Would anyone care to critique/comment on my 845PE System?

[scharles]

After about 1 month of researching, waiting, lurking, and asking for help, I have finally designed my "Dream System". It is built around a 845PE Chipset (Abit IT7 MAX v2), will be running IDE Raid 0 setup with two WD Special Edition 8meg Buffer Drives, and sportinG an ATI 9700 on a Sony 21inch monitor. Was wondering if anyone would care to critique or comment on my system choices. Perhaps point out any problems I may have over looked. It was a tough choice between the ASUS P4PE and the ABIT IT7, but the IT7 had the IDE raid option, the 3 firewire port and 10 USB 2.0 that I wanted. Thanks for any help or comments you may have. I haven't built a system in 3 years, and things have really changed.

Here is the system (all components coming from Newegg)-All but the Bluetooth MS Mouse which is under the christmas tree already:


ABIT IT7 MAX2 ver.2.0 Intel 845PE chipset ATX motherboard Retail

ATI RADEON 9700 PRO 128MB TV/DVI 8X AGP RETAILRADEON?

Intel Pentium 4 / 2.53GHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus

CORSAIR MEMORY XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series 512MB 64MX64 PC-3200 CMX512-3200 512MB
Teac 1.44MB 3.5 Inch Floppy Drive # FD235HFC291 - OEM Version

2 X WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE MODEL # WD800JB -

SONY CRT MONITOR CPD-E540 RetailThe Multiscan® E540 21" computer display is ideal for spreadsheets, detailed graphics and gaming.

BLUE CHIEFTEC Server Chasis Workstation Tower with Plastic Front Cover and ACRYLIC WINDOW **Now with 2 x Front USB2.0 and 1 x Firewire IEEE1394 ports*****NO Power Supply*** Front Accessible: 4 x 5.25", 2 x 3.5", Internal: 4 x 3.5".

Antec 430W Power Supply TRUE430 ATX Form Factor, ATX12V compliant for Pentium 4 (backward compatible with previous Pentium versions) and AMD systems
+5V Stand-By & Logic On/Off Antec Low Noise Technology Maximum

Infogrames Unreal Tournament 2003 - RETAIL - Need this game to see the power of this machine

MULTI-SLOT CARD PRO III 7 in 1 R/W with IEEE 1394 FireWire SILVER Retail

FK-2001 PS/2 Keyboard with Mechanical Key Switches 3 Win95 Keys; 3 Win98 Power Management Keys; Patented Dust Cover (File Holder), PS/2 connector.

Microsoft Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 1 - OEM Full Version

Thanks..and wish me luck!

Steve Charles

 

[ChampionAtTufshop]

looks like an awesome system
do you plan to do any overclocking?

 

[scharles]

After a few weeks of "hopefully" running a stable system...I will try some overclocking....hence the Corsair XMS 3200 RAM to give me a little room to do it. I will probably need a few more fans and a better heatsink than the retail intel one. I want to balance power and sound level though...don't want it to sound like a jet...but run like one.

Forgot add that I will be using moving my Lite-On 16X DVD and 32x CDRW in the system...and probably throwing in one of my IBM Deskstars to run on the standard IDE side. Going to try the on-board sound....but if that doesn't cut it...A Turtle Beach Santa Cruz will be put in the system (I have had it with the Creative Labs Drivers)

Thanks for the encouragement Champ!

Steve Charles

 

[tedward]

Are you going with the stock heatsink?