Possible new computer

Carskick · April 11, 2005, 17:16 hrs

Total including shipping: $637.46

Here is my NewEgg list.

I chose the 1GB dual channel ValueRAM becuase it is so much cheaper than the the high performance RAM, yet reviews show the Corsair ValueRAM runs at pretty good latency, and has been successfully overclocked over 220mhz. It's either this or 512MB, and I'd rather do this. The dual channel will make up for it being slightly slower. How does everything else look? And this will be used with my Antec case and PSU. I will buy Windows XP locally, since I have places that sell it for pretty good deals retail. I am considering doing a small overclock on the system if temperatures are really low. We'll just see how it goes. I'd probably just overclock it to 3200 or 3400+ speeds. So let me know what you think, and if I have any incompatibilities or anything.

Bill · April 11, 2005, 17:46 hrs

Cars,
Looks good to me. If the corsiar sale ends before you order, I am having good luck with Muskin, 1 gig DR 400 was $118 when I bought it.
I have no experience trying to overclock it however.

Bill

scuzzy · April 11, 2005, 18:56 hrs

Here's a good read on value RAM from AnandTech: *click here*

query · April 11, 2005, 19:35 hrs

oops - might want to check that link.

scuzzy · April 11, 2005, 20:04 hrs

Oops is right - let's try this again:

Here's a good read on value RAM from AnandTech: *click here*

Whizbang · April 11, 2005, 20:49 hrs

The NEC floppy is supposedly the quietest of the crop available. That is also the one I purchased for my daughter's computer.

scuzzy · April 11, 2005, 21:13 hrs

Quote from: Whizbang on April 11, 2005, 20:49 hrs
The NEC floppy is supposedly the quietest of the crop available. That is also the one I purchased for my daughter's computer.

I'll bet it isn't as quiet as a USB flash drive. ;D

Seriously, I am including a floppy drive in my latest build only as a "just in case", and because the Mitsumi model I purchased has the flash card reader built in.

Whizbang · April 11, 2005, 21:38 hrs

Quote from: scuzzy on April 11, 2005, 21:13 hrs

I'll bet it isn't as quiet as a USB flash drive. ;D

Seriously, I am including a floppy drive in my latest build only as a "just in case", and because the Mitsumi model I purchased has the flash card reader built in.

The USB drive is in another world from the floppy. I know that a 2gig drive is way more than I need, but just the idea of that much transferable data in a "stick of gum" is phenomenal. And actually, the thing isn't even a drive at all. It is a "cold storage" static memory device.

Carskick · April 11, 2005, 21:45 hrs

Thanks for the great link! I chose the Corsair RAM, as it was a good deal, with or without the sale, and seems to have good ratings, and I've heard people having success with small overclocks. I was also looking at OCZ, but opted for the Corsair to save $$$. After that review, I may reconsider. I won't be buying right away anyways, so no hurry. I'll keep my eye out for the OCZ Value and Premier, as they have low CAS, low price, and great overclockability.

So the NEC is the quietest floppy, eh? I only got it because it was the cheapest on Newegg, was black, and I've had good luck with NEC stuff lately, so why not? I won't use it too often anyways. It's like a VCR. Nothing special or great, but a must. I can't believe how reliant we are on dated technology. Anyways, how does everything else look? I liked the MSI motherboard, and the MSI video card looks really nice, as far as cooling and included software. I was originally looking at the EVGA 6600GT, but it's heat sinks were covered with a stupid picture. I believe this should run cooler. Anyone know anything about this mobo? Quality, stability, BIOS, overclockability, anything? I am sure about the optical, hard, and CPU. Everything else is fair game. I really like the price to performance of the 6600GT. I love that card. If I have to, I can save money by getting a plain 6600, but they aren't nearly as powerful.

scuzzy · April 11, 2005, 22:19 hrs

I am choosing the Corsair Value Select because it's the cheapest quality RAM I could find that's approved by ASUS for use on the A8V Deluxe motherboard. I have no desire to OC in any manner, so it seems like a smart buy.

As for the DVD/RW, I am going with Plextor since they appear to have the only units available with SATA connectors, at least through NewEgg.

