First Time Builder - Many Questions

[Tzen]

A few days into February I am going to be given $1,800 to build a computer. As I said, this will be my first time building one so I have a lot of questions. Let me start off by saying that the computer will be used for gaming, listening to MP3s, and the usual tasks of browsing the web, typing papers, and stuff along those lines.

I am also having a hard time right now trying to decide on several things. The number one question is... Should I wait for DDR? If not... Should I over clock? What are the advantages and disadvantages? Which of these parts should I buy OEM and which should I buy retail? Which OS should I use? I've heard that Via chipsets cause IDE issues in Win2K. Is it worth getting a DVD player for anything other than movies, because I don't want one if that's all it's good for?

Assuming I don't wait for DDR, these are the things I will need.

Monitor: What do you think of the Samsung SyncMaster 955 DF? I am open to other suggestions. Size is important but quality is even more so. Preferably flat.
$350?

Speakers:
$100?

Case: Any suggestions for a good ATX case with a 300W power supply?
$75?

Motherboard: Any suggestions for a good KT133A board? It's okay to list boards that are good for over clocking and those that aren't. What do you think about the MSI K7-T Pro2-A, can the integrated audio be disabled?
$150?

CPU: Definitely an AMD Athlon or Duron. Will I be able to get a new Athlon "C" with the 133 (266) MHz processor bus clock at that time, and how much will it cost? They start at 1Ghz, correct?
$200?

FHS: Whether or not I over clock, how important is it to have a good FSU? Which one do you suggest?
$35?

RAM: What kind of CAS2 RAM would you suggest? 128MB or 256MB? PC133 or PC150? Crucial? Mushkin? Etc.
$175?

Graphics Card: What do you think of the ATI Radeon 32MB DDR? What about a GeForce2 GTS? What brand do you like, I've heard good things about VisionTek.
$150?

Sound Card: SoundBlaster Live! Value.
$50?

Hard Drive: IBM 30GB ATA/100 75GXP 7200RPM.
$175?

CDRW: PlexWriter 12/10/32A.
$250?

Floppy Drive: Blah.
$20

OS: Windows 98 SE.
$100?

Is there anything I forgot? Do the prices look about right, I tried to overestimate them. Feel free to make any other suggestions. If you know where I might find several of these parts at one place for a decent price, that would be really helpful. I'll probably use www.pricewatch.com and www.resellerratings.com when I start to buy the stuff.

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Tzen

 

[IamDavid]

OS: Windows 98 SE.

I'd go with Win2K..

 

[Snoop]

A super case for only 57 bucs with an AMD approved 300watt ps: Sweet Case

On the motherboard and ram thing, If you are not getting the money until febuary, wait for the DDR solutions (I would get an AMD 760 chipset,maybe the msi ar asus), also, make sure you buy PC2100 DDR, this is probably the best stuff you can get crucial, by the time you go to buy it crucial will have pc2100.

The hard drive sounds a little expensive, here is a 45 gig IBM GXP for 159

And lastly, personally, i would stay clear of the Radeon, im sure they are great cards, but in my opionion, ATI is still ATI, and their driver support is average at best. Try and find a nice geforce 2 GTS, with only 150 to spend, it may be a little hard but it can be done, try Pricewatch

 

[JonJon]

the OS is alittle overpriced, try to find yourself a "backup copy"
as far as the processor goes, i wouldn't wait for the tbird c's, i'd just get a 1ghz, unlock it with a conductive pen and then drop the multiplier to 7.5 and up the bus to 133. that's the cheaper way out. also if you plan on doing any bus speeds over like 140 i'd get the pc150 if you can afford it, that way the ram won't be the limiting factor in overclocking the processor further.

 

[Snoop]

Some nice speakers as well, ACS 56's

 

[bernse]

Remember David, he is a gamer. I would reccomend he stick with 98SE, he will have the least to worry about compatibilites then since he is a novice.

Your mobo is a good choice, and yes it is easily disbled in the BIOS.

CPU - Get the best bang for the buck you can afford. The 1.1 is pretty attractive right now.

Memory, once again the most you can afford up to 256. Its cheeeep now. As for brand, I am using a "step" above generic "inferion" and works like a champ on my 1.2. I also have a 128MB stick of true generic 133 and it works like a champ too.....I guess what I am saying is brand names, at least for ME wasn't that important.

I still recomend the 19" KDS monitors...hard to beat for the $$$.

HD Looks good. You should be able to get an OEM 30GB 7200RPM 100 for $175 easy.

Speakers: Very subjective and personal. Thats up to you. Go to a store and listen to some. Try to get a set with a sub though, it helps.

Sound card: Good choice. Thats what I use too.

I'd say your on track.

 

[Ryan]

Hmm, you could probably get 256mb of good ram at the "For Sale/Trade" forum for about 100 bucks. But, you won't be able to take advantage of 256mb ram in Win98, so I would get Win2k. If you decide to use Win98, get 128mb of ram.

make sure your video card has TV-out so you can watch dvds on your TV.

As for a motherboard, I would use the AOpen AK73-1394. Here is the anandtech review: http://www.anandtech.com/showdoc.html?i=1404

You could get a 1ghz for $176, then you could push it to 1.2ghz.

Teh NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS 32MB is a really good deal. I would get it.

That's about it. Good luck wiht your system!

