This post contains some technical questions, though it's not technical overall, so I believe it belongs here.

Anyway, I'm finally going to break down and buy and build one good PC. I need opinions on the parts I've chosen, the vendors, and my OS setup. This compy will be used for large file storage (read: ripping all of my CDs to MP3), rendering 3D images and animations in Blender, and playing some newer games (they don't necessarily have to be at full res). I'm looking to spend less than $1000, and the less the better.

So, this is what I have so far, all from TigerDirect:
Biostar M7NCD Barbones
Athlon XP 2800+ CPU Barton w/ 3200+ Socket A fan
Seagate 200GB 7200 rpm hard drive
MadDog Dual Layer DVD Burner(I've never heard of the company, but the price is right)
MadDog CD-RW drive(Again, the price is right)
Cheap Monitor

From NewEgg:
Albatron nVidia GeForce FX5700
I considered going for the 5700LE, which could save me up to $40, but I don't think the loss in bandwidth (6.4 vs 8.8 Gb transfer) is worth it. I want an nVidia card because I plan on having Linux, and using Blender under Linux to render images and animations. I still want a good enough card that I can play Far Cry and Doom3 etc. I think this one will do.

I plan to overclock it with this:
PCI slot fans

Memory I will probably buy from Crucial.

Other bit that I had a question over was what to do with my Windows OS. I know I will have Debian on a partition, so don't bother with the Linux suggestions. However, I'll probably need Windows as well. I have a copy of XP Pro that I can put on it, but I'll have to take it off my laptop and call M$ to get my key released, and put XP Home back on my laptop. Or, I can put Windows 2000 Pro on the system for free. Our Uni offers unlimited free copies of 2000 Pro for Comp. Sci. majors, but only one copy of XP Pro. So, I'm a little split as to what to do with my Windows OS. Should I be fine for a few years if I keep 2000 Pro?

Thanks in advance,
Ric

------------------
Our very existence is at stake

Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

-@%

If you can mangane a few more bucks, a 5900 series card would be worth it, since you want to stick with nVidia, but then again you plan to overclock, so . . .

------------------
I'm not an actor. I just play one on TV.

[This message has been edited by Avenger (edited July 13, 2004).]

Dont' spend the extra bucks for the 2800! Buy the 2500, spend the money that you saved from buying the 2500 and buy a really good heatsink, and then overclock the 2500. Hell, I was able to O/C it from 166x11 to 200x11 (AKA a Athlon XP 3200) with stock cooling, just my temps were a bit high .

------------------
"His Will Was Set, And Only Death Would Break It"

"None knows what the new day shall bring him"

[This message has been edited by mscbuck (edited July 13, 2004).]

If you want a cheap dual layer burner, don't buy one from some crappy no name company.

Especially when this one costs the same, is from an actually reputable company, and doesn't have a rebate to deal with.

Thanks for the heads-up about the NEC DVD drive. I'll definately take that one.

Oh, should I go for the 5700 Ultra, or buckle down and get the 5900? Or is the card I have selected good enough?

Any other suggestions?

What about the OS setup? Any recommendations?

------------------
Our very existence is at stake

Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

-@%

[This message has been edited by Ric_Olie (edited July 13, 2004).]

Go 5900, or better than that, 5950 (or better than that, ATI ). I honestly dont know if I would put much money on the 5900's gaming performance for a title like Doom 3, so if you have they money, I think the 5950 would be a much better investment in the long run.

------------------
ZGPC

What Finity said, though the 9800 pro would be better for games all around. 120 GB should be enough, so cut down on that unless you NEED the extra 80 gigs of space, and go for 1 gig of ram, either PC 3200, 2100, or 2700. Dual sticks for dual channel if you can, but if you can't a gig stick is fine. Seriously, the extra investment will pay off.
DO NOT GET A BIOSTAR MOTHERBOARD! They are CRAP. I have one and it's keeping me from using my processor's full potential. Besides that, you'll want a different case for overclocking probably. Try [url=]this motherboard[/url] with [url=]this case[/url]. From a respected brand, with a good setup, and a nice case for overclocking.

Also, Seagates suck, in my experience. WD, or even better, Maxtor, would be preferrable. Getting a 120 gig for around 90 is pretty good, and 200 gigs for 160 is definitely do-able at NewEgg.

Buck--the 2800 is nice. It's a barton as well, and probably just as good of an overclocker, if not better.

------------------
There is no signature

Ive got a Biostar in my server, it runs just fine for me.



Not in mine. Ive had fairly good luck with Seagates. WD, on the other hand, has been very bad to me.

------------------
Dear lady, can you hear the wind blow, and did you know
Your stairway lies on the whispering wind.
:wq

Ric - I bought that exact same barebones from Tigerdirect.ca about 3 months ago. Don't listen to Yoshi, the motherboard works perfectly fine at normal speeds - BUT I haven't tried OC'ing it yet.

------------------
When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

Hmm, I chose it for the nForce chipset. Perhaps a Soyo Motherboard with a Via Chipset?

[EDIT] I'd like the Biostar M7NCD Ultra barebones, and then I'd put a Hitachi SATA Hard Drive in that. Any thoughts on this?

