Lots of Questions on New PC. . .Come on, everyone has an opinion!

raven70 · 8th Apr 2006, 10:10 AM

ETA: Forgot to add processor (see below)

I asked a question on memory and the mb I was looking at. . .well, I figure rather than posting a dozen different threads on different components, I would lay this all out for people to advise me on:

Current System
Antec 635 mini tower (I think) with 350 watt ATX PSU (4 years old)
Shuttle AK31a v3 mb
1700xp processor
512MB RAM (DDR 2100)
Nvidia Geforce3 Ti200 (64MB) card
Couple hard drives
19” CRT
Generic keyboard and mouse
2.1 speaker system
DVD drive
CDRW drive

When I built this system, it was about $1000

This has been the home PC since January 2002. It handled everything thrown at it up until about a year ago. From a gaming standpoint, Half Life 2 and Call of Duty are playable but about the limit. From a video editing standpoint, it is inadequate, and have never been able to run any of those suites (e.g., Pinnacle) very successfully.

New System
I would like a similar system to last 3-4 years again. Below is what I have put together. I do not plan to overclock, run 2 video in SLI.

Antec TX640B Case http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=61640
Includes 400 watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
-I ALREADY OWN THIS (was gift)-
This has an identical form factor to my old case. However, I am slightly concerned about the PSU. It should be adequate. A 7600GT from EVGA wants higher amps than the 15 on the 12V that this has, but I am not planning on SLI or overclocking.

Two NEC 3550A -I ALREADY OWN THIS (UPS goof got me two)-

WD 250GB SATA II w/16MB cache / 3 year warranty – OEM

MSI K8N Neo Plat. nForce4 Ultra MB
I don’t plan on ever having 2 cards

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Processor (San Diego)

eVGA 7600GT
The website states 18A on the 12v, but I think that I should not have to worry about that, since I have two 12V and not overclocking, etc.?

MEMORY
I have thought about it, and I just want to start off with 2GB and not worry about in the future. I have looked at both Corsair and OCZ, and there are too many things I don’t understand about memory. Please look at this page, and maybe someone can explain this to me. Literally, I would love for someone to say EXACTLY what I should get.

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...tinum&class=mb
(about ½ way down page)
So if I get 2 sticks of 1GB OCZ each in slot 1 and 2 it will run at DDR400 and dual-channel?

Finish it off with some Evercool fans for the case

I will use my keyboard/mouse/speakers/monitor for now. . .

Looking at about $800 ballpark for above. Thanks for helping a guy who hasn't touched the inside of his computer for the most part in 4 years. Please advise.

FUTURE UPGRADES:
20” Widescreen LCD (will need new KVM that supports DVI)
USB Keyboard/Mouse
New USB/DVI KVM

Comments or recommendations on the above are welcome.

Last question: Has anyone used Newegg's deferred billing or 0% until Nov. 6? Thanks.

Papercut · 8th Apr 2006, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raven70

Antec TX640B Case http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=61640
Includes 400 watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply
-I ALREADY OWN THIS (was gift)-
This has an identical form factor to my old case. However, I am slightly concerned about the PSU. It should be adequate. A 7600GT from EVGA wants higher amps than the 15 on the 12V that this has, but I am not planning on SLI or overclocking.

http://www.antec.com/specs/SP400_spe.html
The PSU has dual 12V rails, one with 10A and 15A. So in total there's (theoretically) 25A available for 12V, which should be more than adequate.

Quote:

Originally Posted by raven70

Please look at this page, and maybe someone can explain this to me. Literally, I would love for someone to say EXACTLY what I should get.

http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...tinum&class=mb
(about ½ way down page)
So if I get 2 sticks of 1GB OCZ each in slot 1 and 2 it will run at DDR400 and dual-channel?

Don't worry too much about the manufacturer's RAM recommendations. Just pick your 2x1GB kit, make sure it's standard DDR400, and it should be fine.

raven70 · 8th Apr 2006, 09:29 PM

Papercut,

Thanks. What do you think about the MSI motherboard? Thanks.

Papercut · 8th Apr 2006, 10:04 PM

It should be pretty good. I haven't heard about any major problems with that particular board

raven70 · 9th Apr 2006, 09:58 AM

ETA: Here's where I am at (4/8/06)

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer - Retail $95

eVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT CO PCI Express 256MB GDDR3 Video Card w/DVI-I Retail - $189 - $15 rebate

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra Athlon 64 Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail - $114.50

OCZ OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Platinum Edition Dual Channel Memory Retail - $193.50 - $50 rebate

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 Retail - $295

Total of $895 - $65 rebates = $830 (no tax and free shipping from zipzoomfly.

