building comp for my friend let me know what you think

aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
edited March 2005 in Hardware
im building a custom system for one of my friends. here are the specs

AMD socket 939 3000+
1 stick of samsung 512 m
Graphics card tbd
ABIT an8 pci-e
80 gig hitachi sata 7200 rpm
Silver raidmax case
copper cpu fan tbd

total cost $650 let me know what you think i should change.


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Comments

  • kryystkryyst Ontario, Canada
    edited March 2005
    what about optical drives?
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    He already has some laying around along with case fans and a monitor
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    Power supply? Got a link to the specific case?
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=11-156-019&depa=1
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    Ugh. That case is great... for a P3. Doesn't have the cooling capacity to PROPERLY cool anything more powerful than that.

    And what power supply are you using?
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    well it has space for 8 80mm fans
    4 in front of hard drives
    2 in back
    2 on side
    goin to use one from fry's 450w 37 with 37 rebate
    same as what im using
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    This is not 2 fans in the back dude, this is 1 60mm:
    http://images10.newegg.com/productimage/11-156-019-10.JPG

    That case takes 5-6 80mm fans; 2 in the side, 3 or 4 in the front (good luck getting the 4th one in there).

    The front 4 fans won't accomplish much of anything because the fan grills are restrictive as all hell and there's not any kind of ventillation holes in the front bezel to let air in; they'll be recirculating air more than anything else.

    So that leaves you with 2 80mm intake fans. And no exhaust fans. And the intake fans aren't even properly positioned for any kind of airflow.

    Conclusion: the case sucks.

    What BRAND is the "450w" PS? Wattage ratings mean very little with power supplies. I've seen "550w" PSes die under a load of 300w. If it's not made by one of a handful of companies, it's not worth its weight in shit. It might still power that system, but you're still running a much higher risk of it dying and taking everything in the system with it than you would be with a halfway decent PS. I'd be more comfortable with a 350w Antec than most 450w PSes.

    Also, using 1 stick of RAM completely defeats the purpose of going with S939. If you're not planning on extreme overclocking for this RAM i'd pick up two sticks of this stuff... http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=20-146-219&depa=0
    dirt cheap, better timings than anything else around that price, easily as reliable as the samsung, and it has a lifetime warranty.
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    Good price on that Muskin ram Geeky! You say it's a good ram to use?
    512MB stick for $55.67= WOW. And Cas Latency: 2.5-4-4!
    My OCZ high perf pc3200 ram has Cas Latency: 2-3-3-6.
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    Well any other ideas for a case? It has to cost less than 45 with shipping

    the power supply is athena power is is currently powering my

    1.8ghz P-4
    eVGA fx5600 ultra
    two hdd
    two optical drives
    5 case fans
    set of dual ccfl lights

    with no problems
    2 fans in the psu (exhaust)
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    A PSU makes the system NEVER skimp on a psu ask Hawk he had a decent psu and it still fried his board
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    I still need to know what i should buy to stay on budget
    Ideas would still be greatly appreciated
  • HawkHawk Fla Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    and memory! :(
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    Hawk: that mushkin stuff is great if you're not overclocking. I dunno how well it OCs tho... I'll have to throw some of mine in the DFI and find out.

    aspire.comptech, what's the budget for the whole system? And is the stuff in your first post the only stuff that the budget is for?
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    Budget is for
    a. cpu socket 939
    b. motherboard
    c. Hard Drive 80gig
    d. PSU
    e. Case
    f. Video Card
    g. ram dual sticks of 256 good or dual sticks of 512
    h. cpu fan
  • GnomeWizarddGnomeWizardd Member 4 Life Akron, PA Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    WD on the Hard drive Hitachi sucks

    PSU thats good and cheap

    http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=17-104-968&depa=1
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    Trying to stay on budget i need all the things I mentioned on my last post a list would be extremely helpfull $650 budget. Us highschoolers arent rich
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    I bought myself a dual P4 Xeon system, dual Athlon system, something like 5 dual P3s, a dual P2, a dual P2 Xeon, multiple Athlon systems and a P4-as well as a bunch of other stuff-in high school. :p

