Building First PC

[edux]

Hello everyone,
I'm building my first pc and I need some help deciding on some parts, I'm building this PC for gaming and regular use, i picked these parts (if u see i'm missing things like Case, PS.. is because i already have them):

-I'm stuck deciding between motherboards:
ASUS "P4P800-E Deluxe"Link
or
ASUS "P4P800S-X"Link
-CPU:
Intel Pentium 4/ 3.0E GHz 800MHz FSBLink
-Ram:
Kingston 512 DDR, PC-3200Link
-Hardrive:
Maxtor 80GB, Serial SATA (I would like to know if it's better to stay with an IDE drive or switch to this Serial SATA)Link

I also own a Ati Raden 9700 Pro. If you could tell me your opinions and any comments that could help me decide plz do, and tell me some pointers for building for the first time.

Thx Everyone

 

[MustISO]

ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe no question, i865 is newer than the i848 and has better features.

 

[mechBgon]

Here's a photo guide with info about the mechanical assembly aspect, plus some suggestions at the end for getting your new Windows installation secure and worm-free: link Good luck and let me give you this advice: get a high-quality power supply, Enermax 460W is a good blanket recommendation. And raise your memory voltage to 2.6-2.7 volts so it isn't starving on the default 2.5 volts.

edit: also, you'll probably have the simplest building experience if you stick with your IDE drive instead of SATA.

 

[KoolDrew]

For gaming go with AMD.

So this would be good if you are not overclocking:

AMD Athlon 64 3000+ s939
MSi K8N neo2 platinum
1x512MB Mushkin Basic
Seagate Barracuda 80GB

Seagate is a much better brand then Maxtor IMO. I don't knwo how much the system I listed above actually costs but that should give you soemthing o start off with. How much are you willing to spend exactly?

 

[globalcitizen]

I would recommend you go for the Northwood instead of Prescott as most cases Northwoods are faster.

 

[Confusednewbie1552]

I'd recommend an Athlon 64, although I haven't been up to date with new stuff here's what I think you should get:

Athlon 64 3200+ (winchester or newcastle)
120 gig segate ide drive, or 160 (depends on how much space you need)
DFI Lan Party (i believe it is socket 754, if not go with the Epox board)
Your 9700 I would believe would seem good, but if you want to go a little higher:
Nvida 6800 (the plain kind) or wait for the agp version of the 6600 GT
1 512 stick of corsair value select ( or 2 512 sticks if you can find a good deal) or maybe something from crucial (I believe they have a gurantee to work)

I would go with what the other people around here say though, theese guys are way smarter than me, cause after all i'm just a confused newbie

 

[edux]

Thx for all the help, i willl go with the Deluxe... i won't choose AMD because i don't have any expirience with them. I just have one last question... how do i change the voltage.. F1 when windows starts or somewhere else?... and also i'll see if I find a Northwood since it's faster and the price diference isn't that much.

THX EVERYONE

 

[edux]

I found a good Northwood CPU, Intel Pentium 4/ 2.6C GHz 800MHz FSB Link, it's 2.6 but i guess it would be better or equal to 3.0 Prescott, but i started reading and went to www.asus.com to verify if the P4P800-E Deluxe supported Northwood and didn't say, could you please tell me if it does.

Thx everyone for the help

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: edux
Thx for all the help, i willl go with the Deluxe... i won't choose AMD because i don't have any expirience with them. I just have one last question... how do i change the voltage.. F1 when windows starts or somewhere else?... and also i'll see if I find a Northwood since it's faster and the price diference isn't that much.

THX EVERYONE

Here's a thread giving instructions on relaxing the memory timings and raising the voltage: link to old thread The motherboard is the older and upscale P4C800 Deluxe, but I think the same routine will work on yours too. I second the motion for the Northwood over Prescott, with the AMD being another great option for gaming especially.

 

[Waylay00]

Go AMD, man, trust me, you'll be glad that you did.

