Building comp and need help! Critique Please!!!

[aerobahn]

go into your bios/frequency settings and up your frontside bus. Make sure you have sufficent cooling. PM me for more

[ganhosi]

Oh, ganhosi, where did you get that ram...and whats this overclocking?

I got the ram at www.newegg.com, you can also go directly to Crucial Micron's website. Here are the links, make sure you get the DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • Unbuffered • Non-parity • 5ns • 2.5V • 64Meg x 64

http://www.crucial.com/store/listmod...ackage&cat=RAM

http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProduc...tby=14&order=1

Overclocking is when you go above the recommended clock cycles for a CPU by either unlocking the Multiplier or increasing the Front side bus. This allows you to achieve the speed of a higher processor at a much lower cost. When companies like AMD make processors, it's cheaper for them to make huge batches of 3200's and underclock them to 2500's instead of making a batch of 3200's and a batch of 2500's. So essentially the 2500's are 3200's underclocked and locked. You just have to overclock it back up. This process of unlocking or overclocking the CPU creates the same amount of heat as a 3200, but since AMD gave you a heatsink for a 2500, you need to get an aftermarket heatsink/fan.
Here is the math :

AMD 2500 = 1.8gig, 11x166 = 1826
amd 3200 = 2.2 gig, 11x200 = 2200 or 2.2 gig .
11 is the set multiplier, so just change the CPU FSB to 200

You can read more about this online, just go to www.google.com and type in "Overclocking amd 2500+"
Good luck

[aerobahn]

CL3....

if i were you i would get CL 2 or atleast 2.5.

3 is too slow.

[zyfe mural]

Aggain, I really apreciate your help, I have a few more questions if you dont mind. Bear with me please.

Here is a couple of things i have, if its not good please let me know.
HARDDRIVE

Western Digital
Info...

ONLINE ORDER ONLY -
80.0GB EIDE. 8.9ms 5400RPM ATA/100, 2MB. (OEM, WHITE LABEL DRIVES, 9 Months Warranty) 80.0GB EIDE. (5400RPM, 8.9ms, 2MB). SAME DAY SHIPPING. Price: $57
Ship 1 : $4.49 UPS GROUND
Will Ship: Same - 1day
Updated:9/19, 2:58AM
$61.49 UPGRADE SOLUTION

CD DRIVES - PCDIRECT
Artec
Info...

Artec 56x BLACK CD-ROM Drive IDE Reads all disc formats, Plug and Play, BLACK.
(Part - CDAR56BLACK)
Price: $19
Ship 1 : FREE UPS Ground Shipping
Updated:9/17, 12:27PM
$19 PCDIRECT.COM
Info...

800-453-9444
419-476-2222 Gov, Edu, Medical POs Accepted
OH

CDAUDIO CD-ROM Audio Cable - Fits all standard IDE CDROM / DVD / and CDRW Drives - GREAT PRICE TOO!

MOTHERBOARD and PROCESSOR
M906HLU - I845E chipset, DDR RAM, 1 AGP(4X), 4 PCI, 1 CNR, Audio, Full Size ATX
with cpu - Pentium 4 2.4GHz 800 MHz CPU FSB Socket 478, w/ Heatsink & Fan, Complete Combo Bundle
(Part - 1491)
$217


Combo Drive
Lite-On
Info...

ONLINE ORDER ONLY -
MENTION PRICE WATCH -- Lite On 48x24x48x16 CDROM/CD-RW/DVD Combo Drive LTC-48161H (32X,24X,16X,8X,4X)Black also Available Lite-On 48X/24X/48X + 16X CD-RW/DVD-ROM EIDE INTERNAL COMBO BULK DRIVE Burner / Duplicator Price: $45
Ship 1 : $4.99 Plus Insured
Updated:9/20, 1:25PM
$49.99 CyberdreamZ
Info...

562-697-2902
562-697-6156
CAVIDEO CARD

Sapphire Technology Limited
Info...

ONLINE ORDER ONLY -
Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis 256mb DDR 8X AGP P/N:1024-8C20 1 yr warranty ATI Radeon 9600 256mb DVI+CRT+TVout support 4-pipeline programmable pixle shade
(Part - 310-18736T)
Price: $134
Ship 1 : Free or Pick-up
Will Ship: Same - 1day
Updated:9/19, 4:54PM
$134

SOUND CARD
I
Info...

