New Build: Intel

[Litespeed]

Well with the fire and just needing to get some thing new I have decided to build a new pc. My old one lasted me quite some time on the oldest of parts. The PC will be used for Excel, Word, surfing, much storage of picutres, music, and videos, some nonprofessional picture and video editing, and looks are some what important. We live in one huge room and entertain guest often; therefore the computer is seen and used for music and showing pictures on screen saver mode. We are not professinals when it comes to music, beleive me any thing is going to be an upgrade from what we had. No data was lost every thing was saved regularly on a portable hard drive. I also use the front USB and Fire Wire ports alot. I have a logitech keyboard/mouse, XP Pro, and a floppy arleady. Budget is not a real issue. The last computer lasted about 9 years; therefore I hope this one stays for awhile. And thank you for any help. I have learned much from this site, but between work and being newlyweds it is hard to keep up with technology.

Mother Board:ABIT AW8
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127213

Processor: Intel Pentium D 940 800 mhz Socket T
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116239

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240 pin 800 (PC2 6400)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146565

Video Card: Saphire Radeon 1300 pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102641

Power Supply: Antec 550 Watt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103931

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 320 GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136017

Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106015

Case: Aspire X-Discovery Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144170

Monitor: Samsung 204B Silver
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/471...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Speakers: Logitech Z-4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121130

Thanks for all your help.

-Matthew

[Cricket]

If you're going to get a video card why did you choose a motherboard that has on-board video? Get the regular P5LD2 and save yourself a couple of bucks.

Do you really want to use a Aspire power supply? 520watts for only $60 tells me it's a cheap, low quality unit.

You may want to get another brand of RAM. Kingston has been having quality control problems and a lot of their sticks are faulty right out of the box.

Cricket

[Litespeed]

I guess I did not do enough research. I up dated see if those changes will help.

Thanks, Matthew

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by Litespeed I changed the power supply and RAM, but I am having problems with the mother board. I looked at ASUS and ABIT and all the reviews are bad. Mixed with problems on ram not being recognized correctly to buring out quickly.

Really? I understood the ASUS P5LD2 to be a nice stable performer. I just upgraded my wife's computer with the P5LD2-VM and it worked fine right out of the box with Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 533 RAM. And I've seen glc recommend the P5LD2 in a number of threads too.

Cricket

[Litespeed]

Originally Posted by Cricket Really? I understood the ASUS P5LD2 to be a nice stable performer. I just upgraded my wife's computer with the P5LD2-VM and it worked fine right out of the box with Corsair ValueSelect DDR2 533 RAM. And I've seen glc recommend the P5LD2 in a number of threads too. Cricket

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131538
some of the reviews.

I know what you are saying; that is why I picked ASUS. I was only going by what some of these people wrote.

How about the mother board I selected now? It supports HT, ddr2 800, no on board video, and has fsb 1066/800.

Also on the issue of the Hard Drive how come the one almost identical yet has twice as much cache is $10 cheaper? Compare

Thanks again, Matthew

[kram 2.0]

I've built with the Asus P5LD2. It's a nice stable motherboard - can't ask for more. I cannot comment on the Abit AW8 - judging by Abit's board reliability, you should be fine. As for the hard drive, if it's only 10 USD, chose the 16MB cache WD HDD. It it nice to have a larger pool of cache to pull from as the Hard drive spindles only spin and are read only so fast.

kram

[Litespeed]

Originally Posted by kram 2.0 I've built with the Asus P5LD2. It's a nice stable motherboard - can't ask for more. I cannot comment on the Abit AW8 - judging by Abit's board reliability, you should be fine. As for the hard drive, if it's only 10 USD, chose the 16MB cache WD HDD. It it nice to have a larger pool of cache to pull from as the Hard drive spindles only spin and are read only so fast. kram

Thanks for the feed back. I just want to make sure there aren't any compatability issues.

And I am still over whelmed with the video card info.

As far as the hard drive differences; I understand more cache is better. That is why I don't understand why the one with twice the cache is $10 cheaper?