------------------
Our very existence is at stake

Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

-@%

[This message has been edited by Ric_Olie (edited July 13, 2004).]

Decided to go with that nVidia 5700 after all. I figure it'll keep me going at least until PCI-E comes out, at which point I'll probably upgrade the Mobo and video card.

------------------
Our very existence is at stake

Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

-@%

PCI-E is worthless. There are no, or little, performance gains, and it's all a bunch of hype. Not even the latest video cards take advantage of AGP 8X's full bandwidth. Also, Cow--that's what I mean. If he's going to overclock he won't want a Biostar. Trust me.

And Hitachi==IBM. Buy it at your own risk.

And I wouldn't go with VIA chipsets. They're certainly not as bad as they used to be, but they've got a baaaad track record, and I personally never want to take that chance. Besides that, nForce2 is the only good thing nVidia ever did, so why not use it?

------------------
There is no signature

[This message has been edited by Dj Yoshi (edited July 13, 2004).]

I'd try to go with a 5900 if possible.

[This message has been edited by Shintock (edited July 13, 2004).]

Tell me about it. I've been trying to overclock since my last post. I can't my computer to POST at all when outside normal speeds. NOTHING. AT ALL. THIS SUCKS *** .

I want a new mobo



------------------
When guitars are outlawed, only outlaws will have guitars.

PCI express is already out to my knowledge. I could care less for it, and I think card manufatures that try to make a lot of PCIE cards now, such as ATI with their X series, are going to find out it was a bad idea, as 8X agp is still plenty good, and at this point nobody really has PCIE yet.

Also I have an Albatron mobo (PX865PE Pro) and it is just a great mobo for overclocking. I don't know about Albatrons AMD mobos, but I defiantly suggest an Albatron motherboard.

------------------
ZGPC

[This message has been edited by finity5 (edited July 13, 2004).]

Told you

------------------
There is no signature

Found a case

With a realtively cheap power supply and a DFI motherboard, it turned out about the same price as the barebones kit, maybe $20 more.

I think I'm all set.

------------------
Our very existence is at stake

Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

-@%

If you're going to do anything, get that Asus I suggested. I haven't heard much about DFI, but Asus is a trusted mobo company, and practically guaranteed to work well. Trust me

------------------
There is no signature

Went with the DFI because the price was right, and because DFI has gotten good reviews and ratings. Anyway, thanks everybody for your help. Oh, BTW, I went with a Maxtor SATA drive, so I don't think I need to worry about failure.

------------------
Our very existence is at stake

Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

-@%

Nice nice, as long as it's 7200 RPM

------------------
There is no signature

I'd get a better mobo then that. You didn't even want to buy a cheaper brand DVD-R but you're going cheap on the mobo? Get an asus or soyo. Remember this is one of the most important components in your PC.

------------------
http://www.sporkaudio.com

Or Chaintek. Trust NoESC here.

------------------
There is no signature

Trust me always.

------------------
http://www.sporkaudio.com

Except for about womens. OH ZING.

I'm on a roll.

------------------
There is no signature

------------------
http://www.sporkaudio.com

/me butters Dj Yoshi

------------------
I made a thread, that turned into the debate, so I made a second thread, that turned into a debate, then I made a third thread, that caught on fire, burned down, got flamed, crapped on, bashed, then turned into a debate...but the fourth one, the fourth one stayed on topic!

<3 NoESC. In the infamous words of Sats--/fluffle

------------------
There is no signature

For motherboard, I'd recommend the ASUS A7N8X-X. Solid motherboard. nForce2 chipset. I would also recommend an ATI card, but your mind seems to be set on Nvidia.

As for your OS question, XP Pro can be installed on as many machines are you like.

I have no experience with Seagate drives, but I have had several Western Digital HDs and they are work great, new and old. What you want to avoid is Maxtor. I've had several of them die on me after extended use.


Whoops, just realized that you've already ordered. Oh well, maybe someone else will find this information useful.

Final Specs:

Frosty Case
Decent Motherboard
SATA Harddrive
Dual-Channel DDR RAM
Video Card. A bit on the cheap side, but the price was right, and I'm waiting for the 6800's price to drop. And maybe PCIe too.
Dual-Layer DVD Burner
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton Core
Overkill on the CPU fan (overclocking anyone?)
Diablo 420Watt Aluminum ATX Power Supply (out of stock today)
Cheap Monitor
Continuing with the cooling trend, gonna put this sucker right next to my AGP slot (again, overclocking the GPU)

I'll almost definately replace the video card once the 6800 comes down in price a bit. Probably next summer. For now, I'm not too worried. I've had sub-par comps all my life, so I'm used to running games on medium to low detail.

[EDIT]What else am I going to need for installation? I figure some thermal compound for the CPU, a SATA cable for the hard-drive, as the motherboard seems not to come with one, maybe some harddrive fans, and RAMsinks. Am I forgetting anything needed for the build?

------------------
Our very existence is at stake

Yay! I can finally join the snail-racing crew.

-@%

[This message has been edited by Ric_Olie (edited July 14, 2004).]

extra SATA and IDE cables, extra screws, tons of them, extra cables of all sort. Be ready to do the bends.

------------------
There is no signature