Carskick · April 11, 2005, 22:24 hrs

Sounds good. The MSI mobo I am looking at comes with round IDE cables, which is nice, and I will use with the optical. It comes with serial, which I will use with my hard drive. There should be much less clutter than the current HP.

So your planning on the corsair value as well? Years ago, I was told to avoid value RAM, but now, the CAS is so low, and some is even overclockable, and they have lifetime warranties, so why not?

slaxorz · April 12, 2005, 03:20 hrs

You are getting the 90nm version of the athlon64 3000+ right. Its a far superior processor more overclockability, Lower temp, not much more expensive than the 130nm.

Carskick · April 12, 2005, 16:36 hrs

Yes, I am. I figure it'd be cooler and a better overclocker. I don't think Newegg sells 130nm 3000+ for socket 939 anymore anyways.

Carskick · April 12, 2005, 18:40 hrs

Sorry for running two threads at the same time.

Here is my updated list, going back to AGP. I'm not sure what brand 6600GT I am going to get yet, but this one looks good for now.

I forgot to include shipping, but it's only like $20.

query · April 12, 2005, 19:54 hrs

Unless you're in need of SATA for some other reason, Best Buy has a 160G Hitachi EIDE drive for $69.99 after rebates this week - twice the size for $10 more.

Carskick · April 12, 2005, 20:26 hrs

Hmm. Well, I am not buying the computer now, but that is a pretty good deal. The only thing is I hate mail in rebates. And on Newegg, the 160GB Western Digital is $100, and I almost rather get that, and I was considering it, but For my needs, I don't need more than 120GB, and 80 is probably sufficient. This computer will no longer be recording TV, as the HP is now, so not a whole lot of space is needed. Also, I rather have the SATA for it's improvements and reducing clutter in the case. I will keep my eyes open, and maybe Best Buy will have another sale on a WD hard drive, which I much rather have. I'm personally not a Hitachi/IBM fan for HDDs. Thanks for the heads up, though.

Edit: I was poking around on Best Buy's site, and they have a Western Digital 120GB EIDE for $50 after reabtes. That is appealing. I could do this build piece mil, but most of the parts I can't imagine getting much cheaper.

PS: I just realized the beginning was somewhat "stream of conciousness." Sorry about that.

scuzzy · April 12, 2005, 21:11 hrs

Is Seagate not a consideration? I ordered the Seagate SATA 160GB (NCQ) 8MB Cache from NewEgg for $106. Seagate makes great drives, and the 5 yr warranty is the best.

I have become very shy of mail-in rebates. If it's not an instant rebate, then it's worthless as far as I'm concerned. I don't need the trouble nor heartache. I've simply had too many bad experiences with mail-in rebates.

query · April 13, 2005, 05:55 hrs

So far, Best Buy has been pretty good with rebates - faster than the manufacturer. I have bought a couple of Seagate drives from there with large rebates, usually split between BB and Seagate, along with a Linksys router and Uniden phone - in all cases, BB got the rebates out within 30 days; Seagate and Linksys took longer, but came through.

They count on people not using the rebates, but if you do, they have a pretty good online tracking system.

pat · April 13, 2005, 07:06 hrs

I?m not a big fan of the rebate game either, but I?d have to agree that Best Buys has gotten pretty good with getting the rebates out in a decent time frame.
I also bought two Seagate drives last year at Best Buy with rebates along with a monitor and a compact flash card. All of those rebates were received in a timely manner.

The one that took forever was on a Plextor drive that I bought from Newegg. I had just about given up on seeing that. I did finally get it though, but I waited 3 months for it.

Carskick · April 13, 2005, 13:18 hrs

I am personally a Western Digital fan. One of our HPs came with a Segate, and this may sound funny, but I like the sound of Western Digitals more. For the same price, I rather have a WD, but if a Segate is a better deal, I will go that route.

Carskick · April 17, 2005, 10:26 hrs

I was just thinking, I could put the Antec PSU into the HP for now. They have the exact same dimentions, and I compared their pin configuration, and I believe they are identical:

Bestec HP PSU

Antec SL350 manual

Do you think it would work if I did this?

