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-- Building a new PC - please help

Building a new PC - please help

It's finally time to upgrade my old POS pc so I've been doing a little thinking. Here are some of the parts I came up with, would like some opinions. Firstly, I'm not a huge gamer as you can tell by my choice in the video card. It should suit me just fine and has a good price/performance ratio. This will be the deciding factor in my decision.

Here goes...

Case: Antec Sonata quiet super mini tower Link
CPU : Intel P4 - 530 3.0 Ghz LGA775
Motherboard : Asus P5AD2 (Intel 915P w/ 8 ch audio, gb lan, PCI-E)Link
Memory: Corsair value select 1Gb(2x512MB) DDR400 Kit
Harddrive : Seagate 200gb SATA, 8 Mb cache
DVD writer: Sony DRU-710A(16xDVD+/-RW)
Videocard : Asus Radeon 9600 SE 128 MB
Floppy drive : generic black drive

As for monitor,keyboard and mouse, I won't be needing it as I just bought it recently. I'm happy about my choice in motherboard, dvd drive as well as the harddrive (I only buy seagates, they're solid as a rock and never had any problems with them)
I'm a little unsure about the memory. The cpu at 3.0 is sufficient and gives me best value, I don't see the need to pay more for the extreme edition or a faster cpu as the performance gain is minimal for what I'm doing. I added a floppy drive because it would make installing XP on a lone SATA drive easier, otherwise I would go without it.

Technically money is no object however I'm just looking to upgrade my old PC with the best value/performance parts I can find. I'm not a huge gamer (very minimal) so I technically don't need top of the line parts. I think this PC will last me quite a while and is a good price too. The videocard also has directX 9 support which will be necessary when loghorn releases. I'm a little concerned about the power supply included with the case as well as the cooling but for now it should do. If I have any problems with it it's the first thing I will change.

I can get all these parts OEM and it will cost me a shade under $1400 CAD (approx $1140 U.S.) pretty good deal I think.
What do you guys think? Suggestions please.

Only thing I would change is the video card
get at least a 9800pro (just around $200 on most online stores...but make sure it's a 256bit one)

if you're a heavy gamer, I would suggest going for an Xt800pro, but it will cost ya

edit: nevermind, I just read the part where you said you're not very big with gaming... At least make that 9600SE a pro...

also I would shoot for a higher power supply...

You got some pretty good specs there, I dont think you need any advice Only concern would be the DVD writer & video card. Im talking from an enthuastic point of view, Plextor would be the best choice for a DVD writer. If you get an 9600SE then might as well get a 9800Pro. 9600SE is obsolete and I dont think its got full DirectX 9 support. Now if your talking about the P4 3.0 socket 775 then I'd wait just a bit longer. The performance ratio is weak compared to their older socket 478.

quote:

Originally posted by Azz3D Only thing I would change is the video card get at least a 9800pro (just around $200 on most online stores...but make sure it's a 256bit one) if you're a heavy gamer, I would suggest going for an Xt800pro, but it will cost ya edit: nevermind, I just read the part where you said you're not very big with gaming... At least make that 9600SE a pro...

I know what you mean, looking at the configuration the videocard sticks out like a sore thumb. However $200 US is more than what I want to pay for a videocard considering I will hardly (if ever) play games on it.

quote:

Originally posted by bluE_Neon You got some pretty good specs there, I dont think you need any advice Only concern would be the DVD writer & video card. Im talking from an enthuastic point of view, Plextor would be the best choice for a DVD writer. If you get an 9600SE then might as well get a 9800Pro. 9600SE is obsolete and I dont think its got full DirectX 9 support. Now if your talking about the P4 3.0 socket 775 then I'd wait just a bit longer. The performance ratio is weak compared to their older socket 478.

will take that into consideration thanks. I first contemplated a plexor but I don't think they have dual layer, 16X speed yet. The sony is great..dual layer, 16X. It's almost perfect.

