Please help with new PC spec/build

[James]

Hi
Planning to have a go at building a PC but would love someone to help out
with
respect to checking I havent missed anything out, and if everything would be
compatible (maybe i've overlooked something??) and if they think i'd be
better
off with a different component/part.
I'm basically building it to play the latest games and to last a good 3
years.
Want to also use it for making dvd's and editing movies.
I'm not sure what cables I need and if I need anything else for in the case
like
another fan maybe?
Can someone give me some tips for when ive got it all and begin to build,
any
pitfalls to look out for etc.
For instance, what will i need to configure? I'm worried i'm going to blow
something up.
Anyway, here it is so far:

-------------------------------------------------

MOTHERBOARD -
Asus K8V-SE Deluxe S754 VIA k8t800 ATX Sound Gig lAN Firewire USB 2.0 FSB
800 Retail Box
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...m9kdWN0X3NwZWNpZmljYXRpb25z&product_uid=59993
£63.76
£74.92 inc VAT


CPU -
AMD (Newcastle) Athlon 64bit 3200+ 754pin 512 L2cache Retail Boxed
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=62704
£120.84
£141.99 inc VAT

MEMORY - (X2)
Crucial 512 DDR400 PC3200 CL=3 Memory Module
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=46420
£56.24
£66.09 inc VAT EACH
-------------
£132.17 FOR 2 INCL vat


CASE -
I-Cute 0314TL Black Atx Case With Side Window
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=59321
£31.99
£37.59 inc VAT

HARDDRIVE -
Seagate ST3120026A 120GB 7200rpm 8mb Cache Barracuda 7200.7 Plus - OEM
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52159
£46.48
£54.62 inc VAT


GRAPHICS CARD -
Gainward PowerPack! ULTRA/2400 (GOLDEN SAMPLE) GeForce 6800GT 256MB DDR3
256-bit
AGP8X 1xVGA, & 1xDVI / TV-Out - Inc DOOM3
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=66215
£287.95
£338.35 inc VAT

SOUND CARD -
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS 7.1 PCI Soundcard With Dts Support
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=52229
£52.54
£61.74 inc VAT

CD RW -
Liteon 52x32x52x16x IDE Drive (COMBO) - Retail Box
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=58630
£24.14
£28.37 inc VAT

DVD -
Liteon Double Layer Dual DVD R/rw - Retail Kit
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=62724
£42.46
£49.90 inc VAT

FLOPPY -
Mitsumi USB External Black Floppy Drive
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=54833
£14.38
£16.90 inc VAT

 

[YanquiDawg]

Your rig probably won't last 2 years(for games at least).
The 754 chipset won't go past 3500+. Get a 939 w/PCI-E
For video stuff 1G is good,2 is better.
Video card is good,but you'd be more future proof if you get a PCI express
video card.
There are faster HD's around. Get a SATA drive.The Maxtor plus 9 or plus 10.
Forget the floppy.Just make a bootable CD.
Don't forget a very good Power supply.The new vid cards are very power hungry
and they specify 400W. A PS from Antec at 380+ Watts is a place to start.
Hope this helps

Planning to have a go at building a PC but would love someone to help out
with
respect to checking I havent missed anything out, and if everything would be
compatible (maybe i've overlooked something??)

Asus K8V-SE Deluxe S754 VIA k8t800 ATX Sound Gig lAN Firewire USB 2.0 FSB
800 Retail Box

CPU -
AMD (Newcastle) Athlon 64bit 3200+ 754pin 512 L2cache Retail Boxed

MEMORY - (X2)
Crucial 512 DDR400 PC3200 CL=3 Memory Module

CASE -
I-Cute 0314TL Black Atx Case With Side Window

 

[James]

Hi
Cant find a 939 with PCI-E support. Are they available yet???

Also cant find an 6800 NVIDEA that states its pci-e compatible so will look
at: Sapphire ATI X800XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express.

Thanks for the advise on HDD and not to bother with the floppy.
Chris

 

[Cuzman]

" I'm basically building it to play the latest games and to last a good 3
years... ...Have i missed anything out that i will need? "



Firstly, you should always shop around for components. There is often a
large price spectrum between retailers, and you can save considerable
amounts of money, even after P&P costs. Checking sites like
www.dealtime.co.uk and www.kelkoo.co.uk will help you find the best deals.
It might even mean you can afford to upgrade higher than your Ebuyer budget
appeared to allow.

As for your components, nothing will stand for 3-years as a top-of-the-range
system. It will cost you more in the long run if you buy the best stuff, so
it could be best to go a little short in certain areas. You haven't gone
with the most expensive anyway, so I'm deducing that you have a relatively
set budget.