ONLINE ORDER ONLY -
32-bit PCI CMI#8738-6 5.1 Channel Sound Card RETAIL BOX NO GIMMIC! Live Theater 5.1 5.1 Channel PCI Sound Card 32bit PCI Bus Master PCI 2.1, PCI 2.1 Compliant RETAIL
(Part - SNS8738SD)
Price: $10
Ship 1 : free SHIP 48 STATES
Will Ship: Same - 1day
Updated:9/10, 1:44PM
$10
SPEAKERS
http://www.str8buy.com/st5musp.htmln $73

Power Magic/By Xcase 704D Blue/Biege ATX 11 Bay Mid-Tower Computer Case W/Installed X-Window & 500W Powersupply
Shipping Options: Add Shipping Box & Expedite my Order (+5)
Add Case Mods:
Add Color CD-ROM:
Add Color CD-RW:
Add Color DVD-ROM:
Add Color Floppy:
Add Keyboard:
Add Mouse:
Add Norton Software:
Add Power Splitter: Recommended Power Lead Splitter-Y Connector Cable (+$2.5)
Best Buy Cable:
Best Buy Hardware:
Best Buy Software:
Color Round Cable:
Front USB: Add Dual Front USB 2.0 & Audio Ports (+3)
Power Upgrade: 500W P4/AMD Recommeded-PowerMagic W/Dual Fan (+7)
Rear Case Fan: Recommended 8cm High Speed (+6)
Side Panel Fan: Recommended 8cm High Speed (+6)
Select Your Additional Components and Upgrades From the drop down boxes below
Components selected will not add additional shipping.Front Case Fan: Recommended 8cm High Speed (+6) 61.50
RAM

Product Description Price MaxTotalCost
Price + Max Shipping Dealer/Phone/Link/State
Generic
Info...

ONLINE ORDER ONLY -
512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM - 64x64 - 2.5 Volt - 184 Pin DIMM (TRUE PC3200 - 400MHZ DRAM) Gold Leads - In Stock
(Part - AG643200) Price: $64
Ship 1 : $4.95 Insured Ground
Updated:9/20, 1:21PM $68.95 Portatech

Okay, please critique, tell me anything is overpriced or if anything doesn't go together right. Okay, thank you for the help with over clocking. 1.7ghz to 2.0ghz !!! Woot! ( for my friend). Oh, can someone please tell me if the motherboard is decent, all i know is the p4 2.4 is with it....

[Doppelganger]

motherboard:
ECS 648FX-A 800FSB, SiS648FX/ SiS963L Chip, 5 PCI,1 AGP, DDR, A-L, USB 2.0, ATX
Price: $234
Ship 1 : $4.00 - 4.81

add a water cooling system (wait til aerobahn replys with a suggestion) for 75-200 and you will own.

that isn't that bad of a deal though.

[ganhosi]

CL3....
if i were you i would get CL 2 or atleast 2.5.

you can get the Crucial DDR PC3200 • CL=3 • Unbuffered • Non-parity • 5ns • 2.5V • 64Meg x 64, which has a Cas Latency of 3 and change the timming to 2.5, for $90

OR

you can get a CL 2.5 Ram for $130 - 150.

The decision is up to you, if you like to burn your money I can give you my address and you can just send me some money. If it was up to me, I would save the $50 and put it towards upgrading my graphics card, it seems you are on a budget, so I assume you want the best BANG for your buck.

80.0GB EIDE. 8.9ms 5400RPM ATA/100, 2MB

The price is good, speed is the slow. There are hardrives that run at 5400, 7200, 10000 and 15000, the 10000 and 15000 are sata/ scsi drives. The 5400 will run good if you dont mind waiting a second more for your data

Artec 56x BLACK CD-ROM Drive IDE Reads all disc formats

Hmm your going back in time, I would go with atleast a cd burner or a dvd rom. But if a cd-rom is all you need, then more power to you.

M906HLU - I845E chipset, DDR RAM, 1 AGP(4X), 4 PCI, 1 CNR, Audio,

You should find out what company makes the Motherboard. Asus is good and so is Abit for P4 boards.
There are 2 things you should never compromise on when building a stable computer :
1). Motherboard
2). Ram
Don't go cheap on any one of those above or you will spend endless hours trying to figure out why your system is not booting or is unstable. Sorry I really dont know much about Pentium North bridge chipsets, so you might want to do some research on the I845E chipset. I avoide Intel like the plague, AMD has shown me the light.

