Upgrade Help

[edgie]

Hi. I am planning to upgrade my PC. More like overhaul it.
These are the components that I am planning to buy:

- Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (1.86 GHz) / E6400 (2.13 GHz)

- Asus P5B - VM (Intel G965 / ICH8, 1066 / 800 / 533 MHz, 4 x DIMM, max. 8GB, DDR2 800* / 667 / 533 MHz, non-ECC, un-buffered memory, ESATA and IEEE 1394 Support, Intel® GMA X3000, Intel® Clear Video Technology)

- Kingston 1GB 800 MHz

- Samsung 250GB 7200 rpm SATA

These are the components that I'll be transferring from the old PC to the new one:

- Sony DVD Burner
- Creative CD-ROM
- Asus DVD-ROM
- Sony Floppy drive

Everything else goes.. in the trash bin. I am not sure if I missed something important regarding the things that I am going to buy.

These will be setup by the guy at the computer store. I just want to clarify some things before I give my go signal. Please bear with the nature of my questions because I really have no idea how to shop for PC components.

Are the components compatible with one another? I really have no idea how to build this up.

What I am after is a Firewire port for the Handycam. Once I have a Firewire port, can I plug the Handycam and edit movies right away or do I need to have another hardware component such as cards?

Is it ok not to use a video card give these specs?

Is it ok to use a microATX board in an ATX casing? The computer store only has P5B-VM, which is microATX. Just in case the ATX counterpart of the P5B is available, are the specs good? Or does this board have issues?

What PSU do I need? I have just encountered this term recently, I thought that all PSU's come hand in hand with the case, like a package.

By the way, I will be using Windows XP Pro.

Thanks for reading.

[Cricket]

Originally Posted by edgie Are the components compatible with one another? I really have no idea how to build this up.

First of all, what kind of computer do you have now? A home/custom built one or a name brand store bought one?

There are a few items you may want to change. First is the RAM...Kingston RAM has a high failure rate now and you might want to look at getting another brand like Crucial or Corsair.

Samsung hard drives are not known to be reliable and you may want to consider Seagate or Western Digital hard drives instead.

The CPU and the motherboard you're getting are sort of dated...is that okay with you? There are newer parts available that may actually cost less.

Your existing optical drives, are the IDE or SATA? IDE optical drives don't really work too well with newer motherboards.

You don't really need a floppy drive.

Originally Posted by edgie What I am after is a Firewire port for the Handycam. Once I have a Firewire port, can I plug the Handycam and edit movies right away or do I need to have another hardware component such as cards?

You need video editing software.

Originally Posted by edgie Is it ok not to use a video card give these specs?

Yes.

Originally Posted by edgie Is it ok to use a microATX board in an ATX casing?

Yes.

Originally Posted by edgie The computer store only has P5B-VM, which is microATX. Just in case the ATX counterpart of the P5B is available, are the specs good?

The P5B doesn't have on-board IEEE1394 (FireWire). Other than that, the specs are similar to the P5B-VM (of course, it doesn't have on-board video).

Originally Posted by edgie Or does this board have issues?

There is an issue with IDE drive support. But the P5B is getting out dated...you may want to look at the newer P5K motherboards.

Originally Posted by edgie What PSU do I need? I have just encountered this term recently, I thought that all PSU's come hand in hand with the case, like a package.

You'll need a good quality ATX 2.0 or higher power supply that has a 20+4 motherboard power connector and the 4 pin 12v power connector. The power supplies that come in most cases are cheap low quality units that you should avoid. The power supply is the most important component in your computer and you should always try to use a good quality one to avoid power related problems.

Cricket

[Lespaul20]

As fas a compatibly I'm familiar with, I would go with 2GB Corsair.
The motherboard probably wont have enough IDE ports for 3 optical drives.

If you motherboard has Firewire headers you should be able to use them not problem but if you are using a proprietary case then that might not work. BUT After looking the motherboard you want, it has a Firewire port onboard so you will be fine.

You should be able use the micro-atx in the atx but again if you have a proprietary case that might not be possible.

A lot of cases have power supply with them but they are usually crap. You will probably need to look a getting a decent power supply also.

[edgie]

Thanks for the helpful info Lespaul20 and Cricket

I am using a custom-built one. I planned on buying these months ago, probably that's why some of these are sort of dated now.

I'm a bit confused with what our contact computer guy says and what I've been getting from your replies. It's a good thing I checked out this forum before giving my go signal.

By the way, the PC will be used mostly for basic applications and some video editing.

Regarding the memory, what is the difference between a 1GB RAM and a 512x2 RAM in terms of performance and cost?

Are there any issues with Asus P5K-V? I am considering it now although I'm not sure if the stores have it in stock or if it's order-basis.

I am having a hard time finding available boards in stores that have onboard Firewire. Just in case I'm not able to shop for one, what are my options? (i.e. are there separate cards that I can buy so that I can use Firewire even though the board does not have one?)

With regards to the optical drives, I have no idea if they are IDE or SATA. What I have are:
1) Sony DVD RW DRU-810A
2) Creative iR CD5222E-B
3) Asus DVD-ROM E608

What should I do if they happen to be IDE? I am keen on keeping the DVD RW because I just bought it recently and I haven't used it yet to its maximum potential. Hehe. The other two can go.

Thanks again!

[wildfire]

1GB of Ram and 2x512MB of ram has no difference except your going to be using up another slot and sometimes if you use up all 4 slots in a motherboard, you'll have to downgrade the ram frequency 1 step to keep your computer stable. Frequency is what speed the ram is running at, ie. 800mhz. downgrading that 1 step would be to 667, another step down is 533.

If your ordering from newegg then the most likely do have it in stock and I don't know any issues with the P5K-V.

The P5K-V has a firewire port. I think it does at least, it does if a firewire port is a IEEE 1394a port.

IDE are big long cables that are extremely thin but like 2 inches in length.
Sata cables are like half an inch and are mostly red.
PS: the p5k-v can hold up to 2 ide devices.

IDE http://www.vgmusic.com/faq/gallery/plugs/p-IDE.jpg
Sata http://www.cooltechpc.com/ctpc/images/sata_cable.jpg

Just some googled images xD

[liambl]

An advantage of having 2x 512mb is it enables dual channel, increasing memory bandwidth. ALthough you would be much better off with 2x 1gb in dual channel.