OR $898 (includes shipping) - $65 rebates = $833

Do I need thermal paste, or does a retail AMD processor come with somehting? Also, what about fans?

My case has a large rear fan, two fan openings on the side (an 80mm, and a 92mm over CPU), and an 80mm in the front.

I was thinking of at least one in the front to draw in, but what about those side vents?

Any tips on brand, etc. I am not overclocking, but PC is somewhat confined. I was looking at Evercool fans at Newegg. Leaning towards Newegg over Zipzoomfly for 0% until November and previous good experience.

How does this look above? Thanks.

Chai · 9th Apr 2006, 10:07 AM

I was about to say why not get dual core processors instead...

If you are not planning to overclock, retail processors comes with stock heatsink and thermal pads.

rcd412 · 24th Jun 2006, 03:19 AM

yea deffinitly go dual core, just make sure you don't end up using xp home.

Das Capitolin · 24th Jun 2006, 04:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chai

I was about to say why not get dual core processors instead...

If you are not planning to overclock, retail processors comes with stock heatsink and thermal pads.

I agree with Chai; if you are building a new system then you should be using "new" technology. I also strongly advise on waiting until after the July 2006 price cuts on AMD and Intel CPU's as they are going to be huge.

The PSU should be fine, although you will know it or not after the first time your video card goes into 3D mode.

The RAM is not a huge factor if you don't plan on overclocking. However, lowest latency your M/B will handle is recommended.

As far as the hard drive is concerned, make sure it has the big three qualifiers: SATA-II, 7200RPM+, 16MB RAM cache. Anything with less then a 9ms seek is fine; but lower is better.

Das Capitolin · 24th Jun 2006, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raven70

My case has a large rear fan, two fan openings on the side (an 80mm, and a 92mm over CPU), and an 80mm in the front.

I was thinking of at least one in the front to draw in, but what about those side vents?

Best practice is to have intake fans draw outside air from lower front and bottom, and have it exhaust out of top and upper rear. It is fine if you have side fans, but they throw the air channel off a bit. Something important to remember: there is no absolute direction for those side fans to be blowing, as it is relative to the other fans. If your CPU HSF blows down onto the CPU, then you would want the case side fan above the CPU to also blow down onto the CPU (intake). If your video card does not exhaust its warmed air outside the case, then you want the case side fan to suck out this air (exhaust).

ZuePhok · 24th Jun 2006, 09:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raven70

ETA: Here's where I am at (4/8/06)

Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer - Retail $95

eVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT CO PCI Express 256MB GDDR3 Video Card w/DVI-I Retail - $189 - $15 rebate

MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra Athlon 64 Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail - $114.50

OCZ OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Platinum Edition Dual Channel Memory Retail - $193.50 - $50 rebate

AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 Retail - $295

Total of $895 - $65 rebates = $830 (no tax and free shipping from zipzoomfly.

OR $898 (includes shipping) - $65 rebates = $833

Do I need thermal paste, or does a retail AMD processor come with somehting? Also, what about fans?

My case has a large rear fan, two fan openings on the side (an 80mm, and a 92mm over CPU), and an 80mm in the front.

I was thinking of at least one in the front to draw in, but what about those side vents?

Any tips on brand, etc. I am not overclocking, but PC is somewhat confined. I was looking at Evercool fans at Newegg. Leaning towards Newegg over Zipzoomfly for 0% until November and previous good experience.

How does this look above? Thanks.

EXCELLENT!

