Building a new comp, stability is key here. Need suggestions!

[foocoding]

Hey all, this is my first post

So I got a summer job, and by the end of summer I'll have around $1500. I need to build myself a new PC for programming, unix, and such.

How does this look? This will not be for gaming, so stability is my main focus. I'll be trying different OS's on this machine mainly. Programming too

6626 MATROX MILLENNIUM G550 DH AGP 32MB DDR 360MHZ DAC OEM YES $167.24
6563 NETLINK 18IN 350W ATX 3688 CASE /W FRONT USB PORT P4 READY YES $62.72
6899 MAXTOR D740X-6L 60GB 7200RPM 2MB 8.5MS ATA133 INT IDE YES $145.77 (2 of these so: $291.54)
5513 PIONEER 16X-40X DVD SLOT LOAD OEM ATAPI YES $84.96
6040 MICRON PC2100 256MB DDR 266MHZ CAS2.5 OEM YES $110.00
7491 AMD ATHLON XP 1800+ OEM & ECS K7S5A MOTHERBOARD W/ HSF BUNDLE SAVE $$ YES $257.60
6381 ECS K7S5A ATX SIS735 SOCKETA DDR/SDRAM ATA100 AGP 5PCI AMR W /AUDIO & LAN above price
6576 AMD ATHLON XP 1800+ 1.53GHZ 256K 266FSB OEM above price
7438 ARKUA 6128 HEATSINK/FAN SOCKET 370/462 4700RPM 36.8DBA 23.3CFM above price
6909 VIEWSONIC E90F 19IN 1600X1200 .21MM FLATSCREEN YES $389.61
6160 GENERIC COMPACT PS/2 KEYBOARD YES $8.94
6603 LOGITECH OPTICAL WHEEL MOUSE USB PS/2 OEM YES $26.82
4556 D-LINK DFE-530TX FAST PCI 10/100 YES $19.37
TAX & SHIPPING WILL BE CALCULATED DURING CHECKOUT SUBTOTAL: $1,418.80

So, how does it look? I'll take my sound card and speakers from my current PC (my parents won't use em' anyways) so that isn't a worry.

I havn't been keeping up with the current mobo scene, but I did hear kt400's are coming out? Should I wait for those? If I did, which cheap cpu\ram would work well and be upgradable later?

Oops! I forgot to mention this is all in canadian funds from ncix.com

 

[microAmp]

If I were building something like that, I would probably look for a different motherboard, I've heard good and bad about it.

That's a lot of $$$ for 256 MB of PC2100 RAM, look into Crucial, $65.00 from Crucial and it's good memory.

Just a curious question, how come not ATi video card? From reading in here, I hear they have good 2D quality, could shave off some $$$ by going to that.

Good price on that flat screen too!

 

[RSMemphis]

Get a Matrox G450 instead the G550 - save yourself a few dollars.
I am also not sure if I can recommend Matrox G450's or G550's. While my old Matrox Millenium is still running with a lot of uptime, a G450 here died after 1.5 years. Part of an HP machine.

About the ECS K7S5A. I love that board. I really do. And it has always been stable for me. But it has been problematic for others. Not sure it can be recommended therefore.

The next thing: you want to do programming, and unix stuff? No gaming?
Get more RAM. Much more important than the CPU is RAM in such cases. In which case the K7S5A is not such a good idea, as it only features two DIMM slots - per memory type, yes, but you can't mix and match.

Finally, an XP 1800+ with a K7S5A and a cooler should cost around $170, not $250...
If you are in California, Fry's has a special right now...

 

[foocoding]

Good suggestions!

I'll switch to crucial to save a bit.

About the video card-- ATI + Unix is a bit mickey mouse, is it not? That's why I chose matrox for the time being. I'm not sure though-- I gotta get more opinions on that subject.

About the motherboard-- I have no clue when it comes to motherboards. By the end of summer the KT400's will be out, and I think I'll probably get one of those and a slower CPU so I can upgrade later if I choose to.

Thanks guys

 

[human2k]

$1500? Definitely take the intel route for intel's rock stability............

Antec PLUS660 MidTower chassis with TruPower 330W (awesome PSU)
Epox 4G4A i845G board with raid/lan/nic/usb 2.0/onboard sound
Pentium 4 2.26B 533FSB Retail with Retail HSF
Corsair XMS PC3200 512MB
Matrox G550 32MB
Two Seagate Barracuda 80GB
Liteon 16xDVD
Liteon 48x12x48x CD-RW
Samsung 955DF 19inch Monitor (Very good quality monitor that is flat)

$1,332.14 from mwave.com with out s/h.......btw just pick up microsoft keyboard/optical mice combo at your local store for $40 and your set.

THis system should be rock stable....and if you ever decide to overclock, your system will be ready.

 

[foocoding]

Thanks Human2k, but that $1500 is in canadian I should have put that at the top of the post

So that's only about... $900 american?

 

[office boy]

Dump that ECS,

Heck if stability is key, get yourself either a Tyan, or Intel board.

But I get the feeling that stability isn't all that ?key? since your planning on just using the PS that comes with that power supply. (and that?s a cheap case)

for an AMD system I'd look more into boards offered by Asus, Soyo, or Abit.
And I know others won't agree here, but stay away from MSI, I'm 0/3 on reliable boards from them.

And NCIX is a good place to shop, you might also wanta have a look at atic too.

 

[Viper GTS]

Stick with AMD chipsets if you want BX like stability out of your Athlon system - My dual 1800 system is amazingly stable, thanks to the real chipset.

BTW, I'll sell you my G450 for $100 CDN.



Viper GTS

 

[foocoding]

But I get the feeling that stability isn't all that ?key? since your planning on just using the PS that comes with that power supply. (and that?s a cheap case)


I just added any cheap case I saw there-- I have lots of time to change my mind and that's why I'm here asking people which would be better solutions.
I plan to keep it on 24/7 so yes, stability IS key.


Heck if stability is key, get yourself either a Tyan, or Intel board.
for an AMD system I'd look more into boards offered by Asus, Soyo, or Abit.
And I know others won't agree here, but stay away from MSI, I'm 0/3 on reliable boards from them.


Thanks! I really needed some mobo recommendations.