Building a PC.

Shadow Lynx · January 24, 2004, 22:59 hrs

Well it's done!. I just finished it a while ago. Everything went off with out a hitch. Except it beeps a short beep at me when I start it up. I'll figure out what that means and fix it soon enough though.

(May not even be a problem don't know much about mobo beeps)

pat · January 25, 2004, 07:12 hrs

Hello and welcome to poasters.
What is the brand name of the motherboard (manufacturer), and of the ram and combo CDRW/DVD drive?
Watch for static electricity when you?re putting the parts together. Be sure to keep yourself grounded when you are handling the parts.
Do you need the extra USB/firewire card? There's a good chance the motherboard has them or you can get one that does. Same with the cooling fan for the cpu, unless you're looking for extra cooling because you plan to over-clock the system.
Have you looked into an AMD system?

Shadow Lynx · January 25, 2004, 12:44 hrs

The combo drive is Sony. The mobo is Intel. And the ram is Crucial. I do have some uses for some extra USB and firewire ports. And I do have some need for a better heatsync fan, I'm not OCing but it's nice to have a good one.

I've looked into an AMD system but I think I'd rather an intel at this point.

Thanks for replying.

query · January 25, 2004, 12:52 hrs

Sony drives are largely rebadged - most of their CD-RWs are just LIte-On drives. I'd go with Plextor if you're looking for what used to be Sony quality, or with LG or Samsung if you're looking for better quality (than Lite-On) at a lower cost.

Intel's boards are solid and stable - but if you're looking for a board that's good for tweaking, look elsewhere - ASUS or MSI.

Shadow Lynx · January 26, 2004, 00:44 hrs

I've decided to switch to AMD after doing more research. Anything I shold know about the
AMD Athlon 64 3400+, 1MB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor?

Any stability issues and such?
Also I've heard it was picky about ram what should I go with on that?
And what's the best mobo for it?

PS: Updated the config.

Mark H · January 26, 2004, 11:06 hrs

Some sites like www.tomshardware.com have done reviews on AMD 64 motherboards. The one that I recall coming in on top is the MSI 8KT Neo.

Asus Mobos are good as well. Corsaire memory was used in Tom's testing of the MSI motherboard. Crucial probably works as well. I would check the mobo manufacturer's site and see what RAM they recommend.

Mark H

Shadow Lynx · January 26, 2004, 12:59 hrs

Yeah I checked a while ago. kingston was one of the supported brands. I did hear the AMD 3400+ had some PSU problems. Like they couldn't get it to work with a PSU under 430 watts. But it looks like I've got everything straightend out.

Also I'm probably going to buy from newegg. anyone ever have problems with them before?

Roopert · January 29, 2004, 20:01 hrs

Basically doing the same thing and would love to compare bench marks once u get it up and going.

I have read that the corsair XMS LL is the best for the 64+ cpus due to the low latency. Cheap ram defeats the purpose of the onboard memory controller becuase of higher latency and lack of dual porting. If you look around the 64 3400+ with the right memory is within +- 1% of the 700.00 FX-51 in ALL bench marks.

Just my findings. The key to this cpu is the onboard memory controller and LOW LATENCY. If you opt for cheap ram you'll take away it's major power.

good luck

Chris

Mark H · January 29, 2004, 20:29 hrs

I would not get Kingston valueRAM. It is lower grade RAM. You would be better with Crucial or a higher grade of Kingston or Corsaire.

Mark H

Shadow Lynx · January 31, 2004, 17:16 hrs

I changed the ram and a few minor things.
I'm getting pretty close to buying all the parts and should have everything bought and built in in bit.

Can't wait to make this thing work heh.

Mark H · January 31, 2004, 19:44 hrs

Your updated system looks very good. I am not sure about Thermaltake power supplies, so you might check them out before buying. Most people recommend Antec or Enermax power supplies.

You did get the right size supply though as the AMD 3400 64 chip doesn't work well with under 400 watt power supplies.

Mark H

Shadow Lynx · January 31, 2004, 23:44 hrs

I Read up on Thermaltake PSUs.
They have a fairly good rep, but I did choose to switch the exact model of the PSU.

trav · January 31, 2004, 23:56 hrs

I would upgrade to the Audigy 2 if i was you :)

Shadow Lynx · February 01, 2004, 17:13 hrs

Yeah I thought about that. But I went all out on everything else and it's turning out to be pretty costly. As expected but I'm not an audio freak or anything so I think this'll work fine for what I want.

Chandler · February 01, 2004, 17:24 hrs

You could try to get OEM versions of the sound card and hard drive since most of the software that comes with Creative sound cards is worthless in my opinion. As for hard drives, do you need any more screws? Go OEM.

Stick with a Retail CD-RW unless you already have something like Nero 6 (not an OEM Nero), otherwise go OEM there too to save some money.