Sapphire Radeon 9600 Atlantis 256mb DDR 8X AGP

Good cheap card that has high overclocking potential, I'm glad you went with an ATI

512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM - 64x64 - 2.5 Volt - 184 Pin DIMM (TRUE PC3200 - 400MHZ DRAM) Gold Leads

I am assuming this is generic, by the price. When buying generic ram, it's like going to the casino and gambling. I myself have had bad luck with generic ram in the past 5 years of building computers. The most sensitive computer part is the memory... I also believe it's the most important part of a computer, more important then the CPU. Try and find out if they have a generous return policy, incase it wont meet the 400mhz specs or is unstable in your system.

Please remember that I am NOT trying to tell you what computer you should build, I'm only telling you my past experiences and trying to just inform you on what is out there. GOod Luck

[Doppelganger]

that is good info, use it well..

[aerobahn]

NONONONONON!!!! 4 things you MUST DO!!!!

First)
that mobo you got is NOT 800mhz bus speed!!!!
BUT your CPU is!!! get any i875p or i865!!!!!!!

Second)
GO for 1 gig!!! i had 512 and i almost always ran out of memory when playing MMORPGs! You need atleast 768mb of ram to avoid "swapping" which is when you run out of memory and your cpu uses your harddrive which slows everything down.

Third)
MAKE SURE TO BUY MEMORY IN PAIRS! all the latest motherbords use "DUAL CHANNEL" which doubles memory bandwidth if TWO of the exact same memory dimms are found. So if you buy 1 gig get 2x 512mb, or if 512mb get 2x 256mb.

Fourth)
DONT BUY THE 9600 256mb version.

THE 256mb on that card (9600pro) is useless its not powerful enough to utilize it. And games arent out yet that even use that much. Even on the 9800pro its useless. It's all marketing. I have both a 256mb radeon and a 128, both are the exact same in every game i play with only a few frames faster on the 256mb its not worth it. It's like the 8x AGP gimmic which supposedly doubles the bandwith but there is no difference in preformence.


Go for the 128mb version and save your cash for the extra ram!!!

i hope i was in time and you didn't buy it yet

[ganhosi]

NONONONONON!!!! 4 things you MUST DO!!!!

He doesnt HAVE to do anything.

THE 256mb on that card (9600pro) is useless its not powerful enough to utilize it.

Umm the card is $130.00 , that's pretty darn cheap, how much more can you really save by getting a 128 meg 9600 . Let him get it, yhea there are no games right now that utilize it and it'll probably get bottlenecked somewhere, but for 130.00 .. why not?

Hey aerobahn is that a dictator on your avator??

[aerobahn]

Originally posted by ganhosi


He doesnt HAVE to do anything.



Umm the card is $130.00 , that's pretty darn cheap, how much more can you really save by getting a 128 meg 9600 . Let him get it, yhea there are no games right now that utilize it and it'll probably get bottlenecked somewhere, but for 130.00 .. why not?

Hey aerobahn is that a dictator on your avator??

Do you know anything about computers???
Do you? do you know that he is buying a P4 that uses 800mhz bus? But he is going to buy a motherboard that supports only 400/533mhz. Does that sound smart? he can only use half the bandwith? Either he can down grade his CPU or get a newer motherboard. Other wise it is waste of his money

so are you telling him to go ahead and waste his money? Thats what it sounds like.

And "DUAL Channel" must be used inorder to take advatage of 800mhz fronsidebus. In order for him to to utilize that he needs to buy memory in pairs. Because you dont know what it means ill tell you, it double the memory bandwith from 4.2 to 6.4 Getting rid of memory bandwith bottelnecks.

The 9600pro 256mb cannot overclock as good as the 128mb Due to heat problems. Sure he only saves 30 bucks but hes getting more head room should he ever want to over clock. and that money goes to off set the cost of buying his memory in pairs.

Im telling him the facts plain an simple. Im trying to help him make the best computer he can

Dont want him to have that? Are you angry because you did not include anything of value into your advice? Im trying to help him. You are trolling. Please go troll some where else.


and yes thats "Baghdad BOB" In an Nvidia slogan showing that the Nvidia PR are nothing but spin doctors.