[kram 2.0]

With the hard drive prices, my guess is it has to do largely with supply and demand and the affect that has on prices. In any case, a 16MB cache HDD will be the better choice. Your build does not have any compatibility issues as it is right now. As for video card, look at the Sapphire Radeon X1300 Pro. ATI's AVIVO will make a nice difference here in terms of what you are planning to do with the build.

Now that I think about it, you may want to look into the Pentium-D processors (specifically the Pentium-D 930), depending on how much video-editing and photo-editing you intend on doing.

kram

[Litespeed]

Originally Posted by kram 2.0 With the hard drive prices, my guess is it has to do largely with supply and demand and the affect that has on prices. In any case, a 16MB cache HDD will be the better choice. Your build does not have any compatibility issues as it is right now. As for video card, look at the Sapphire Radeon X1300 Pro. ATI's AVIVO will make a nice difference here in terms of what you are planning to do with the build. Now that I think about it, you may want to look into the Pentium-D processors (specifically the Pentium-D 930), depending on how much video-editing and photo-editing you intend on doing. kram

Thanks so much for your help. I see that the video card has DVI input which I was looking for the monitor I picked out. When it comes to video cards that is where I am really weak.

Would I notice much difference in the pentium dual core than the processsor 3.2 HT that I picked out? I really won't be doing extreme picture or video editing.

Thanks, Matthew

[Alaron]

You won't notice much a difference now, but the dual core CPU is a better choice for long-term. As time goes on, more and more applications will take advantage of dual cores, so it is worth the investment.

I noticed you have DDR2-800 listed. You only need DDR2-533 for your cpu. Anything higher is overkill. It will definetly save some money.

[babylon5guy]

Hi,
I just did a build with a Abit AW8, and the processor you're using only I used DD2 533 Corsair Value Ram recommended by kram2.0, much more economical. Works great, do upgrade BIOS immediately to version 16 really stabilizes it. Don't use the ASUS P5WD2 mobo it won't boot with the Cedar Mill Processor without a BIOS update, I had to RMA it, and got the AW8. Oh by the way the AW8 does not have built in video, you need a card. I wanted the 955 chipset that's why I didn't go with the Asus P5LD2.

[Litespeed]

Originally Posted by Alaron You won't notice much a difference now, but the dual core CPU is a better choice for long-term. As time goes on, more and more applications will take advantage of dual cores, so it is worth the investment. I noticed you have DDR2-800 listed. You only need DDR2-533 for your cpu. Anything higher is overkill. It will definetly save some money.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116239

Kram, it appears the only diffrence in the 2 processors we picked out is o.2 Ghz and $50. Is that really worht it. I guess I won't notice that kind of small performance jump.

Would this processor be better? And it appears to support the DDR2-800. Is the dual core better than the HT? If this is ahead of the curve than I am for it. Again I am a little out of the loop on technology right now, but if this processor is a jump from the one I chose and still is compatible than that is great.

And thanks for the video card suggestion I really am lost when it comes to that aspect.

[kram 2.0]

Dual Core is better than HT - HT simulates dual core/multi-processors, but on a single core. Because there is only one single core, the resources for both threads to work off of is more limited than that in a dual-core processor. The Pentium-D 940 is a fine processor and faster - if you can afford it, sounds like a good addition.

EDIT: As for whether a jump is worth it or not, it's primarily your call. You're going to get a slightly better value-performance with the P-D 930, but a speed bump (albeit almost unnoticibly small) is not bad.

kram

[babylon5guy]

kram2.0 gave me a great explanation on why you don't need DDR2800 memory

The Asus P5WD2 will support Cedar Mill. Normal Win XP Professional will support the Cedar Mill processor. DDR2-533 will allow you to run the 800Mhz (even 1066Mhz, ideally not) front side bus processor at its set speed - because the memory runs at a double data rate (DDR), it will support a 233Mhz real clock. All Pentium 4 processors have quad-pumped front side buses, so the real clock is 200Mhz on a 800Mhz FSB. As a result, the DDR2-533 will support a 800Mhz P4 processor just fine at stock speeds.

[Litespeed]

OK, I updated the video card and the processor. I am for sure going to stick with dual core after doing some reading.

Every thing is updated in the original post. Thanks for all the help.'

