First Timer Questions

[New Gig]

I believe I have made up my mind to build my first PC. I have been doing research for a while now and am confident I can do it.
At this point, I am fairly certain I will start with a T-bird 1.2 ghz 200fsb & ASUS A7V.
The system will be mainly a gaming & internet system.
Several questions still bug me after all my research.
Any educated opinion for any question is much appreciated.

1. There seems to be a never ending debate over the OS to use. 98 vs. ME vs 2000. Why not 95? I think the general consensus is that 95 is still the most stable. Is there any reason to not go with 95? I have been happy with 95 for 4 years on my current system.

2. Is 300 watts enough for 1.2ghz Tbird? I keep seeing conflicting information where some say 300 is enough. Others say at least 350 is needed. Any opinions from current 1.2 tbird users?

3. It appears that the cooling system is the most important factor in a tbird system. If the fan goes, the cpu blows! I am concerned about proper monitoring on my mobo. Does the Asus A7V have a warning system if the temp is getting dangerously hot? I know it can monitor temp, but what good does that do me in the middle of a game, unless it can interupt with a warning? (btw, pentiums shut down automatically, don't they?)

4. Is PC-133 CAS2 memory compatible with the A7V?

5. Are ballbearing fans better than other fans? What's the diff?

6. Are there better boot disks than others, or are they all standard? Can I use my old one from my 4 year old pentium system?

7. Last, but not at all least, can anyone experienced give me a good reason not to go with the t-bird 1.2 ghz & asus a7v?

[mosquito]

Windows 98 SE is for the moment the most stable Gaming OS. If you choose stability over compatibility with all games, go for Windows 2000.
I agree that Win95 OSR2 is a not too bad os, but it lacks good implementation of plug and play + memory allocation is very limited.

[TdM]

here's some answers

1.win95 is good but not as stabe as 98se which I have found to be fast and stable on my last 4 PC's I had 95 before and it was good but 98se is better ME is actually very good when you look at the base of it and will take over from 98 however it is still on early release versions so dont go for it yet it is FULL of bugs. Oh and I dont like 2000 it does strange things and microsoft have decided people should have a hell of a time finding anything they want in it.

2. I have a Athlon and I would say use 300W as a minimum you will get rid of all the random strange acts and crashes that happen with lower PSU's however if you afford a 350W monster go for it a nice extra chunk of power always helps especially if you don't know how much you will be bolting onto it later (and trust me if you are anything like a normal person who builds PC's you will bolt a LOT on)

3. Most motherboards that monitor heat either have built in to their bios or have with bundled software something that will warn you of the temp getting to high with my pc it starts beeping like mad and then shuts down if it gets too much hotter. This can usually be set up in the BIOS I can't garauntee the ASUS has this but the likelyhood is it does.

anyone got an ASUS that can help out here as to its BIOS options?

4. The memory is compatible. CAS is the delay of the chip while the PC looks for the correct part of the memory module to use the lower the CAS number the quicker the RAM you won't notice much difference between CAS 2 and CAS 3 however but CAS 2 has better future compatibility with higher bus speeds (whether you will still be using the same memory modules then is a different question though.

5. Its all about the amount of noise they make and how long they last but your power supply and hard drives are probably noisier than the processor fan and both sleeve and bb fans last for flippin' ages usually anyway.
Get the one recommended by AMD at http://www1.amd.com/products/athlon/thermals

6. that boot disk should be fine especially if you are building 95 doesn't really matter too much as long as it has some cd drivers and a decent version of DOS if you are just installing windows. I usually build win98 off an old win95 boot disk.

7. The tbird is stunning definately my recommendation can't tell you about the m/board though but I expect its pretty good I personally use a ABIT KT7 very good board make sure you have the latest VIA drivers if you go for the KT7 though.

Hope that helps

[New Gig]

Thanks TdM! Sounds like you are speaking from experience, so I REALLY appreciated that input!

[jayman_777]

I have the Asus A7V and A T-bird 900... You have 2 options with temp monitoring on the Mobo:

1)Through the BIOS, this of course doesn't help you once your past the first 5 seconds of your boot,

and

2) With the Asus Probe that comes on the drivers disc with the Mobo it self. It monitors several different things, including Fan RPM's (if your fan sends the RPM signal), CPU temp, Voltages etc... Pretty much all the same info that is in the BIOS, but in a Windows format. All of the parameters can be set to specific warning levels. ie: if CPU temp hits 55C, let me know...

I haven't had it actually shut down on me (it's never gotten that hot) but the probe does interrupt my game if something is going wrong... I have a tempermental fan that likes to send my probe mixed signals. It basically stops sending a signal so the Probe thinks the fan is dead. It's still working of course, but the probe freaks out on me.
Hope this helps... ;o)

AS for your OS, I use 98se simply based on the PNP features and stability. Still too many bugs in the newer version. i agree that 95 is more stable, but you loose too many features.

[New Gig]

But, will the ASUS actually automatically shut down before the CPU can be fried, or does it just issue a warning message? I have heard that it only takes 7 seconds for a Tbird to fry once the fan stops. It seems to me a warning system really does no good, unless I am at my computer, alert, and ready to shut it off that quick!!!
I believe the ABIT is designed so you can configure it to automatically shut down if it senses the fan has stopped, is this right?
Or, am I just being paranoid altogether about protecting my CPU???

[jayman_777]

Well, when I got my first CPU, there was a bad sector in it, so it used to heat up like a toaster, even with a Heatsink. The highest temp that I recorded was 73C... CPU worked fine when I reduced the voltages a bit. Still ran hot, so i took it back and had it replaced. As for the Auto shutdown, I don't know. It doesn't say anywhere in my manual, and I checked http://www.asus.com and there isn't anything listed there either. Leads me to somewhat beleive that it doesn't have the feature built in. I know for a fact that the Probe will warn you when your CPU is overheating. You can set the warning levels manually in the monitoring config. I'll reset my warning level and see what happens, then I'll let you know. I do know that once the CPU starts overheating it gets unstable and you get freezes or "the blue screens of death".

I'll let you know what I can figure out for you....

[Xayd]

Mainly just paranoid ;). If the processor overheats, it'll be fairly obvious, your system will lock up if in a game, give you a blue screen or illegal operations in multiple programs if not.

The best fan out there for the money I'd say would be the Alpha PAL6035 w/Delta Fan, which can be had for about 30 dollars online. Check out http://2cooltek.safeshopper.com

On the subject of mobos, there's a new revision of the KT133 chipset out as of a couple weeks ago, which a MUCH improved northbridge, allowing more increases in bus speeds.

My first choice of mobo at this point would be the Abit KT7A. It's only about 20 dollars more than the A7V, but the performance difference if you raise the bus speed past 135mhz will be very noticeable. There are also have been many reported issues with the A7V and TBirds. I have one with a Duron, and have had no problems. If you were going with a Duron I'd say go for it, but there are NO known issues with the KT7 boards and TBirds.

For RAM, Mushkin has CAS2 PC150 now, so that'd be my first choice there. You could conceivably get the KT7A running up to 155mhz, with proper cooling.

Xayd