Is this system OK?

[StarBuc]

Hello everyone,

I want to build my first system and would to know if you think I made any
bad choices. Gaming is not that important, mostly racing sims and a few FPS,
but I would like to convert divx files to SVCD or VCD. No overclocking. I
got the prices from Newegg.com and I must stay under 1,900$. Is the SATA
Raptor, non raided, worth the cost?

Thanks!

=

1] motherboard : INTEL D865 PERL I865 95$

2] Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8C GHz 800MHz FSB 179$

3] ATI RADEON 9600XT video card 150$

4] Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive 33$

5] Pioneer Black 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-107 102$

6] Antec minitower case"SX635BII" ( 350watt psu) 75$

7] Sigma Designs Xcard (have it)

8] Corsair Dual Channel 1G (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 200$

9] Microsoft Intellimouse Optical ??

10] Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM SATA OEM 109$

11] Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA 212$ non raid

12] floppy drive (needed for sata drivers ?) 15$

13] NEC/MITSUBISHI LCD1760NXBK-1 17" LCD Monitor 530$

14] DVI-d cable 10$

15] Sound Blaster Live 5.1 40$

 

[Dave C.]

Hello everyone,

I want to build my first system and would to know if you think I made any
bad choices. Gaming is not that important, mostly racing sims and a few FPS,
but I would like to convert divx files to SVCD or VCD. No overclocking. I
got the prices from Newegg.com and I must stay under 1,900$. Is the SATA
Raptor, non raided, worth the cost?

Thanks!

=

1] motherboard : INTEL D865 PERL I865 95$

2] Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8C GHz 800MHz FSB 179$

3] ATI RADEON 9600XT video card 150$

4] Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive 33$

5] Pioneer Black 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-107 102$

6] Antec minitower case"SX635BII" ( 350watt psu) 75$

7] Sigma Designs Xcard (have it)

8] Corsair Dual Channel 1G (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 200$

9] Microsoft Intellimouse Optical ??

10] Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM SATA OEM 109$

11] Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA 212$ non raid

12] floppy drive (needed for sata drivers ?) 15$

13] NEC/MITSUBISHI LCD1760NXBK-1 17" LCD Monitor 530$

14] DVI-d cable 10$

15] Sound Blaster Live 5.1 40$

That looks awesome! I think you did your research very well. Your choice
of hard drive is a tough one, though. For your video editing/conversion
work, you need both speed and space. I would think a 7200RPM drive would be
fast enough, though. If I were you, I would go for TWO of the 160GB drives.
That should give you plenty of space for video editing . . . for a while, at
least. If you think it will help the speed, RAID them. I would think that
would give you more of a performance boost than a single 10KRPM drive NOT in
raid. The way I see it, with two of the 160GB drives, you could have the
best of both worlds . . . speed and space. I wouldn't even necessarily raid
them. Not at first anyway. Oh, and I'd use the money you save to invest in
a better case or (more importantly) a SILENT power supply of about ~400W.
Unless you really need a minitower, a mid-tower will give you better airflow
and be easier to work with. I don't know what kind of power supply comes
with that, but you will really appreciate one that's made to be silent. A
couple of decent ones on newegg are linked below. It looks like the first
one was favorably compared to antec. Still, the antec case you chose looks
great, gets great ratings, and would probably work OK. Overall, great job
of choosing components. -Dave

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-005&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-213&depa=0

 

[StarBuc]

Hello everyone,

I want to build my first system and would to know if you think I made any
bad choices. Gaming is not that important, mostly racing sims and a few FPS,
but I would like to convert divx files to SVCD or VCD. No overclocking. I
got the prices from Newegg.com and I must stay under 1,900$. Is the SATA
Raptor, non raided, worth the cost?

Thanks!

=

1] motherboard : INTEL D865 PERL I865 95$

2] Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8C GHz 800MHz FSB 179$

3] ATI RADEON 9600XT video card 150$

4] Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive 33$

of hard drive is a tough one, though. For your video editing/conversion
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-153-005&depa=0
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-103-213&depa=0

Thanks for the advice Dave C.

I will remove the 10k rpm Rapter and get two 160 sata hard drives per you
suggestion.



Also, the case is pretty plain but for some reason I like it and the mini
tower size is important. Hopefully it won’t get too hot.



I wasn’t sure about power and noise but I think I will upgrade to the
Thermaltake 420 watt PSU from the link that you provided. Thanks again.

 

[Richard Dower]

Not bad specs, where did you get the Corsair memory for $200?, 1GB costs
over $300 at Newegg. Unless it's some value RAM you got.

I'd suggest a 450W PSU, an Audigy 2 is only a few bucks more, and yes...you
need a floppy.

