Final Purchase List, Please review!

edited September 2004 in Hardware
Just got my final list together for the rest of the parts I need for my new comp. I already have gotten the case, DVD RW, CDRW and gfx card. This is just everything left. I plan on making the purchase later tonight so please let me know if you see anything that looks like a bad choice..

CPU:
AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1MB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail
(wanted a 1mb L2 Cache 3200+ but newegg doesn't have any left)

Heat Sink
Speeze CPU Fan for AMD K8/ AMD 64 Processors, Model "5T313B" -RETAIL
(I will not be overclocking at all, just want something cheap and QUIET that will do the job. This one seems to be realitvely quiet at 31.8dba)

Motherboard
MSI "K8T NEO-FSR" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
CHANGED TO THIS: (more SATA, and IDE)
MSI "K8T Neo-FIS2R" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL

Power Supply
Fortron 530W Power Supply, Model "FSP530-60GNA" -RETAIL

Ram
3 Sticks of: Corsair XMS Extreme Memory Speed Series 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200C2PT - OEM

Hard drives
1- Maxtor 120GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model 6Y120P0, OEM Drive Only
for OS and programs
1 - Maxtor 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, MODEL 6Y160M0, OEM Drive Only
for storage and everything else for now

Speakers
Logitech THX Certified Z-680 5.1 Speaker 500Watt Silver -RETAIL
Question, the mobo above says onboard 6 channel audio. That will work with 5.1 speakers correct? Just want to make sure I don't need to buy a sound card. I'd rather not have to get any PCI cards if I don't need to !

Case Fan
KINGWIN 120mm Double Ball Bearing Case Fan, Model "F-012BB-4Pin" -RETAIL
(need another 120mm for the front, this one seemed the quietest from the ones I saw)

Let me know if I'm leaving anything out or have forgotten something. Also suggestions welcome. I hope to make the purchase tonight.

Comments

  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    I am telling you get the abit board! I have both and hte abit is much superior
  • edited September 2004
    I'll go take a look at that board now. I just remember that people here specifically recommended the MSI one I listed above before. So that was the one I was going with. Maybe that was before the ABIT one came out? I had problems in the past with ABIT boards. I actually am running one now as well, the NF7S and it is all kinds of fucked up although I think I just got a bad board. (the IDE 2nd channel is completely FUBARED, hooking anything at all up to it causes the computer to not even boot into windows). I do like there Windows BIOS update thing though, that kicks major ass.

    I'll take a look at it thogh and see what it has. Anyone else agree with GnomeWizard? Or have any other comments on the other parts ?

    P.S. The RAM I chose will work in the MSI or the Abit board right?
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    Corsair non registered will work in any board!

    Ive had 2 msi boards 1 asus and 1 abit

    First i bought the asus. It sucked so bad i returned it got hte msi. Msi worked ok it was finicky then it went boom. Got it rmaed sold it soon after and bought the abit. Abit is rock solids ocs ok and is alot more trusty than the msi
  • edited September 2004
    Just checked out the Abit. I don't like that it only has 2 ram slots. Basically that means I either go with 1 gig for like 220 bucks (2 512's), or I pay like 500 bucks to get 2 gig (which I don't want to do!!).

    I liked the MSI in that it has 3 ram slots, and I can get 1.5 gigs of ram in there for a tad over 300 bucks. I do a shit load of video and animation work, so I need the extra ram. I also read that you need to make sure your power supply has a special connector or something with the Abit board? Does the one I have listed have the right plug?

    Still can't decide ! The ram thing is kinda holding me back right now, not sure if I want to sacrifice the 512 megs or not. Also I'm not doing any overclocking at all, I just want it to fucking run with little hassle :)
  • edited September 2004
    If you don't overclock and need the ram, go for the msi over the Abit. You don't need the XMS series of ram either. You can choose their valueram for less than half the price since you don't overclock. Fry's have Kingston 512 mb ram for $60 with mail in rebate this week. They also have the big raptor drive for $150!!!
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited September 2004
    umm my Abit K8V max-3 has 3 slots
  • edited September 2004
    Thanks Mac, I'll check out the value series then and save some cash. I always thought that quality/timings of the RAM meant a lot even if you weren't overclocking, guess I was wrong ! I'll gladly save some cash and get the cheaper stuff if that is the case.

    And Gnome, here is the link to the one I was looking at
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=13-127-178&depa=1

    Edit: Mac, lower cat latency is better right? So I'd take a 2.5 over a 3 correct? Because the 3 is more expensive for some reason and its confusing me lol.
  • edited September 2004
    I also just changed the mobo for now to a better MSI that has more SATA (4) and 3 IDE. I could use em !
  • edited September 2004
    Cas timings doesn't matter that much on A64 as it used to do on previous chipset.
    On the other hand, running 3 dual bank sticks forces S754 and S939 chipset to use 2T instead of 1T which is a lot faster. How about a crucial 1GB stick or 2? If you buy 2, you have memory for a future dual channel you know.
  • edited September 2004
    Well its a price thing. I can get 3 sticks of 512 for a little over 300 bucks, but if I go 2-1 gig sticks, I'm paying over 500 bucks. Huge difference. Would it be beneficial to just buy 1 1 gig stick now and in the future grab another one when money suffices, instead of going for 3 512 sticks now??

    Also looking at Corsair 1gig sticks I"m confused as to which to get.
    1 is ECC (which I don't think I want)
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-310&depa=1

    and the other doesn't say much at all about it, so I'm not sure if either would work:
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=20-145-505&depa=1

    So again, would it be beneficial to just get 1 stick of 1gig for now instead of getting 3 512 sticks? And if so, which of the above will work with the MSI board, and which would I want?
  • edited September 2004
    Yes. For socket 754, a single stick is much better as 2 sticks doesn't give any extra bandwidth at all + that one stick runs a lot more stable.

    Crucial gives 25% off $520 if you buy 2X1GB sticks. That's $390 if i'm not mistaken.
    Crucial ram are top quality.
  • edited September 2004
    Unfortunately looking at Crucial.com, its a 25 DOLLAR discount, not percent :( That percent woulda been really nice. 25 bucks off 500 though isn't that great a deal though. As it would still be well over 500 bucks.

    I think I'll just go with the 1 stick then of RAM. But I'm still confused with the 2 Newegg is selling. I know I don't want ECC, so I'm assuming the other one is what I want. But it doesn't say much about it at all. Any advice if this one will work with the MSI board?
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProdu...-145-505&depa=1
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