New Build Advice (AMD)

[billandsebastian]

I'm looking to build for the first time. I'm looking for something that will work well for digital media (video, music, etc) and general computing, not so concerned about gaming. Looking to go with a decent AMD processor, and probably an ASUS motherboard. Trying to keep the price around $1K, but lower always works. I will probably be dual booting Windows (probably XP...not so sure about Vista yet) and Ubuntu. Is an upgrade in sound card worth it? Any other info that I need to provide?

Here are some components I was looking at:

- Rosewill R5717-P SL 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower

- AMD Athlon 64 X2 4600+ Windsor 2.4GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache Socket AM2 Processor

- FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, RoHS, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, 20+ 4 pin, PCI Express, 400W Power Supply

- ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI MCP ATX AMD Motherboard

- Western Digital Caviar SE WD1600JS 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive (two of these)

- CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory

- BFG Tech BFGR76256GTOCE GeForce 7600GT 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail

I am hoping that everything here is compatible. Let me know if I am wrong.

Thanks!

EDIT: Changed the Motherboard to the "deluxe" instead of "premium"

[LeftyAce]

Firstly, why AMD and not Intel? Right now, the intel Core 2 Duo chips are the best bang for the buck by far. And I've tried 64 bit Ubuntu and it's a disaster; no flash, no java....limited support in a number of areas, unfortunately. I'm running the 32 bit version on my AMD 64 processor...

Also, why the SLI motherboard? Save your money and get a single card board; SLI isn't worth it unless you're an extreme gamer and can afford two of the best cards on the market.

I'd suggest switching to an intel C2D e6300 or e6699, as budget dictates.
Couple that with an Asus P5B motherboard. The basic will do you fine, but if you need firewire, look at the P5B-E.

If you're going with Intel and not overclocking, switch to corsair valuselect DDR2 667 ram.
If you're going with AMD, you'll want DDR2 800 ram, or else you'll take a performance hit.

Unless you're an audio nut, onboard sound will be fine. You can always try it and see, then upgrade the sound card if you want.

Definitely stick with XP until they get the issues worked out with vista.

Others may have other suggestions. Especially in the are of PSUs; they're really important and I'm really clueless about them :-)

[billandsebastian]

I was mostly going with the AMD for budgetary reasons. I went with the SLI mainly because I'm very mobo conscious. If theres anything I'd rather risk getting too top of the line, it'd be that, but you're probably right as far as the P5B. As far as Ubuntu...definitely 32 bit.

[hitchface]

Before we dive in too much, welcome to PC Mech! Good to have you.

Yeah, if you are shooting for 1K, go with C2D for sure. You will spend less on a processor that performs just as well as that 4600+.

glc recommends the Antec Sonata II for a case on many occasions, because it is 100 bucks and has a quality PSU that goes with it. That does cost more than your original plan, but many reviews on the case mentioned that there weren't enough standoffs for the mainboard and that it was fairly flimsy all around.

Reviews for the PSU weren't bad, but some weren't too happy about the voltages fluctuating like they were, and others wanted more connections for HDDs (there are only 2 I guess). I'll let you decide on that one.

You could probably also drop to the GS version of that video card, simply because gaming isn't a high priority for you.

Now unless you plan on doing recording and video editing, 2 gigs of RAM might be excessive. If you will be doing those things, keep it the way it is, but otherwise go with ValueRAM from Kingston. Unbeatable NQA warranty (at least I've heard such) and it does the job well.

WD drives are good, but unless you plan on going for a 10K drive like the Raptor, you might consider switching to Seagate. They have very reliable 7200 RPM models and are quite popular.

That oughta cut some costs for you. Maybe some more detail on this computer's purpose would help us to help you as well.

[billandsebastian]

Thanks!

This computer will serve to be my main "working" computer. I'm going to keep a laptop for mobility's sake, but I'm looking to dual boot with Ubuntu and XP with photo and video editing software (Adobe Creative Suite, etc) as well as keeping alot of music on the hard drive. Not a whole lot of gaming (though some), no advanced mathematic computation programs. Basically I'm looking for something that will run fast more than hard. That can load Photoshop or Illustrator while iTunes is running and Outlook is checking my e-mail and not have excessive lag. Also, where can you find an Intel C2D thats cheaper than the AMD? I had expected to find that with their price wars, but a look at newegg and it seemed as though comparable processors had Intel running about $50-$75 higher at least.

Thanks again!

[glc]

If you can wait till the end of April, there will be a big C2D price reduction.

[hitchface]

Originally Posted by billandsebastian Also, where can you find an Intel C2D thats cheaper than the AMD? I had expected to find that with their price wars, but a look at newegg and it seemed as though comparable processors had Intel running about $50-$75 higher at least. Thanks again!

The thing is that C2Ds of a lower class perform better than X2s. If you bought 2 processors, AMD and Intel, that were at the exact same price, the Intel would perform better. Just take a look around Tom's Hardware at the comparison charts, and you'll see what I mean. And if that isn't enough, glc is right. C2Ds are expanding into a huge line and will have a fairly significant price drop come April.

Even if the C2D idea was more expensive, the power you pay for is well worth it. AM2 architecture still runs into troubles with its memory controller, and you need more expensive RAM to fully utilize it. (800 MHz kind of expensive)

[Alaron]

Also, AMD had to cut prices on their chips heavily to try to regain the sales they were losing to the Intel C2Ds. Thats why the Intel chips appear expensive in comparison. But comapring what you get for the money, the Intel is the better way to go. And will be even more so after the price drops.

[hitchface]

Here we go, I found a comparison. An e6600 costs 313US on Newegg right now, while an X2 6000+ costs 456. The e6600 beats the X2 in rendering by a small margin in Photoshop according to THG. Over 100 dollars difference...thats pretty significant.

[billandsebastian]

I think i've been convinced on the Intel and the more basic ASUS mobo, but I'm still not sure about the case/power supply. The laptop I currently have fried its HD because of cooling issues. I know its like apples and oranges, but I'm worried about keeping the desktop cool as well and the Antec Sonata II seemed to have a few complaints about the lack of a front-end fan (as well as the door in the front). Any other suggestions for a minimalist, basic case and a power supply that can take 2 HDs and a DVD drive?

[LeftyAce]

You're right, it is apples and oranges....

I would take the advice of the experts (Alaron, glc); you'll be fine.

[billandsebastian]

Yeah all of the advice I have gotten so far has been phenomenal, thank you all very much. I am just a little hesitant on the case because of complaints about the front door. It looks good otherwise though. The other one I was looking at was a Spire Blackfin

Anyone know much about that one?

[Alaron]

Haven't seen that particular case, but if you like it go for it. The case decision is largely personal preference. I like Antec cases myself, they are well constructed. Most inexpensive/off-brand cases will work fine, but they usually aren't as well made or roomy inside.

[glc]

If you buy an offbrand case, get it without a power supply and buy a quality power supply to put in it. Antecs are one of the very few cases that come with quality power supplies, most others are junk.

[billandsebastian]

Yeah, from what I've read Forton seems like a good brand for the power supply. I am looking at this one: FSP Group (Fortron Source) AX400-PN, RoHS, 12cm FAN, version 2.2, 2 SATA, 20+ 4 pin, PCI Express, 400W Power Supply

[Alaron]

Good choice. I'd bump it up to the 450w version for your setup though.

[glc]

If you are looking for a decent 450 watt PSU that's inexpensive, look at the XClio 450BL.