Building a new computer... what you guys think of this? :)

[McRhea]

As some of you know, I've left the most important thing that I have in Korea. No!! NOT my girlfriend! HAHA.. Just kidding. I've left TWO important things in Korea... my girl and my comp. The two most important things in a guys life. Right?

I've got some experience building the things, thanks to my G400 card. (Some of you might know what I'm talking about.)

Anyway, this is what I've come up with. Tell me what you think.

Asus P3v4x mobo
P3 CU600E processor
128 PC133MHz ram (Infineon or Crucial)
G400 (Yay!)
SoundBlaster Live!
MS Intellipoint Explorer mouse (the one with the LED's)

This is where I need help. Tell me what you guys think would be the best brand for the product I need.

Flopy drive of some sort
10-13 gig hard drive
CD-ROM drive
17 or 19 inch monitor
Keyboard
Case
Probably a fan for cooling (Golden Orb?)
A good modem (when I go to college I'll probably use the cable or whatever they got, but the modem is just for back up)
Some sort of controller card for the HD

Anything I left out? If so, tell me and I'll add it in.

Don't worry about how much each item costs, we'll worry about that part later.

And if there are any pointers you guys want to give to me, feel free to do so. I'm all ears now.

[agallag]

Floppy drive - they're all the same, really
HD - I'd go with a quantum fireball
CD-Rom - They're a dime a dozen these days, unless you want dvd.
19 inch monitor - my brother just got a Viewsonic PF790. Very sweet 19" perfect flat, reasonable price.
Keyboard - anything by keytronic
Case - dunno
fan - i just use cheap oem fans, I don't o/c, but I've heard the orbs are good
modem - try to stick with usr, but by any means, don't get a software modem or "winmodem" 'cause they suck
HD controller - that mobo has ata66 on board, so you'll only need a controller if you wand to do ide raid (stiping or mirroring only, no raid5 on those puppies)

--
Andrew

[DuRaNgO[MU]]

if you can stretch your budget, upgrade the processor to a P3-700, prices are a falling fast!
jim

[McRhea]

Thanks agallag. I'll look those things up.

Durango... I was thinking of O/C'ing the 600E... that's why I''m getting it. But you're right, it's probably gonna be 1-2 months before I start building it... so I could stick in a 700 or maybe 800 if I wanted to.

Anyone else got ideas?

[Brian R.]

My opinions:

Floppy drive - Sony
HD - IBM
CD-ROM - Pioneer DVD slot load (forget CD-ROM)
monitor - Nokia or Sony
Keyboard - Anything you like to touch
Case - Enlight (midtower) or Supermicro 750 (full-tower)
Fan - Stick with the Intel - (i know, blasphemy) I have switched all my processors back to the Intel heatsink (with grease)without problem or loss of stability (650E @ 124 MHz and 600 Katmai @ 112 MHz). Try it before you buy another. They're quiet. Alot of people have had exceptional luck overclocking with this cooler.

modem - USR
For RAM, consider Mushkin also.
For processor, the 700E is a good one (once it is cheaper)
Consider also a fan for the G400: http://www.tennmax.com/BGA_cooler_guide.htm

If you are going to use W2K, consider a dual processor board (P2B-D). I have been fighting the urge to buy one and another 650E.

Also, consider USB stuff (keyboard, mouse, modem) I've heard this way is good, but outside my experience.

Good luck.

[This message has been edited by Brian R. (edited 06 June 2000).]

[dZeus]

My opinion:

Floppy drive - Do you really need one? just leave it out :-) otherwise any brand will do
HDD - Maxtor DiamondMax 40+ or a Seagate Baracuda ATA or Baracuda II ATA
CDROM - Best SCSI CDROM: Plextor, Best IDE: Pioneer slot-in. I recommend to go for a SCSI Pioneer Slot-in DVD 6x (speed does not really matter with DVD's YET)
Monitor - anything with a mishibushi diamondtron or sony trinitron tube
Keyboard - just test some at a store, and order the one you like best from the cheapest reseller
Case, fan, heatsink - whatever suits you
Modem - they are antique! go for a 3com 3c905c-tx 10/100Mbps NIC
CPU - Go for a Coppermine 600 or 650. They have the best overclocking potential and price ratio. Many of those will run on a 133MHz FSB


Other stuff:
SB Live! - Make sure you buy the Player 1024, unless you REALLY need those digital I/O immediately, otherwise you can add those later, and save a lot of money now.
MoBO - DON'T BUY A MOBO WITH VIA CHIPSET!!!!!!!!!! go for a Asus cubx or Abit bf6 instead. If you want to do dual in win2k later on, go for a DFI D2BX/D (or whatever it is called..... it's a dual BX motherboard, very good and cheap. My opinion is not to go for a dual Asus mobo, because they are FAR overpriced)

[paulcs]

Firstly, with that motherboard, you want to make sure you have CL2-rated RAM, or your Sandra benchmarks will be dreadful. If you decide to take the Crucial route, here is the part number: CT16M64S4D7E

Mushkin makes very good DIMM's although they are a little pricey. If you intend to go way over 133 MHz, you might want to go with Mushkin, although you'll pay for the privilege.

As for the case, you can't go wrong with Supermicro. But Supermicro doesn't make their own cases. They have an OEM deal with Addtronics. I suggest going directly to the source. This is the best case I've used to date:

http://www.addtronics.com/6896a.htm

Need something bigger:

http://www.addtronics.com/7896A.htm

Something smaller:

http://www.addtronics.com/3890a1.htm

I own the 6896A. It came with an Addronics power supply, which is internally identical to the Antec 300 Watt unit.