    I'll see what I come up with for $650.
  • SSR_06SSR_06 Iowa
    edited March 2005
    :eek: holy shit you had the cash train coming in Geeky1
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    See im not rich.
    Plus my family isnt the most technically endowed
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    Been busy, post the list i came up with later today...
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    Parts list....
    ANTEC Solution Series Super Mid Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK3700AMB" - Retail
    Item# N82E16811129122
    $59.99

    2x KINGWIN 120mm Double Ball Bearing Case Fan, Model "F-012BB-4Pin" -RETAIL
    Item# N82E16811999965
    $6.49 x2 =$12.98


    Spire Fan Blower 70mm Case Fan, Model "FD07015B1M3" -RETAIL
    Item# N82E16835166017
    $2.99

    Maxtor 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, MODEL 6Y080M0, OEM Drive Only
    Item# N82E16822144318
    $69.75


    2x Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
    Item# N82E16820146219
    $55.67 x2 =$111.34

    ECS NVIDIA nForce4 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket 939 CPU, Model "NFORCE4-A939 (1.0)" -RETAIL
    Item# N82E16813135177
    $76.50

    AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache, Socket 939 64-bit Processor - Retail
    Item# N82E16819103501
    $152.00

    MSI nVIDIA GeForce 6600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-Bit, DVI/TV-Out, PCI-Express, Model "NX6600-TD128E" -RETAIL
    Item# N82E16814127146
    $124.00


    Product total: $609.55
    Shipping & Handling: $ 38.33
    Total (Before tax): $647.88
  • ZuntarZuntar North Carolina Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    Very nice geeky1.;)
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    thanks
    dont like the case though
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    aspire.comptech wrote:
    thanks
    dont like the case though

    You know, I don't really like it all that much either... to get enough cooling into it for me to be happy enough with the temps I was getting with an XP2500+ and a 9700 Pro to overclock it, I had to put 2 80mm blowhole fans in the top and 2 120mm fans in the side panel. But it's the best case you're gonna find for $60 or less, and it's the ONLY case for $60 or less with a power supply that you should be using.

    That AthenaPower PS you were going to use goes for $40 on newegg. There is no such thing as a $40 450w PS. I'll repeat that just in case someone didn't get it the first time: There is no such thing as a $40 450w PS. That's a 300w PS with a 450w sticker.

    And I really, honestly, truly don't care if it powers your system just fine. Your system is drawing maybe 200w under full load, if that. ANY power supply on the market, generic or otherwise, that's rated for at least 300w should handle that system without a problem.

    The fact that it runs your system means nothing. If you had a system that pulled a significant amount of power, say a dual Athlon, Opteron, or P4 Xeon system, with a video card that's at least as power hungry as a 9700 Pro, and at least 3 or 4 7200rpm hard drives (or better yet, 3 or 4 10k or 15k scsis)... AND the power supply had been running the system reliably for at least a year... THEN you might have a valid point. But if you're just running a single cpu system with a single video card and only a few hard drives, especially if it's an older system like yours, the fact that it runs your system means nothing.

    Furthermore, using a cheap power supply is being penny wise at the expense of being dollar foolish. It's not looking at the big picture. So you save $25 on a power supply. And then, 6 months or a year down the road (maybe later, maybe sooner), your cheapass POS generic power supply decides to call it quits. AND it decides to take everything else in the system with it. The end result is that you're now out $600 because you were a tightwad and decided to save $25 on a power supply. This is not a good idea.

    Your friend should really go with a S754 system (if it's significantly cheaper... I don't know that it is anymore) or maybe a Socket A system. He may even want to consider one of the Prescott-based Celerons, which are supposed to perform much better than the Prescott P4s and overclock well. Getting a S939 system is all well and good, but with $650 to spend, the best graphics card he's gonna get is that 6600 I put in, unless he goes down to 512MB of RAM. And the 6600 isn't really very fast. AND, going to 512MB of memory and a 6600GT will hamstring games like Doom 3 and HL2 which really need at least 1GB of system memory. Basically, he's being unrealistic in wanting a s939 system for $650, unless he's willing to make some sacrifices with regard to its gaming power.
  • drasnordrasnor Starship Operator Hawthorne, CA Icrontian
    edited March 2005
    I sincerely hope that your friend has all the software he's going to need. Windows XP OEM is $150 last I checked, and you can forget Office 2003.

