Component advice

Woden

i've had a few threads recently about component advice for a new computer. at the risk of being a pain in the ass i'm trying to bring it all together and would like advice opinions on some items i've picked i.e. whether i should be getting something better and then for some items for which i have no idea what i should get for the computer so everyone feel free to input

cpu: what ever barton i can afford at the time looks like 2500+ at the moment

m/b undecided be abit's and asus' nforce 2 ultra option i hear the abit is good for overclocking but is the asus one better? do both recent reversions offer s-ata from a m/b controller?

ram: half a gig on one chip (future upgrade to a gig on dual channel). Was thinking of something like corsairs xms3200 low latency chips. is there a better manufacturer? e.g ocz or twinmos that i should be buying from?

hdd: 120gb s-ata was thinking of WD is maxtor or seagate a better buy?

case: no idea what to get

hsf: no idea what to get what does anyone recommend?

graphics: have bout 250euro to spend here, what does anyone recommend? would like a 9700 if i could get my hands on one, don't really like the 9600's they look like a downgrade from the 9500's? open to nvidia as well if they are good at the moment?

thanks very much

data

p.s require willing volunteer to assemble this for little or nothing

netman

both abit and asus make excellent motherboards. personally i'd go with abit, i've been using their motherboards for the last 5 years and they've proven to be fantastic.

epox is also a great brand for amd motherboards, might be worth checking them out. they usually allow much higher voltages than other brands.

memory - well, you're not likely to use more than pc3200, so xms low-latency looks as the best choice. it's very good at overclocking, too.

i'd stay away from nvidia cards, they're not up to speed these days... ati is the way to go if you want performance, and 250 euro is the right price to go. get a 9700 if you can find them, otherwise 9500pro is a good choice, or a fast 9600pro. sapphire make a "fireblade edition" of 9600pro with a much faster ram - greater overclocking potential. if you're willing to risk a little bit, get a 9500 non-pro, 128mb model and mod it to 9700-9800. you can do that these days with drivers alone - omega have modded drivers for ati cards. there's even shops around that sell checked 9500 non-pro cards that mod to 9800.

you seemed to have forgotten probably the most important part of the system - power supply. i hope you're not considering some el-cheapo case with a 20 euro power supply. get something decent with stable voltages that can keep up with that power hungry amd processor. enermax is always a good choice there.

drives - i went for western digital.. simply because they offer 3-5 year warranty, and they're the only brand making 10k rpm sata drives. i suppose you're not considering one of those since you're talking about 120 gig.. maxtor is quite loud, i would go for it.. seagate is quiet and reliable, and western digital is a bit louder and faster. differences are miniscule, so it's a choice of personal preference really. (or whatever is on special at komplett at the time)

SouperComputer

id agree with all with thr exception of the comment on the maxtor HD. They use FDB bearings now and are very quiet.

As for the Raptor.......yum! Id like to see how it compares to my 10k cheetah. Apparently its even faster!

Woden

thanks folks this is the kind of stuff i'm looking for:

memory: yes i don't think i will use need anything more then 3200 as i will be running it in synch with the process. However i hear that the xp2500+ is a great overclocker and perhaps i could push more then 200mhz out of the FSB? in that case i would need better ram or to overclock the 3200. i don't think i have seen 3500 ram with as good timings as the corsair xms3200 stuff.

The ocz stuff also looks good does anyone know how it compares to the corsair stuff?

With regards to the graphics it looks like i will be looking for ati's older range of cards the 9500's or the 9700. Anyone know anywhere that has a good supply of these?

With HDD's i'm going for 7200rpm the raptor is nice but i can't justify that expenditure for such a low capacity.

I was kinda thinking of just getting a case with a psu supplied. They seem to come with about 300-400W. Will this be enough for my system?

And can anyone recommend a good case, and what is the best hsf on the market?

Regards

data

Giblet

I'd go for an aluminum case, especially if you're gonna take her to lans, as it will more than half the weight!

Skyhawk and Cheiftec have Aluminium cases, with the Chieftec coming with a PowerSupply.

The Skyhawk ones will cost about 140-150 with a decent PSU + Deliv, whereas a Cheiftec will cost about 140 with a PSU installed +deliv (most come with a cheiftec 300 - 360W psu)

Creamy Goodness

when some1 asks for case suggestions i always say to them you gotta go with what u personally like and take it as it it comes with a PSU that's great but if it doesn't it doesn't

go with whichever case u like mate don't let some1 force you into buying a case.


if you want my advice i'd go for coolermaster though expensive they are the best build imo.


look at a few cases and pick one that takes your fancy

Woden

for a case i'd like one with a side panel, as i'd like to put luminous cables and cold cathodes into it eventually. I don't go to lans at the moment but that may change in the future.

what do people think of maplins cases? I've seen a premodded one with a side panel containg a fan in the store, they also have aluminium ones for quite cheap and they had an anodised copper one (what ever that is) the other day when i walked by.

with regards to memory when i've been looking around i've noticed that some manufacturers are selling ram thats optimised for dual channel boards. e.g. OCZ

"In addition we have optimized the design to take advantage of the increased bandwidth of Dual Channel DDR platforms"

does this mean there dual packed sets have different ram then there single packed ones? by different i mean better for dual channel. as i wanna buy one stick at the start and then upgrade to a second stick later and run them dual channel then?

Col_Loki

Memory wise TwinMos winbond is suppose to be fantastic ram and a great overclocker. Komplett have it Here . Just a thought....

The Xp2500+'s are doing wery well overclocking these days, am just starting to overclock mine at the min. Am hitting 2405mhz with water cooling from www.hitide.ie , running prime95 with no probs for the last few hrs. Temps are nice aswell

Personally id go for an Abit motherboard , im really happy with mine.

Try checking out hitide for some nice flashy cases, the PSU's they stock are very good aswell (and silent).