Asus is about to come out with a socketed version of the P3V4X called the CUV4X. If you're getting a Socket 370 Coppermine, and I think you should, this will eliminate the need for a slocket.

http://www.asus.com.tw/products/moth...v4x/index.html

I'd listen to agallag and get a US Robotics Faxmodem. You'll probably want to avoid any Winmodem or software solution.

And the VIA Apollo Pro 133A motherboards have native ATA-66 support. No controllers. No additional drivers. No 200 post tech support threads on the MURC.

If you get a new VIA motherboard, it will need drivers, and these drivers won't necessarily get along with many of the G400's drivers. There might be some tradeoffs. Do a search in the forums on P3V4X and K7V, and you'll get some idea of what people are putting up with and the solutions they've found.

I really like IBM hard drives. They're relatively cheap, fast enough, run fairly cool, and I've never had a problem related to overclocking.

The beauty (I think) of the VIA Apollo Pro 133A chipset is the ability to clock a CPU designed to run on a 100 MHz front side bus at 133 MHz with everything else running at spec. There are no guarantees, of course, but the odds of your getting a PIII 600E to 800 MHz are greater than a PIII 650 to 864 MHz or a PIII 700 to 931 MHz. People have done it, but it is more of a gamble.

I like Sony floppy drives as well.

Good luck.

Paul
paulcs@flashcom.net

[McRhea]

Thanks guys, but now I'm confused...

dZeus you said to not get a Mobo with a VIA chipset. Why? This goes against everything I've heard on the web... Almost everyone tells me to get a VIA mobo... Is it becaue the VIA chipset will need drivers and stuff?
DO VIA mobos have problems with other components?

I've got lots of options now, and from what I've seen from you guys, most of the components are just a matter of personal choice...

I've got 3 options for my HD!! Anyway... do NOT stop posting ideas about what is good, or what is bad... A wise man learns from others experience, right?

Later guys

[Rags]

I have to chime in a vote for a sony floppy as well. I never thought it mattered what kind of floppy you had until I got my sony. It's quiet, it spins up faster, and it hasn't given me a lick of problems with over a year of abuse (I usually go through a couple a year).

Rags



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Partnership for an idiot free America

[Liquid Snake]

Floppy - Any will do.
HD - Maxtor Diamondmax Plus 40 10.2GB (51024U2).
CD-ROM - Kenwood 72X TrueX (very fast, but not the most reliable), dont know about DVD. I guess something from Pioneer.
Monitor - Something with a Trinitron tube.
Keyboard - Logitech Deluxe104, not mushy like all those other keyboards. Keys make a nice solid click. (I hate mushy ones).
Case - Addtronics 3890A (mid-tower), 6890A (full tower), 7890A (massive).
Fan - Not sure here, I just grab generic case fans. CPU fans, I have a Tennmax P3STF.
Modem - 3Com USR Courier V.Everything. Excellent modem, fast AND reliable.
Controller card - If the mobo has one, use it. But I have a Promise Ultra66 (I bought it with my old mobo, which didnt have ATA/66).

[Brian R.]

My god, no one beat on me for recommending an Intel heatsink? I must be in the wrong forum. Excuse me....

[impact]

For a CD-ROM, either a Teac 40x or Toshiba 48x are quite fast and silent drives, but the best thing is, they are very reliable. They can read anything you throw at them and even where other CD-ROM drives fail, those two can easily read and correct errors. If you consider using scratched CDs or CDRs, then definitely pick Teac or Toshiba. I currently have the Teac 40x and I am very happy with it.

Or, if your CDs are in a good shape, or you're willing to put up with a little noise and occasional read errors on really bad CDs, try finding the Creative 36x or 40x with IR remote control. Man that rawks. The CD drive is okay, it can read a lot of stuff, eventho it might sometimes take a while, but the remote kicks ass! It can eject the tray, controls all the cd player actions (FWD,REV,PLAY, programming, shuffle, repeat...) and it can also invoke web browser and take control over the mouse cursor and you can effectively use it to control the computer and surf the web from across the room. Or you can use it to adjust the volume (it works in conjunction with the windows mixer, so it can be used even when playing games). Plus when you need silent comp, there is a button on the front side of the CD-ROM to shift into lower gear to read damaged CD's more easily. The CD light turns orange when you do this to remind you it is slowed down.
I loved this Creative drive. To bad it malfunctioned in 6 months after purchase and had to be replaced. Why cannot other companies do something like this?

In short, get the Teac.

[dZeus]

You ask me why you should not buy a mobo with a VIA chipset?

do a search on VIA in the murc forums, and since you want a SBLive! too, also look in the creative slive newsgroup.

If you still think you want one, buy it, and you'll find out why I disagree with the buy....

Why don't buy a BX chipset? since you have a G400, there's a very high chance you can run it at 89MHz AGP, being the only issue with a BX motherboard at 133MHz FSB. I don't see any advantage in an VIA chipset if you're videocard can run at 89MHz AGP.

[DuRaNgO[MU]]

...and one of those little microphones that sits on top of your monitor

[Jorden]

Chris, don't forget your webcam when you use Jim's advice on the microphone, and to send one to your girlfriend in Korea as well ... Way better and cheaper than phone-calls

Jord.