I want to do this as the new powersupply would probably proveide cleaner voltages, and provide better airflow, and run cooler, thus the whole computer should run a little cooler.

Mark H · April 17, 2005, 11:04 hrs

Quote from: pat on April 13, 2005, 07:06 hrs
....The one that took forever was on a Plextor drive that I bought from Newegg. I had just about given up on seeing that. I did finally get it though, but I waited 3 months for it.

Ditto on the Plextor rebate. I just received my Plextor rebate on 4/14/2005, which is a little over three months since I mailed it (also from Newegg). All other rebates were within two months.

slaxorz · April 17, 2005, 14:38 hrs

Its sad the other states dont have the same rules as california which requires a rebate check to be sent out within 1 month of the rebate being recieved. Although that is great its still not worth it to move to the god forsaken place we know as california.

Whizbang · April 17, 2005, 18:17 hrs

Quote from: slaxorz on April 17, 2005, 14:38 hrs
Its sad the other states dont have the same rules as california which requires a rebate check to be sent out within 1 month of the rebate being recieved. Although that is great its still not worth it to move to the god forsaken place we know as california.

Apparently, Soyo does not know that. I finally received the second of my two rebate checks for a total of $110.00 from Soyo after having argued with them for three months that the reason I did not separate the requests for the $50.00 and $60.00 rebates was that both required the original UPC code. The only way I could comply with that request was to send the requests in the same envelope. One would think that their oversight would have embarrassed them, but the only response that I kept getting was that I did not comply with the rules. The only way I was able to get their attention was to tell them just to forget the matter and that I would never purchase a Soyo product again. The final total for the DRAGON Ultra was $14.00. That was a tough fight.

Carskick · April 25, 2005, 20:57 hrs

Well, I cut out the wood behind my computer to improve airflow, but do you think I should also put the Antec PSU in the HP? Does anybody know if it will work properly, or is the PSU propriatory?

Carskick · May 01, 2005, 10:32 hrs

Back to the possible new computer:

I decided I will use my current slave as my Master in my new PC. It's an IDE Western Digital 7200RPM w/8MB Cache. I'll live with IDE for a while. Ill tuck the cable or something.

Anyways, my bigest delema now is motherboard. I need an AGP Motherboard that has good integrated sound, and good overlockability, including AGP/PCI lock. I prefer ASUS and Nforce3 Ultra chipsets, but I don't know if I can get both for a good price.

Here are the newegg motherboards that fit my basic needs

I don't really want EPOX, ECS, or Soltek, or a SIS chipset, so which one would be the best for me?

Passive cooling would be nice as well, but isn't a high prority. Price and the above mentioned are msot important. Thanks!

Chandler · May 01, 2005, 11:04 hrs

There aren't any stock passive nForce3 boards (there was a Gigabyte board but they now fit an active cooler) so if you want passive you have to fit your own (and it will probably need bending slightly to fit). The stock coolers on nForce3 boards are too loud for me, but most people would be satisfied with them. Most of the VIA boards are passive.

Bill · May 01, 2005, 22:08 hrs

Cars,
Of the list, I have the gigabyte K8NS (not C) 939 ultra and it has been trouble free. I must add that I have only one experience and nothing to compare it to but..It went together easily, everything was well labeled and it has been great since the first boot.

Bill

Neon · May 02, 2005, 22:16 hrs

I'd go for the Epox board - they make reliable boards and have good documentation.

The 9NDA3+/J has received good reviews, there's a lot for the money, it overclocks well.

Carskick · May 02, 2005, 23:29 hrs

I've been considering the Chaintech, but not so much the Epox. I have no experience with their boards. Wasn't somebody on the forum complaining that their Epox had an IRQ problem in the PCI slots?

It does have great reviews, especially for overclocking. I will strongly consider it. I also like the extra space between the AGP and PCI slots, though I don' really like where the power connectors are, seems to block rear flow. I think I could make it work, though. Thanks for the assurance on that board, Neon.

And as far as passive vs active, being extremely quiet isn't that important. If only 1 or 2 components make a little extra noise, it's okay, as long as it doesn't sound like a cheap CD drive is spun up all the time. ::)

News:

Possible new computer