Questions about a computer I will be building...

SloiSloi Quebec
edited March 2004 in Hardware
First off, here are the preliminary specs:

AMD Athlon 64 3200+
Thermalright SLK-800 heatsink w/ Thermaltake SmartFan II
Gigabyte K8NNXP
ATI Radeon 9800Pro
Creative SoundBlaster Audigy2
1024MB DDR3200 RAM (400mhz)
Maxtor SATA 80Gb
Western Digital 80Gb IDE caddy
LG 16x CD-RW
LG 2x DVD-RAM
400W PS on Full Tower

My questions:

- Am I making a good choice for the heatsink/fan ? What would you recommend?
- Which SATA HDD would you recommend ?
- Any hardware suggestions or comments ?

Thank you for your time!

Comments

  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    SLK-948u heatsink is an A64 heatsink not the SLK-800 ...the fan is perfect IMO.
    400W PSU might be your weakest link depending on what you get ...perhaps you should look into enermax or antec or something else more equally recommendable.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2004
    Like csimon said, the slk-800 won't fit.

    As for hard drives, I'd get Maxtor Diamond Max 9s. I'm happy with the 8 I have.

    I wouldn't get a gigabyte motherboard.

    You didn't specify the brand/model of case or power supply. A good power supply is an essential building block if you want a stable system, as well as one that doesn't do nasty things like eating video cards, motherboards, cpus, ram, hard drives, etc. for no apparent reason. Get an Antec, Enermax, Fortron Source, or PC Power & Cooling 350w+ power supply, and you'll be better off than with any generic power supply on the market, even so-called "550w" ones.
  • SloiSloi Quebec
    edited March 2004
    csimon wrote:
    SLK-948u heatsink is an A64 heatsink not the SLK-800 ...the fan is perfect IMO.
    400W PSU might be your weakest link depending on what you get ...perhaps you should look into enermax or antec or something else more equally recommendable.

    Agreed. I had doubts about the power supply so I won't take any chances and go for 430 or higher. Thank you for the tip about the SLK-948u heatsink!

    :clap:
  • SloiSloi Quebec
    edited March 2004
    Geeky1 wrote:
    Like csimon said, the slk-800 won't fit.

    As for hard drives, I'd get Maxtor Diamond Max 9s. I'm happy with the 8 I have.

    I wouldn't get a gigabyte motherboard.

    You didn't specify the brand/model of case or power supply. A good power supply is an essential building block if you want a stable system, as well as one that doesn't do nasty things like eating video cards, motherboards, cpus, ram, hard drives, etc. for no apparent reason. Get an Antec, Enermax, Fortron Source, or PC Power & Cooling 350w+ power supply, and you'll be better off than with any generic power supply on the market, even so-called "550w" ones.

    Yep! The Maxtor I mention in my specs is a Diamond Max 9. Why do you recommend against the Gigabyte motherboard ? Any suggestion ? As for the power supply and case, I will look into Antec or Enermax. Thanks!
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    Geeky1 wrote:
    I wouldn't get a gigabyte motherboard.
    I completely overlooked that.
    "friends don't let friends buy gigabyte."
    Not my quote but I head the warning just the same!
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited March 2004
    Because too many of us have seem them instanteously explode themselves for no apparent reason and take other components (CPU etc) with them?
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited March 2004
    From what I've seen of gigabyte motherboards, they are extremely finnicky with certain types of ram and just exhibit unpredictable behavior in general. I've tried gigabyte twice. They both had to go back to the store and has been to date the worst experience with a mobo manufacturer that I've ever had. I'd stay away from gigabyte. Others have had different experiences though and like them. I have run across many posts that have had similar experiences as mine, which scared me away from them for good.

    KingFish
  • SloiSloi Quebec
    edited March 2004
    Which motherboard would you recommend ? Thank you for your time guys, I erally appreciate this...
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    abit asus maybe msi http://www.short-media.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9069&page=2&pp=20
  • KingFishKingFish
    edited March 2004
    If we're talking brand only, my favorite is abit followed by asus. Next would be MSI. Research carefully the options/chipsets/bios/etc before you buy because even though those three brands are generally top notch, a mobo manufacturer may have a bad run of a particular model or may have a model that simply shines in comparison to similar models produced by other brands. Look at different reviews/comparisons before you commit. The homework you do today may save you a ton of aggravation in the future.

    KingFish
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2004
    ASUS, ABIT, and MSI are my preference for AMD boards.
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    Here is a review from viperlair lare ...http://www.viperlair.com/reviews/cpu_mobo/abit/amd/kv8/
    I haven't read it yet so draw your own conclusion. Since it is VIA chipset I'd lean more towards nf3 instead.
  • Omega65Omega65 Philadelphia, Pa
    edited March 2004
    Sloi wrote:
    Which motherboard would you recommend ? Thank you for your time guys, I erally appreciate this...

    If you can wait a month or so the K8T800 Pro chipset boards (Socket 940,939 & 754) mobo will be out.

    The 939pin mobos will be Dual Channel Memory, and the K8T800 Pro boards will feature Locked PCI/AGP speeds and have HT1000 vs the current HT800 (HT= Hypertransport) Both are great for OCing
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    well worth the wait IMO.
  • SloiSloi Quebec
    edited March 2004
    Indeed it is. I wasn't going to build the system until a bit later this summer so yes, I can wait :)
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited March 2004
    I am actually using the stock fans and heatsink becasue its put performed the 3 differ A64 heatsinks ive used. The one I am waiting for is the swiftech A64 cooler should be out in the next couple weeks
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