After about a year of reading (and some posting) on this forum, I am proud to say that you have all convinced me to forget Alienware. I am going to build my own pc. You have all helped me gain confidence, even though I still feel somewhat scared, and hope that you can help me out. I have no idea about the motherboard, but I need one with hyper-threading (if that is even an option when it comes to motherboards). I just choose the same one that alienware has and voodoo hoping taht it is good, but the reviews make no sense to me. I don’t know where to get the ram, but I want 521mb of pc-1066. All I have found on new egg is non-error correcting ram. Does this mean that you can’t get ECC pc-1066? Also, this is the complete list of what I will order. I have a really weird feeling that I need to order cables, screws, thermal paste, and even a heatsink. Please help me figure out which one is best. Specific models would really help, I am being overwhelmed my jargon. I am set on Intel right now so please no comments that I should change.. information please, not a flame war. Thank you so much!

case Antec PLUSVIEW1000AMG


processor - Intel P4 / 3.06GHz, 512k, 478 Pin, 533 MHz FSB
power supply - ENERMAX EG465P-VE(FM) 430W
motherboard - ASUS P4T533-C.. Not sure
R.A.M - 1066 512MB , don’t know from where


cd-rw - Lite On 52x24x52 CDRW Model LTR-52246
dvd - LITE-ON LTD-166S16X DVD ROM Drive


hard drive - Western Digital 80GB 7200RPM EIDE MODEL # WD800JB
floppy - Alps 3.5 Inch Floppy Disk Drive (Black)


sound card - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2
video card - keeping the one I have


Speakers - Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 THX Certified 6 piece
Monitor - NEC/Mitsubishi 22" CRT VGA Monitor Model FE2111SB-BK

Gigabyte 8INXP motherboard $230 (avail late Dec/Early Jan)
Intel P4 3.06GHz 533MHz FSB processor RETAIL
MITSUBISHI 22" DP2070-BK CRT monitor
Seagate Barracuda SATA V 120GB Serial ATA Hard Drive with 8MB cache $180 (can be back ordered <A HREF="http://www.pcconnection.com/scripts/productdetail.asp?sku=415055&SourceID=k22350" target="_new">here</A> )
Lite-On 16x Black DVD Drive (Model#: LTD166) $44
Lite-On 48x24x48 Black CD Burner (Model#: LTR-48246S BLACK) $66
Black MITSUMI D359M3 Floppy Disk Drive (Model#: D359M3D) $11
<A HREF="http://www.coldconcept.com/default.php/cPath/39_42/osCsid/bacb71282522ff2370ab505db85302d5" target="_new">Two OCZ 512MB PC3500 Enhanced Latency (EL) Memory Modules</A>
Black Lian-Li PC-61 USB B2 case (Model#: PC-61 USB) $145
Enermax 431W power supply (Model#: EG465P-VE(FMA)) $91
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum $172
Creative Labs Black Face Plate Kit for Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum Drive $16
Klipsch ProMedia 5.1 Speakers $358
Windows XP Pro Edition (OEM) $130
Logitech Black Elite Keyboard (Model#: 967234)
Logitech MX300 Optical Mouse (Model#: 930762-0403)

Don't invest in RDRAM - a technology on life support. And don't need a monitor that big. I thought of moving to a 22" monitor too, til I saw just how much bigger a 19" monitor's screen is to a 17" monitor's screen.

Purchasing these is not required.

What operating sytem do you have?

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i><P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by halkebul on 12/17/02 07:36 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

Thank you for your input,
why a chieftec case instead of my antec one? Is antec no good? the case seemed rather large, with good air flow, and asthetically pleasing.

Does thermal paste come with the 3.06? or do you not need any?

Also, I have heard that the p4 is only good with pc-1066. Why get DDR400?

And finally, does that motherboard support hyperthreading? I have heard that you need a fairly new motherboard for this.

I just remembered that I should get windows xp OEM for around $99 or I wont really be going anywhere with this computer..
Once again, thanks for the help!

Just updated the case with a Lian-Li case. And went with the enermax power supply. Both will make you happy.

Everything is included in the processor package.

I never recommend rambus. Maybe somebody else is brave enough.

Go with the Pro version of Windows XP OEM as oposed to the home version. You never know when you're going to need the extra features provided by the Pro edition.

Still updating my recommendation because i noticed you desire a black computer. Just a minute.

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i>

I think my case is good.. is there anything wrong with it or are you just stating your taste and opinion? still dont know about the pc-1066, once again, people say that it is what makes the p4 what it is. Anyone have any input on this?

