Ok, building my own PC, what do you think to spec?
Discussion
Okay, so as you can see from my other thread I thinking of building my own PC for the first time. I want a really kick a$$ machine that will run Doom3 with ease, but I dont want to break the bank by going for the absolute up to date technology.
What do you think to this parts list ?
Asus K8N-E Deluxe nForce3 (Socket 754) Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3000 (Socket 754) - Retail
Crucial 2x 512mb PC3200 DDR400
Cruicial Radeon 128mb 9800 PRO
a) will they all work together ?
b) I've already got a 160mb IDE Seagate drive I'd like to use, but that m/board is SATA ... can I use the IDE (converter for the cable ?!?)
c) is there anything you'd change
d) what wattage powersupply will I need ? most cases seem to come with a 300w job, will that do or will I have to junk it ?
Thanks for any opinions
What do you think to this parts list ?
Asus K8N-E Deluxe nForce3 (Socket 754) Motherboard
AMD Athlon 64 3000 (Socket 754) - Retail
Crucial 2x 512mb PC3200 DDR400
Cruicial Radeon 128mb 9800 PRO
a) will they all work together ?
b) I've already got a 160mb IDE Seagate drive I'd like to use, but that m/board is SATA ... can I use the IDE (converter for the cable ?!?)
c) is there anything you'd change
d) what wattage powersupply will I need ? most cases seem to come with a 300w job, will that do or will I have to junk it ?
Thanks for any opinions
The SATA to IDE convertors work... they usually come with the motherboard in my experience... merely changes the IDE interface and power supply to the SATA type... of course it will only run at IDE speeds though..
Why 2x512..? Why not just get a 1GB stick..?
300W should be OK, unless you're running LOADS of peripheral devices..
Why 2x512..? Why not just get a 1GB stick..?
300W should be OK, unless you're running LOADS of peripheral devices..
You don't need a SATA converter - This motherboard has 2 IDE sockets in addition to the SATA ones.
But consider going SATA anyway. It is a bit faster than IDE and you are going to have to get a new drive anyway since 160Mb is way too small - or did you mean 160Gb?
Although I have not yet built an Athlon 64 system, I would still go for a beefier power supply. Athlons have been traditionally heavy on the power supply. I would suggest a genuine 400W to start with. Why do I say genuine? Well not all power supplies are equal. Just like high street stores quote the output of audio amplifiers as 'peak output' which is meaningless, so some power supply manufacturers quote their output as maximum transient output ie it can't sustain that level all day but just for a few seconds.
As a very very rough guide, if you are paying less than £35 for a power suppply, be very careful with the specs. £40 upwards for a good 400W supply is reasonable. Known good brands include Antec, Enlight, Top Power. Be wary of the claims for Colorsit supplies. I know their 400Watt unit is really only capable of about 330 Watts continuous.
>> Edited by arcturus on Wednesday 18th August 09:23
But consider going SATA anyway. It is a bit faster than IDE and you are going to have to get a new drive anyway since 160Mb is way too small - or did you mean 160Gb?
Although I have not yet built an Athlon 64 system, I would still go for a beefier power supply. Athlons have been traditionally heavy on the power supply. I would suggest a genuine 400W to start with. Why do I say genuine? Well not all power supplies are equal. Just like high street stores quote the output of audio amplifiers as 'peak output' which is meaningless, so some power supply manufacturers quote their output as maximum transient output ie it can't sustain that level all day but just for a few seconds.
As a very very rough guide, if you are paying less than £35 for a power suppply, be very careful with the specs. £40 upwards for a good 400W supply is reasonable. Known good brands include Antec, Enlight, Top Power. Be wary of the claims for Colorsit supplies. I know their 400Watt unit is really only capable of about 330 Watts continuous.
>> Edited by arcturus on Wednesday 18th August 09:23
Think he means 160Gb, thats what he said in the other thread
As for power supplies, wattage really means very little. A decent 350W supply will be far better than a poor 400W or even 500W one. Power supply that comes with the case will likely be garbage anyway though, as with most things you get what you pay for
As for power supplies, wattage really means very little. A decent 350W supply will be far better than a poor 400W or even 500W one. Power supply that comes with the case will likely be garbage anyway though, as with most things you get what you pay for
Thanks for all the replies peeps !