Ryan

 

[Anon19]

i think crucial is still doing that web promo, you can get 256mb cas2 for 112 bucks, free 2nd day shipping.

 

[Ausm]

Monitor - KDS Avitron AV-195TF total flat trinitron saaaweet monitor cost 400

Speakers-for Listening to MP3's on a budget I would go with ALTEC LANSING ACS56 DIGITAL HIGH POWER 5PCS 100 dollars

Case- I only use Supermicro's 750A 130 dollars 300W

Motherboard-I have worked with the MSI K7-T Pro2-A and yes the Sound can be disabled..quite frankly was not impressed with the Bios tho. I would suggest getting the Asus AV7133 or the new Abit KT7A mobo. around 130 to 150 for the non Raid version

CPU- AMD is the correct choice I would stick with a 200 MHZ FSB CPU if you want to overclock and get at least a 1 gig CPU 200 bucks might be able to find it cheaper using pricewatch

Fan and Heat sink are critical for the T-bird processor goto 2Cooltek or Plycon for your cooling needs cost around 35 to 70 for standard cooling

Ram- I personally have used both Mushkin and Crucial. Both companies are top notch in customer service but i would have to give the Edge to mushkin if you want the best. I would go with Mushkin High performance Mosel Vital Rev 2.0 cost around 99 for 128 Meg. If you are on a Budget go with Crucial and save yourself some bucks the difference in performance between theses two types of Ram is so small you would never even notice. Make sure you get CAS2 RAM tho..

Video Card-Moderate gamer I would go with the Leadtek DDR GTS geforce 256 for 170 at
SG3d

Sound card- good choice but you might want to go with the Soundblaster Live MP3 5.1 for future digital considerations 85 bucks

hard drive- good choice

CDRW- Excellent choice

Floppy Drive- Teac for 14.95

OS- I would dual boot Win98/Win2K

I would buy at least 75% of this hardware at

Mwave

I buy Parts for a living feel free to contact me at ausm's E-mail for any questions you might have.

Good Luck

Ausm

 

[FrEstYle29]

about disabling sound on the k7t pro 2a, you can do it. I disabled mine so i could use my soundblaster live value

 

[Tzen]

Wow, you guys are great! Thank you all for relpying so quickly! Would anyone care to get a little more specific on the subject of case/CPU cooling? Thermal grease, fans, etc. Also, can you explain more about unlocking a 100MHz FSB CPU with a conductive pen? Will it be just as good as if I had an Athlon C? Any more opinions on whether or not to wait a little bit and get a DDR motherboard and RAM? Does anyone else agree that if I go with 98 SE instead of Win2K I only need 128MB RAM? And lastly, do you guys think a novice like myself could handle some overclocking?

Thanks again!

Tzen

 

[Shu8]

-case: antec sx830...it'll cost you around 100-120 or so because of shipping

-speakers: cambridge soundworks fps2000 [4 speakers great for games...great bass...i think it's the best speakers for its price. unless go for the monsoon mm-700...these flat panels are great. i love mine but wish they were louder.]

-monitor: samsung syncmaster 950p...i like the quality of the non flat 950p better than my brother's 955df

-motherboard: abit kt7a-raid kt133a. i don't know much about what kt133a boards there are but i'm pretty sure abit made a good one. i heard it has great oc capabilities. also the msi k7t pro2a is NOT a kt133a board. it is a kt133 board [i own it and very happy with it]

-cpu: amd athlon 1.2ghz

-hsf: agilent arcticooler ~25-30

-ram: crucial 256mb cas2 pc133..probably cost you around 140 or less [free shipping]

-graphics: elsa gladiac geforce2 card for ~150-180? it was cheaper before. unless try to find the 64mb radeon around for 220 or so.

-sound: soundblaster live mp3 ~$70. philips acoustic edge ~$85

-hard drive: ibm 30gb 75gxp. buy retail. i bought mine for 130 because of coupon from buy.com

-cdrw: don't spend more than 200 on a cdrw. you can find a tdk 12x/10x/32x around 200 or a little less somewhere. the plextor is the same thing but less software

-floppy: why don't you just take it out of an old comp, f you have one that's not in use

-OS: win2k. it works w/ pretty much everything. very stable.

-cooling: go buy some quiet panaflo case fans for cooling ~$5-$7 bucks each... www.teamawe.com. buy arctic silver for 15-17 bucks. i bought mine from coolerguys.com.

 

[dcdomain]

LOL, don't listen to Shu8, the 955df is a damn good monitor. I've seen his brother's 955df, and that thing is quality. I would say as good or even better than my Hitachi CM771's. Great monitor for the price!

 

[Tzen]

Whoa! Thanks for the correction on the MSI K7-T Pro2-A. Is MSI coming out with a KT133A board any time soon? I guess the A kinda threw me for a loop there. The only thing about the Samsung SyncMaster 955 DF that seems not so good to me is the 65 Hz refresh rate at 1600x1200.

Tzen

 

[Tzen]

Bump

 

[eyor]

OS: Win 98 SE and Mandrake Linux 7.2 dual boot
Case: Antec SX1030b
Montior: Samsung 955DF is great! I got mine from amazon for $250 after a coupon I applied and during free shipping time...

 

[Luv2Teach]

Hey I got a 12/10/32 Plextor ATAPI I'll let go for $229 shipped Fedex if you want it for your new system... it's new and unopened retail box...