Need help building a PC please

[WJWheels]

I bought my Antec SX1030B (black) a couple weeks ago at www.provantage.com for $77. I see their current price is $78.47. You are going to be very pleasantly surprised with the SX1030. Congratulations.

[Tarmenion]

Smoke, which networking card? hehehe there so many and I dont know what I am looking for, here is the site I am looking at http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/ProdNE...-NIC-3COM.hmx?

Thanks Wheels, I will either go there or egghead for the case, provantage might be cheaper but they make it up with the shipping arrrrggg $27.00, it comes out to about the same.

Smoke, I will load win98 but unfortunatly I dont have a disk will have to buy a new one. Also what is OEM?

After the Network Card situation I will be done I figure, and now I will just have to purchase everything, right now it comes to about $1500.00 and I also added $125 for excessories and this does not include a monitor.

I remember the first time I came here and asked everyone if it is worth it to build your own and I must say now I cant believe how worth it is, now I just hope everything goes smooth in the building process.

Once Again Thanks Everyone for all your help!

[Tarmenion]

DOH!, I was just thinking it will be alittle more because I forgot to add a mouse and keyboard and who knows what else hehehe, its all good still.

[Smoke24]

I am using the 3Com 905B-TXM card but you may want the newer 905C-TXM as it may just perform a little better either one should be fine. For your keyboard and mouse, you won't be disappointed if you get what I use, it is the Logitech cordless combo. The cordless mouse is especially nice. Even if you go for a corded keyboard get the cordless mouse but it doesn't cost that much more to buy them together. I got this one at Egghead for about $80 and it had a $20 rebate too. OEM stands for original equipment manufacturer and some vendors sell the OS's and other software as OEM if you buy your processor and or motherboard from them. If not there are other places on the net to buy cheaper software. Some of them sell OEM packages that were originally used by the major manufacturers but they have gone to a newer package such as ME or soon to be XP.
It will probably present a little challenge to put it all together and get it running real smooth but it's worth every minute of frustration and work just to learn about computers not to mention save a few bucks. You obviously have one you're using now so take your time and do it right.

[PardeGT]

Sorry about the processor at Newegg as it said in stock last night but I see now it says that it is not. I didn't notice that sx1030 at inflow didn't have the ps.

I still would recommend the Samsung 955df (19in flatscreen) if it will fit into your budget. I see Egghead has it and like Smoke24 says all of your purchases there are shipped for $6.95! For gaming use this would be a great monitor. It has a dot pitch of .20 where most are .24-.26. This is the distance from center of one pixel to the next. The smaller the distance the sharper the picture. It compares to the Sony E400 that sells for $450-$500. Also, I don't think you'll find the antec case in a store, I know Best Buy here does not carry it. Best Buy does, however, carry the 955df if you would like to check it out in person.

I have the Linksys LNE100TX card that I use with my cable modem that I bought from Outpost.com for $18 (when they had free overnight shipping) and it seems to work great, Best Buy here carries it for $24 I believe.

[Tarmenion]

Thanks for the recommendations.

I just came back from COMPUSA and BEST BUY and they both have crap hehe

They both had antec models, in fact thats all they had but not the sx1030. Compusa could of order it for me for $104.00 after negotiation but that didnt include shipping so I said nevermind as I can get it a few bucks cheaper. I also seen the Santa Cruz Sound Card for $80.00 so I will compare the one I am getting for 70 and the shipping cost and see which is more expensive.

There is one thing I was really interested in and that is the Western Digital HDD they had on sale. $99 for 30gig 7200rpm, what you think? I was told by a couple of friends that WB is very good, some say better then IBM but I want to here what you guys have to say about this, should I get the IBM 40 gig for $129 ($10 or less for 30gig) or WB 30 gig for $99?

[akmsr]

termenion,
just curious what video card u picked?

[Tarmenion]

I also forgot to ask, what do you think of this fan? comments?

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...p?sku=Z19-1050

[Tarmenion]

Probaly the MSI GeForce 2, you can see everything I am getting in the last post on page 2.

[akmsr]

for cpu cooling u better check this http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/01q2/010521/index.html
if u r going with a DDR ram get crucial they are cheap almost same price as sdram and if u buy from www.crucial.com they have free shipping.

