hardware

denniswrenn · Aug 6th, 2001, 01:46 PM

Hello,

Fairly soon(hopefully by friday) I'll be getting a job. And so I can build the computer I've been wanting to.

I know I'm getting an Athlon 1.4ghz, sparkle 300w PSU, SB Live MP3+ 5.1, (am just going to take it out of my current comp), and hopefully a GF3.

I am wondering what hard drive I should get? I'm thinking of buying two 60gb drives(7200) made by either Maxtor, WD, or IBM.

I can't quite decide about the CD drive yet... I would like a CD-R/W/DVD-ROM drive that can read DVDs at 16x, CDs at 40x, and R/W at 24x/10x. But I doubt those have been released yet(the most I've seen is like 8dvd, 12r, 8w, 40cd). Anybody know where I can find something to my liking? If I have to, I'll get seperate DVD and CD-R/W drives, but I would prefer to save space.

I've pretty much decided the motherboard.
EPOX EP-8K7A+ SKTA RAID 266 DDR ATA100

There are a few small problems. 1) no ISA slot 2) only two RAM slots(can support max 1g) 3) Integrated sound.

I probably won't need an ISA slot, or more than 1g RAM. And integrated sound can always be turned off...

Which HSF should I get? I probably won't be overclocking(maybe 50-100mhz) much, but I still want to keep it really cool.

I'm also trying to decide on which NIC I'm going to buy....

If anybody can help me with these descisions....... Hmmmmmm well right now I don't have any money to give you, and even if I did, I wouldn't.... But you'll have the gift of knowing you helped somebody

Thanks,
-Dennis

PS: Can anybody recomend a good full tower case that I could get for less than $125?

**siyan** · Aug 6th, 2001, 01:49 PM

Just a question, man, are you paying for this yourself????

Geez..hardware must be cheap in the states. What a difference from up here in Canada...

-C

**JungleMan** · Aug 6th, 2001, 01:53 PM

Thermalright SK6 heatsink, the HSF is a tossup between noise level and cooling...choose which is more important.

The SB is good although you may want to compare with some of the TB cards..

3Com as a NIC.

Very nice display card, i'm not getting one because the features on the ATI All in wonder are more important and i'm not a big gamer

get an IBM or a maxtor drive...

You can lookat my future specs below.

good luck

btw if you're limited on drive bay space look into firewire drives, they make cases where u can fit standard IDE drives into firewire cases and hook it up externally.

denniswrenn · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:04 PM

the features on the ATI All in wonder are more important

What features?

The SB is good although you may want to compare with some of the TB cards..

TB?
Anyway, I'll stick with the SB as I already have one.

btw if you're limited on drive bay space look into firewire drives, they make cases where u can fit standard IDE drives into firewire cases and hook it up externally.

I'm probably going to get a firewire adapter(along with an SCSI adapter), but I'm buying a full tower case, which will have at least 5 5.25" bays....

-Dennis

**JungleMan** · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:07 PM

Re: the ati card

Video input, video output, DVI compatibility, built in MPEG encoder

I'm not saying you should buy one if you game, but that's why i'm buying what i'm buying

denniswrenn · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:10 PM

The ATI card has vi/vo? Hmmmmm I'll probably buy that instead... I've been looking for a card with vi/vo for a while... wasn't sure how good the ati cards were.

BTW, what's TB?

and another BTW, this is probably the case I'm gonna get
http://www.casedepot.com/proddetail....Standard+Cases

**JungleMan** · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:14 PM

Originally posted by denniswrenn
The ATI card has vi/vo? Hmmmmm I'll probably buy that instead... I've been looking for a card with vi/vo for a while... wasn't sure how good the ati cards were.

BTW, what's TB?

and another BTW, this is probably the case I'm gonna get
http://www.casedepot.com/proddetail....Standard+Cases

TB = Turtle Beach

That case looks a lot like the Alienware cases! Paint that thing blue..

**goudabuddha** · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:27 PM

I suggest getting an IBM HDD, I've heard nothing but good things...I've had failures with both of the other two, although I am using a WD right now.

As far as the CD-RW and DVD go, just get seperate ones, with a full tower you'll have plenty of space and you can get what you want, probably save a little money too.

I don't see how you could live with only two DIMMs, but whatever. If you need a NIC that'll work with DSL or whatever, go with the 3Com, but if you're trying to network with other computers, get NetGear.

scoutt · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:27 PM

I have an ATI rage fury pro and it works with all that stuff your saying. DVD, mpeg coder, all that stuff. I like it as it kicks butt on Quake 3, along with other cames.

Dennis you are getting the right stuff there. ATI is a good card but the drivers are a little buggy, SB excellent sound card, can't get any better. I have not had good luck with the AC97 sound chips. they are hard to find drivers for unless you keep the cd.

other than that it sounds good, DDR ram, one of these days I will get it.

othe rthan that it sounds like a good computer. I would go with the WD and I would wait on the dvd burner, as they are pretty expensive and I am not sure if they have worked out the laser burning up yet. give it a year or so.

I owuld get a 400W PS if you can. never would have to worry about power again

**siyan** · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:29 PM

Originally posted by scoutt
I have an ATI rage fury pro

Old Skool!!

Heck..even my GF2 MX is getting to the old school stage...although I don't game much any more. Should grab a AIW Radeon...

-C

scoutt · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:31 PM

well it is a year old it also has 32Mb so it is not that old skool, haven't had the time or money to upgrade it, but I plan on it.

**DiGiTaIErRoR** · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:35 PM

Case: http://www.nexthardwareshop.com/turcasat.html

CPU: http://www.mpcnow.com/web/merchant.m...AMD-Processors

Video(for the price MX400's are decent): http://store.yahoo.com/hoct12/asv7pur32vid.html
if you REALLY want a GF3 then: http://www.micropro.com/main.cgi?COMP=COMPONENTS

Ram: http://www.mushkin.com/cgi-bin/Mushk.../catalogs/4769

MotherBoard: http://www.ajump.com/ajump/product.a...2D99%2D5140142

Dvd/CD-rw(combo): http://store.yahoo.com/hoct12/dvdcomdvdrom.html
CD-RW: http://www.jazztechnology.com/c_134.htm
DVD: http://www.alancomputech.com/dvd.html

Hard Drives: http://www.compu-terra.com./productm.cgi?HD

denniswrenn · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:38 PM

scoutt: I was probably going to get a 400w PSU anyway. Especially if I get the full tower, as I'm probably going to load it up

**JungleMan** · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:39 PM

Look at that Antec SX1240 if you don't care about the style in that case u have picked out now! now that Antec is one KICKASS case!

I am getting an SX840, has 3 5.25 drive bays, 2 3.5 external drive bays, and 3 internal drive bays. and a 400w Antec PSU

denniswrenn · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:43 PM

Originally posted by scoutt
well it is a year old it also has 32Mb so it is not that old skool, haven't had the time or money to upgrade it, but I plan on it.

32mb? That's not so bad, I have an nVidia TNT w/ 8mb....

scoutt · Aug 6th, 2001, 02:46 PM

ya it does it's job. I just bought it for the games and dvd. works pretty good hooking up to my tv. ya 400 W will go a long way for ya.

**Edneeis** · Aug 6th, 2001, 07:50 PM

Overclocking is the way to go! You pay less and get more.

You'll be kicking yourself when you paid all that money for a 1.4 and you could have got a 1 and oc'd to 1.5.

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