Here's what I want to build... any opinions/advice?

[Spigi]

I got some good advice on building my first PC from my previous post. I went
over to newegg and put together a system that I think meets my needs (mostly
flight simming). I would appreciate any input and advice about the components.

Motherboard:
ASUS P4C800 DELUXE - What's the difference between the regular and E type MB's?
The Asus website doesn't seem to give an explanation, and I didn't see the E
board on newegg.

CPU
Intel Pentium 4/ 3.2C GHz 800MHz FSB, 512K Cache - Not much choice here. Speed
is important.

RAM
Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series, 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3500 - This is one
of the modules in the ASUS QVL. Am I getting any (real) additional performance
by going with 3500 rather than 3200? Is it worth the extra $$$?

Video Card
Asus RADEON 9800XT - It was either this or the nVidia 5950. I've heard the 9800
does better with FS9, but this is probably subjective.

HD
Seagate 120GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive - I'm going to get two and run them in
Raid 0. What is the additional Power adapter that I have to get? Can't find on
the newegg website.

CD/DVD
ASUS DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DRW-0402P/D - Is this any good? I'm going to
cannibalise a CD-ROM for the second drive from one of my older machines.

Case
Aspire Yellow Turbo Case Super Light Weight Heavy Duty Aluminum Server Case w/
420W Power Supply - Just how much power do I need? I figured 420W should be
ample, but to be honest I have no idea. Anything I should look for in a case
other than good cooling, accessible drive bays, etc?

OS
Microsoft Windows XP Professional - I could probably do fine with the home
edition. Comments?

Sound Card
I would like to use the onboard sound on the motherboard, but if it uses
additional CPU cycles then I will get a SB Audigy. Can anyone state
authoritatively whether or not the onboard increases the CPU load?

Well, that's my list. If you have read down this far, thank you! If I am
forgetting anything, please let me know. I'm quite looking forward to getting
my first homebuilt up and running.

Thanks,

Andy

 

[Crooked-Ridez]

That's one expensive flight sim player

Looks good to me, but I'm a nVidia person.

 

[VIC]

I got some good advice on building my first PC from my previous post. I went
over to newegg and put together a system that I think meets my needs (mostly
flight simming). I would appreciate any input and advice about the components.

Aspire Yellow Turbo Case Super Light Weight Heavy Duty Aluminum Server Case w/
420W Power Supply - Just how much power do I need? I figured 420W should be
ample, but to be honest I have no idea. Anything I should look for in a case
other than good cooling, accessible drive bays, etc?

420 should be ampel, I personally feel the PSU is perhaps the most
important items on the list, everything depends on it so I want a
quality one in there with 20 amps. + on the 12Volt line. Some think
thats overkill, perhaps but I want capacity for future "toys". Many
problems result with the use of cheap PSUs, often flakey ones.

 

[trappeduser]

I got some good advice on building my first PC from my previous post. I went
over to newegg and put together a system that I think meets my needs (mostly
flight simming). I would appreciate any input and advice about the components.

Motherboard:
ASUS P4C800 DELUXE - What's the difference between the regular and E type MB's?
The Asus website doesn't seem to give an explanation, and I didn't see the E
board on newegg.
..

HD
Seagate 120GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive - I'm going to get two and run them in
Raid 0. What is the additional Power adapter that I have to get? Can't find on
the newegg website.

A Maxtor drive would be better.

Sound Card
I would like to use the onboard sound on the motherboard, but if it uses
additional CPU cycles then I will get a SB Audigy. Can anyone state
authoritatively whether or not the onboard increases the CPU load?

Heard from many people including people who know what they are talking
about that onboard sound isn't a good idea. A standard SoundBlaster would
do the job.

Apart from that, it sounds like a good setup.

Matt (UK)

 

[Jonathan Bishop]

I did 2x40 gig drives as RAID0 on my first machine and although easy to set
up initially it proved to be a pain in the arse come reformat time.The
windows install failed to identify the C-drive and it took ages to get it
working.

I am building another machine now also but wont bother with raid again. Its
just not worth the effort. For a flight sim you just wont need it in my
opinion. Get 1 x 200+ gig 7200 spin with 8meg cache and have done with it.
Its chaeaper and quieter as well.

That reminds me, pick your heatsink and fan, case fans and PSU carefully.
Noise is a real nuisance.

Also if I was spending that much on a machine I would fork out for the
Audigy !

Nice spec though.