D'OH !! Yes, I did mean 160 GIG ! Stupid fingers.
I would like a SATA drive of course, but I was just trying to save a bit of dosh, with the assumption that I'd change for a SATA drive in the future (mind you, I've just twigged that I'd have to reinstall the OS, a job I always detest ...)
Powersupply : thanks for the thoughts and opinions, I'll go bigger and nicer quality. Seems daft that most cases come with a PS that's just going to get junked though ...
Memory : 2x512 or 1x1024, er, no reason really, um, I think the 2x512 worked out a bit cheaper that's all. Prolly go for 1x1024 thinking about it.
Buy Ready Made : that's still an option I'm looking into, however I get the impression that I might spend, say, £1000 on components, or get a PC ready made for £1000 which has the same spec on paper, however it's a bit like whats been said for power supplies ... there's 300w and there's 300w ! Am I right in thinking that if I go for the above I'm getting top quality components, for example 1gig of Cruicial memory, rather than 1gig of no-name who knows what shonky memory ? (correct me if Im wrong)
Tx
D'OH !! Yes, I did mean 160 GIG !
Stupid fingers. I would like a SATA drive of course, but I was just trying to save a bit of dosh, with the assumption that I'd change for a SATA drive in the future (mind you, I've just twigged that I'd have to reinstall the OS, a job I always detest ...)
Powersupply : thanks for the thoughts and opinions, I'll go bigger and nicer quality. Seems daft that most cases come with a PS that's just going to get junked though ...
Memory : 2x512 or 1x1024, er, no reason really, um, I think the 2x512 worked out a bit cheaper that's all. Prolly go for 1x1024 thinking about it.
Buy Ready Made : that's still an option I'm looking into, however I get the impression that I might spend, say, £1000 on components, or get a PC ready made for £1000 which has the same spec on paper, however it's a bit like whats been said for power supplies ... there's 300w and there's 300w ! Am I right in thinking that if I go for the above I'm getting top quality components, for example 1gig of Cruicial memory, rather than 1gig of no-name who knows what shonky memory ? (correct me if Im wrong)
Tx
nevpugh308 said:
Buy Ready Made : that's still an option I'm looking into, however I get the impression that I might spend, say, £1000 on components, or get a PC ready made for £1000 which has the same spec on paper
I think the issue is more that you'll get the same on-paper spec in a pre-built for a lot less than your maginc £1k, as big suppliers get volume discount on parts. That said, you're right; you don't know what sort of quality is going into the box.
You pays yer money and takes yer choice!
nevpugh308 said:
Memory : 2x512 or 1x1024, er, no reason really, um, I think the 2x512 worked out a bit cheaper that's all. Prolly go for 1x1024 thinking about it.
Just to play
's advocate, I'd recommend getting the 2x512 for now (if you're not thinking of adding more in the very near future), as it'll be cheaper. If/when you need so much more in the future that you need to swap out the smaller parts for larger ones, you'll probably find that the cost has come down!
In my experience, it can be useful to have 2+ RAM modules in your case, as if one goes pop you can resurrect the machine using just the other whilst waiting for a replacement...
nevpugh308 said:
Am I right in thinking that if I go for the above I'm getting top quality components, for example 1gig of Cruicial memory, rather than 1gig of no-name who knows what shonky memory ? (correct me if Im wrong)
Tx
In simplisitc ters, yes... you need to consider the latency of the RAM, and the speed of it in relation to the FSB.
Memory : also, that motherboard has 3 memory slots, so I'd still have one free anyway.
Question : just looking at SATA's, could I have an 80g SATA as my system drive (OS, programs, etc) and the 160g IDE as my data drive (doesn't matter so much on speed). Or would the IDE drag the SATA down all the time (even when not accessing the IDE) ?
