Re:

[John]

Scuzzy, I just finished with all the orders for my new PC. Here is the breakdown.



Case: Antec Biege SX1030 SOHO w/3 80mm fans

Power supply Enermax 350 Whisper dual fan

Motherboard Epox EP-8KHA+ w/via apollo 266A chipset

CPU AMD ATHLON XP 1600 w/heatsink and fan retail version

RAM Crucial PC2100 2 256 DDR=512MB

Hard drive IBM GXP60 40gig 7200 ATA/100

video ATI Radeon 7500 AGP 4X 64MB DDR

Monitor Samsung Syncmaster 570VTFT LCD

CD-RW Lite ON 16X10X40

DVD Pioneer 116 16x40

Sound On board AC97

Speakers Altec Lansing  ATP3 3 piece with subwoofer

Modem Zoom Tech V.90 model #2925

Floppy Mitsumi 1.44

Operating system Windows 2000Pro (already had full install CD)



Final cost including Tax and delivery cost (without monitor)  $1034.45

Just as soon as all the parts are delivered I'm gonna have some fun.







http://www.poasters.com/images/pcguy.gif" border=0>

John



Edited by - John on Nov 02 2001  7:20:35 PM

[scuzzy]

John,



It's nice to see you back in circulation.



It looks like you picked out some great parts for your computer. I'm looking forward to hearing from your experiences. As for my system, I like my case with the exception that the colors don't exactly match my DVD and CD-R. Oh well, minor issue.



If you learned anything from my mistakes: Make sure you seat the RAM firmly, and watch it when you install the CPU heatsink and fan. It's easy to see how the CPU can be damaged if you don't following directions.



Anywho, I'll make an attempt to poast a picture of my system either tonight or tomorrow.



http://www.poasters.com/images/scuzzy.gif" border=0>

Alex Garcia

[John]

Scuzzy, thank you. As for the seating of the RAM I will certainly remember the lessons you learned. For the CPU, I am going to order that CPU shim from GoolerGuys to see if that weill help eliminate the worry over cracking the frightgully thin Athlon XP chip.



http://www.poasters.com/images/pcguy.gif" border=0>

John

[Neon]

Well, how about we make this a hat trick? Here is my proposed system (not purchased yet, but the spending spree starts today). I'd appreciate your feedback

 

• Case: ColorCase Neon, w/thermometer (great find by Scuzzy, it's a close call between this and Antec SX840, but I really can't pass up a neon case $99



• Power Supply: Antec PP412X 400 watt w/variable speed fan $89 shipped from axiontech.com  



• Motherboard: Epox 8KHA+ (VIA Apollo KT266A Chipset)



• CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1800+ (1.53GHz Polomino) Retail version mobo/cpu bundle $350 tested from mwave.com (by the way, I see the XP 1900+ listed at monarchcomputer.com)



• HSF: included with the retail CPU (I'm not overclocking)



• RAM: Crucial Tech 512MB (2 x 256MB), PC2100 DDR $63 online (clickthrough Poasters, of course)



• Hard Drives: 2 x IBM DeskStar 60GXP 60GB ATA/100 7200 rpm (120GB total) 2($126 for drive + $4 for IDE cable + $13 shipping) = $286 from newegg.com



• Video: ATI Radeon 7500 64MB DDR, AGP-4x H/W DVD decode $145 from mwave.com



• Monitor: Samsung 955DF 19" DynaFlat CRT (Acrobat .pdf file) Probably a BestBuy purchase, rather not have it shipped (Scuzzy's experience only reinforces that) $320



• CD-R/W: Plextor PlexWriter ATAPI PX-W2410TA/SW (24x10x40x) $172 from mwave.com



• DVD-ROM: Lite-On LTD-163 (ATA-33)(16x DVD, 48x CD) $51 from newegg.com



• Sound: Turtle Beach Santa Cruz Might delay this, and use on board AC97 sound initially. $80-$20 rebate =$60 at BestBuy



• Speakers: Altec Lansing ACS48 PowerCube+ 3/4" tweeter, 3"mids 20W satellites, 6" 40W subwoofer $89 from mwave.com



• NIC: 3Com EtherLink 10/100 PCI 905C $58 from mwave.com



• Floppy: TEAC 1.44MB $15 from mwave.com



• Keyboard: not sure yet



• Mouse: Logitech First Wheel Mouse ~$15 or maybe Logitech Marble Mouse Anyone tried the marble mouse or a similar trackball? ~$30



• OS: Windows2K Pro SP2 OEM from mwave.com $145

That totals ~$1972, give or take, including the OS. There may be additional shipping and/or tax. Not cheap, but less than what I paid for my Quantex, and it's going to be all that and a bag of chips. This is going to be a fun project.



http://neon.home.texas.net/neonsm.gif" border=0>



Edited by - Neon on Nov 03 2001  10:38:47 AM



Edited by - Neon on Nov 03 2001  10:47:05 AM

[scuzzy]

Neon,



I'm rushing through this poast because I have too many projects going on, but here's some things to consider:



I paid about $55 for the Pioneer DVD 116 through NewEgg. I'm very pleased with it, and it has received nothing but great reviews from the users.