-Matthew

[kram 2.0]

Originally Posted by Litespeed OK, I updated the video card and the processor. I am for sure going to stick with dual core after doing some reading. Every thing is updated in the original post. Thanks for all the help.' -Matthew

It's your call, but you do realize that you are linking to a more expensive DDR2-800 overclocking memory? The motherboard can accept various forms of DDR2 memory including DDR2-533. Use the Corsair ValueSelect DDR2-533 RAM as advised above unless you are intesreted in tweaking/overclocking your system.

kram

[Litespeed]

As far as the RAM I tried to get RAM that matched the fsb speed of the processor and mother board, which is 800 mhz. If I got the other RAM at 533 mhz would that become the limiting factor for the entire system? Would everything rum at 533; instead I tried to match every thing at 800 mhz. I think I just confused myself. I will change the hard drive stuff too.

Thanks again, Matthew

[Litespeed]

OK, kind of strange I can't edit my initial post. I loged out and logged back in. Here is the update on my hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136003

[glc]

The actual exact match for a 800 bus processor is 400 speed ram! The processor is quad pumped off a 200 FSB, the ram is double pumped off a 200 FSB. However, Socket 775 motherboards that use DDR2 can take advantage of the extra bandwidth of ONE step faster ram - which would be 533. If you plan on overclocking over 200 FSB up to 266 FSB, then you should get 667 ram. The only reason to get 800 speed ram is if you plan on running a processor faster than 266 FSB (1066).

You cannot edit posts after 12 hours.

[Litespeed]

Originally Posted by glc The actual exact match for a 800 bus processor is 400 speed ram! The processor is quad pumped off a 200 FSB, the ram is double pumped off a 200 FSB. However, Socket 775 motherboards that use DDR2 can take advantage of the extra bandwidth of ONE step faster ram - which would be 533. If you plan on overclocking over 200 FSB up to 266 FSB, then you should get 667 ram. The only reason to get 800 speed ram is if you plan on running a processor faster than 266 FSB (1066). You cannot edit posts after 12 hours.

Thanks so much GLC. Thus there would not be any difference in 533 and the 800 except price? Should I stick with the sam brand of RAM? I am for sure not going to over clock. I am happy about the suggestion on the dual core also.

And so far that video card looks ok for my applications and monitor? If ya'll give me the ok on every thing so far and the same brand of RAM I am going to order tonight.

Thanks so much for the help.

-Matthew

[Litespeed]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820146569

So would this ram be better in conjunction with the mother board and processor? And the rest of the parts?

[Alaron]

Yes. You could save some money with Corsair: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145527 Excellent quality for over $50 less.

[Litespeed]

Originally Posted by Alaron Yes. You could save some money with Corsair: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145527 Excellent quality for over $50 less.

Thanks for the RAM! Why such the price discrepency? I noticed on other components when such a drop in price on similar parts it ment lower quality: ie power supplies. Thank you very much though I could use that $50 toward a better video card, monitor, or processor. I will post an updated list this afternoon.

Thanks for the help.

-Matthew

[kram 2.0]

Not sure what the price difference comes from - Crucial, in general, tends to price retail RAM a little more expensive than the rest of the market. Corsair and Crucial are still both very quality memory manufacturers.

kram

[Litespeed]

Alright this is the last time I will bother ya'll. My OCD makes me triple check every thing; better safe than sorry. Again thanks for all the help. I learned alot. I will order every thing tonight. I am excited to build a new computer that will over shadow my old one several times. I can only imagine the speed and quality difference.
Final List:

Mother Board:ABIT AW8
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813127213

Processor: Intel Pentium D 940 800 mhz Socket T
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116239

RAM: Corsair 2 GB (2 x 1GB) 240 pin DDR2 533 mhz (pc2 4200)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820145527

Video Card: Saphire Radeon 1300 pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814102641

Power Supply: Antec 550 Watt
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817103931

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar 320 GB 16mb cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16822136003

Optical Drive: Lite-On DVD Burner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16827106015

Case: Aspire X-Discovery Black
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811144170

Monitor: Samsung 204B Silver
http://shop1.outpost.com/product/471...H:MAIN_RSLT_PG

Speakers: Logitech Z-4
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16836121130

[Alaron]

That looks fine.