PC Build Recommendations

[Richard Hammond]

I know these posts are all too common and probably annoy regulars, but I'm
going to go ahead anyway

I'd like to build a new PC before I go to university in October and would
like your recommendations. I'll leave out all the fancies in the spec (I
fear I have fallen foul of the modding craze).

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton
Thermaltake Volcano 9 Cooler
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro nForce2 Socket A Motherboard
2 x Kingmax PC3200 400Mhz 512Mb DDR
Antec True-Blue 480W ATX PSU

To add to this I will have my current setup of an 80GB Seagate HD, 52x24x52
Lite-on CDR, LG 52x CD-ROM, 4x Toshiba DVD-ROM (very old) and a Floppy
Drive. I will also have 4 or 5 80mm case fans.

As I'm a student, I'd like to save money, so my main questions are, what are
the onboard video and sound like for this motherboard? I'd like to be able
to watch DVDs with it. Would buying a new 16x DVD drive significantly
improve performance? I'll likely buy better graphics and sound cards later,
if required.

Also, I read recently that in September the price of the Athlon XP 3200+ is
likely to drop (due to the introduction of AMD 64???). Will this mean a
similar drop for the 2800+?

Finally, at present I have an Intel Celeron overclocked to 978Mhz through a
bios change in FSB. What are the overclocking possibilities for the
Motherboard/Processor combination given above?

Thanks for your help,
Richard.

 

[Richard Hammond]

On Thu, 7 Aug 2003 14:49:51 +0100, "Richard Hammond"


PC2700 is faster.

Thankyou for your reply, but can you point me in the direction of why PC2700
is faster (or explain)? Also, would I not be wise to leave my options open
for a 400Mhz fsb processor in the future?

Emermax or Zalman to me are better, the power supply is good, but how
many usb things are you going to have, a few and 480w is over kill.

Again, I'd like to be future proof. I'll be running a printer, Bluetooth
dongle and occasionally a camera from the USB sockets. I've only got a 300W
power supply at the moment but was wondering if the new processor would
require a significantly better one?

It as other posters say what do you intend to use the sys for. A 2800
is more then OK for e-mail and word processing, and database/excel
work.

Thanks for your help. I'll be using the PC primarily for that which you
state, with some DVD watching, photo management and listening to music.
Ideally, I'd like it to be adequate after the 4 years of my degree, or at
least provide an easy way to upgrade.

Thanks again,
Richard.

 

[FlashFlood]

I know these posts are all too common and probably annoy regulars, but I'm
going to go ahead anyway

I'd like to build a new PC before I go to university in October and would
like your recommendations. I'll leave out all the fancies in the spec (I
fear I have fallen foul of the modding craze).

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton
Thermaltake Volcano 9 Cooler
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro nForce2 Socket A Motherboard
2 x Kingmax PC3200 400Mhz 512Mb DDR
Antec True-Blue 480W ATX PSU

To add to this I will have my current setup of an 80GB Seagate HD, 52x24x52
Lite-on CDR, LG 52x CD-ROM, 4x Toshiba DVD-ROM (very old) and a Floppy
Drive. I will also have 4 or 5 80mm case fans.

As I'm a student, I'd like to save money, so my main questions are, what are
the onboard video and sound like for this motherboard?

They are nothing special, but very functional. The video is comparable
to a gf4 mx440, and the sound is perfectly fine unless youre an
audiophile with sensitive ears.

I'd like to be able
to watch DVDs with it. Would buying a new 16x DVD drive significantly
improve performance?

Well, faster spin up, and subsequently quicker load times would be the
result. Depends on how old that toshiba is, but you could also get some
fancier features on a 16x drive. Maybe you ought to save the 50$ on the
DVD drive if the 4x one is still functional.

I'll likely buy better graphics and sound cards later,
if required.

Also, I read recently that in September the price of the Athlon XP 3200+ is
likely to drop (due to the introduction of AMD 64???). Will this mean a
similar drop for the 2800+?

More than likely, I'd say.

 

[Christopher]

Thankyou for your reply, but can you point me in the direction of why PC2700
is faster (or explain)?

http://www.crucial.com/store/listmodule.asp?module=DDR+PC2700&Attrib=Package&cat=RAM

My nephew tried PC3200 after he'd had 2700 and found that his sys ran
faster with 2700.

Also, would I not be wise to leave my options open
for a 400Mhz fsb processor in the future?

Again, I'd like to be future proof.

For your 3 years at uni it'll be future proof enough. I use an
Emermax for 4 years and Ive had no probs at all, and its quite.

I'll be running a printer, Bluetooth
dongle and occasionally a camera from the USB sockets. I've only got a 300W
power supply at the moment but was wondering if the new processor would
require a significantly better one?