If I were in the market for a CD burner, the Lite-On would get a very close look.



I bought my TEAC floppy from NewEgg for about $10.



I also bought rounded IDE cables, and I'll never go back to the flat ribbon cables.



I believe NewEgg now sells the ATI Radeon 7500 for about $137.



Onboard AC97 sound is okay, but doesn't compare to a sound card. You'll probably end up buying the the Turtle Beach anyway, but it's not a "top of the list" item either. AC97 will hold you over, unless your music quality is very important.



As for my Enermax power supply, I'M SOLD ON IT! (Sorry for yelling) The 350 watt "FC" model is about $55 through NewEgg.



http://www.poasters.com/images/scuzzy.gif" border=0>

Alex Garcia

[Neon]

Thanks Scuzzy,



The Lite-On DVD was reviewed at storagereview.com, which rated it *ahead* of the Pioneer and said, "The LTD163 one-ups competition from Artec and Pioneer by combining 48X CD read speeds with 16X DVD speeds. The aforementioned units top out at "only" 40X CD reads. In addition, reports indicate that the LTD163 can extract digital audio at up to 48X." It is also ~$5 cheaper, however it does not come with an IDE cable (D'Oh!)



The Lite-On CD-RW was also reviewed at storagereview.com, which notes that it is an excellent and fast drive, with the following minor weak points: sparse documentation, no IDE cable, poor packet writing performance (important to me). Also, I am also a little doubtful about the quality of tech support from Lite-On. From past experience, DVD-ROM probably will not ever need it, but the CD-RW unit may. I was sort of ticked when HP left the travan tape and CD-RW markets,  HP ditches add-on CD-RW market and don't want to get burned. There is little chance that Plextor would leave the market. However, the performance/price ratio sure is right on the Lite-On, and that may make it worthwhile.



Do rounded IDE cables make that much of a difference I know they make the interior less cluttered, and help with air flow and all. Is signal interference within the cable a problem if it's rounded?



I saw the Radeon 7500 at newegg.com. They list it as OEM, and I don't want to take a chance on that unless the difference between it and the retail version is trivial (ATI's site doesn't clearly indicate; however the OEM version of the Radeon 64MB DDR lacks video in/video out).



Thanks for the AC97 tip. I may indeed wait for a little while. Gotta save something for Xmas, right?



I'll look closer at the Enermax PS. You had mentioned earlier that the 400W PS's are generally of sturdier construction, which is one reason I listed the PP412X.



Another - do OEM hard drives come with mounting screws, or do I need to hit the hardware store?



OK, I am heading out to BestBuy / CompUSA to "browse".



http://neon.home.texas.net/neonsm.gif" border=0>

[John]

Neon, sounds like you have chosen wisley. I was also wondering about the rounded cables. Seems like to me that they would surely be easier to work with. Also wouldn't they make for cooling temperatures. I might get them later. As for the 400watt power supply. According a Technician at PCPowercooling there is more engineering built into the larger watt power supplies. Also whenever I purchased OEM hard drives in the past all that came in the box was the hard drive. You can download the manual and other software utilities from IBM On another note what about a cordless keyboard and mouse from Logitech The cordless way is the only way. Check around see who has them. I do and I wont ever use a corded mouse and keyboard again. Also contrary to belief the batteries last a long time. Have fun, I know I will. Good luck, D'Oh!



http://www.poasters.com/images/pcguy.gif" border=0>

John

[scuzzy]

Neon,



1. Buy plenty of screws, both for CD/DVD-ROM and hard drives.

2. The only difference I could tell between OEM and retail ATI Radeon 7500 is that the OEM version doesn't come in a box. If there's any other difference, I'm not smart enough to know it. It even came with an S-video cable. If you're going with Windows XP, you will have to download the XP driver from ATI. Last time I looked, ATI is promising that the DVD player is still in the works.



http://www.poasters.com/images/scuzzy.gif" border=0>

Alex Garcia

[scuzzy]

Okay, I'm gonna try to summarize my computer building experience here. I know that many of you have been following along, but here it is again:

• Case: Rainer ColorCase Neon, w/dual 80mm fans



• Power Supply: Enermax 350 watt, dual fan



• Motherboard: MSI K7T266 Pro2-RU (VIA Apollo 266A Chipset)



• CPU: AMD Athlon XP 1600 (1.4GHz Polomino) Retail version



• RAM: Crucial Tech, 512MB (2 each 256MB), PC2100 DDR 266MHz



• Hard Drives: 2 each IBM GXP60 IDE ATA/100, 40GB (80GB total)



• Video: ATI Radeon 7500, 64MB DDR, AGP-4x



• Monitor: Samsung 700ift 17" flat screen



• CD-R/W: Yamaha 2200EZ (20x10x40x) Note: I removed this from my Dell, and replaced it with my old HP CD-R/W.