    -drasnor
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    Dude it's called cracked discs can you repeat that, cracked as in illegal. And don't give me any of that illegal b.s. microsoft makes enoygh money as it is. And by the way www.newegg.com 95 bucks xp home with sp2. Also i think im gonna change the system to

    AMD Athlon MP 2400+ 2GHz Processor Retail $146

    Gigabyte GA-7N400S-L nForce2 Ultra 400 Athlon(XP)/Duron Skt462 DDR ATX Motherboard w/Audio, LAN, RAID/Serial ATA Retail $66

    Asus N6600/TD GeForce 6600 AGP 8X 256MB DDR Video Card w/TV-Out & DVI Retail $145

    GeIL GE1GB3200BDC 1GB Kit DDR400 PC3200 Dual Channel Value Series Memory Retail $115

    AeroCool Silver ATX Mid Tower Case With Side window & jet, Model "AEROENGINE-C SS" $72

    Seagate 80 GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA with NCQ Hard Drive, Model ST380817AS, OEM $70

    Cables $20

    Fans and Lights $15

    Total: about $650 with shipping
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    Gigabyte sucks, that memory is a waste of money seeing as how it doesn't have TCCD chips or anything that will make it spectacular for overclocking and it's more expensive than the Mushkin stuff. You don't need an Athlon MP (do you even know what the MPs are for?). You're still gonna need a PS with that case, and the 256MB 6600 is a waste of money, seeing as how the 6600 is too slow to use the extra memory. The whole point of going to an AXP is to make a system that's faster overall for $650, not make a slower system using unnecessarily overpriced components :rolleyes:
  • aspire-comptechaspire-comptech New
    edited March 2005
    Wow didnt even realize the 6600 had 256 mb of ram im gonna get a refurbished 6600gt from newegg same price. What motherboard would you recomend for under $70 socket a and yes i do know what the mp's are for they use low voltage so they are much cooler and can be overclocked like hell. what kind of ram would you recomend other than mushkin cuz it's pretty much the same price. I'm gonna put the 450w psu i have into it plus i have already had the psu for almost 6 months and it's still doin just fine.
  • Geeky1Geeky1 University of the Pacific (Stockton, CA, USA)
    edited March 2005
    The Athlon MP is the MultiProcessor Athlon dude. It's a SMP capable Athlon XP. It's the Athlon XP for dual processor systems. The low voltage ones that overclock well are the MOBILE Athlons, which you can find here:
    http://www.newegg.com/app/Listproduct.asp?submit=property&catalog=343&propertycodevalue=4181,%200,%200,%200,%200,%200,%200,%200&minprice=&maxprice=&mfrcode=0&DEPA=0&description=&srchFor=mobile

    This is the ONLY Socket A board to buy if you're overclocking. No, it's not under $70. It's $82. And don't confuse it with the NF7-S2 or anything else. This is the ONLY ONE that's worth anything.
    http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=13-127-166&depa=0

    I still think (in fact, I know) you're being real stupid about that power supply. But hey, whatever.

    As for the RAM... it doesn't really matter at that price point. The Geil might overclock a bit better, you'd have to check. But unless you're dropping $100+ for each 512mb for a new stick, you're not going to get seriously overclockable RAM anyhow. And the other thing is the NF2 runs dual channel RAM, so you don't need to overclock it in synch with the FSB.
  • SSR_06SSR_06 Iowa
    edited March 2005
    Geeky1 wrote:
    This is the ONLY Socket A board to buy if you're overclocking. No, it's not under $70. It's $82. And don't confuse it with the NF7-S2 or anything else. This is the ONLY ONE that's worth anything.
    http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductdesc.asp?description=13-127-166&depa=0

    im sorry but this is COMPLETELY untrue. there are many boards out there that overclock just as good as a NF7-S2 WITHOUT mods. unless your some huge fanboy you can't deny that there are other boards that perform just as good as an NF7-S2 with mods.
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