My First Build - Advice Please

DaUnforgiven

Hey, hows the goin?

I know ye get a lot of these but I'm building my first computer and theres a few things I'd like some advice on.

We need a new PC at work so I've offered to build one. I decided that it might as we
ll be reasonably high-end so it will last longer (the one its going to replace is an ~7 year old gateway).

I won't be overclocking it or playing games (much ).
I have the following in mind (its pretty much like Axels):

Case
Cooler Master Wave Master TAC-T01 Silver Aluminium w/o psu ATX
€161.31

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0 GHz Socket 754, 512 KB cache, OEM
€200.16

Will this heatsink do?
Cooler Master CPU fan Socket 754/940 DK8-7I52D-01, Aluminum
€12.63

MOBO
Asus K8V Mainboard Socket 754 K8T800, ATA/SATA, GbLAN, ATX, Raid
€102.85

I'm not sure about the memory, 512 should be fine for now, any suggestions?

PSU
Antec - (SMARTBLUE 350 GB) PSU/12V 350W ATX P42.03 DualFan+BlueLED
€68.32

Is this enough, I like it cause I've got a blue led thing going on :rolleyes:

Graphics Card
PowerColor Radeon 9600XT 128MB DDR AGP, ATI 9600XT, DVI-I, TV-Out, Retail
€156.09
I'm not sure about this

Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint P80 120GB S-ATA 8MB cache 7200RPM
€103.89

Drives
NEC DVD-recorder ND-2500 IDE black OEM DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW
€90.75

Sony DVD Drive 16x/40x IDE OEM
€39.00

Sony Floppy Drive 3,5" 1,44MB MPF-920 Floppy Drive, Internal
€15.58

Billion ISDN PCI PCI ISDN Terminal Adapter
€20.57
Is this compatable?

Total: €971.15 (without memory)

The hardest part will be justifying all this to the boss.
He'll be used to seeing Dell offers, etc.

All going really well, I'll throw in 2 of these, this, and this. to make it look really impressive

I'm a total n00b so is this everthing I need and is everything compatible?
Thanks a lot

unforgiven

Stephen

If its just going to be an office PC do you really need the fancy expensive case and 9600XT? Also, why a DVD-ROM and a DVD burner? The DVD burner will do everything the DVD-ROM can.

Dman_15

its a work pc so silence should be to of your list.
The antec piano black case comes with a silent psu (350w i think) and two silent 120mm fans. it looks class and isnt over the top or gimicky. as for gfx a 9200 will play all todays games at a fraction of the cost of a 9600xt

DaUnforgiven

Stephen, I was looking at the dvd drives so that i could copy a dvd directly from one drive to the other as with cds. Would this work and it it much advantage?

The Sonata/MinTower 380W 4X5.25" 2X3.5" ATX Black seems like a good case but I really like the look of the cooler master.
Also were a stainless steel fabrication company and the brushed aluminium would look cool in the office, i need to think if this is worth 90 quid though (case + psu).

Dman, thanks for that, how about a PowerColor Radeon 9200 128MB DDR AGP, ATI 9200, DVI-I, TV-Out, Retail, it would save me 100 quid. (All I really need it for is playing quake 3 the odd time).

Also. any idea what memory I should get?

subway_ie

Originally posted by Dman_15
its a work pc so silence should be to of your list.
The antec piano black case comes with a silent psu (350w i think) and two silent 120mm fans.

Actually, the Antec Sonata only comes with one pre0installed 120mm fan - another one can be installed towards the front of the case, onto the drive cage, but it doesn't come as standard and probably adds to the noise level of the case. Having said that, it's a very quiet case in general and the second fan doesn't make a huge amount of difference.

Stephen

You can just use space on the hard disk to copy the contents of a dvd to. Then burn it to a blank disc. The HD you chose is big enough anyways.

If quake3 is the game you're talking about playing, then any old graphics card from the last couple of years will do, the 9200 would be a good choice.

