First Post-First PC Build

[doc91937]

An old Audiophile has decided that the music coming off a HDD sounds better than a CD Player so after some experiments with a laptop, have decided to build a PC that initially will be a music source (with some G-Force graphics) and will evolve into a movie source as well. After having read all the good info here, this is the proposed setup;
ASUS P5B-E MOBO
Corsair XMS2 (2 x 512MB ) DDR2 800
Intell Pent D 3.0GHZ 2 x 2MB L2 Cache
FSP Group AX500-A 500w PS
Seagate Barracuda 7200 320GB SATA Drive
ASUS DVD- E616A3T DVD/CD Player (Secondary Drive)
Liteon SH-16A7S SATA DVD+/- RW (Primary Drive)
Audio S/PDIF to external DAC
videoCard ?????? No games, just effects and later movies---suggestions please !
Lian LI PC-61 Case

Fell somewhat comfortable with the construction phase but will lean heavily on your good council for the initial setup. Will go with windows XP Pro and upgrade.

Your thoughts please.

[glc]

I'd recommend a Core 2 Duo E6300 instead of a Pentium-D. If that FSP is ATX 2.0 spec with a 24 or 20+4 pin main connector, it's a good choice. No gaming? I'd recommend an ATI X1XXX series video card instead of a Nvidia. It has AVIVO which will help with your video rendering. Any of the X1300 or higher series would be fine - but stay away from the Hypermemory versions as they steal system ram. 256mb dedicated ram is the best choice. You might also think about 2 gigs of system ram. You don't need DDR2-800 - DDR2-667 value select is fine. Make sure that Seagate is a 7200.10 with 16mb cache.

[doc91937]

GLC; thanks for the info, I have done some checking and;

The Fsp is ATX 2.0 -20+4 Pin

The Seagate is 7200.10 with 16MB

Found Radion Card X1300--256MB--with Avino

Thanks for the tip on the RAM: Found Corsair Value Select (2x1 GB) - looks good.

Core 2 DUO is close to a "Budget Buster" got to give that one some thought.

Your help is much appreciated.

[LeftyAce]

Core 2 Duo is a SIGNIFICANT upgrade....get it if at all possible. If you can wait 'till April 22, the C2Ds will be dropping about $100.

[doc91937]

Patience is about the only good thing that comes with old age, think I'll start gathering parts and wait till last for the processor. Thanks for the "heads up" on the price change.

[glc]

Well, the low end C2D is not dropping that much - the E6300 is only dropping $20 but it's being replaced by the E6320 which has double the cache. That is worth waiting for, but you aren't going to save $100. There will be 800 FSB C2D's in the low $100's by then, the E4xxx series. The E4300 is already out, but overpriced right now - till April.

[doc91937]

Since it will probably take a month to gather all the other goodies, I think I'll stick with the "wait and see" mode and make a decision then. I think the faster FSB might be worth the extra dollars.

Am also trying to determine how to control the cpu from a distance of 8-10 ft away. Would a wireless mouse work for this?---or is there some other remote format?

[glc]

You should be able to get that kind of range with a wireless keyboard/mouse combo - Bluetooth will have longer range than RF.

[doc91937]

Thanks GLC , found a nice one by Kensington, but the notes indicate that the PC must be Blue tooth equipped, can you tell me what that entails?

[pally01]

Doc - for what it's worth I'm using an RF wireless keyboard/mouse from 12'. That is about the limit though. Any further and things become unstable.

[glc]

All you need for Bluetooth is a Bluetooth dongle to plug into a USB port. Some BT keyboard/mouse kits actually come with one. It looks just like a flash memory key.

[doc91937]

Thanks GLC and thanks to all who responded. I guess it's time" to let the buying begin"--but I'm sure I'll be back once the construction and setup start. See you all then.

Doc