MSI NF4 is good pick

8th Apr 2006, 10:10 AM	#1 (permalink)
raven70 Newbie Join Date: 8 Apr 2006 Posts: 3 Reputation: 14 Rep Power: 0	Lots of Questions on New PC. . .Come on, everyone has an opinion! ETA: Forgot to add processor (see below) I asked a question on memory and the mb I was looking at. . .well, I figure rather than posting a dozen different threads on different components, I would lay this all out for people to advise me on: Current System Antec 635 mini tower (I think) with 350 watt ATX PSU (4 years old) Shuttle AK31a v3 mb 1700xp processor 512MB RAM (DDR 2100) Nvidia Geforce3 Ti200 (64MB) card Couple hard drives 19” CRT Generic keyboard and mouse 2.1 speaker system DVD drive CDRW drive When I built this system, it was about $1000 This has been the home PC since January 2002. It handled everything thrown at it up until about a year ago. From a gaming standpoint, Half Life 2 and Call of Duty are playable but about the limit. From a video editing standpoint, it is inadequate, and have never been able to run any of those suites (e.g., Pinnacle) very successfully. New System I would like a similar system to last 3-4 years again. Below is what I have put together. I do not plan to overclock, run 2 video in SLI. Antec TX640B Case http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=61640 Includes 400 watt SmartPower 2.0 Power Supply -I ALREADY OWN THIS (was gift)- This has an identical form factor to my old case. However, I am slightly concerned about the PSU. It should be adequate. A 7600GT from EVGA wants higher amps than the 15 on the 12V that this has, but I am not planning on SLI or overclocking. Two NEC 3550A -I ALREADY OWN THIS (UPS goof got me two)- WD 250GB SATA II w/16MB cache / 3 year warranty – OEM MSI K8N Neo Plat. nForce4 Ultra MB I don’t plan on ever having 2 cards AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Processor (San Diego) eVGA 7600GT The website states 18A on the 12v, but I think that I should not have to worry about that, since I have two 12V and not overclocking, etc.? MEMORY I have thought about it, and I just want to start off with 2GB and not worry about in the future. I have looked at both Corsair and OCZ, and there are too many things I don’t understand about memory. Please look at this page, and maybe someone can explain this to me. Literally, I would love for someone to say EXACTLY what I should get. http://www.msicomputer.com/product/p...tinum&class=mb (about ½ way down page) So if I get 2 sticks of 1GB OCZ each in slot 1 and 2 it will run at DDR400 and dual-channel? Finish it off with some Evercool fans for the case I will use my keyboard/mouse/speakers/monitor for now. . . Looking at about $800 ballpark for above. Thanks for helping a guy who hasn't touched the inside of his computer for the most part in 4 years. Please advise. FUTURE UPGRADES: 20” Widescreen LCD (will need new KVM that supports DVI) USB Keyboard/Mouse New USB/DVI KVM Comments or recommendations on the above are welcome. Last question: Has anyone used Newegg's deferred billing or 0% until Nov. 6? Thanks. Last edited by raven70 : 8th Apr 2006 at 09:28 PM.

8th Apr 2006, 10:04 PM	#4 (permalink)
Papercut Hold me back! I can't stop posting!!! Join Date: 14 Jul 2004 Location: Singapore! Posts: 5,009 Reputation: 2428 Rep Power: 34	It should be pretty good. I haven't heard about any major problems with that particular board __________________ PC Specs "Use in a cool dry place away from direct sunlight. Keep out of reach of n00bs. Overclock within 24 hours of opening. Do not read instructions before proceeding, do not use only as directed. May cause frustration, late nights and empty wallets. If symptoms persist please consult your hardware professional."

9th Apr 2006, 10:07 AM	#6 (permalink)
Chai Administrator Join Date: 6 Oct 2002 Location: Maranello Posts: 26,978 Reputation: 4108 Rep Power: 74	I was about to say why not get dual core processors instead... If you are not planning to overclock, retail processors comes with stock heatsink and thermal pads. __________________ Chai (Contributor & Forum Admin) http://www.techarp.com/

8th Apr 2006, 09:29 PM	#3 (permalink)
raven70 Newbie Join Date: 8 Apr 2006 Posts: 3 Reputation: 14 Rep Power: 0	Papercut, Thanks. What do you think about the MSI motherboard? Thanks.

9th Apr 2006, 09:58 AM	#5 (permalink)
raven70 Newbie Join Date: 8 Apr 2006 Posts: 3 Reputation: 14 Rep Power: 0	ETA: Here's where I am at (4/8/06) Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YD 250GB Serial ATA 7200RPM Hard Drive w/16MB Buffer - Retail $95 eVGA e-GeForce 7600 GT CO PCI Express 256MB GDDR3 Video Card w/DVI-I Retail - $189 - $15 rebate MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum nForce4 Ultra Athlon 64 Skt939 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail - $114.50 OCZ OCZ4002048ELDCPE-K 2GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Platinum Edition Dual Channel Memory Retail - $193.50 - $50 rebate AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ Processor Socket 939 Retail - $295 Total of $895 - $65 rebates = $830 (no tax and free shipping from zipzoomfly. OR $898 (includes shipping) - $65 rebates = $833 Do I need thermal paste, or does a retail AMD processor come with somehting? Also, what about fans? My case has a large rear fan, two fan openings on the side (an 80mm, and a 92mm over CPU), and an 80mm in the front. I was thinking of at least one in the front to draw in, but what about those side vents? Any tips on brand, etc. I am not overclocking, but PC is somewhat confined. I was looking at Evercool fans at Newegg. Leaning towards Newegg over Zipzoomfly for 0% until November and previous good experience. How does this look above? Thanks.

24th Jun 2006, 03:19 AM	#7 (permalink)
rcd412 Newbie Join Date: 24 Jun 2006 Posts: 5 Reputation: 0 Rep Power: 0	yea deffinitly go dual core, just make sure you don't end up using xp home.