Need help choosing parts

[Chiguy]

I am thinking of these parts for my computer, what do you think? I'm planning to use this computer for gaming and school use. I will either run Win2K or 98SE.

ANTEC SX1240
Plextor Plexwriter 16X10X40X
Creative Labs PC-DVD Encore 12x with Dxr3
Cooler Master 80mm Case fans
Sony 1.44 MB
IBM Deskstar 75 GXP 75GB
Microsoft Internet Keyboard
Diamond SupraMax 56K v.90 PCI
NEC MultiSync FE700
Abit KG7-RAID
Microsoft w/Scrolling Wheel mouse
3Com 3C905B-TX Fast EtherLinkXL 10/100Base-TX PCI
AMD Athlon Thunderbird 1.4 Ghz
Crucial CT3264Z265 DDR 266 PC 2100
Creative Sound Blaster Live Platinum 5.1
standard speakers
MSI StarForce 831 GF2PRO 64MB DDR

Are there any parts that would be better than what I have listed and or should I add anything to the list?

[MrBaseball]

sounds good to me http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

[muno]

Nice nice, costy costy, but with that amount of bucks you could afford a decent cooler. Coolermaster makes sucky coolers.
//edit
You don't need a decoder card, you have optical out from the soundblaster and with 1,4ghz athlon you can software decode easily.
Try creative soundworks as speakers if you wish to have nice sound =)
-M

[This message has been edited by muno (edited 06-20-2001).]

[Chiguy]

I wasn't sure about getting a decoder card so I left it here on this post to see what others thought. What would be better cooling fans than Cooler Master? I don't want to spend a fortune on cooling fans. (I'm most likely not going to overclock so I'm using the heat sink and fan that comes with the Athlon 1.4) This setup doesn't really seem that expensive to me, I think I will end up paying around $2000 for the entire thing, that is much cheaper than what I paid for the computer I have now.

[muno]

Well... I payed ~$500 for my parts. So it seems cheap//edit (meant to say expensive)//edit, but, I'm not that rich anyway.
Get a taisol or molex fan.
-M

[This message has been edited by muno (edited 06-20-2001).]

[otheos]

A couple of points:

-> The cooler is very low quality, go fo a better one
-> The DVD (creative) is not the best (hardly). You will waste your burner's ability if you go for CD-CD duplocation. I suggest the Pioneer 116 and the Holywood decoder (not that you need one)
-> The 75GXP is now replaced by the 60GXP (max 60GB capacity though)
-> go for the external version of the SUpra Modem. YOU won't regret it.
-> Personally I don't like Abit motherboards (due to quality issues)
-> Unless you need all these connectors on the front of your pc, go for the live value 5.1 SB card, or wait for the Audigy.
-> Don't spend too much on a sound card if you are buying low quality *standard* speakers.
-> Unless cost is not an issue, a Realtek 8139 based PCI ethernet card will be just as good as any.

Best of luck!

[RustyGT]

Chic,
Very impressive!
2K USD?
[Our money's the wrong colour!]

Whatcha got planned for it?
Cheers R.

[hallam2003]

Looks good to me, drop the decoder though, but i thing you figured that out already. You might look into geting the monitor at a store nearby. shipping kills for monitors, you should be able to get a cheaper one at the store, get a good one though, nice system.
Remember that you can double that RAM for about $60 at Crucial. use www.crucial.com/webpromo (http://www.crucial.com/webpromo) if your not already.


Hallam

[Banti]

You will NEVER find a Retail Pioneer DVD drive becuase they do not sell their drives retail. They used to have a partner that did... AOpen I think. Just get the Pioneer OEM. You will save a few bucks and get a better drive... besides solt drives just rule http://www.sysopt.com/forum/smile.gif

Banti

[Axel]

Otheos already said everything I would have - shame to put in a great sound card and run $12 speakers on it. - spend $60 and get a quality speaker set so you can "feel the noise"....

Only other thing - you can probably save a few dollars by getting a different brand of 1.44 floppy drive. Get a name brand - just not a sony - It might just be me - had a lot of trouble with an old sony floppy drive that really jaded me on their PC products....

I agree on the external modem thing - look at it this way - the ability to reboot the modem without rebooting the PC AND seeing the LED lights on the equipment saves you a lot of grief and time in the future. It's worth the extra $30 for the external. Don't forget the serial com port cable if you do get the external - they still aren't packaged together.

