I would like your advice on building a PC

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 2:52 pm

Hello, I'm new here.

I was thinking of putting together a PC from scratch for the first time. I'm not an expert but I think know enough to put together a reasonably good system. After all I basically rebulit the PC I have now (only thing I didn't change was the CPU and Mobo). I haven't nailed down the specifics yet, what case, psu, etc, etc. That is where you come in. From skimming the forum here I have a pretty good idea of what to look for. I plan on using this PC for general use, no overclocking, mostly internet stuff, casual gaming, word processing and such. Any help/thoughts/advice would be very welcomed.

This is what I been looking at so far:

CPU: AMD CPU, 2800 XP Barton
MOBO: Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1 with Nforce 2. I like the features of it. Lan, Audio, USB 2.0, Dual BIOs, 3 gig memory capacity. Plus it comes recommended.
RAM: 512MB of Ram
HD: 80 gig (but would like 120) Hard Drive
Video: MSI 128MB Geforce-FX 5600 (has nice software and feautres)
PSU: This Antec PSU looked pretty good to me. They do seem a bit overpriced all things considered. I know some would disagree with that.
Sound: Sound Blaster Live 5.1 card
Burner: LG Combo DVD-CD-RW (I'm reusing my excellent burner)
Case: I like the way this Antec case looks and it's not too expensive. Stylish but I could go smaller. Any nice ones for equal or less?
Monitor--I would like a 19in monitor in black. No LCD. Any suggestions on a good one under $200?

That's about all I can think of. Let me know where I went wrong.

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 3:26 pm

Howdy and welcome to PCA

your spoec loks pretty good though i would just use the onboard sound - better I thinki than the SB Live and none of those darn IRQ conflicts -

good 19" monitor under $200 is tough - sometimes dell is running 20-30% off on their monitors and you can get a decent dell, sony, samsung for around 250 shipped - i have a decent 19 in flat screet crt at home i got from there but can't remember the brand atm -

cheap 19" monitors are really cheap - I have a nec accusynch 90 that really is poor - first one died, second one has just poor color/contrast - need to turn it all the way up to be able to use it

I'd check the price of your vid card against a 9700 pro just to see - I always buy one gen back

good luck!

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 3:37 pm

Originally posted by wvjohn
Howdy and welcome to PCA

your spoec loks pretty good though i would just use the onboard sound - better I thinki than the SB Live and none of those darn IRQ conflicts -

good 19" monitor under $200 is tough - sometimes dell is running 20-30% off on their monitors and you can get a decent dell, sony, samsung for around 250 shipped - i have a decent 19 in flat screet crt at home i got from there but can't remember the brand atm -

cheap 19" monitors are really cheap - I have a nec accusynch 90 that really is poor - first one died, second one has just poor color/contrast - need to turn it all the way up to be able to use it

I'd check the price of your vid card against a 9700 pro just to see - I always buy one gen back

good luck!

Cool thanks. I was thinking of the 9700 Pro but the models I saw were either too epensive or lacked all the software and features of the MSI board I listed. Maybe a sleeker card would be better though. I'll see if I can find something else then. Thanks again.

huypham · Post by **huypham** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 4:25 pm

There's a couple 9500 Pros you can flash to 9700's...

personally, i just hate the FX series. The TI series seems to have been better, and I think the picture quality on the Radeons are even better

blade · Post by **blade** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 4:30 pm

Not sure a 300w psu will be enough for that and especially if you want to upgrade in the future. I'd try and get something at least around 400w.

There isn't a whole lot of speed diff in the barton 2800 or the 2500, you can save some bux by getting the 2500. I know you don't wish to overlcock, but it'd do 2800 speed easily.

That plusview case is darn nice. See this review:
http://www.pcabusers.net/forums/showthr ... adid=25433

It is steel so it is heavy. If you want a similar case but in aluminum (much lighter) and available in various colors, see here:
http://www.pcabusers.net/forums/showthr ... adid=28335

If you prefer smaller, then check this one out:
http://www.pcabusers.net/forums/showthr ... adid=27956

I agree with John, use the onboard sound.

Welcome to pca

VidmanII · Post by **VidmanII** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 6:42 pm

Just for comparo purposes, here's a rig I'm building for a guy this week. Prices have gone up on a few things ( Barton & Shuttle) since I bought them for him. All prices include shipping to my door.

