Help on my new system I will build soon :)

[WhatTheSchmidt]

first of all I plan on spending around 1,000 - 1,500 about on the total system. I have a bunch of questions so I can narrow down what I will get....I need lotsa help

1. First...I can't decide between AMD Athlon or pentium for the processor...i hear pentiums have faster clock speed, amd more calculations each clock or something...also, maybe I whould just go AMD 64? about 300 on this or less close to top of the line, but I don't want to overpay.

2. MOBO - gigabyte's are generally the best to go with? I plan on having a fast cpu...

3. Video card - GeForce or Radeon? i plan on gaming and more...I will probably spend 200-300 on this tops...basically i don't want to pay for the top of the line high priced bs...just really good good value...256mb ddr hopefully.

4. Harddrive - western digital? eh im not sure on this, but i only need 80 gigs most likely...maybe a bit higher.

5. Cooling - I don't really wanna deal with anything besides fans...but what powerfull cpu fan can i use that isn't too loud? my current one is a bit noisy.

the rest I hope i can figure out, im sorta new to making computers, thx for any help...and if anyone could possibly help me out more just tell me...maybe email me or something. I hope this isn't asking too much , thx.

 

[WhatTheSchmidt]

ah, totally forgot

I plan on running dual monitors most likely. One or maybe even both running games at same time, other for less attention, such as instant messanger, web browsers...What is the best way to handle this? I know some vid cards can handle dual monitors, but would it be best to use the awesome vid card for the main monitor and another vid card (such as my geforce 4 ti i got now) for the less imperative monitor?

thx again

 

[WhatTheSchmidt]

ok did a little more research, on the harddrive i will probably get a maxtor 80 gig...7200 rpm...the jump in cost to 10,000 and 15,000 rpm's isn't worth it i dont think, and i'm not sure how much it would improve the speed of my computer ne way

 

[wagnj1]

The products you use to build your computer really depend on what exactly YOU plan to do with it. If you're planning on doing lots of video/mp3 encoding/decoding than you may want to go with an Intel processor, as it has proven to handle these type of operations well. AMD processors seem to be better for gaming. Each processor has a designed, finate number of commands it can run, called an instruction set. Each processors instruction set may have its pro's and con's, it's really up to you to determine what kind of processing commands you're going to be running the most. If you aren't a hardcore PC performance type guy, than it probably doesn't really matter too much.
If you want a decent video card without spending too much money, I recommend the ATI Radeon 9600 Pro (128MB DDR). I myself am planning on building another computer in the near future, and I'm looking into the GeForce FX 5900 Ultra (256MB). It's fairly expensive however (I think around $500 US). If you want to run dual monitors, this is going to influence what card you buy, you'll need one that will handle the dual monitor configuration.
When you're looking for a hard drive, you'll first of all notice that the 120-160GB range is dropping in price. So you may want to look into buying something like a Western Digital 120GB. I can't really vouch for whether you should get a 7200 RPM drive or a 10000 RPM drive, but from what I've read and from simple math I figure there should be a noticable difference in read/write time. There's almost a 40% difference in 7200 or 10000. One thing you'll want to look at is the cache/buffer size on the drive controller. Right now, you should be looking for a drive with an 8MB cache. I think most of them should have that size now, but when I bought my drive it only had a 4MB cache.
You might want to look at an Alpha PAL 8942T heat sink. I hear many good things about them. As for a fan for your CPU, just get one with a low decibel rating. If you get the heatsink I just mentioned, than the fan won't really matter that much.
Right now I'm looking at getting an Intel D875PBZ motherboard, codenamed "Bonanza". It's based on the newest Intel chipset. It has SATA support, an 800MHz system bus, and supports PC3200 RAM. I'm planning on buying 4 sticks of 256MB DDR RAM and then setting up dual-channel memory. If you haven't heard of this, its a feature on newer MOBO's that allows two different channels to your memory, thus theoretically allowing twice as much data to be sent/received from your CPU or other system parts. When you buy a computer, you want to try and make sure that your CPU, your chipset on your mobo,and your memory all communicate at the same frequency. For example, my future pc will have the Intel 875 chipset (800MHz bus), and Intel P4 3.2GHz CPU (800MHz bus), and with the dual channel memory with the PC3200 throughput (2 sticks at 400MHz on each channel, thus calculating out to 800MHz). This is where you'll get the optimum processing efficiency for your system.
Another thing not to forget is the wattage on your power supply. Lots of people cheap out here, when in fact, your power supply is still very important part of your system. It will affect your ability to upgrade in the future. The new Intel P4 Prescott CPU's all have a higher power requirement, and no doubt future PC parts are all going to follow suit. I'd recommend at least 350 watts, I'm actually thinking of getting a 450. You can buy fanless power supply's, which are actually the main cause of noise in your PC, but they are fairly expensive (about $300 US).
But yah, pretty much you have to look around for what will suit your needs/wants and still stay in your price range.

