Advice for new build. (Moderate gaming, mathematical processing)

[minusthebear]

I have gotten interested in the past few days in building my own computer (after getting sick and tired of maxing out an old Dell box... ugh). I have a lot of components picked out, and a number of things that I will be pulling from my current computer. But, being totally new to this, I don't know that everything is compatible and will work smoothly.

Hardware I have and plan to use in the new build:

- Two Seagate hard drives (80gig/160gig) which I think use one IDE port (of the two on the mobo I am considering).
- Two optical drives. I am not sure what connection they use to the mobo; I assume it will be built to handle a few fairly new optical drives and that this won't be an issue.
- EVGA e-GeForce 6600LE 256mb AGP8X video card (AGP Slot)
- Creative Technology SoundBlaster Live! 24-bit Sound card (ATI slot)
- Dell E771a monitor
- Dell keyboard and optical mouse
- Floppy disk drive
- LAN card (3Com EtherLink XL 10/100 PCI card) (ATI Slot)
- USB 2.0 card (ATI Slot)

Hardware I plan to purchase:

- Centurion 5 ATX Mid-Tower Case
( http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...Mid_Tower_Case )

- Gigabyte Technology GA-8IPE1000-G rev 3.x ATX Socket 478 Motherboard, for Intel Pentium 4 HT Processors
( http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...78_Motherboard )

- 300 Watt ATX Power Supply
( http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...X_Power_Supply )

- Pentium 4 , 3.00 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, Socket FC-PGA4 478-pin Boxed Processor with HT Technology
( http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...7&Pn=Pentium_4 )

- Kingston memory (2x1gig). I know for sure this is compatible.
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...cegrabbermerch )

- Chipset Cooler Kit (I have absolutely no idea if I need this thing... let me know)
( http://www.compusa.com/products/prod...1975&pfp=srch1 )


All the reviews that I have read for the case seem to be very positive, and the motherboard seems to be pretty reasonably priced. But to be perfectly honest, I have no idea what I am talking about when it comes to motherboards and processors. From all that I can see, these parts seem to be compatible.

I think I may need a more powerful PSU, advice would be appreciated.

I would like to stay in remotely the same price range as the listed components, but if anyone has suggestions for different set-ups that would be greatly appreciated.

Okay, that's it for hardware questions. Now, operating system and software. I have Windows XP installed on one of the drives that will be making the changover into the new machine (The other drive is used for mostly music storage). Will I need a new copy of Windows? If not, will I be able to plug everything in and go? What will need to be installed individually? Sadly, I don't know how any of software business works. I have installation CDs for Windows that came with my Dell.

As for installed programs; I have downloaded and installed numerous programs that I don't have intallation files for. Will I be able to drag my "Program Files" folder to the non-system HD, then plug that in later? If I initialize and reinstall Windows on the system HD in the new box, will I be able to drag that folder onto the new system drive and have my programs work?




I hope at least some of this makes sense.




Thanks in advance,
Scott

[glc]

First thing you do is get off the CompUSA site. There are no deals to be had there. Get your stuff from Newegg or one of the other recommended vendors here.

I would not do a Socket 478. You will be seriously limiting your further upgrade potential, it's obsolete - and all 478 processors are secondary market and more expensive than the newer 775 equivalents. You should be looking at a Socket 775 if you want Intel. In order to use all your IDE devices *and* an AGP video card, there is only one motherboard I recommend - an Asus P5P800 SE. Newegg has them in stock, along with a wide variety of socket 775 single and dual core processors that are compatible with that board.

If you must have that case, get a decent power supply from Newegg - the best for the money are made by FSP/Fortron/Sparkle, and I'd go for a minimum of 350 watts. You need one with a 20+4 pin main connector and an auxiliary +12v 4 pin connector.

You will not need the network adapter, the motherboard has one integrated. It has integrated sound too - try that before you disable it and put your sound card in. You will not need the USB 2.0 card either, the motherboard has several USB 2.0 ports. You do not need that chipset cooling kit.

[minusthebear]

Awesome, thank you. That is exactly the type of advice I needed.

Keeping the same case, I changed to the following:

- FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, 400W Power Supply (I believe this has the connectors you mentioned.)
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104953 )

- ASUS P5P800 SE Motherboard
( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131574 )

- Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T Processor
( http://www.newegg.com/product/Produc...82E16819116198 )

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by minusthebear FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, 400W Power Supply (I believe this has the connectors you mentioned.)( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product )

Yes, that's a good power supply.

Originally Posted by minusthebear ASUS P5P800 SE Motherboard ( http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813131574 )

That's a good motherboard.

Originally Posted by minusthebear - Intel Pentium 4 630 Prescott 800MHz FSB 2MB L2 Cache LGA 775 EM64T Processor ( http://www.newegg.com/product/Produc...82E16819116198 )

That's a good processor and is supported by that motherboard.

Cricket

[Alaron]

Do one step better and go for the Pentium D 930: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16819116238

Still 3.0Ghz, but you get dual core.

[minusthebear]

Is that processor compatible with the motherboard above? I don't see why not, but I'd like to be sure.

Also, I just found the box for my most recently purchased hard drive, and I realized that the interface is "Ultra ATA/100". Will I need to purchase a new drive for this setup?

[jayb1234]

You can use the old hard drives.

As far as the OS, if that is a dell factory load, you probably need a new one. If it is one that you bought seperately, you should be able to use it.

For the RAM, use Kingstons configurator, or check the QVL at the motherboard makers site to be sure you get a compatible part number. A lot of motherboards are kind of picky about the architecture of 1Gb sticks. I would go with Corsair value select, Kingston has been having a few issues lately.

The Pentium D 930 is on the supported cpu list for that board at the ASUS website.

That page has the RAM list (hit QVL Download on the left) and for the CPU Support List hit download and then CPU support on the left side of the page.

[glc]

The only thing I don't like about that power supply is it blows air in onto the CPU, it doesn't exhaust air out. Look at this for an alternate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817104952

You will need to buy a new copy of XP, but you won't have to wipe the drive - just do a repair reinstall. Get an OEM copy with your hardware purchase, it only has to match what you have now - Home or Pro. Use the new CD key and it will activate online.

[minusthebear]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16837102059

Will this copy of XP work, or will I have to get the full $200 version?

Sorry for all the dumb questions, I just really don't know how this stuff works.

[flanzig1]

Yes, the OEM version will work but a back up of your data would be a good idea in case of having to do a clean install.

[glc]

You could even get away without a repair install if you change the IDE controller to standard dual IDE before shutting the Dell down and removing the drive. If it complains about activation, Microsoft has a tool to use to change the CD key to your new key, and that will activate.

[minusthebear]

Yeah. I am going to back up music, important work files, program installation files etc. to the larger of my two current drives, then initialize my system drive with a friend's computer. From there I'll do a clean system install with the new box. I'd like to start from scratch.

[glc]

Good idea, but do not put the second drive back in until after Windows is installed.

[jamesgig]

budget???