Another thing - get a good surge protector with an insurance policy. The protector should have at least 2 widely spaced outlets to let you plug in your modem and speaker power supplies without crowding the other plugs.

[Chiguy]

I think I will consider getting a monitor at a nearby store. Is $30 too much to ship a monitor? I kinda like the NEC that I have picked out, it is .25 mm and is a flat screen. Someone has recommeded that I get a NEC monitor. I forgot to mention that I already have the Sony floppy drive. If it gives me any problems, I'm going to use something else that I have. (I don't know how, but I've managed to pick up around 10 floppy drives from old computers, these include brands such as Epson, Teac, Samsung, etc..) I also forgot to mention that I am getting 2 sticks of Crucial DDR ram. Thanks for the info on Pioneer drives. Which would be better? A Toshiba DVD or Pioneer? I have decided to drop the decoder, 1.4 GHz is more than enough for software decoding. Can I get some recommendations to speakers? I don't want to spend a fortune on speakers. I've never had a external modem before and therefore have not experienced the advantages of having one. I've never had to reboot a modem before either. Also, I've never actually had any problems with an modem before either. But "the ability to reboot the modem without rebooting the PC AND seeing the LED lights on the equipment saves you a lot of grief and time in the future" is a pretty good reason to have an external one. I've never thought of the surge protector before. I have a Belkin Surgemaster for my existing computer. Is that good for this one?

[muno]

Get the creative soundworks as I suggested =)
Or, if you have the bucks, get a hifi amplifier with hifi speakers, that way you have home theatre at your desktop =)
And, if you need a surge protector (this is, if you live in area where there are often power failures/spikes) you should consider getting an ups instead, cheapest sell around $80, supplying 300mva at 250w. This is, only if the failures are frequent.
-M

[Chiguy]

Thanks for responding. I have some questions:

Which cooler is a very low quality one? The heatsink and fan that is included with the Retail Box Athlon 1.4, the Cooler Master 8cm fans, or both? What should I get then? I've looked at Taisol but I really have no idea what to look for when it comes to cooling. I've looked and failed to find a Pioneer 16X DVD drive that is sold in its retail packaging, I was only able to find OEM drives. I know about the 60GXP but I want the 75GB over the 60GB, and from what I've read, there is not a big difference between the two. Is there any advantage to getting an external modem? I tend to like having an internal one. About the motherboards, I'm not building my computer for some while, and I am waiting for the Nvidia nForce boards to come out, I like the Asus one so far. I'm probably going the use the onboard sound that the nForce board will have over the Sound Blaster card, if I don't, are the Audigy cards any good? What about other sound cards? I'm not buying speakers, for now, I'm just going to use the ones I already have. Also, I already have the 3Com network card that I picked up for free so I'm not going to buy one, but thanks for the recommendation.

My plans for this computer:
I think I will most likely use it for gaming, internet, school work, maybe some Photoshop and imaging, and other things.

2K USD seems to be a good price for a computer, a Dell, Gateway, HP, etc.. would cost me more for the same performance, I think.

[This message has been edited by Chiguy (edited 06-20-2001).]

[daveleau]

Sounds nice. Wil you need the DXR3 card with the GeForce 2 Pro? I would think that would be a wasted slot. You can get a bare drive Toshiba or Pioneer for less than $75 shipped, and it would be a much better drive. Otherwisee, it seems like a nice setup.

Dave

Also, the combo of the SBLive! Platinum with "standard speakers " is a waste. I would get some kicking speakers with the money you save on the DVD... http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

[This message has been edited by daveleau (edited 06-20-2001).]

[Brangwen]

Belkin puts out a surge protector with "insurance policy." A Cambridge Soundworks speaker system might be nice (I have 4 satelites and subwoofer - great sound for my SB Value Live) for under $50.

Brangwen http://www.sysopt.com/forum/wink.gif

Have fun! And keep that processor & case cool!

[gfunkmartin]

go for an SB Live Value over the Platinum...almost the same card, w/o the LiveDrive. I prefer the Pioneer DVD over the Toshiba. Personally I would suggest the Asus A7M266 for the mobo, but that's because I have never ever had an Asus board **** out on me. It seems solid enough, so good luck to you

[Chiguy]

What about the other SB Live 5.1 cards? MP3+ 5.1 and X-Gamer 5.1? I'm now considering the X-Gamer 5.1. Also, are Globalwin heatsink and fans any good? What about Sunon case fans?