My parents' Dell with its poxy 16mb ATI Rage plays it easily.

garthv

just one tip when u build it mate :
remeber to lift the processor lock bar as my mate my forgot all about it and he couldnt get the thing to work for 2 weeks,but he was a bit of a dumbass so 'nuff said ;p

Mac daddy

Your hard drive might be better to get two of them and put them in a RAID 0.
The motherboard support RAID 0 and RAID 1 so why not use it:D

Mac daddy

For the memory i would be thinking of something like this http://www.komplett.ie/k/ki.asp?sku=116118&cks=PRL

DaUnforgiven

Thanks Mac Daddy,

I think Ill stick with the one hard drive for now anyway.
I dont know anything about memory but what about aTwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2.5 Memory184-P (for DDR-PC400MHz)
Its 1X512 for €88.33 against the corsair which is 2X256 for €181.50.
I must be missing out on something here.
Also, would this leave me in a better position to upgrade to 1024 down the line?

Unforgiven

Stephen

I bought that exact same stick of memory last week. it cost me €95 then, gah!

edit: Since you are buying all this stuff for an office PC, you should be able to claim the VAT back on it, which would be a nice little saving.

tman

i have the same stick of ram in my rig, i'd have no hesitation in recommending it for a regularly clocked rig:)

oh yeah. seeing as you're looking at an A64, you'll be missing out on the benefits of dual channel ddr if you only put one stick in...
go for 1024mb of that twinmos stuff tbh:)

DaUnforgiven

I've thought of that Stephen, only problem is the company doesnt have a credit card and they cant use mine cause then they cant get the VAT back. I'll have to ask komplett if they'll send out an invoice and take a cheque. Otherwise I might have to fill out their credit application form which looks like it could take a while so I might be better off going elsewhere.

tman, I thought dual channel wasnt available on the A64?
Also the TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB Dual Pack Kit w/two matched PC3200 DDR DIMMs is €187.55 so would it be better for me to buy two of the ones i previously mentioned?

tman

now that you mention it, i'm not too sure.
disregard my post until someone that knows what they're talking about comes along

Col_Loki

The A64 (socket 754 - out at the min) isint dual DDR , the newer Socket 939 thats comming out is but it will be a good bit more expensive.

Pop in a single stick of 512mb Ram and you'll be fine. Im not sure you even need such a well spec'd CPU , a 2500+ would prob do the same.............. but sure hey when the boss is payin i suppose.

Id definetly steer clear of 2x256mb kits with the A64 TBH........... 2x512mb or 1x512mb and your fine!!

DaUnforgiven

Thanks COL_LOKI, yeah the boss is paying but I want him to get his moneys worth too, wouldnt the high speced CPU mean that the system will last longer before becomming obsolete?
On the other hand, maybe this is too high spec and the boss would be getting better value with a mid-range computer and update it to another mid-range computer down the line?

I've come up with a spec that I think I'll go with but as its my first build, I'd like if someone could confirm if I have everything I need and if what I have is compatible.
Is the heatsink ok and do I need to buy compound too? Also is the PSU powerful enough?

Case
Cooler Master Wave Master TAC-T01 Silver Aluminium w/o psu ATX
€161.31

CPU
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0 GHz Socket 754, 512 KB cache, OEM
€200.16

Heatsink
Cooler Master CPU fan Socket 754/940 DK8-7I52D-01, Aluminum
€12.63

MOBO
Asus K8V Mainboard Socket 754 K8T800, ATA/SATA, GbLAN, ATX, Raid
€102.85

Memory
TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2.5 Memory184-P (for DDR-PC400MHz)
€88.33

PSU
Antec - (SMARTBLUE 350 GB) PSU/12V 350W ATX P42.03 DualFan+BlueLED
€68.32

Graphics Card
PowerColor Radeon 9200 128MB DDR AGP, ATI 9200, DVI-I, TV-Out, Retail
€55.12

Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint P80 120GB S-ATA 8MB cache 7200RPM
€103.89

Drives
NEC DVD-recorder ND-2500 IDE black OEM DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW
€90.75