No, the cpu uses only a small amount of wattage, its the add on usb
bits that suck up the power.

Thanks for your help. I'll be using the PC primarily for that which you
state, with some DVD watching, photo management and listening to music.
Ideally, I'd like it to be adequate after the 4 years of my degree, or at
least provide an easy way to upgrade.

Thanks again,
Richard.

Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"There's a light at the end
of the tunnel" says the optimist.
"It's probably a train coming
stright at us" responds the pessimist.

 

[Christopher]

Also, would I not be wise to leave my options open
for a 400Mhz fsb processor in the future?

Depends on what you want that kind of power for, to much is over kill
and wasted money. If your sys is doing its job, no need to up grade.


Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"There's a light at the end
of the tunnel" says the optimist.
"It's probably a train coming
stright at us" responds the pessimist.

 

[S.Heenan]

Richard Hammond wrote:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton
Thermalright SK-7 or SLK-800 w/80mm fan
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro nForce2 Socket A Motherboard

or Abit NF7-S or Asus A7N8X Deluxe Rev2

2 x Crucial PC3200 400Mhz 512Mb DDR
Antec True-Blue 480W ATX PSU

To add to this I will have my current setup of an 80GB Seagate HD,
52x24x52 Lite-on CDR, LG 52x CD-ROM, 4x Toshiba DVD-ROM (very old)
and a Floppy Drive. I will also have 4 or 5 80mm case fans.

As I'm a student, I'd like to save money, so my main questions are,
what are the onboard video and sound like for this motherboard? I'd
like to be able to watch DVDs with it. Would buying a new 16x DVD
drive significantly improve performance? I'll likely buy better
graphics and sound cards later, if required.

Please note changes above.
The Barton 2500+ is the least expensive Barton core, $165USD cheaper than
the 2800+. Using any of the above motherboards, a FSB of 200MHz and a
multiplier of 11 or 11.5 are realistic. The Thermaltake Volacno 9 is ok, but
any Thermalright is superior matched with a mid-CFM 80mm fan. If you think
you need a GB of RAM, and won't be running memory faster than 200MHz,
Crucial is a good choice. If you're using Windows 2000/XP or Linux, 512MB of
RAM might very well be enough. The Gigabyte has average sound and no
on-board video. None of the above boards do. You can add in inexpensive Asus
Geforce2 for about $25US and upgrade it later.The sound on the Asus and Abit
boards is much better.
Contrary to another post in this thread, PC2700 rated for 166MHz is not
faster than PC3200 rated for 200MHz.

 

[Christopher]

Contrary to another post in this thread, PC2700 rated for 166MHz is not
faster than PC3200 rated for 200MHz.

The speed of sdram depends on more then the mhz clock speed, and
instead relies more on the speed of the sys as a whole. My nephew had
a gigf of 3200, and found that the speed of his system wasn't as fast
as it was when he replaced it with his old 2700 gig of sdram.



Christopher
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"There's a light at the end
of the tunnel" says the optimist.
"It's probably a train coming
stright at us" responds the pessimist.

 

[pjgtech]

I know these posts are all too common and probably annoy regulars, but
I'm
going to go ahead anyway

I'd like to build a new PC before I go to university in October and
would
like your recommendations. I'll leave out all the fancies in the spec
(I
fear I have fallen foul of the modding craze).

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton
Thermaltake Volcano 9 Cooler
Gigabyte GA-7N400 Pro nForce2 Socket A Motherboard
2 x Kingmax PC3200 400Mhz 512Mb DDR
Antec True-Blue 480W ATX PSU

To add to this I will have my current setup of an 80GB Seagate HD,
52x24x52
Lite-on CDR, LG 52x CD-ROM, 4x Toshiba DVD-ROM (very old) and a Floppy
Drive. I will also have 4 or 5 80mm case fans.

As I'm a student, I'd like to save money, so my main questions are,
what are
the onboard video and sound like for this motherboard? I'd like to be
able
to watch DVDs with it. Would buying a new 16x DVD drive significantly
improve performance? I'll likely buy better graphics and sound cards
later,
if required.

Also, I read recently that in September the price of the Athlon XP
3200+ is
likely to drop (due to the introduction of AMD 64???). Will this mean a
similar drop for the 2800+?

Finally, at present I have an Intel Celeron overclocked to 978Mhz
through a
bios change in FSB. What are the overclocking possibilities for the
Motherboard/Processor combination given above?

Thanks for your help,
Richard.

Get an AMD Athlon 2500+ barton and is should overclock to the equivelant
2800 to 3000 speed (2.1Mhz) via changing the mulitplier and bus speed on
the m/b.



*Peter* - http://www.cix.co.uk/~pjgtech/home.html