$87.....Barton 2500+ @ 2.2 GHz
$63.....Shuttle AN35N- Ultra 400 with O/B Realtek ALC650 5.1 surround sound,Nvida Lan 10/100 mbps, USB 2.0
$93.....512MB Buffalo Tech / Winbond CH-5 PC3200 DDR400
$100...120GB WD1200JB
$71.....Antec SX1000 tower case
$55.....Enlight 420W PSU
$110...Ati Radeon 9600 128MB Graphix card
$42.....LiteON 52/32/52x retail CDRW
$39.....Toshiba 16x48x DVD
$40.....2 cases fans, floppy

$700 Total. Not a bad little rig if you ask me.

wvjohn · Post by **wvjohn** » Tue Aug 05, 2003 7:25 pm

my monitor at home is a 19" samsung 900nf flatscreen

pretty nice - got it for about $275 shipped i think on one of those dell deals

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 9:34 pm

Originally posted by blade
Not sure a 300w psu will be enough for that and especially if you want to upgrade in the future. I'd try and get something at least around 400w.

There isn't a whole lot of speed diff in the barton 2800 or the 2500, you can save some bux by getting the 2500. I know you don't wish to overlcock, but it'd do 2800 speed easily.

That plusview case is darn nice. See this review:
http://www.pcabusers.net/forums/showthr ... adid=25433

It is steel so it is heavy. If you want a similar case but in aluminum (much lighter) and available in various colors, see here:
http://www.pcabusers.net/forums/showthr ... adid=28335

If you prefer smaller, then check this one out:
http://www.pcabusers.net/forums/showthr ... adid=27956

I agree with John, use the onboard sound.

Welcome to pca

Whoa, thanks! Great advice. I was looking at the AMD 2500 XP originally but I figured the 2800 XP would give me a little more power. The only reason I don't want to OC is because of the risk of damaging my system. The 2500 XP sounds very tempting now. I think it might be a better fit.

I was told by a friend that a 300w PSU would be more then enough for what I had in mind. You really think a 400w PSU would be better? I suppose it wouldn't be that much more expensive. I'll check Newegg.com for a better PSU then.

There's a couple 9500 Pros you can flash to 9700's...

personally, i just hate the FX series. The TI series seems to have been better, and I think the picture quality on the Radeons are even better

What is a good Radeon card? While not a serious gamer I would like to be able to play an occasional game every so often. I can't drop more then $150 for it though. Some Raedon's I've seen were $200-300 dollars a pop. Way too much for me.

I think I'm going to go with a 17in E70b Viewsonic monitor. It seems like a nice enough model and reasonably priced. A good 19 inch monitor was too hard to find.

Thanks for all the help everybody. I appericate it.

blade · Post by **blade** » Wed Aug 06, 2003 10:01 pm

300w is about bare minimum now days. But, it is an antec and that means quality. It may do ok, but I'd still get something like an antec truepower one at 380w or above. Other good ones to consider are enermax, coolmax, enlight, zalman, kingwin, vantec, etc..

Bigal · Post by **Bigal** » Thu Aug 07, 2003 5:53 pm

Jason Spaceman: I bought that case from CompUSA a few months ago, as it was on sale and had a rebate. I think I paid about $70 after bringing it home and getting the rebate check. This case will be modified for special windows, but that's another story. I think it is an excellent case, with lots of room and good airflow at the front. My favorite case is the CoolerMaster ATC-710, which has come down a bit in price, but will still cost you about $120 delivered. You are better off spending more on the videocard.

You should see how much CPU you can buy for about $100; the prices keep changing, but keep in mind you want a Barton core, with its 512k L2 cache if possible. I haven't bought one yet, as I was interested in overclocking the 2100+ and the 1700+ CPUs. You can't go wrong if you avoid Intel's Pentium IV!

Get better than generic RAM. You probably want two sticks of 256 MB DDR PC3200, and a CAS of 2.0 at the rated speed. You can get by with a CAS of 2.5 if you need to save a bit, and you aren't going after the extreme overclocks. This will cost you about $70 per stick, so that's $140 for the RAM.

Drop the sound card, as was suggested earlier. Spend some money on speakers though - at least a 2.1 setup; it will cost you at least $50 for something decent.

