Critque this Build please

twitchee2twitchee2
edited June 2005 in Hardware
Hi i am new here. i have been doing lots of resarch and here is what i have come up with


ok i have a buget of $1000 beofre shipping for this new machine. this machine will be for everyday use plus video editing and light-mid gaming. There will be ZERO OCing. stablitly is the key.


Specs:
Mobo: DFI ultra-d $129
CPU: 3700 sandiego $~340
GPU: leadtek 6600gt ~$185
HDD: seagate 7200.8 250GB ~$130
DVDRW: NEC 3520a ~$50
DVDROM: generic ~$20
OS: XP home ~$90
Mouse: MX510 $30
Keyboard: logitech Elite ~$30
Speakers: X-530s ~$50

I have
Case: TT Tsunami
RAM: patriot 1gb 2x512 2-3-2-5
PSU: OCZ 520w

Total after tax and shipping is $1080.

1) is there anything you would change?
2) do i need a XP-90 or Zalman 7000b?
3) how difficult is it to pu the HSF on?
4) i need some sort of list on whati need to install (ie drivers, bios...)
5) thanks for looking :)

Comments

  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    1) It used to be that DVD burners couldn't burn CD's worth a snot, but nowadays especially with that NEC DVD-RW you really don't need a dual-optical drive setup. I used to run two drives like that, but I never really used both at the same time so the purpose was defeated. You can't dub from one DVD to another anyway, it has to be decrypted and cached to the drive for editing. If you're doing a disc-to-disc copy, it's more reliable to cache the disc on your hard drive when burning. I can't imagine what you'd actually need two drives for.

    I'd go with Windows XP Professional if I were you. I can't tell you how many times people using XP Home have asked me to help them do something that they needed Professional to do.

    I have that keyboard and mouse. They're awesome.

    I personally wouldn't choose that case because I don't like cases with doors but the point is moot because you've already got it ;).

    2) The retail processor comes with a heatsink/fan so you'll only need an aftermarket fan if you buy the OEM processor.

    3) Not hard at all.

    4) I'd start with installing the latest motherboard BIOS, then the OS, then all the drivers, then Windows Update. After that, application software and application patches.

    5) No problem.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    I would recomend if budget allows, adding a second fast but smaller HD for keeping your OS and apps on then use the big drive for storage. I would highly recomend a WD 74GB Raptor ( but they are spendy). This will speed up your operations all the way around as well as add some degree of added reliability to your storage. Otherwise I concur with drasnor and think you have the makings for a great rig there. ;)
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    That Seagate 7200.8 is no slouch. Seagate started putting NCQ (native command queueing, an adaptation of SCSI command queueing technology=fast) on their drives in the 7200.7 series, so the 7200.8 represents a refinement of that technology. Your motherboard's chipset can take advantage of NCQ to schedule batches of read/writes in similar areas despite being requested at different times.

    If you want a speed boost for your OS without adding a second drive, partition your drive with a smaller root partition (~40-60GB) at the front of the drive and another partition for your home directories (the rest of the space). This keeps your OS and software towards the outer edge of the platters where seek times are less.

    But yeah, it's looking good. Oh yeah, welcome to Short-Media.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • RiversCuomoRiversCuomo Missouri New
    edited June 2005
    Is that PSU the OCZ powerstream 520 or the OCZ modstream 520?

    If its the powerstream 520 then you're good to go, if it's the modstream 520 then i recommend that you change it to the powerstream 520.

    I'd go with Windows XP Professional if I were you. I can't tell you how many times people using XP Home have asked me to help them do something that they needed Professional to do.

    Is Windows XP Professional really necessary for his intentions? I believe he would do great with Windows XP Home.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    drasnor wrote:
    That Seagate 7200.8 is no slouch. Seagate started putting NCQ (native command queueing, an adaptation of SCSI command queueing technology=fast) on their drives in the 7200.7 series, so the 7200.8 represents a refinement of that technology. Your motherboard's chipset can take advantage of NCQ to schedule batches of read/writes in similar areas despite being requested at different times.

    If you want a speed boost for your OS without adding a second drive, partition your drive with a smaller root partition (~40-60GB) at the front of the drive and another partition for your home directories (the rest of the space). This keeps your OS and software towards the outer edge of the platters where seek times are less.

    But yeah, it's looking good. Oh yeah, welcome to Short-Media.

    -drasnor :fold:

    40-60GB for C:\ is ****ing ginormous. Set it to 10GB and be careful about where you install things, and leave the rest of the space you saved for applications. Separation is fantastic.

    I run win2k on a 4gb partition with the swap as the first 1gb on another HDD.
  • qparadoxqparadox Vancouver, BC
    edited June 2005
    Same here, I go for 4 GB for my 2k installs and 6 GB for my XP installs. There's a way to change the default install path to another drive so you don't have to be careful at all .. you can still just clcick thought the buttons :).
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    Thrax wrote:
    40-60GB for C:\ is ****ing ginormous. Set it to 10GB and be careful about where you install things, and leave the rest of the space you saved for applications. Separation is fantastic.

    I run win2k on a 4gb partition with the swap as the first 1gb on another HDD.
    Not really. I have a couple more pieces of software that still need to be loaded that literally have 4-8GB of associated data files. 10GB is OK if you want to keep the OS segregated from your programs but if you're only segregating files check out this screenshot.

    -drasnor :fold:
  • Mt_GoatMt_Goat Head Cheezy Knob Pflugerville (north of Austin) Icrontian
    edited June 2005
    A while back I broke up my RAID-0 array and redid my whole storage system as outlined below. This is by far the best "feeling" storage setup I have had yet. I only put dedicated apps and some that do best on the OS partition on C: with all the rest on a separate Program partition on a separate drive. This setup allows everything to work together as there is never a conflict of where the heads on any of my drives needs to move. I have also learned that my OS partition is at its best when there is no more than 65% "Used Space" on it since drives really start to lag as they fill up.

    My new drive setup is as follows:
    WD740 = C: (20GB) Windows and support progs / D: (56GB) My Documents
    WD740 = E: (20GB) Adobe scratch pad, etc. / F: (56GB) Progam Files
    WD360 = X: (10GB) 4GB Swap File
    Seagate 200 = L: (140GB) Backup / M: (50GB) Extra Storage
  • twitchee2twitchee2
    edited June 2005
    thanks for all teh replys. i do plan to set a partitio probly 10gigs or so. and as for the PSU sugesion its already sitting next to me so its too late. thansk for all the help so far
  • rykoryko new york
    edited June 2005
    RiversCuomo wrote:
    Is that PSU the OCZ powerstream 520 or the OCZ modstream 520?

    If its the powerstream 520 then you're good to go, if it's the modstream 520 then i recommend that you change it to the powerstream 520.

    why? the modstream 520w is perfectly fine for what he needs! not that the powerstream isn't a beast of a psu, but the modstream 520w is no slouch either. You are essentially telling him to waste his money on an upgrade he doesn't need. :shakehead

    also i am surprised that nobody has suggested a different mobo. he is not overclocking so why go with the badest oc'er around? it's overkill. i have seen a quite a few reviews that say the dfi ultra-d desn't really shine untill you overclock it anyway.

    might want to go with an asus for their rock-hard stability at stock speeds. just a thought.
  • twitchee2twitchee2
    edited June 2005
    i was thinking i might OC in the feature but not anywhere in the imidate future afterall i have almost the perfect oc setup...lol
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