Enjoy

[ganhosi]

Sigh... read my post

I was refering to the fact that you make it sound like the world is going to end if everyone doesn't do it YOUR way. a.k.a, you should lay off your caps, and my subtle reference to a dicatator obviously flew right over your head. You successfully misinterpreted my post, once again
I'm not going to get banned flamming with you so yhea, I know nothing about computers..
Happy?
Thanks, please drive through...

[aerobahn]

Originally posted by ganhosi
Sigh... read my post

I was refering to the fact that you make it sound like the world is going to end if everyone doesn't do it YOUR way. a.k.a, you should lay off your caps, and my subtle reference to a dicatator obviously flew right over your head. You successfully misinterpreted my post, once again
I'm not going to get banned flamming with you so yhea, I know nothing about computers..
Happy?
Thanks, please drive through...

It's not about doing it my way, it's about doing it the right way. Why have him buy something that won't work right? I was just trying to save him some headache. Why go against good advice it was only ment to help him.
But im glad you understand haha

[zyfe mural]

Okay, Whoa! No arguments please! (Please dont, it discourages the taru from doing their happy benchmark dance :spin I dont want corruption, justa nice pc. So what exactly is the point?
Aerobahn
The motherboard im about to get isn?t compatible withthe cpu? If so, What motherboard should i get? I want one that supports the 800 mhz or ghz or whatever it is.

that mobo you got is NOT 800mhz bus speed!!!! BUT your CPU is!!! get any i875p or i865!!!!!!!

Is that the same brand as the one i was about to get?

MAKE SURE TO BUY MEMORY IN PAIRS! all the latest motherbords use "DUAL CHANNEL" which doubles memory bandwidth if TWO of the exact same memory dimms are found. So if you buy 1 gig get 2x 512mb, or if 512mb get 2x 256mb.

Please break that down for me and does the i875p or i865 have the dual channel thing? In addition to that, what about the ram im about to get? Do i need to get different ram, because i think it's 400 mhz?- 512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM - 64x64 - 2.5 Volt - 184 Pin DIMM (TRUE PC3200 - 400MHZ DRAM) Gold Leads - In Stock- ...:spin: Im so confused :spin: Arigatoogozaimasu Ganhosi + Aerobahn

Ganhosi
Amd 2500+ barton = $90.00
2 x 512 meg Crucial 3200 DDR = $180.00
IBM 120 gig hardrive with 8 meg cache = $107.00
Thermaltake XASER III V2420A ( SILVER ) w/420 psu = $198.00
Shuttle AN35N-Ultra 400 Motherboard dual channel = $69.00
Pioneer 120s slot load dvd-rom 16x = $39.99
Soundblaster Audigy ($29.00 from ebay)
CoolerMaster Aero 7 + CPU fan ($19.00 from ebay)
Ati Radeon 9500 Pro ($129.99 from CompUSA, SWEET CLEARANCE SALE)

that sounds pimp, i mean nice, but where are the speakers?

Thermaltake XASER III V2420A ( SILVER ) w/420 psu = $198.00
Is this a case?

Shuttle AN35N-Ultra 400 Motherboard dual channel
Is it any good? and Amd 2500+ barton = $90.00 is cpu? Is it any good?

Also, i havent seen any comments about the combo drive, so is it safe to assume its okay? and my other question is if the sound card is compatible with the speakers?

Thank You guys so much!!!! FFXI all in our shiznits!

[replica]

the barton 2500 is a good processor if you're going for value. however, if you can afford to pay double that (171 last i checked on newegg).. go for the P4 2.4c processor. they're known to OC very well and I haven't heard of anyone that couldn't get theirs to 3 ghz with ease and stock cooling.

