Shane's Unnamed PC project - Help!

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  • Shane Martin
    Super Senior Member
    • Apr 2001
    • 2852

    Shane's Unnamed PC project - Help!

    My fan fried on my old pc and fried my motherboard and cpu.

    Time for a new pc. No name as of yet.


    Ok fellow geeks what would you suggest?

    Here is what I'm thinking: suggest alternatives if you wish.
    Primary purpose: Gaming and general usage. I might possibly use it as a HTPC depending..

    I see that PCI-E, dual cores and SLI is coming but those are not realisticly in my budget.

    Predicted build date: Dec 04 - January 05

    I'll link this stuff to newegg just in case..

    Case: Coolermaster Praetorian http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...119-035&depa=0

    P/S: Thermaltake SilentPurepower 480W http://www.newegg.com/app/viewproduc...153-008&DEPA=0

    MB: Gigabyte K8NS Socket 939 Nforce 3 Ultra


    CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3500+. Not sure on the core yet. Winchester or Newcastle?

    Fan: Zalman Copper http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...118-113&depa=0 I'd prefer a compact fan but still capable

    Ram: 1 gig pair of matched dual channel PC3200 Kingston Value Ram. I'd buy Hyper X if I felt if the difference was worth it...

    Video Card: BFG Tech Geforce 6800 GTOC $400 at Best Buy or Compusa.

    Floppy drive: Something cheap I haven't linked.. :rofl:

    HDD: 1 120 gig Seagate Barracuda 7000.7 Sata II drive with NCQ. Might go to a 160 gig. Raid seems risky(but the performance gain sounds intriguging...) otherwise the 2x 80 gig option seems cool but I don't think the barracuda line goes below 120 gig. There is also a 200 gig for 123 that seems good.

    Sound card: Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS

    I know this will be good for gaming but how about a HTPC?
  • Kevin P
    Member
    • Aug 2000
    • 10809

    #2
    Looks like a nice setup.

    On the CPU, the Winchester should run cooler and perform better, but you have to make sure your mobo's BIOS supports this core. If it doesn't, you would have to borrow a Newcastle-core CPU so you can flash to a newer BIOS. My Trouncer has the Newcastle 3500+ and it works great.

    Does your old box have a floppy drive? Just reuse it in the new box. Floppy technology is stagnant, a new drive offers no advantage over an older drive if it works. Heck, the older drive is probably better built.

    If you want a quiet hard drive, check out the Samsungs. They're fast and quieter than the Seagates.

    I think what you have will work well as a HTPC. Are you planning to use it for just DVD watching or do you want to use it as a DVR or HDTV rig? That will require additional hardware (tuner card, etc.) If it's going in your HT room, you may want to consider a case that accepts 120mm fans since they're quieter for the same amount of airflow. It should serve well as a gaming rig too, just ask Trevor about that BFG 6800 card.

    Don't bother with RAID, it's too risky for the small performance gain. A decent SATA drive on a 3500+ will boot XP in 15-20 seconds.

    Comment

    • Shane Martin
      Super Senior Member
      • Apr 2001
      • 2852

      #3
      HTPC wise: just dvd watching/scaling.

      No DVR or HDTV.

      Quiet HD: Right now i'm willing to sacrifice some quietness for the extra warranty of the Seagate but the Samsungs are cheaper. I'll have to consider that.

      Floppy drive: i guess I can just paint the old one right? I think it's beige and the new case is probably going to be black or silver..

      Comment

      • Kevin P
        Member
        • Aug 2000
        • 10809

        #4
        Yeah, you could paint the bezel on the old drive, or pick up a cheap black one. Looks like the case you are getting only supports flush mounting the floppy drive. My case came with a faux floppy drive bezel that the actual drive sits behind, so the color of the drive itself doesn't matter.

        Comment

        • Trevor Schell
          Moderator Emeritus
          • Aug 2000
          • 10935

          #5
          Shane!
          If you need help, just send me the parts.
          I have a hammer and plyers so I can put it together for you!:twisted:
          Trevor



          XBOX 360 CARD

          Comment

          • Gordon Moore
            Moderator Emeritus
            • Feb 2002
            • 3188

            #6
            Shane, I have a Seagate SATA I 7200.7 and I'll tell you it's dead silent at idle but its seeks are really noisy. I'd say look to Samsung. If you're trying to build a quiet pc...have a poke around the forums of www.silentpcreview.com there's lots of good stuff at that site.
            However Native Command Queing is part of the SATAII spec so that makes it a very advanced drive indeed :yesnod:

            Gord
            Sell crazy someplace else, we're all stocked up here.

            Comment

            • Shane Martin
              Super Senior Member
              • Apr 2001
              • 2852

              #7
              A quiet PC is not a big deal to me to be honest. My last one was a jet engine in my room.

              I keep getting some recommendations for PCI E but the cards that I am looking at do not support PCI E. Given how much I upgrade(I don't at all hardly), I think I"m pretty safe to stick with AGP 8x.

              Comment

              • Shane Martin
                Super Senior Member
                • Apr 2001
                • 2852

                #8
                Well I think I'm going to make some changes to my original config:

                Reading about the NF3 boards, I'm worried so I think I'll try the Asus board that Kevin has using the Via chipset. I want stability and I'm not overclocking.

                Ram wise I'm undecided but I'm thinking about giving Mushkin a try.