[Smoke24]

In the last couple of years Western Digital has had lots of problems with their drives but have been good about replacing them. I would stay with IBM but it's a personal choice and they are the best by far. If you're going to run two of them in the RAID 1 configuration, I would definitely stay with IBM's as their quality seems much more consistant.
That fan from Tiger Direct is a drive bay fan for cooling your drives, which you really may not need. I think it's just two 80 MM fan you could buy for $5 each in a plastic case that fits the drive bay. You could later build one yourself with two fans and a small piece of aluminum and a few screws.
You may want to reconsider your choice of the Geforce video, I saw a story on TechTV today about the newest ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon card. It has lots of new features that will let it operate like a Tivo system and hooks up to your TV- cable, saving TV progams and it allows a lot of video editing features and is compatible with all file formats. Only thing is that it retails for $250 but you could probably find it a lot cheaper somewhere.

[LawyerRon]

Getting back to network cards...
I've got 3 of the Kingston ethernet cards and they work fine. NICs are kind of a no-brainer to me and if you stick with any brand name you should be ok. Buy any brand name with the best price.

[Tarmenion]

Hi guys,

I seem to be stuck again, I didnt relize there were so MANY different memory cards to choose from, could someone help me out with which one is best for my MOBO, I want two 256mb memory cards. I just want to be safe and not screw things up.

here is my MOBO info
http://direct.mwave.com/mwave/doc/A13161.html

Memory Card Info
http://www.crucial.com/

The thing is, first I am not sure which one I want when it comes to these choices:
256MB PC2100 DDR-SDRAM
256MB PC133 SDRAM DIMM

Then when you click on one of these choices there are a bunch more to choose from, so now I am confused on which one, and here I thought this would be the simple part.

So which do you guys think?

[Smoke24]

If that is definitely your board you will need the PC2100 DDR SDRAM. Actually 256 meg is probably enough, that's all I run even though I have a couple of extra 128 sticks, but if you want more now is the time to buy while it's really cheap. The motherboard only has provisions for DDR type, regular SDRAM won't work in it.

[Tarmenion]

Also forgot to mention that I just purchased the SX1030B CASE and I will now need 2 more fans to put in the case since it you able to put 4 in total and 2 come with the case.

So my question is what fans do you recommend, I believe I need 80mm, maybe someone that has this case like Pardegt can answer this question.

[Tarmenion]

Smoke, thanks but.. there is more

When I click on the one you recomended it gives me another 3 choices.

What are the difference in those 3 choices and which one should I get?


Also I am going to by the AMD TBIRD 1.33ghz off of 1stweb. They have it for $209 and is Cnet Certified so what you think? Oh and I just want to confirm something else, here is the site http://www.1steweb.net/web/merchant....AMD-Processors

I am probaly make a big deal out of nothing but I want to be sure. I am alittle hesitant here because it list the Tbird 1.33 on top but the line right below it says the tbird 1.3, I want to make sure that I am purchasing the 1.33 and not the 1.3, is there a reason why they have it like that? am I purchasing the 1.33 or 1.3? I am pretty sure its for the 1.33 but I just want to be safe you know? heh

[WJWheels]

Originally posted by Tarmenion Also forgot to mention that I just purchased the SX1030B CASE and I will now need 2 more fans to put in the case since it you able to put 4 in total and 2 come with the case. So my question is what fans do you recommend, I believe I need 80mm, maybe someone that has this case like Pardegt can answer this question.

You are correct... there are 2 80mm fans included and the case has cages for 2 more. As Antec is also a major fan supplier, those in the case are Antec. I have a couple of Sunan 80mm (IMHO superior to Antec) that I plan to add along with a 92mm I plan to add in a (modded) top blowhole.

[Smoke24]

On the memory you want the first one listed that is unbuffered non-parity. You don't want any ECC.
As for the processor I would order the retail version that is third from the bottom of their page of AMD Athlons. It is for some reason cheaper than the OEM version but they may not have it in stock?

[Tarmenion]

I see what your talking about but arent these two different processors? 1.3 and 1.33 and then one on the bottom has Tbird mention and 266fsb whatever that is

1. AMD ATHLON K7 1.3GHZ 266MHZ RETAIL
2. AMD ATHLON K7 1.33GHZ 266FSB T-BIRD OEM SOCKET A

http://www.1steweb.net/web/merchant....AMD-Processors

[Smoke24]

I looked and they are the same except the OEM and Retail part. If it says 1.3 or 1.33 with 266 bus speed it is the same. I also noticed they both say to call for availability. The retail version may even come with the stock fan/heatsink assembly although you might want one that will cool a bit better especially if you plan to try overclocking later. They do list the one that is 200 bus speed between them. I had forgotten that Wheels had just got that case and he says he's very impressed with it.