Plan on buying several fans, and a good copper heatsink / fan combo for the CPU. I would also get a fan controller (fan bus); there are several out there, such as the PCMods Rheostat fanbus or the Vantec fan controller. You don't need the fans running high speed when you are just browsing the Internet, so get something to turn them down. How about a cold cathode for the interior (or LED fans)? You have a nice window with this case - don't leave it dark in there.

I have thought about the FX 5600 cards, more specifically the FX 5600 Ultra. I think the Raedon 9600 Pro is a better card though. It costs $200, but the regular 9600 can be found for around $160.

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:37 pm

Ok, I scaled back some things and upgraded others. Let's see here...

CPU: AMD CPU, 2500 XP Barton

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1 with Nforce 2 (Is MSI K7N2 Delta w/Nforce2 a good board? It seems better then the Gigabyte which was recommended to me at nearly the sme price and features)

RAM: Corsair PC2700 DDR333 512MB (256x2)

HD: 80 Western Digital Hard Drive

Video Card: I'm looking for a good 9600 Pro but haven't found it yet.

PSU: I bumped up the PSU to this Antec 400w one. Figured I can't go wrong with Antec based on what I read.

Sound: Dropped the sound card. (I might get a Audigy-2 card if I'm lucky)

Burner: LG Combo DVD-CD-RW (I'm reusing my excellent black LG burner. I had a Sony, it was crap.)

Case: Same Antec case as before. I think it's awesome...

Monitor: 17in Viewsonic E70b

Speakers: Logitech Z-640 5.1 (I heard these and they sound great at under a $100!)

Floppy drive: black MSI 1.44mb Foppy drive

Keyboard & Mouse: Logitech Black Elite Keyboard and Logitech Optical Mouse (Bought these not that long ago. I love 'em)

Fans and Lights: 3 Led fans and a Neon light at the local joint ($10-fans/$10 for light. Good deal?)

OS: Win Xp Home

I searched Newegg.com (I hate the layout of that site though. UGH!) as well as the computer store down the street for the best prices. Saved some $$$ by reusing my burner and keyboard & mouse, so I figure it will be just under $1000 all told.

I really would like to thank everyone for all the great advice and suggestions.

blade · Post by **blade** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 6:27 pm

MOBO: Gigabyte GA-7N400-L1 with Nforce 2 (Is MSI K7N2 Delta w/Nforce2 a good board? It seems better then the Gigabyte which was recommended to me at nearly the sme price and features)

Most of us here use either the asus a7n8x or the abit nf7-s. The shuttle AN35N-Ultra is starting to come on. The 2 you mentioned are probably good mobo's too, it's just most here don't have them.

Fans and Lights: 3 Led fans and a Neon light at the local joint ($10-fans/$10 for light. Good deal?)

You're saying 10 bux for each fan? That ain't cheap, unless they are antec led fans. Coolermaster and vantec also makes some good dependable ones. $10 for a cathode isn't bad though.

Lookin' good.

Bigal · Post by **Bigal** » Sun Aug 10, 2003 8:20 pm

I would check the prices of fans and lights at SVC (http://www.svc.com/80x25mmfans.html)and PCMods (http://www.pcmods.com/list.asp?DepID=9&CtgID=59) . Both have a good selection of parts for the modder. I've ordered about 7-8 times from PCMods, and 3-4 times from SVC.

Jason Spaceman · Post by **Jason Spaceman** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 2:17 pm

Originally posted by blade
Most of us here use either the asus a7n8x or the abit nf7-s. The shuttle AN35N-Ultra is starting to come on. The 2 you mentioned are probably good mobo's too, it's just most here don't have them.

You're saying 10 bux for each fan? That ain't cheap, unless they are antec led fans. Coolermaster and vantec also makes some good dependable ones. $10 for a cathode isn't bad though.

Lookin' good.

Ok, I'll look up those Asus and Abit mobos then.

I should have been a little more clear on the fans & lights. It's about $10-12 bucks for 3 80m Led fans (not sure of the brand, I only gave them a quick look over) and $10.99 for the Neon light. About $20-25 bucks for the whole package.

They had these Multicolored Laser spotlights that were sound activated at the same place for about $20 or so. Looked really cool....

You guys think this whole thing is going to spiral out of control?
:B

eGoCeNTRoNiX · Post by **eGoCeNTRoNiX** » Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:29 pm

Some of us also use the above mentioned board. Also NF2.. But some here have experience their share of problems with them as well. I myself will be buying one before too long.. eGo

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