I think they have 12X dual layer but not 16 yet. But thats only time when it comes out. IMO I'd wait for faster DVD writers to come out coz this is all about business. They sell the slower ones first until the faster ones come in. I'll get myself a dvd writer with a speed of 40 or more hehe For now I'll use my cd writer

Oh one thin I forgot. I left out the soundcard because there's 24bit, 8 channel audio built in on board. Heard that the onboard sound is superb at 24 bit. I'll see how it goes (although it's been said that a standalone sound card sounds much better).

I'm an audio junkie (OBVIOUSLY, LOL ) so if I don't like how it sounds I won't hesitant to get the soundblaster audigy 2 gamer ZS. Want my tunes to sound the best they can.

ITS A BEAUTY, I GUESS ALL YOU NEED IS A CENTRINO.

I'd get the Antec SLK 3700BQE over the Sonata (I personally have the Sonata, only found out the BQE was better AND cheaper afterwards )

quote:

Originally posted by Trancewave Oh one thin I forgot. I left out the soundcard because there's 24bit, 8 channel audio built in on board. Heard that the onboard sound is superb at 24 bit. I'll see how it goes (although it's been said that a standalone sound card sounds much better). I'm an audio junkie (OBVIOUSLY, LOL ) so if I don't like how it sounds I won't hesitant to get the soundblaster audigy 2 gamer ZS. Want my tunes to sound the best they can.

No need for buying an sound card as the built in onboard sound is a Audigy 2. I have the Asus A8V mobo with a AMD 64 3500+ and the sound is very crisp & clear. Yours is 24-bit so thats very good, which reminds me what kind of bit configuration I have.

quote:

Originally posted by kr00t0n I'd get the Antec SLK 3700BQE over the Sonata (I personally have the Sonata, only found out the BQE was better AND cheaper afterwards )

I saw that also, I'm quite surprised the Sonata actually costs more (about $12 CAD) It's a smaller case but has a bigger PSU. I still like the look of the Sonata though, something about those blue LED lights, heh.

BTW, i haven't seen the case yet except for pictures. How does it look when you get it?

the blue LEDs are far too bright, I've unplugged mine as I couldnt sleep with them on (I dont care for flashy modded cases anyhoo) and whilst the shiny outer coat of paint looks great at first, it is SUCH a hassle to keep free of dust and fingerprints.

The drilled 'antec' logos are 'apparently' there to aid the cooling of the psu, but they just draw in dust (making the front bezel dust filter pretty pointless), mess with the airflow of the case and let nosie escape. I have since taped mine up.

The cooling also leaves alot to be desired, I had to cust a side vent for my cpu and do a front bezel mod to get half-decent cooling out her.

Plus you only get 3 external drive bays, versus the BQE's 4, this means that with my dvd, cdrw and top fresh air duct for my psu, I have no room for a hdd silencing bay

yeah the cooling worries me a little by looking at the specs. I guess that is the price you pay if you want a truly silent case. I will most definately look into some cooling options. Thanks.

I have the Lian-Li PC68 case. 4 built in fans, 2 in the front, right in front of your HDD panel, 1 in the back & 1 in the top. BTW, it's an aluminum case PC-68

the hipbone's connected to the skull bone

quote:

Originally posted by Trancewave yeah the cooling worries me a little by looking at the specs. I guess that is the price you pay if you want a truly silent case. I will most definately look into some cooling options. Thanks.

better cooling = quieter

coz you can runs the fans slower, the airflow in the BQE is better, and it is actually quieter than the sonata

who uses floppies anymore?

make sure ur mobo can handle dual ch. memory, and run ur RAM in dual ch.

floppies can be life saving

if i need to use a boot disk coz my atpi drivers dont let me boot of cd, or if i need to run a partition program on an empty disk, these floppies can be hella useful

quote:

Originally posted by nialsjd the hipbone's connected to the skull bone

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