                Still sticking with the same video card but there is a deal out there that seems quite the deal from Chumbo.com

                BFG 6800GTOC
                550 W Power Supply
                And Doom 3 for $449 with free 2 day fedex.

                I'll likely stick with the stock cooler but it all depends. My friend is trying a Zalman and the local store is recommending just the stock cooler.

                Looking at the current prices, it is pretty much cheaper for me to buy locally on 90% of the stuff I'm looking at. I can't get that dvd drive locally and the ram I can't touch for the price newegg is pricing however everything else is cheaper locally. They got the winchester 90nm core a64's for less than newegg. Yeah I have to pay tax but I'm supporting my local place.

                Comment

                • Trevor Schell
                  Moderator Emeritus
                  • Aug 2000
                  • 10935

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Shane Martin
                  A quiet PC is not a big deal to me to be honest. My last one was a jet engine in my room.

                  I keep getting some recommendations for PCI E but the cards that I am looking at do not support PCI E. Given how much I upgrade(I don't at all hardly), I think I"m pretty safe to stick with AGP 8x.
                  Shane,,The BFG 6800 GT will do you well.
                  I love this card.
                  So , have you started yet?
                  Trevor



                  XBOX 360 CARD

                  Comment

                  • Shane Martin
                    Super Senior Member
                    • Apr 2001
                    • 2852

                    #10
                    Trev,
                    Once my 2nd car sells(should be shortly I hope), I wil llikely be buying the following:

                    Coolermaster Centurian
                    Zalman cooper cooler and heatsink(like you are using)
                    AMD 64 3500+ 90NS Winchester
                    BFG 6800 GTOC AGP
                    Asus A8v Deluxe
                    NEC 16x Dual Layer Dual Format burner(very popular)
                    1 gig ram(Mushkin or Kingston) it just depends
                    Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS(non gamer, non platinum version)
                    Microsoft Wireless desktop($29 locally for the mouse and keyboard!)
                    Logitech z530 speakers
                    Seagate 120 or 160 gb SATA barracuda drive.
                    Power supply I'm not sure but my friend is using a 500 watt he found locally. It's very stable for him so far.

                    He is running around 29 degrees C so far on his cpu which is quite cool.

                    Comment

                    • Shane Martin
                      Super Senior Member
                      • Apr 2001
                      • 2852

                      #11
                      Sold the car last night so I'm building me a hotrod pc...

                      arty:

                      Now I need a name..

                      Comment

                      • Trevor Schell
                        Moderator Emeritus
                        • Aug 2000
                        • 10935

                        #12
                        Shane, That's going to be one heck of a PC when it is finished..
                        Have fun building it.
                        As for a name..
                        How about Shane's Stomper
                        Or Shane's Slammer 64
                        Trevor



                        XBOX 360 CARD

                        Comment

                        • Shane Martin
                          Super Senior Member
                          • Apr 2001
                          • 2852

                          #13
                          Building PC tonight, had training all week

                          Ended up with:

                          Amd 3500+ 939 90NS Winchester
                          Zalman Copper CPU Cooler
                          Antec Case
                          Athena Power 550W PSU
                          BFG 6800 GTOC AGP 256 MB
                          Audigy 2 ZS
                          Logitech z530 speakers
                          1 gig Level 1 Mushkin PC3200 dual Channel ram
                          120 gig seagate barracuda SATA
                          NEC 16x dual layer burner
                          Asus A8V deluxe

                          Comment

                          • JOY DIVISION
                            Senior Member
                            • Aug 2004
                            • 152

                            #14
                            I have a 2 Raptors 36GB(WD360GD)
                            that's still in the box for $180.00 plus shipping, normally sells for over $100 apiece. Let me know. The only thing is they are somewhat noisy when loading but I guess it comes with the speed, It could reformat and install Windows in less than 15 mins.

                            Comment

                            • Trevor Schell
                              Moderator Emeritus
                              • Aug 2000
                              • 10935

                              #15
                              Shane,,
                              How is the PC coming along?
                              Trevor



                              XBOX 360 CARD

                              Comment

                              • Shane Martin
                                Super Senior Member
                                • Apr 2001
                                • 2852

                                #16
                                PC is built and going solid.

                                Been too busy playing Half Life 2 to actually post about its performance.

                                Comment

                                • Kevin P
                                  Member
                                  • Aug 2000
                                  • 10809

                                  #17
                                  Cool, sounds like you're happy then. As long as it handles Half Life 2 well, nothing else matters, right? At least until you get bored of Half Life 2 anyway.

                                  Comment

                                  • Shane Martin
                                    Super Senior Member
                                    • Apr 2001
                                    • 2852

                                    #18
                                    Well it handles pretty much everything I throw at it at full levels. When it auto configures for games it goes to the highest setting possible.

                                    I have no regrets regarding it and what I bought. I'm half tempted to buy another gig of ram...

                                    Comment

                                    • Kevin P
                                      Member
                                      • Aug 2000
                                      • 10809

                                      #19
                                      Another gig of RAM? What are you going to use it for? 1GB is plenty for pretty much anything you're going to throw at it. 512MB is the sweet spot for XP.

                                      Comment

                                      • Shane Martin
                                        Super Senior Member
                                        • Apr 2001
                                        • 2852

                                        #20
                                        One particular game I tend to play often uses up almost 400 mb and the more the merrier. I might borrow a stick from a friend and see how much improvement I'll notice. If nothing then I got nothing to gain or lose.

                                        Comment

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