Please critique this setup before I buy. Thanks

T

TomLarson

My uses for the system are on the high end:
1- CATIA V5 student version
2- Convert VCR's to DVD
3- Edit and burning football games to DVD.

On the low end I have several apps that run only win 95 16bit as well as the MicroCadam
CAD package that basically runs at an equivalent to DOS level although I have to boot to a
different *.bat than autoexec.bat. I plan on installing Win95 OSR2, Win98SE, Win2K.
Perhaps Linux some day too.


All prices from Froogle

Total $943.42 plus shipping tax etc

CASE
ENERMAX CS-517AL-PW CASE
$60.00

CASE FAN
Zalman 80mm ZM-F1 NP Case Fan
$5.99

PSU
Thermaltake PurePower Xaser 400w
$68.00

CPU
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton) 2.133GHz 266 FSB 47WMobile
$107.00

CPU COOLER
Zalman CNPS5100-Cu Quiet CPU Cooler
$37.99

Motherboard
DFI LANPARTY Nfii Ultra B
$136.00

Memory
Crucial 512MB CT6464Z40B DDR PC3200 CL=3 Non-parity
$126.99

Video Card
VisionTek Xtasy GeForce4 Ti 4600. TV In/Out connectors.
Supports Windows 95 OSR2, 98, ME, NT 4.0, 2000, XP
$112.00

Hard Drive
Western Digital Special Edition 80GB
$100.95

CDRW/DVD
LiteOn 48X24X48X16 Internal CDRW/DVD Combo Drive Bulk
Support Operating System : Windows 95 / 98 / NT / ME / XP / 2000
$49.50

DVDRW
SONY DRU510-A
$139.00
 
D

Dave C.

TomLarson said:
CPU
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ (Barton) 2.133GHz 266 FSB 47WMobile
$107.00

CPU COOLER
Zalman CNPS5100-Cu Quiet CPU Cooler
$37.99

Motherboard
DFI LANPARTY Nfii Ultra B
$136.00

Memory
Crucial 512MB CT6464Z40B DDR PC3200 CL=3 Non-parity
$126.99
Click to expand...

OK, RAM is mismatched with CPU, and there is not nearly enough of it. Go
for 1GB minimum of PC2100RAM. You may not be aware of this, but the PC3200
you have chosen will actually SLOW DOWN your system, as it will be
asynchronous with the CPU you have chosen. -Dave
 
P

Ponyboy

Why not get the 2600 with the 333 FSB?
Dave C. said:
OK, RAM is mismatched with CPU, and there is not nearly enough of it. Go
for 1GB minimum of PC2100RAM. You may not be aware of this, but the PC3200
you have chosen will actually SLOW DOWN your system, as it will be
asynchronous with the CPU you have chosen. -Dave
Click to expand...
 
P

Piotr Makley

Dave C. said:
OK, RAM is mismatched with CPU, and there is not nearly enough
of it. Go for 1GB minimum of PC2100RAM. You may not be aware
of this, but the PC3200 you have chosen will actually SLOW
DOWN your system, as it will be asynchronous with the CPU you
have chosen. -Dave
Click to expand...


Wouldn't the fast memory just slow down to the speed of the slower
memory?
 
D

Dave C.

OK, RAM is mismatched with CPU, and there is not nearly enough
Wouldn't the fast memory just slow down to the speed of the slower
memory?
Click to expand...

No. Here is where motherboard makers made the mistake of giving too many
options to their customers. Most motherboards are flexible enough to run
RAM at speeds other than the speed that best matches the CPU FSB. Thus, if
you put DDR333 RAM on a motherboard (for example) with a 266 CPU, you will
likely end up with DDR333@333 and CPU@266. Running like that, your overall
system performance is degraded, as the two components are not in sync (the
RAM is too fast).

Now you probably CAN set the RAM timing manually so that (for example) you
can run DDR400 at 266. This way, CPU and RAM will be perfectly matched, if
the CPU is 266. But there is no good reason to do that. If you need 266
RAM, buy 266 RAM. I can hear someone already saying, "but what about
upgrading?" Yeah, what about it? By the time you are ready to upgrade,
you will want new RAM anyway. So buy RAM that matches your CPU now. In the
OP's case, that would be PC2100 to match his processor at 266. -Dave
 
M

Matt

TomLarson wrote:

That is probably more power supply than you need. Check out the Antec
SLK3700AMB (case w/ 350W) at accupc.com.

Your prices seem high. Compare prices on all your components at
newegg.com and pricegrabber.com.
 
T

TomLarson

Dave C. said:
OK, RAM is mismatched with CPU, and there is not nearly enough of it. Go
for 1GB minimum of PC2100RAM. You may not be aware of this, but the PC3200
you have chosen will actually SLOW DOWN your system, as it will be
asynchronous with the CPU you have chosen. -Dave
Click to expand...

Thanks Dave,

As you noted elsewhere, I matched the ram to the motherboard and not the CPU. Nice catch!
 
T

TomLarson

Matt said:
TomLarson wrote:

That is probably more power supply than you need. Check out the Antec
SLK3700AMB (case w/ 350W) at accupc.com.

Your prices seem high. Compare prices on all your components at
newegg.com and pricegrabber.com.
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding.

I'll check out your suggestions.
Thanks again!
 
T

TomLarson

Ponyboy said:
Why not get the 2600 with the 333 FSB?
Click to expand...


Another good suggestion. I'm sure glad that I cam here and asked you folks about this!

Thanks again.
 
D

Dave C.

TomLarson said:
Another good suggestion. I'm sure glad that I cam here and asked you folks about this!

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

If you go that route, be sure to go with PC2700 RAM though. :) -Dave
 
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