Originally posted by: iman00b
wow i go to the pomona computer fair too sometimes. www.lacomputerfair.com if u didnt know about that site. ive built 2 computers from parts i bought from that place and had no problems returning(only had a problem with ram on my P2 long ago), but i noticed most of the time they dont have name brand ram but they say "this company makes ram that crucial or kingston or whoever uses". but they do carry samsung last time i went. mind me asking which vendors you trust if you remember? since i might go to the next one if i dont use up all my money on newegg by then.
Originally posted by: Varun
It would be cheaper to get a 160GB hard drive instead of the two drives. I'd also recommend going with Serial ATA on the hard drives instead of IDE if you are concerned about airflow. The SATA cables are very small. Since you want a new Motherboard anyways, just get one with SATA support as well as IDE and get a SATA hard drive right off the bat.
Originally posted by: Markfw900
The prices I gave you up two posts were for the Athlon64 system, not the P4. Which way are you going ?
Originally posted by: jjyiz28
computer shows used to be good 3 years ago when there was not a lot of online stores.
but now
newegg > comp shows
comp shows can have shady dealers too nowadays
Originally posted by: Varun
" I want to keep my family photos and videos on a separate drive in case anything bad ever happens know what I mean?"
No I don't know what you mean. The drive with the photos has just as much chance of failing as the drive with the OS on it. If you want security, just back everything up to DVD or invest in a RAID system. There isn't much point in going with 2 hard drives.
If you mean you crash your PC and have to format and reinstall Windows, you can just partition the hard drive and save everything to the second partition. This way when you need to format, you just format the C: drive and all your stuff is still on the D Drive (same hard drive, different partitions)
Originally posted by: Bovinicus
You shouldn't be worried about trying out AMD processors. The thounsands of users on these very forums will tell you that AMD based systems are just as good, if not better, than Intel based systems. It really depends on the applciation. However, AMD systems are better in terms of price/performance, in general. On a personal note, I have been using an AMD system and recommending them for years. I have helped build half a dozen systems for friends using Athlon CPUs. All of them have been very satisfied with the performance and stability.
You said that you don't want to spend more than $400 on the case, motherboard, processor, and memory. I suggest the following selections for those items (Prices are based on listings at www.newegg.com):
Case: Ahanix Platinum XP ($35)
PSU: Antec Tru 380W ($55)
Motherboard: ABIT NF7-S ($102)
CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2500+ ($85)
Heatsink: Thermaltake Silent Boost ($27)
Fans: 2 x Panaflo 80mm fan 21dBA ($8 x 2)
These items total out to $320. Even if you get them for more expensive elsewhere, it will fall under your budget. Now, let me explain why I chose each of these items:
That case has the front USB and Firewire ports that you require. There are two fan brackets so that you can adequately cool your system. It comes with no power supply, which allows for the addition of a high-quality aftermarket power supply unit. It also has a CPU temparature display on the front; this feature is just an extra added bonus.
The powersupply is a system component which is often given very little thought. This is a big mistake because current and future power hungry devices make a good power supply unit an important part of a stable system. Antec power supplies are some of the best available on the market. The Tru series has a dedicated rail for each voltage type (3.3, 5, and 12). The 380W is the same price as the 330W, so why not go with more? Tru series power supplies are very quiet. I have one in my system, and it's performance is exceptional.
Choosing a motherboard is often a very tough task. There are many competent motherboard manufacturers out there today. With that said, I chose this motherboard for a variety of reasons. First of all, the nForce2 chipset is reliable, reasonably priced, and comes packed with features. The onboard sound is pretty decent. It has an onboard NIC. There are 6 USB 2 ports available and 3 firewire ports available. ABIT motherboards are well known for their reliable operation, even at above stock speeds. Serial ATA is a nice bonus too. Basically, this is one of the cheapest nForce2 motherboards with onboard firewire, and it's a very quality board. I put one in my father's system, and his system is very stable. It hasn't crashed once since it's first bootup.
Right now, it's tough to find a better deal in terms of price/performance than the Athlon 2500+ with the 333MHz FSB. This CPU will perform very well for everything you are going to use it for. If you are also heavily into media encoding, then go with a Pentium 4. Otherwise, save your money and go with this CPU. It will perform in the same area as a 2.4C or 2.6C, just as its performance rating indicates.
Cooling is another part of a system that is often grased over. You said you would like a quiet system. Well, the heatsink I have chosen is a tad pricey, but it will cool very well and quietly. Don't sacrifice cooling performance to save $10. It is worth it to have a quality heatsink. Plus, you will be able to continue using this heatsink if you ever upgrade the CPU. The two fans that I have chosen for the case are not necessarily better than the fans that come with it, but most likely they are. From my experience, case fans that come stock are never just right. They are either a little too loud, they don't push enough air, or both. The panaflo fans that I picked run very quietly and push enough air that your system should run cool and operate reliably.