Carskick · February 02, 2004, 14:59 hrs

Make sure your HDD has an 8MB Buffer. I'd go Western Digital, but I have nothing gainst Seagate.

Rick G · February 13, 2004, 00:49 hrs

The only thing to be aware of is that many different memory's need to have a higher voltage, up to 3.0 to work properly with the Athalon and heat may be an issue. Get a large and very good heat sink, stay away from the stock HSF and get heat spreaders for your ram.

Shadow Lynx · February 13, 2004, 17:37 hrs

Yeah I'll do that. Thanks.

Mark H · February 13, 2004, 18:48 hrs

Quote from: Rick G on February 13, 2004, 00:49 hrs
The only thing to be aware of is that many different memory's need to have a higher voltage, up to 3.0 to work properly with the Athalon and heat may be an issue. Get a large and very good heat sink, stay away from the stock HSF and get heat spreaders for your ram.

Quote from: Shadow Lynx on February 13, 2004, 17:37 hrs
Yeah I'll do that. Thanks.

Heat spreaders for your RAM and an aftermarket large heat sink are not necessary if you are not overclocking your system or aren't looking for a quieter system. After market heat sinks are capable of running quieter, however, the retail heat sinks work fine.

As to the memory, you don't need to bump the voltage up with AMD based on my experience.

Mark H

Shadow Lynx · February 13, 2004, 20:32 hrs

Noise is somewhat of an issue for me not huge but enough to make me think about trying to reduce it. The ram I'm getting has heatspreaders on it I think.

Mark H · February 13, 2004, 22:14 hrs

For a good heat sink and quietness, I like the Thermalright heat sinks with a Panaflo "M" series fan on them.

The better RAM usually does have heat spreaders already on it.

Mark H

Rick G · February 14, 2004, 03:04 hrs

With that mobo and combination of parts you are completly set up for o/cing hence the recommendation for a better HSF but if you go with Geil or OCZ memory higher voltages will be in order. As an example, Geil is recommended to run at 2.97 volts.

Shadow Lynx · February 20, 2004, 11:30 hrs

I ran 3D mark03 and got 5208. Not sure exactly what's average for a computer like mine. But it seems a little low to me.

Thunderdog · March 07, 2004, 11:14 hrs

Get a large and very good heat sink, stay away from the stock HSF and get heat spreaders for your ram

Uhm, does this EVER END? Im looking heavily at P-4 3.2 + Asus with an 875 chipset. Im thinking eventually of overclocking.

I want to stay cool! what are heat spreaders? do they fit any RAM?- Do I need an ADD ON heat sink with this chip/MB?

It never ends!-LOL

Rick G · March 07, 2004, 13:47 hrs

Heat spreaders are simply a copper or aluminum plate that has a heat transfering pad on the inside where it touches the ram and transfers ther heat oout through the heat spreader. The only time you need it is when overclocking or using very high performance ram that needs to run at or around 2.9+ volts. Other than that they look cool in a system and there cheap.
HSF is necessary if overclocking, try a Zalman 7000, great cooling and not expensive. Even f not o/cing there is a significant heat difference. Suggest you look at MSI top end board for 875 chip set. Much better support than Asus and less money. Make sure you couple it with a very good vid card to get full effect.

Carskick · March 09, 2004, 14:53 hrs

Quote from: Shadow Lynx on February 20, 2004, 11:30 hrs
I ran 3D mark03 and got 5208. Not sure exactly what's average for a computer like mine. But it seems a little low to me.

Lowering the tempurature will probably not improve performance unless it's overheating, or you are going to overclock it. What kind of graphics card do you have, and do you have the latest drivers for it? I've heard the 3dMark03 is mainly Biased by the gfx card. I got aout a 3200 with my signature system, but it was probably a lot cheaper than yours. :)

Shadow Lynx · March 09, 2004, 18:59 hrs

I figured out it's probably my drivers. I refuse to update them since they run everything smoothly. Just some asus driver. My PC isn't really hot either. it runs at about 47C. Probably due to all the case fans I have. It's nice having a lot of them but they can get kind of noisy and cause case rattles and such. Also to answer your question it's an Asus Radeon 9800PRO 256MB

Whizbang · March 09, 2004, 20:43 hrs

NewEgg has been good to me. They have a very good reputation. They also are usually near or at the top in price, service, and response. I do also buy from others. If you have any questions, run the dealer through Resellerratings.com to get am idea. It is not scientific, but if you see a lot of "They never returned my call or email," or "They did not bill me correctly," you can go elsewhere.

Shadow Lynx · March 09, 2004, 21:00 hrs

Yep, I got a few parts from em. Very happy with those parts. (Video Card and Case)

Wade777 · March 10, 2004, 17:33 hrs

in my opinion NewEgg is definitely one of the best
These cheap sites are on my hate list:
http://www.pcboost.com
http://www.compubuzz.com
http://www.bzboyz.com
http://www.sonicparts.com

News:

Building a PC.