Building new pc - questions for the experts

[Richard Milser]

Hi everyone

Am aiming to build myself a new pc around the athlon64 (3200+) chip. Have
several questions regarding other components. Would appreciate greatly all
input.
What do you guys think about

1. MSI motherboard (K8T NEO-FIS2R)

2. Would you go for SATA or IDE hard drive?? Brand recommendations??

3. Like the look of Hightech Radeon ATI9800 Pro graphics card - comments??

Thanks in advance

Richard

 

[S.Heenan]

Hi everyone

Am aiming to build myself a new pc around the athlon64 (3200+) chip.
Have several questions regarding other components. Would appreciate
greatly all input.
What do you guys think about

1. MSI motherboard (K8T NEO-FIS2R)

You can use either ECC or non-ECC, registered or unregistered, PC3200 RAM,
unlike other boards built on Nvidia chipsets. The VIA K8T800 seems to be
the chipset to go with for the 64-bit AMD platform. The Asus K8V Deluxe and
the Abit KV8-Max3 are also worth a look.

2. Would you go for SATA or IDE hard drive?? Brand recommendations??

SATA if you want or need a new hard drive. For speed, the 10K RPM WD Raptor.
Seagate makes a good, quiet drive, with a native SATA interface. SATA does
not offer any performance advantage over the IDE interface, with the sole
exception of the WD Raptor drives.

3. Like the look of Hightech Radeon ATI9800 Pro graphics card -
comments??

I'm not familiar with the Hightech brand. The 9800Pro is fine for gamers,
overkill for others. In the US, the ATI original 9800Pro ($229USD) is
actually cheaper than the Hightech card.

 

[Richard Milser]

Thanks S.Heenan

If no performance benefit why the move to SATA????

Anyone else got input re my new system to be?

What cases would you recommend - dont want to spend a fortune!
My optical drives will be fine for time being.
Monitor - I like the Iiyama prolite 431s

Also - am I being risky building this myself? I really fancy doing it - are
there any recommended books / online guide to help?
Thanks in advance

Richard

 

[S.Heenan]

If no performance benefit why the move to SATA????

Hard drive makers are moving toward to S-ATA interface. It's not faster
right now, but future advancements in areal (bit) density and rotational
speed will require the interface. The Raptor, spinning at 10,000RPM is a
hint of what's to come.

What cases would you recommend - dont want to spend a fortune!

The Antec Sonata is a good case with 380W PSU. About £91
http://www.dabs.com/uk/channels/components/caseandcaseaccessories/productView.htm?quicklinx=2QJC

Also - am I being risky building this myself? I really fancy doing it.

If you own a #2 Philips and can follow instructions, you can build a PC. Add
an anti-static wriststrap to your shopping list.

Here's one link to get you started:

http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/