Now, I have several suggestions for the rest of the system (Prices also from www.newegg.com):
Video: Sapphire Radeon 9000 VIVO 64MB ($55)
Memory: 2 x Mushkin 512MB PC3200 ($79 x 2)
HDD: Western Digital Raptor 36.7GB ($132)
HDD2: Western Digital 120GB 8MB ($94)
DVD: Toshiba 16x ($30)
All of this totals $469. This make your total system cost $789+, if you build the system with the components I have selected. I say + because you probably won't quite get these prices at a computer show. They should be very close though.
I know you said you wanted onboard video, but I thought this video card could offer you a few features that might be useful to you. It has an s-video input and output, so that you can take data from a digital video camera or some other external device and put it onto the computer easily if it doesn't already have firewire, or vice versa. Also, if you ever do play a game, the performance won't be as ridiculously terrible as it would be with onboard video. In addition, it will be good to have for when OSes become 3D. I know, it will be several years, but it looks to me like you keep your systems a long time. If you would rather have onboard video there is a motherboard very similar to the one I selected that has onboard video.
Quality memory is another important part of a stable system. Mushkin definitely makes high quality memory. It's not the cheapest memory, but it's cheaper than a lot of the other brand name memry sticks available. Also, you don't need PC3200 for that CPU, because it only operates on a 333MHz FSB, but it is good to have for upgradeability. As well, you will be able to run the memory at more aggressive timings at 333MHz. On top of all of this, PC3200 memory is nearly the same cost as PC2700 anyway. 1GB of memory is becoming the standard in any new system I configure. Applications are starting to get memory intensive enough to warrant this large amount of memory. 512MB has served me well, but the limits of its capacity are being reached.
The Raptor drive is the only 10K RPM IDE drive on the market. It spanks any 7200RPM drive in every category you can think of. 36.7GB should be enough room for your OS and applications. Also, it has a 5 year warranty. This is important for HDDs, because it is one piece of hardware that fails more than most others.
The Western Digital Special Edition drives are also a good buy. They perform very well. They are also very quiet. I have one of these drives, and it is inaudible in 99% of operations. Also, these drives are among the cheapest drives with 8MB buffers. 120GB should be enough for all your data, as you mentioned you were looking at it for your system. If you need more space, then just buy the same model with a larger capacity.
Really, the DVD-ROM drive doesn't matter. I just selected the cheapest name brand drive available. It happens to be the same DVD-ROM drive that I own, and I am very pleased. I have found that spin up times are very good, which is nice. If you want to save $1, then you can purchase an AOpen drive. They are also of good quality standards, but I decided to recommend the drive that I have experience with.
UPDATE
Ok thanks to the great people here through this post and Pm's I have decided on the following:
Pentium 4 2.6c ghz 800mhz FSB 512k Cache W/H.T. (Retail)
2 sticks of 512mb 400mhz DDR PC3200 DIMM cl2.5 Kingston Brand
160GB 7200rpm **SATA** 8mb buffer MAXTOR
48X24X48X16 Lite-on (Maybe other brand) CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
But I can't find a MOBO with all the features I need, I want to take advantage of the PC3200 and Hyper Threading CPU
and 800 bus speed AND I need FIREWIRE support and USB2.0 And I want the mobo to be able to handle at least 2GB ram, Of course it needs SATA and IDE. I want it to be a MOBO that I can upgrade the CPU in 2 years.
I also NEED a case I want Full size tower, BLACK with a window, Front USB and Front Firewire, Intake fans and Exhaust fans ( I can add the fans I just want the space for them)
Yes I know I have increased my budget, Thank goodness for credit cards.
Originally posted by: Epoman
But I can't find a MOBO with all the features I need, I want to take advantage of the PC3200 and Hyper Threading CPU
and 800 bus speed AND I need FIREWIRE support and USB2.0 And I want the mobo to be able to handle at least 2GB ram, Of course it needs SATA and IDE. I want it to be a MOBO that I can upgrade the CPU in 2 years.[/b]
First, when deciding on a motherboard, a chipset is the first item that should be chosen. Since you would like support for DDR400, HT, and 800MHz FSB, I suggest the 865PE chipset. It is basically the same as the 875P chipset. The performance is slightly less, but it is still within 5% of the 875P chipset. The slight decrease in performance is worth it considering the costs of the boards are more like 25% less.Originally posted by: Epoman
UPDATE
Ok thanks to the great people here through this post and Pm's I have decided on the following:
Pentium 4 2.6c ghz 800mhz FSB 512k Cache W/H.T. (Retail)
2 sticks of 512mb 400mhz DDR PC3200 DIMM cl2.5 Kingston Brand
160GB 7200rpm **SATA** 8mb buffer MAXTOR
48X24X48X16 Lite-on (Maybe other brand) CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive
But I can't find a MOBO with all the features I need, I want to take advantage of the PC3200 and Hyper Threading CPU
and 800 bus speed AND I need FIREWIRE support and USB2.0 And I want the mobo to be able to handle at least 2GB ram, Of course it needs SATA and IDE. I want it to be a MOBO that I can upgrade the CPU in 2 years.