Question : just looking at SATA's, could I have an 80g SATA as my system drive (OS, programs, etc) and the 160g IDE as my data drive (doesn't matter so much on speed). Or would the IDE drag the SATA down all the time (even when not accessing the IDE) ?
nevpugh308 said:
Question : just looking at SATA's, could I have an 80g SATA as my system drive (OS, programs, etc) and the 160g IDE as my data drive (doesn't matter so much on speed). Or would the IDE drag the SATA down all the time (even when not accessing the IDE) ?
SATA is a direct single connection to the motherboard. Having and IDE drive as well won't make any difference to the SATA drive as it will be on a different cable and interface.
nevpugh308 said:
Memory : 2x512 or 1x1024, er, no reason really, um, I think the 2x512 worked out a bit cheaper that's all. Prolly go for 1x1024 thinking about it.
Tx
2x "what ever size" would be your best option for a nforce 3 chipset. They have duel memory controllers (well channels really).
1 stick of DDR in each channel will let the system run in duel channel mode, which is quicker than single (128bit v 64bit).
You find a lot of the better cases are available without a power supply these days so that you can fit one of your choice. All the PSUs mentioned above are good but I beleive Tagan and Enermax are also quite good.
I've got a 350watt Antec but that actually came with the rather nice and quiet (IMO) Antec Sonata case that I bought.
I've got a 350watt Antec but that actually came with the rather nice and quiet (IMO) Antec Sonata case that I bought.
I have a Cheiftec Case , it didn't come with a PSU so I picked up a ThermalTake 440W Silent PSU and that does me fine.
Remember, pre-built come with a warranty on the parts as well...
Remember, pre-built come with a warranty on the parts as well...
Unless you're looking at becoming an overclocker, I have never seen the point in spending mega money on memory modules over run-of-the-mill generic ones. The performance advantage of running a 2.5 CAS module over, say, a 3 is minimal and completely unnoticable.
And the main point is that, in 12 months time, you're DDR400 memory will be out of life with the advent of DDR2 and pointless in any future upgrade.
I'd save some dosh and just plump for generic DDR OEM ram (still a good brand, don't get me wrong, but not need to go the whole hog with Crucial/OCZ/Geil/etc).
Also, make sure you're getting a good deal on a 9800 Pro... they're old hat now, and you can get a 9800SE for half the price and soft-mod it to 80% of the performance of a Pro for no money whatsoever. I wouldn't pay any more than £125-150 for a pro, *max*.
Otherwise, sound. I built a 64 3000 for a customer the other week and it's a really nice piece of kit, impressed me for the money (<£600 for the base unit) and flys for the cash spent.
Cheers,
Dan
And the main point is that, in 12 months time, you're DDR400 memory will be out of life with the advent of DDR2 and pointless in any future upgrade.
I'd save some dosh and just plump for generic DDR OEM ram (still a good brand, don't get me wrong, but not need to go the whole hog with Crucial/OCZ/Geil/etc).
Also, make sure you're getting a good deal on a 9800 Pro... they're old hat now, and you can get a 9800SE for half the price and soft-mod it to 80% of the performance of a Pro for no money whatsoever. I wouldn't pay any more than £125-150 for a pro, *max*.
Otherwise, sound. I built a 64 3000 for a customer the other week and it's a really nice piece of kit, impressed me for the money (<£600 for the base unit) and flys for the cash spent.
Cheers,
Dan
nevpugh308 said:
Crucial 2x 512mb PC3200 DDR400
Its always worthwhile getting decent memory over cheap sh1t. Never had an issue with Crucial stuff.
Is that motherboard dual channel? If so you have to decide whether you run with 512mb at full speed, or 1024 at normal speed.
The only advantage of going for 2x512 IMHO
Oh and while points about buying ready build are true, building yourself means you know it inside out, and there's only yourself to blame!
...which is a good thing!
>> Edited by jimmyc412t2 on Thursday 19th August 15:10
plotloss said:
If you are running two DVD or CD writers in addition to that big VGA card I would advise going to town on the PSU.
Something like a 440w high calibre item should suffice.
I wouldn't say there's any need as long as it's a decent PSU in the first place. I'm running an A64 3000+, Radeon 9800 Pro, 2 HDs, 2 optical drives and 4 fans from an Antec 340W with no problems at all.
There are very, very few workstations that will ever draw 400W peak.
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