I didn't see a PSU or operating system on your list. The PSU in the I-Cute
case wll be crappy at best, and you should be spending £50+ on the PSU
alone. Use this page as a rough guide to the 'better' manufacturers around.
http://ricserv.servebeer.com/psu.php

---------------
MOTHERBOARD / CPU -

Going on history, it looks as though a socket-754 Athlon64 3200+ system will
barely be mid-range in 2 years time. Currently, the fastest CPU for
socket-754 is the Athlon64 3700+, and things don't look like they will go
much (or any) further.

Socket-939 will have a much longer life than socket-754, but the cheapest
CPU for socket-939 is currently the (very expensive) Athlon64 3500+. This
is set to change soon, as the 32-bit Sempron 3000+ should be available
before the end of the year. Given that a retail 64-bit Windows operating
system is still a year or so away, the 64-bit qualities of the Athlon64 are
wasted until then anyway, unless running Linux. By starting off with the
Sempron 3000+, this becomes a cheap way to get on the socket-939 stage, with
the potential to upgrade to a much higher Athlon64 once 64-bit Windows (and
64-bit gaming) arrives. The Sempron 3000+ may be a little slower than the
socket-754 Athlon64 3200+, but you'll get dual-channel performance with
socket-939, which is something you won't get on socket-754. Also, if you
wait for the Sempron 3000+, then socket-939 PCI-Express motherboards should
also be available at that time.

MEMORY -

CL3 RAM doesn't perform as well as CL2.5 or CL2. Also, PC3200 won't give
you clear room for overclocking, which may appeal to you at a later date.
You'll pay a premium for the highest-performing CL2 brands like Corsair XMS,
Kingston HyperX and OCZ Platinum Edition. A good value compromise can be
had with something like a 2x 512MB dual-channel Kingmax PC3700 CL2.5 package
( http://snipurl.com/8p6m ).

CASE -

As I said before, you'll need to buy a separate PSU, so look for a case that
doesn't have one. The world is your oyster, but good cooling intakes and
exhaust will give your components longer life.

HARD DRIVE -

120GB may not be enough to keep everything you want. I remember going from
13GB to 80GB a couple of years ago, and it didn't take long before I wished
I had gone bigger. Games are coming on DVD nowadays, and you'll soon need
5GB+ for some of them. Drives have come down in price dramatically over the
past year, so 160GB and 200GB drives no longer cost that much more than
120GB drives. You'll want to go with a Serial-ATA drive too, as these
150MBps drives cost little more than EIDE (133MBps).

GRAPHICS CARD -

The 6800GT is a monster card, but is it worth paying £300+ right now? You
may struggle to keep your system at the top if you run that same card for 3
years. If you wait for the Sempron 3000+ and socket-939 PCI-Express, then
you'll have more upgrade potential for the future. The 6600GT is getting
very good reviews, and is said to be hitting a sweet-spot with its pricing.

SOUND CARD -

The Audigy 2 ZS is certainly worth the money, as long as you have the
speakers to do it justice.

CD RW -
DVD -
FLOPPY -

Not much to say about these three.
---------------

Taking the above considerations will give you more money for hard drive
space. At the introduction of 64-bit gaming, all serious gamers will need
to re-evaluate their systems, and you will have the upgrade potential to
sort things out. You can then look towards a new CPU (and possibly a
graphics card), selling the 'old' ones at www.ebay.co.uk .

 

[John]

Hi
Cant find a 939 with PCI-E support. Are they available yet???

Also cant find an 6800 NVIDEA that states its pci-e compatible so will look
at: Sapphire ATI X800XT 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express.

Thanks for the advise on HDD and not to bother with the floppy.
Chris

Three years is a LLLOOONG time in PC terms. Not that I dont know lots
of people who still use PCs that are 2-3 years old and they still work
ok but they are considered really old.

The PCI express stuff is supposed to come out at the end of this month
and next . If they dont theyll probably come out in the next few
months. Im sure they want to get them ready for the Xmas season.

So I would wait and see if you can get a PCI express board and a 6800.
According to the news they put out --- theres supposed to be lots of
boards VIA and SIS with AGP & PCI express so it might not matter if
you get AGP.

 

[James]

Thanks to everyone for the advice. Taking into account that the PCI-Express
is imminent (thanks to everyone for making me aware of this) i'm going to
suffer for a few more weeks (hopefully not months!) until PCI-E motherboards
are available and the nvidea 6600 graphics cards. I've kept all your posts
as they offer alot of good advice.

Many thanks for your time
Chris