I'm actually considering selling my barton and mobo and then spending some extra cash to get the 2.4c in my system. All depends on the paychecks

[zyfe mural]

BIOSTAR P4-VTB (DDR PC3200 - Serial ATA - 8X/4X AGP - 6 CH AUDIO - 6 USB 2.0 - ATX) (Recommended) [add $21.41]

ASUS S04P4P800 (4 DDR PC3200 DUAL CHANNEL - 8X/4X AGP - 6 CH AUDIO - LAN - ATX) [add $69.98]

AOPEN O04AX4CMAX (4 DDR PC3200 DUAL CHANNEL - 8X/4X AGP - 8 USB 2.0 - LAN - ATX) [add $136.99]

ASUS S04P4P800-VM (4 DDR PC3200 - 8X/4X AGP - 6 CH AUDIO - 6 USB 2.0 - LAN - MICRO ATX) [add $63.94]

ASUS S04P4P800DELUX (4 DDR PC3200 DUAL CHANNEL - 8X/4X AGP - 6 CH AUDIO - LAN - ATX) [add $94.13]

GIGABYTE A048IPE1000 (4 DDR PC3200 DUAL CHANNEL - AGP 8X/4X - HT - 6 USB 2.0 - ATX) [add $58.51]

ECS 648FX-A (DDR PC3200 - 8X AGP - USB 2.0 - 6 CHAN AUDIO - LAN - ATX)

What about any of these mother boards? How can you tell if it supports 800mhz? All i ever see is 400 or 333...

Edit: P4 w/ FSB800 Support, Dual Channel DDR400 Support,4xDIMMs,6ch Audio,LAN, SATA,5xPCI Slots, AGP 8X Slot, ATX
(Part - MB6659) what about that? its $100 though....
MSI S04648F-L (648F NEO-L 648FX P4 800MHz DDR400 8X LAN ATX)CPU

• Supports Intel® Socket 478 for Pentium® 4 processor with 400/533/800 MHz (100/133/200 MHz QDIR).
• Supports Intel® next generation Prescott CPU
• Core frequency up to 3.2GHz.

Chipset

• SiS® 648FX Chipset

- Supports Intel® Pentium® 4 processors with data transfer rate up to 800MHz.

- Supports 64-bit high performance DDR400/DDR333/DDR266 memory controller.

- Supports AGP 8X/4X interface at 0.8v or 4x at 1.5v with fast write transaction.

- Supports bi-directional 16-bit data bus with 1GHz bandwidth MuTIOL.

• SiS® 963L Chipset

- Supports high throughput SiS MuTIOL 1GHz interconnecting to SiS® 963L media I/O.
- Dual-IDE ATA 66/100/133.
- ACPI & PC2001 compliant enhanced power management.
- Low pin count interface for SIO.
- Integrated audio controller with AC97 interface.
- Integrated high speed USB 2.0 controller, 480Mb/s.

Main Memory

• Supports three memory banks using three 184-pin DDR DIMM.
• Supports up to 3GB memory size without ECC.
• Supports 3 unbuffered DIMM DDR266/333 or 2 unbuffered DIMM DDR400.

Slots

• One AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) slot.
- AGP specification compliant.
- Supports AGP 2.0 4x/8x.
• Six 32-bit PCI bus slots.

On-Board IDE

• An IDE controller on the SiS® 963L chipset provides IDE HDD/CD-ROM with PIO, Bus Master and Ultra DMA66/100/133 operation modes.
• Can connect up to four IDE devices.

Audio

• AC97 link controller integrated in SiS® 963L.
• 6 channels software audio codec RealTek ALC655.
- Compliance with AC'97 v2.3 Spec.
- Meet PC2001 audio performance requirement.
- Can support SPDIF Out via S-Bracket only.
LAN

• SiS® 963L integrated MAC + RealTek 8201BL PHY.
- Supports 10Mbps and 100Mbps auto-negotiation operation.
- Supports ACPI power management.
On-Board Peripherals

On-Board Peripherals include:
- 1 floppy port supports 2 FDDs with 360K, 720K, 1.2M, 1.44M
and 2.88Mbytes.
- 2 serial ports (COM A + COM B).
- 1 parallel port supports SPP/EPP/ECP mode.
- 6 USB ports (Rear x 4/ Front x 2).
- 1 IrDA connector for SIR.
- 1 RJ-45 LAN jack.
- 1 audio port.
- 1 S-Bracket pin header.
- 1 D-Bracket 2 pin header.
BIOS
• The mainboard BIOS provides "Plug & Play" BIOS which
detects the peripheral devices and expansion cards of the
board automatically.
• The mainboard provides a Desktop Management Interface
(DMI) function which records your mainboard specifications.
Dimension
30.5 cm(L) x 22.0 cm(W) ATX Form Factor
Mounting
6 mounting holes.
???? Is it dual?