 

[Richard Dower]

That looks awesome! I think you did your research very well. Your choice
of hard drive is a tough one, though. For your video editing/conversion
work, you need both speed and space. I would think a 7200RPM drive would be
fast enough, though. If I were you, I would go for TWO of the 160GB drives.
That should give you plenty of space for video editing . . . for a while, at
least. If you think it will help the speed, RAID them. I would think that
would give you more of a performance boost than a single 10KRPM drive NOT in
raid. The way I see it, with two of the 160GB drives, you could have the
best of both worlds . . . speed and space. I wouldn't even necessarily raid
them. Not at first anyway.

I agree about the HDD, two 160GB in RAID 0 would be sweet.

 

[StarBuc]

Yes, you are right it is Corsair Value Select: 1 gig (N82E16820145480 =
198$). Is that not fast enough?

I'll check the Audigy 2 but I don't think I need it because I don't have a
super audio setup.

Also, thanks for confirming the floppy.

Not bad specs, where did you get the Corsair memory for $200?, 1GB costs
over $300 at Newegg. Unless it's some value RAM you got.

I'd suggest a 450W PSU, an Audigy 2 is only a few bucks more, and yes...you
need a floppy.

Hello everyone,

I want to build my first system and would to know if you think I made any
bad choices. Gaming is not that important, mostly racing sims and a few FPS,
but I would like to convert divx files to SVCD or VCD. No overclocking. I
got the prices from Newegg.com and I must stay under 1,900$. Is the SATA
Raptor, non raided, worth the cost?

Thanks!

=

1] motherboard : INTEL D865 PERL I865 95$

2] Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8C GHz 800MHz FSB 179$

3] ATI RADEON 9600XT video card 150$

4] Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive 33$

5] Pioneer Black 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-107 102$

6] Antec minitower case"SX635BII" ( 350watt psu) 75$

7] Sigma Designs Xcard (have it)

8] Corsair Dual Channel 1G (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 200$

9] Microsoft Intellimouse Optical ??

10] Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM SATA OEM 109$

11] Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA 212$ non raid

12] floppy drive (needed for sata drivers ?) 15$

13] NEC/MITSUBISHI LCD1760NXBK-1 17" LCD Monitor 530$

14] DVI-d cable 10$

15] Sound Blaster Live 5.1 40$

 

[Richard Dower]

Yes, you are right it is Corsair Value Select: 1 gig (N82E16820145480 =
198$). Is that not fast enough?

It's fine, just some prefer the Twin X brand, but it's alot more expensive.

 

[Matt]

Also, the case is pretty plain but for some reason I like it and the mini
tower size is important. Hopefully it won’t get too hot.

The Antec SLK3700 has excellent ventilation and lets you put a 120mm fan
(included) right in front of your hard drives. You can run that fan at
5V to keep the noise down. Price is a little better than that other
Antec that you indicated. Compare newegg's photos of the two cases.

 

[StarBuc]

The Antec SLK3700 has excellent ventilation and lets you put a 120mm fan
(included) right in front of your hard drives. You can run that fan at
5V to keep the noise down. Price is a little better than that other
Antec that you indicated. Compare newegg's photos of the two cases.

Thanks, i'll check it out.

 

[Fitz]

Memory is one thing you shouldn't skimp on, either in quantity or quality
(esp. for video editing). I would tend to agree with the TwinX suggestion,
or Mushkin Level 1 memory.
You might also take a look at the ATI 9800Pro vs the 9600XT- compare the two
here:
http://apps.ati.com/ATIcompare/result.asp

Good luck-
Fitz

 

[Patrick]

Memory is one thing you shouldn't skimp on, either in quantity or quality
(esp. for video editing). I would tend to agree with the TwinX suggestion,
or Mushkin Level 1 memory.
You might also take a look at the ATI 9800Pro vs the 9600XT- compare the two
here:
http://apps.ati.com/ATIcompare/result.asp

Good luck-
Fitz

GREAT system! Should run GNU/Linux really fast! (You are going to run
Linux, right?) I mean, try out Knoppix liveCD rom, just to see how full
featured it is, and it would install as any of the optional, menued
choices - systems, if you want to run something "locked-in", from MS...
install that first!

http://knopper.net/knoppix is about 6x smaller in the kernel, and I find
that my 1.3 Durons, running Knoppix Linux, are about 5X faster than my
P4 3.0 systems running XP Pro... when in DVD, and/or, PVR mode...
I mean, TIVO is FREEVO is MythKnoppix... all were written on Linux
platforms...

If you want more info, ask me, or go to the links for knoppix, linux, etc.

 

[Mr. Vice President]

I find
that my 1.3 Durons, running Knoppix Linux, are about 5X faster than my
P4 3.0 systems running XP Pro

Is that before or after you lite the crack pipe?

I'm a knoppix fan myself but it is ridiculous claims like this that set
people up for disappointment when they try it.

 

[StarBuc]

Is that before or after you lite the crack pipe?

I'm a knoppix fan myself but it is ridiculous claims like this that set
people up for disappointment when they try it.

Ha-ha!
Thanks for the info guys.