 

[ceh4702]

At around $1,000.00 I recommend an ATI Radeon 9800 or a PowerColor Radeon 9800. That will come to around $220.00.
You can go low on this and get something like a Radeon 9600XT, but you will lose some quality. Of course you could buy and even faster video card like the ATI Radeon 3700 XT AIW for around $350-$500. AIW has the TV Tuner and the remote control.

Then you have to decide what kind of motherboard and processor to use. That depends if you want to overclock radically or not. I do not recommend overclocking so I say decide AMD or Intel.

Intel Asus P4P800 Motherboard and as fast a processor you can afford in the 800MhZ FSB. Dont recommend Prescott P4. If what you want to do is Game only, dont get the deluxe. The deluxe is only good for some extra stuff it has on it, which will probably slow you down.

AMD Asus A7N8X 400 newest version. The Deluxe is nice but it just costs more. I would use about a XP2800+.

Pick your Motherboard and your Processor after your video card. I do not think you can load 2 video games without using lots of memory so you may want to think about this idea. For speed use 2 X 512 Meg Modules of DDR400 for 1 gig of RAM. Like I said, Playing 2 games at once is kind of a silly idea. I do not think you can do anything else while playing a good video game. The throughput on the VGA card is just too intense.

Alternatives:

I have heard that Intel is coming out with a new chipset that can actually let you use onboard graphics and 2 PCI-Express video cards for a total of three monitors. PCI Xpress may give you more throughput, but the video cards and motherboards are untested. I would hate to see anyone be a beta tester for the motherboard and the video card and get burned.

Hard Drive: I recommend at least a 80 Gig WD Hard Drive.

CDRW: You may want to have one CD Drive with the ability to read DVD's. If you want to burn DVD's you could spend a lot more money.

Floppy: Up to you, I dont have one.

Operating System: XP Home.

Case: This is the most subjective selection. Some people like mod windows or premodded cases, but I like a 120mm exhaust fan. Air circulation is most important for the video card and the hard drive. Without good airflow, the video card will overheat. I would recommend something like the Antec Sonata that comes with a 380 watt power supply. You may want something else, like an Antec Lanboy. I just built a computer with an Antec SLK3700AMB, and I really like it. The SLK3700BQE is a little better and black instead of metalic grey. However, the Sonata is even more sturdy. Whatever you choose choose a power supply about 350-400 watts; 400 watts would be better if you have a high-end video card.

If you do not like my post feel free to point out your opinion or my errors.

 

[VacuumTubeEra]

Take wagnj1's advice on power supply sizing. The SilenX brand is probably the amoung the best (electronically) and also the quietest that has a fan. The cost (About $100) is much less that the excellent fanless brands. Watch out for imitators however, the SilenX website will explain. I purchased one directly from SilenX about 2 months ago; it has met or surpassed my expectations. Take a look at

http://www.silenx.com

For Intel Socket 478 CPU coolers the Spire 420B8 CopperStream is well rated for quietness and cooling performance. It is also very affordable (About $25).

http://www.spirecoolers.com/fcc.asp?ProdID=123

If your motherboard has a chipset fan take a look at a Zalman passive cooler as a replacement (just fins, no noise at all).

If you can ventilate your case with Vantec Stealt or similar procucts, chances are the only thing that you will hear is will be the hard drive.