• DVD-ROM: Pioneer 116 (16x DVD, 40x CD)



• Sound: On board, AC97



• Speakers: IBM345 (Altec Lansing) 3 piece, incl. subwoofer



• 10/100 LAN: LinkSys Wake On Lan



• Floppy: TEAC



• OS: Windows XP Professional

Total damage = $1,459.19 (incl. S/H & tax; excluding the price of the Yamaha CD-R/W)



Building the computer was uneventful, with the exception of the trouble I had because I didn't properly seat the RAM. The diagnostic LEDs on the MSI motherboard accurately warned me that there was a problem recognizing the RAM, but it took awhile for this knucklehead to figure out why. Once I got passed that, I didn't have anymore problems.



The case was very easy to work with. Although it doesn't have a motherboard tray, it is roomy enough to where that wasn't a problem. There is a "Turbo" switch over the power switch to control the two speeds (Hi/Lo) of the two fans. When set to high, the noise level goes up noticeably. According to the digital temperature readout on the front of the case, the CPU temperature drops about 1C to 1.5C whenever I engage the faster fan speed (I have the thin temperature sensor sandwiched between the CPU and its heatsink). I don't know if that's worth all the noise, though. Not that it's intolerable; it isn't. However, on low speed the fans are pleasantly quieter.



The power supply appears to handle the system flawlessly, and despite the two fans it comes with, it is reasonably quiet. Enermax gives you enough connections and cable length to power the USS Enterprise. I don't recall how many connectors it has, but there is no shortage of them. The power supply supports both AMD and Intel P4.



The red motherboard is a pleasure. It looks nice, and is very well laid out. About the only shortcoming that I could find is that you have to remove the video card to get to the DIMM sockets. Not a big deal. It is a little difficult to get into the BIOS setup, mostly because it boots so dang fast. So, you have to be wide awake, with your finger over the delete key, ready to pounce on it when it begins booting. As for the AMI BIOS, I have no complaints. It seems simple enough to me, despite the remarks of some reviewers who claim it's not user friendly as compared to Award. Maybe I'm just too stupid to realize that I'm not suppose to like it, but I'm happy anyway.



The CPU easily dropped into the ZIF socket, and I very carefully mounted the heatsink/fan (HSF) according to the instructions. My only advice to anyone installing their own is to CAREFULLY read the instructions before mounting the HSF. If you don't follow the directions, expect that you will destroy your CPU.



Installing Windows XP Professional was easy enough, although I had to learn how to partition and format the hard drives under this new system. When I first installed XP, I ended up with a 40GB C drive, formatted as NTFS, and the slave hard drive was not recognized at all. That's not exactly what I wanted. So, I reinstalled XP, this time figuring out how to partition both hard drives, and I formatted C drive using FAT32. However, after formatting C drive, I had to continue installing Windows. Once XP was up and running, I went into "My Computer" and formatted the rest of the partitions I created in Windows setup. Each formatted partition is about 7.8GB, and I created 5 partitions on each hard drive, for a total of 10 partitions.



Once Windows XP was up and running, I went ahead and activated it *and* registered it. I figure it would be best to have my name on the registry, so that when the class action lawsuit is filed against Microsoft, I'll be included in the kickbacks. Just kidding - don't get too excited. Anyway, from a dead stop, Windows XP boots up in a mere 20 seconds. I think it makes it up on the other end, since it takes awhile to shut down.



I did have to download the XP drivers for the ATI Radeon 7500 card. Not a big deal, since the 10MB+ file downloaded quickly with the connection I have. After installing the latest drivers, I got a solid, true color, 1024x768, 100Hz picture on my Sony 220GS monitor. I can't wait for the Samsung monitor to arrive, to see how it performs.



There's not much to say on the Yamaha CD burner and Pioneer DVD-ROM. I installed the CD burner as master, and the DVD-ROM as slave, both on the same secondary IDE cable. They boot up just fine, and they both work as expected.



As for the two hard drives, they are both mounted on the primary IDE controller. I decided not to use the RAID controllers, at least not at this time.



Anywho, that's it for now. Hopefully, I'll have time to configure the system the way I want this upcoming weekend. I will take a photo sometime during the week, and poast it here.



http://www.poasters.com/images/scuzzy.gif" border=0>

Alex Garcia