I have to run win XP Pro to be compatible with others, but I also plan to
have a few partitions set aside for LINUX.

I was thinking of SUSE, but this KNOPPIX looks interesting. I'll read up on
it.

 

[BarryNL]

Hello everyone,

I want to build my first system and would to know if you think I made any
bad choices. Gaming is not that important, mostly racing sims and a few FPS,
but I would like to convert divx files to SVCD or VCD. No overclocking. I
got the prices from Newegg.com and I must stay under 1,900$. Is the SATA
Raptor, non raided, worth the cost?

The only points I'd make are to consider if you really want an LCD
screen. You could get a top-notch 19" or even a decent 21" CRT cheaper
than this.

That, plus the standard proviso that you can get better bang for the
buck with an AMD processor.

Thanks!

=

1] motherboard : INTEL D865 PERL I865 95$

2] Intel Pentium 4/ 2.8C GHz 800MHz FSB 179$

3] ATI RADEON 9600XT video card 150$

4] Lite-On Black 52X32X52 CD-RW Drive 33$

5] Pioneer Black 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DVR-107 102$

6] Antec minitower case"SX635BII" ( 350watt psu) 75$

7] Sigma Designs Xcard (have it)

8] Corsair Dual Channel 1G (512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 200$

9] Microsoft Intellimouse Optical ??

10] Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM SATA OEM 109$

11] Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,000RPM SATA 212$ non raid

12] floppy drive (needed for sata drivers ?) 15$

13] NEC/MITSUBISHI LCD1760NXBK-1 17" LCD Monitor 530$

14] DVI-d cable 10$

15] Sound Blaster Live 5.1 40$

 

[Conor]

Hello everyone,

I want to build my first system and would to know if you think I made any
bad choices. Gaming is not that important, mostly racing sims and a few FPS,
but I would like to convert divx files to SVCD or VCD. No overclocking. I
got the prices from Newegg.com and I must stay under 1,900$. Is the SATA
Raptor, non raided, worth the cost?

Thanks!

Forget the Radeon 9600XT. THere's some cheap Radeon 9800 Pros out there
which overclock to 9800XT speeds very easily.

 

[Patrick]

Is that before or after you lite the crack pipe?

I'm a knoppix fan myself but it is ridiculous claims like this that set
people up for disappointment when they try it.

Thank you for asking!!!

Like I stated, the kernel is ~6x bigger in XP Pro, so it takes
~6X L O N G E R to run XP, than any of the 200+ distros of Linux!

BUT, I would like to also add, that the virtual desktops available in
*BSD and GNU/Linux permit me to do my many applications in these
concurrent OSes, whereas, in XP Pro, a consecutive executing OS, all
processes except the one that I am on at the moment, actually S T O P!

That process or application in XP Pro actually takes control of the
system, until it is complete, or it crashes, taking the XP Pro system
down with it, and losing A L L the work, A L L the data, in A L L the
open XP Pro windows!!!

Definitely NOT something that is suitable for a professional, a
business, or, a serious user! We must use more stable stuff!

Then, when I go to an open app on an XP Pro window, there is a flurry of
activity in the XP Pro system, and A L L my work stops for up to
15 S E C O N D S!!! There is often an un-expected flurry of background
administration by the XP system, right in the middle of my work! That
stops or slows down my progress!

NOW, if you desire to discuss the facts and the reality, of having to
run an Anti-virus program, plus, a spy bot program, PLUS, a pop-up
blocker, PLUS a registry cleaner, PLUS the updates necessary for all the
above, PLUS the patches for XP and it's 'Integrated' applications, that
must be obtained, installed, and understood, (due to the many potential
conflicts involved!), it all adds up to an E X T R A three (3) to four
(4) hours of unproductive maintenance per machine, per WEEK(!), for the
one XP Pro system, and, the one WINME system which I maintain.

I have managed to stabilize them, and now only have to reload the entire
XP Pro and WinME systems about 3 times per year, less often than is
recommended by Microsoft, right there on their Linux Server website!
Microsoft uses Akamai cache servers -- which consists of 15,000
Linux-based servers spread around the globe.

I own over a dozen systems that all run *BSD or GNU/Linux. I quit the
RED HAT/ Mandrake/ Turbolinux distros over a year ago, because of the
issues involved in doing the RPM management of the filesystems.

If you have the large amounts of money and time to waste, and don't mind
being so very vulnerable to bad code put out by a four time convicted
FELON, on several continents, then you should stick with the Microsoft
crapware.

THE REST OF US ARE SWITCHING to GNU/Linux!
Approximately 40% are using Debian based distros, such as one of the 80+
versions of Knoppix!
http://linux.bryanconsulting.com/stories/storyReader$45

Also, EVERYONE on a broadband connection is remiss if you do not run a
hardware firewall, as they sell for less than $50.00! Or, run one of
the firewall/router systems on an older headless computer (I prefer
IPCOP ). Check out http://distrowatch.com