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Old 02-14-2006, 06:13 PM   #1
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my first build: is it sound?

Hey guys, this should be my second post but instead its my first. i just wrote a thesis about this computer I'm planning on building, and my computer messed up and deleted all of it. So I'm going to have to keep it short. I'm planning on building up this PC, and it will be used for normal stuff (internet surfing) and playing a game (an mmorpg) that is not very demanding (it only requires a 32mb graphics card and 533mhz). So this does not need to be a supercomputer, it just needs to get the job done. I do, however, have some questions about this computer. I'll list my parts and then ill ask my thousands of questions.

Any recommendations for different parts will be welcomed. But I'm trying to keep this as cheap as possible (that is my first concern) so please dont recommend a 64 bit Athlon processor or a 7800GT graphics card. I would like to get those, but i simply cannot afford it. Any recommendations that would LOWER the price, however, would be awesome.

Case: Xion Solaris
Power Supply: ENERMAX 270W
Motherboard: EPoX EP-8NPA SLI ATX AMD
Hard Drive: Hitachi Deskstar 80GB SATA
Processor: AMD Sempron 3100+
RAM: Corsair ValueSelect 1GB (2x 512MB)
Graphics Card: eVGA Geforce 6600LE 256MB OR JATON Geforce 6600LE 256MB
CD/DVD Drive: SONY IDE DVD-ROM
Floppy Drive: SANSUNG internal
Sound Card: Creative SoundBlaster 16 Pre-Amp

Now, for my questions:
-POWER SUPPLY! I'm confounded with all the choices. Does this one have enough power? is it dependable? someone please point me in the right direction here. If this one is ok then thats great, if it isnt, what kind should i get that is still relatively cheap?
-Graphics Card: is there a difference between these two? if there is, which one should i get?
-CD/DVD Drive: is this compatible with my case/motherboard? i have been looking to see if its compatible (same with the floppy drive) with my mobo, but i cannot find anywhere that says it. I'm just going to assume that they are all universal at this point. i hope i am assuming correctly.
-HD: is this dependable? is SATA really that much better?

I'd also like to know about any opinions on any of the stuff that i have selected. I just want everything to be dependable and work smoothly. I know i wont get crazy performance, but as long as it will be stable and will work how i need it to, i'll be happy.

Thanks in advance for all the help guys!
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Old 02-14-2006, 06:23 PM   #2
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You don't see much below 300W power supplies being used anymore, but that looks like a good quality 270 which is a better bet to go with than an el cheapo 300W. If you are thinking about future upgrading though you may want to get something more like 350Watt supply, but the important thing is the quality and enermax is a good name brand..
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Old 02-14-2006, 06:24 PM   #3
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The Hitachi drives are undependable you should get one of the big three:
Seagate, Maxtor or Western Digital stay with sata
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Old 02-14-2006, 07:17 PM   #4
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That's a SFX power supply - you don't want that. It's for micro cases. If you plan on using 2 video cards in SLI, you need a SLI-certified power supply which runs $85. Otherwise, I'd get the 450 watt XClio unit for half that price.

The onboard sound is better than that sound card - it's a cheapie.

Spend a tad bit more and get a DVD burner instead of just a rom drive.
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Old 02-14-2006, 07:55 PM   #5
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You need a 85 dollar power supply two run two 6600LE SLI? Doesn't those two cards take very little power, wouldn't it be overdoing it?
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Old 02-14-2006, 08:16 PM   #6
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in the world of computers, there's no such thing as not enough power. when it comes to power supplies, why take a chance? all of your equipment is relying on one component, plus it would allow for future upgrades i.e. more hard drives, more optical drives, etc.
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Old 02-15-2006, 01:44 AM   #7
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It's the unique requirements of SLI, not the raw amount of power.
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Old 02-15-2006, 05:59 AM   #8
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Ah. gotchya.
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