 

[Mrvile]

Here'd be my dream mid-end gaming system (I don't know what your budget is):

AMD Athlon64 Socket 939 3000+ Winchester 90nm - 140
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum - 136
2x 512mb Corsair Value Select DDR400 ram - 150
Seagate 120gb SATA hard drive - 75
BFG6800GT OC - 400
Enermax 460w PSU - 75

All in a nice Antec case - 60 - 100

Total - around 1100

EDIT: And yes, please go with AMD, you can't go wrong with them.

 

[stevty2889]

A 3.0 prescott would still be faster that a 2.6 northwood, the northwood is faster at the same speed, so a 3.0 northwood would be better than a 3.0 prescott, however you wouldn't likely notice much of a differance over all. Definatly go for the p4p800-e over the p4p800s-x. I would recomend staying with an IDE drive over a SATA drive for your first build, there is no real performance advantage for SATA yet. Depending on the games you plan on playing, you may want to consider a new video card as well, the 9700pro won't perform as well with newer games. And definatly listen to make, don't skimp on the PSU, generic PSU's are just asking for trouble.

 

[imported_fallen]

I Definately agree about the Power Supply. After comming here for help with a PC that wouldnt boot, it came down to the PS going out, and taking my 9800XT vid card with it. NEVER AGAIN will I skimp on a Power Supply.

 

[edux]

Thx a mil for the advice..... and thx for the Link to the thread mechBgon.

 

[Thegonagle]

Originally posted by: edux
I found a good Northwood CPU, Intel Pentium 4/ 2.6C GHz 800MHz FSB Link, it's 2.6 but i guess it would be better or equal to 3.0 Prescott, but i started reading and went to www.asus.com to verify if the P4P800-E Deluxe supported Northwood and didn't say, could you please tell me if it does.

Thx everyone for the help

Yes, it will run the Northwood.

I wanted to comment that the Northwood is a good choice because it also runs cooler than the Prescott.

If you want a good HSF that's an outstanding cooler, not loud even at 12V, and completely free from the vacuum cleaner-like high pitched noise of the stock intel cooler, the Zalman 7000 AlCu is a great upgrade right off the bat. Don't forget the thermal paste; Arctic Silver 5 is probably still the best.

EDIT:

Don't forget, you'll need two identical(ly spec'd) RAM sticks to take advantage of Dual Channel memory for maximum performance.

Forget the Kingston; it's not a bad choice per se, but you're paying a premium in part for their marketing machine. Go with this Corsair Value Select for the memory instead. (Link: Corsair Value Select PC3200 512MB )

It's good stuff (and Corsair is a very highly regarded brand). It runs at CAS 2.5 instead of 3.0, and the last PC3200 stuff I bought could OC quite a bit, to PC3520, still at CAS 2.5 and default voltage. (Whether it could go even higher given a different CPU, I don't know, and won't know--that RAM resides in my mother's system now, 40 miles away from me.)

EDIT 2:

Or maybe: 512MB Mushkin PC-3200; Mushkin is also supposed to be good, and it's slightly less expensive than the Corsair, but I don't know. . . I feel kind of burned by them because the "Level 1" PC3500 CAS 2 stuff I use now won't go a pinch past its rated speed. Other than that, it's been fine, but I feel like it should not have been rated so close to its limit because it seems somewhat "unsafe" to do so.

 

[Confusednewbie1552]

Originally posted by: edux
Thx for all the help, i willl go with the Deluxe... i won't choose AMD because i don't have any expirience with them. I just have one last question... how do i change the voltage.. F1 when windows starts or somewhere else?... and also i'll see if I find a Northwood since it's faster and the price diference isn't that much.

THX EVERYONE

Hey, you will never have experience with anything unless you go out and try it. How can you be an experiened Halo 2 player? You gotta play the game first.

 

[MysticX23]

Get 1GB of ram since you're gaming. It will make quite a noticable difference.

 

[MetalMat]

Arent Prescotts faster than northwoods for gaming? All the benchmarks I have seen edge the prescott (P43.0E) over the northwood (P43.0C).