Hello again. Generally for high-end systems, I only recommend Lian-Li, Chieftech for budget systems. Personally, I don't have a problem with your case (Edit: assumed the case included a bundled power supply), it's just that when you go with enermax power supplies, you know for sure that you won't be dissapointed.

RDRAM will get you a little more performance out of your P4 but I've yet to find a RDRAM mobo that I would recommend. Based on the knowledge I have aquired, for an expensive build like this one, I would postpone the purchase til Late Dec 2002/early Jan 2003. The price of the 3.06GHz P4 would have gone down some and the eagerly anticipated Gigabyte 8INXP will be available. 8INXP provides dual-channel DDR - doubles memory bandwidth - and suitable for upgrades to future 800MHz QDR FSB Prescott processors. That is my best recommendation. But if you must have a computer now, I have updated my recommended system above. Cheers!

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i>

OK, i can wait a month. Thanks for that.
btw, if i get an antec case, i can still use an enermax power supply right?

Yes, it will work. You are on the right track! Consulting Tom's hardware and all. Let us know how things go, if it's not too much trouble. Cheers!

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i>

Looking at the benchmaks at Toms Hardware: http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainb [...] ay-11.html

The granite bay board that you aare talking about seems to lag behind the pc-1066 boards. If performance isnt as good, why wait when you have something that performs better?

Looking at the benchmaks at Toms Hardware: http://www6.tomshardware.com/mainb [...] ay-11.html

The granite bay board that you aare talking about seems to lag behind the pc-1066 boards. If performance isnt as good, why wait when you have something that performs better?

Yes the ddr boards seem to be the way to go because intel is moving on to dual ddr instead of rambus...although right now rambus still holds the performance crown....if you can wait...I would wait for the sis 655 chipset mobos that support dual ddr333, which will provide alot of competition to rambus.. but for now here are my suggestions
The antec case you chose is a very sweet case....
Motherboards.. *Gigabyte GA-8IHXP2 (rdram platform 16bit pc1066)
*Asus P4PE ( for halkebul =] )
or the Albatron PX845PE PRO IIS with pc 3200 corsair xms

if you do get rdram make sure you get the right kind...the 32bit rambus (rimm 4200) only works in the asus p4t533 the asus p4t533-C doesnt support 32 bit ...you would need to get the 16 bit pc1066...

The 8INXP motherboard is not mature yet. Stil only a little bit behind RDRAM. You could easily get it to outperform RDRAM simply by increasing the FSB a little in the BIOS - whole process would take about 30-40 seconds.

The biggest selling points of 8INXP/DDR400+ are future upgradability and Usability. Inserting a 800MHz QDR FSB Prescott processor into a 850E board - I THINK NOT! And DDR400+ memory will be far more usable in the future then 1066MHz RDRAM. In fact the 850E chipset is being replaced by a Dual-Channel DDR solution in 2003.

As a side note, a <A HREF="http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?rev_id=104&page=8&action=reviews" target="_new">new super memory module is now available</A>. It can be purchased <A HREF="http://www.coldconcept.com/default.php/cPath/39_42/osCsid/bacb71282522ff2370ab505db85302d5" target="_new">here</A>. I'll update my specs once again to reflect this.

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i>

Hello. Gigabyte 8INXP can also do DDR333 because it has a 1:1 FSB:Memory_Speed ratio. Can do DDR400 too. Just doesn't support DDR333 <b>officially</b> because there's no reason to yet. I can now find 8INXP in online vendor databases using "froogle.google.com". Which means it will soon be available.

Very good board also. Motherboards with 845PE chipset are very solid.

civilized, I found some new super memory from OCZ. Check out a <A HREF="http://www.ocprices.com/index.php?rev_id=104&page=8&action=reviews" target="_new">review</A>. A good read.

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i>

I am also planning to get the new GB motherboard and new memory for it(thanks for the advice halkebul). I was planning on getting 2 sticks of DDR 256 ram but I am wondering if I should just get two DDR 400 ram and not worry if I have enough memory. I have never oc'd -anything- but after I build the new computer, I will most likely fiddle with it. Your link leads me to believe that you like the OCZ ram best for the HT mobo. Is that correct?

KhanAlf

I would get two OCZ 256MB PC3500 EL memory modules now and then later, down the road, you can add two more of the same exact memory modules, if it's needed - totalling four modules in all (for dual-channel, you need two or four memory modules). All utilizing dual-Channel. But, you could just get it all out the way now and get two 512MB OCZ PC3200 EL memory Modules rite off the bat.

This is correct. And OCZ engineered this EL memory with High Dual-Channel DDR performance as the main goal.

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i>

backflash001, I've increased the size of the hard drive for my recommendation. 80GB is a lot of space but I just want to make sure.

<i>It's your world kid!!!</i>