who is experienced do it for you, plus you'll nulify the warranty. I would go with maxtor for their 3 year replacement warranty, plus the fact that they should still be in business. Some hardrive makers may not. I would run your fsb at 138-140 for optimal performance and data integrity.
Anonymous
Motherboard Authority

Ok, so just go with the retail 1800 and use the heatsink and fan that comes with it and oc like this for the warranty?

Re ECC. Why do so few use this stuff on home systems. the cost difference isn't that great. It seems to me that if a random soft error could crash a server, it could just as easily crash my system and why allow that if it can be avoided with a few extra bucks into ECC memory? Apparently you lose up to 5% performance with ECC but just oc by 10% and call it even I say.

re: ups. I'm out in the country side and we get fairly frequent albeit brief power outages so it would be essential here.

re seagate. I am looking for a drive with the smart technology for monitoring possible drive failure. Is this worthwhile?

My only other concern is the power supply. I was looking at an enermax or pc power and cooling (Silencer 400w looks nice) but I like Antec case. Any recommendations in this department?

nataraj
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Looks like a nice system, i would go with Maxtor Drives, D740X, it's a great drive, never had a problem with maxtor...

go with PC2700,

you are going with an ATI GPU, I have really no comment, I personally go with nVidia products, i will buy myself the GeForce 4 ti4600 when i build my rig. Do you plan on over clocking? Retail HSF is fine for non-OC'ing

Good luck with your System! it sounds great.

Measure Twice, Cut Once!!

With the Processor and RAM you are using, I doubt you will need a DVD Decoder Card, and can easily get away with using a software decoder.

The PSU is up to you. A 400w Enermax will be very, very solid, but if you really want to spend the $$'s, go with the PC Power and Cooling one. If the case came with a 400w PSU, I would just use that, because Antec is also a solid choice.

I just ordered a R8500 which I expect to receive in a day or two. I notice that you recommend the 6052 beta drivers. Do you advise using 6052 over the latest official drivers from ATI? Is 6052 stable?

Personally, I'd rather have stability over extreme performance.

I can't wait to get it.

Thanks!

"There's no such thing as gravity, the Earth just sucks"

if you need official drivers...then use the 6037 that are on ati's website...but personally...i like the 6052 drivers better than the 6037...
the 6052 were based on the optimized 6043 drivers...but with more stability....the 6037 drivers didnt get any optimizations like the 6043 drivers did.

<b><font color=red>ATI</font color=red>'s drivers are like a broken faucet, they both keep on leaking...</b> :cool:
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