Sony Floppy Drive 3,5" 1,44MB MPF-920 Floppy Drive, Internal
€15.58

Total: €792.60


Thanks a lot

Unforgiven

aaf

You should try JES Computer, a german shop, for cheaper prices. I'd also recommend getting an Antec Sonata case as it loos the biz and it has a Antec 380w PSU built in. Could save you a bit. You should also check out the ASUS website to see if that RAM is compatible with your motherboard. I bought 2 x 512mb sticks of Mushkin DDR PC400 CL2 Level 1 RAM from JES and I've had no problems. I've put my pc through the Prime95 torture test for a few hours and no errors.:cool:

DaUnforgiven

Thanks aaf, Komplett says the Manufacturer's Part Number is M2G9J16A-TT

I've checked ASUS.co.uk and they say that the following is compatible so I should be ok.
512M TwinMOS M2G9J16AGATT9F081AA4T TwinMOS DS TMD7608F8E50D

Im going to get Cooler Master "Dow Corning" Compound HTK-001 High Performance Goop Retail heatsink compound.

Do you think 350W is enough for the PSU or should I get a PSU/True Blue 480 PGB 12V AC 480W ATX with BLUE LED Fan? Its €134.82 though which is about twice the price of the other PSU.

unforgiven

Col_Loki

On the other hand, maybe this is too high spec and the boss would be getting better value with a mid-range computer and update it to another mid-range computer down the line?

TBH you might be better off with a nice Xp2500+ with a NF7-S motherboard. This will be a majour improvement over his existing setup and will save him money. Paying for high end chips like the AMD64 isint worth it unless you are going to use it. For the small difference your boss will see ............ (more power hungry users would notice the difference straight away).

That 350w should be ok with the Xp2500+ system, would be under a little more pressure with AMD64 but should still be ok cause your going for a weak GFX card. the 480w is just overkill..........

Would totally agree with what aaf said about the sonata, its a lovely case with very quiet running PSU, good quality build , great case.

Dont get me wrong the AMD64 is a great chip, but would your boss apreciate the difference?

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

DaUnforgiven,
Buying on your own credit card shouldn't be a problem. Just make sure the invoice is in your companies name so they can claim the VAT back.
They should be able to give you what your owed then by cheque..?

I could be wrong...

Also I'm nearly sure that if your getting most of your rig from komplett, if you go over to the komplett.ie forum tell patman and he may be ale to get you a small discount.

ambrose

DaUnforgiven

Thanks Ambrose, Ill try that.

I was probably going a bit overboard with the 64 bit processor so.
I really like the Wavemaster case though, I think Ill stick with it even though it works out €90 more than the Antec.

So heres the revised spec:

Case
Cooler Master Wave Master TAC-T01 Silver Aluminium w/o psu ATX
€161.31

CPU
AMD Athlon XP2500+ 1.833 GHz Socket A 333MHz, 512KB Barton, BOXED
€89.43

Heatsink
Cooler Master AERO 7 Lite AMD CP5-8J71F-XP3200+ CPU and higher Socket
€21.43
Wil this do the job?

MOBO
Abit NF7-S V2.0 Mainboard Socket A S-ATA nForce2-SPP/MCP-T2/Ultra 400, ATX,1394
€102.85
The Abit site says it supports DDR400 512MB TWINMOS TWINMOS TMD7608F8E50D 2.5 D- Non-ECC, will the following memory be compatible so?

Memory
TwinMOS PC3200 DDR-DIMM 512MB CL2.5 Memory184-P (for DDR-PC400MHz)
€88.33

PSU
Antec - (SMARTBLUE 350 GB) PSU/12V 350W ATX P42.03 DualFan+BlueLED
€68.32

Graphics Card
PowerColor Radeon 9200 128MB DDR AGP, ATI 9200, DVI-I, TV-Out, Retail
€55.12

Hard Drive
Samsung SpinPoint P80 120GB S-ATA 8MB cache 7200RPM
€103.89

Drives
NEC DVD-recorder ND-2500 IDE black OEM DVD+R/+RW and DVD-R/-RW
€90.75

Sony Floppy Drive 3,5" 1,44MB MPF-920 Floppy Drive, Internal
€15.58

Total: €690.68, €100 cheaper than the 64 bit machine


Unforgiven