I also NEED a case I want Full size tower, BLACK with a window, Front USB and Front Firewire, Intake fans and Exhaust fans ( I can add the fans I just want the space for them)
Yes I know I have increased my budget, Thank goodness for credit cards.
Motherboards are one of the harder things to pick out. I say just buy the cheapest motherboard from a respectable company that has all the features you need. If you are partial to Intel as a chipset/motherboard manufacturer, then get the cheapest 865PE based motherboard that you can find. I pointed out one manufactured by Intel in my previous post, the BOXD865PERL, but if you can find another name brand manufacturer that sells a motherboard with all those features for cheaper, then go for it.Originally posted by: Epoman
Damm I just can't decide which MOBO lots of people have given me great suggestions but who is right?
I know which CPU,Memory, but the MOBO is driving me nuts.
Originally posted by: Bovinicus
Motherboards are one of the harder things to pick out. I say just buy the cheapest motherboard from a respectable company that has all the features you need. If you are partial to Intel as a chipset/motherboard manufacturer, then get the cheapest 865PE based motherboard that you can find. I pointed out one manufactured by Intel in my previous post, the BOXD865PERL, but if you can find another name brand manufacturer that sells a motherboard with all those features for cheaper, then go for it.Originally posted by: Epoman
Damm I just can't decide which MOBO lots of people have given me great suggestions but who is right?
I know which CPU,Memory, but the MOBO is driving me nuts.
Originally posted by: Epoman
I didn't just say buy the cheapest motherboard. I said the cheapest motherboard from a respectable manufacturer that has all the features you need. It does matter, and that is why you shouldn't by a PC chips motherboard even if it has all the features you need at a lower price point than everyone else.Cheapest??
Well I like ASUS MOBO's or Shuttle.
But why the cheapest? does it not matter?
I also like Shuttle and ASUS motherboards. I have used an ASUS motherboard, the A7V133, in one of my previous systems, and I was very pleased. The only reason I didn't go back to ASUS is because they always overcharge for their boards. Also, I have recommended a Shuttle motherboard, the AK31, to two of my friends because of the excellent price, quality, and the fact that they didn't need many features. However, they are certainly not the only two motherboard manufacturers capable of making quality hardware.
I made a mistake in my previous post when I mentioned the Intel motherboard had all the features you need. It does not have firewire. The cheapest motherboard on Newegg, with all the features you require, is the Soyo SY-P4I865PE Plus Dragon 2. It costs $93. Soyo makes excellent motherboards. I owned a Soyo SY-7VCA many years ago and I was very pleased with it. Not only was it stable, tweakable, and very reasonably priced, but it overclocked pretty well too. I know you aren't into overclocking, but if a motherboard is reliable at overclocked speeds then it says something about the quality of the board. This motherboard would do the job for you just fine.
Shuttle makes an 865PE based motherboard called the AB60R that has all the features you need. However, it costs $104. I don't feel it is worth the additional $11 unless you can take advantage of the serial ATA RAID capabilities. Otherwise, the Soyo motherboard will provide the same functionality and similar performance for less money.
ASUS also makes a motherboard that would fit the bill for you. The problem is that it costs $130. I don't think the additional $37 is worth the added features that you probably won't use. If you want SATA RAID functionality, then go with the Shuttle AB60R or the ABIT IS7 and save yourself some money.
The cheapest 865G based motherboard, with all the features you need, I was able to find is the AOpen AX4SG-MAX for $143. Since this is $50 over the cheapest 865PE based motherboard, it really negates the benefit of onboard video. You can easily get an add-in video solution for cheaper than $50 and it will perform better. Also, if you go with the right card, you may stand to have better 2D quality than the Intel Extreme Graphics solution will provide.
An Athlon64 3000+ will beat that 2.6c in encoding. They are much better than the XP series in encoding. And it is just a shade more $ I think, maybe less depending on the mobo he chooses. He's just scared of trying something new he said.Originally posted by: Ionizer86
He's mainly doing video encodes, so the P4 is what's going to work the best.