[PardeGT]

As I stated in one of my earlier replies, Sunon fans are top quality case fans and if you're purchasing your cpu heatsink/fan from inflow direct they carry these Sunon fans there. Also pick up some of the Artic Silver paste under their "Thermal Compound" category. Artic Silver is excellent at transfering heat off the cpu to the heatsink.

[Tarmenion]

Ok,

Thanks smoke, I will call to make sure they are in fact available. Also in reference to that Video card you recommended, which one is specificly? There are ALOT of ATI All-In-Wonder Radeon cards

Pardegt, thats a very nice monitor and reasonable, I will check out at best buy this afternoon, thanks.

Now, which Sunon Fans do I want? there are 3 types all with different speeds, I am guessing the high speed one but I want to be sure.

Also there is know Artic Silver Paste, there is only Compound or Adhesive, which one did you mean?

LOL give me the SPECIFICS guys, iam not to bright ]

Thanks

[WJWheels]

Originally posted by Tarmenion Now, which Sunon Fans do I want? there are 3 types all with different speeds, I am guessing the high speed one but I want to be sure. Also there is know Artic Silver Paste, there is only Compound or Adhesive, which one did you mean?

Being you want to add 2 more fans, I'd go with 1 4-pin (#804) for either the back of the case or in the drive bay, and 1 3-pin (#803) for the lower front. The 3-pin will be attached to the "system fan" pins on the motherboard and allow the bios to monitor the speed.

NOT the adhesive, which is an epoxy.... unless you're going for permanance. Get the Artic Silver Compound.

[Tarmenion]

Thanks Wheels,

Now anyone know anything about this video card?

I am pretty much done except for the video card and I am still not sure which to get for the ultimate gaming experience. Smoke mention one called the ATI ALL IN ONE RADEON CARD for about $250, sounds good but which ATI RADEON? there are a few, anyone know?

Thanks

[Smoke24]

You may want to stay with the Geforce 2 video card. I understand now that the AIW Radeon may have some issues with the Athlon. This is something that locks up the system when recording video and I don't know if there is a fix for it yet. The Geforce 2 is a real good card and probably a good bit cheaper too.
I understand the issue is with the Via chipset and not the Athlon after reading further. You might consider the ATI Radeon VIVO card with 64 meg DDR at $177 at Mwave. It has most of the All-In-Wonder features plus another 32 meg of DDR RAM.

[Tarmenion]

Just curious now who makes the better GeForce? Are they all the same?

If I do buy the GeForce I was considering the MSI version

[Tarmenion]

Ok, 1stWeb does not have it in stock BUT Spartan Tech has it for 209 in stock, I called to confirm.

http://www.spartantech.com/items/cpus.asp

Now, do you think it would be ok to buy from here? They have no rating and they are not Cnet Certified so I am not sure. Has anyone ever bought from here?

Let me know what you think

[Smoke24]

Don't know a thing about that vendor but I looked at www.googlegear.com and they have it, they say in stock for $205. Don't forget not to spread your purchases among so many vendors that shipping kills your budget.
Something you may want to do while ordering your processor is to also get an OEM copy of Windows 98se, which is what I recommend, as you can get it much cheaper if you buy it that way, about $100 or so. If you wait it could cost you up to about twice the price. If you have a copy already just disregard this suggestion.

[akmsr]

hey tarmenion,
did u already got ur DDR ram? if u didn't check out www.crucial.com
they have 256MB pc2100 DDR ram for $65.69 only :P)

[pa]

Tarmenion,
mabey ur just not ready to build ur own pc yet why dont u try a speclist pc maker like voodoo .if u still want to build ur own pc i would read as much as u can about it, try storagereview 4 info on cdrw drives and hardrives, try amdzone 4 general comp info and alot of amd info try howstuffworks this is a great link which shows u how all the components of ur pc work and try tomshardware 4 general pc info make sure u read all the how-to sections on all the pages i think these links will keep u bussy 4 a while