New pc advice appreciated

furlong

Looking to build a powerful but cost effective PC...so far I have the following any comments?

AMD Athlon xp2600+
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
Chieftec Dragon BigTower or Chieftec Matrix Big Tower (anyone know if there are any differences between these apart from cosmetic?)
1Gb kit DDR PC3200 Premier Dual Channel - OCZ

I will be using existing discs. floppy, cdrw, graphics card and screen for the time being.

Any advice on a cooler for the cpu and fans for the case? Anything I have missed?

System will not be overclocked and will be used mainly for graphics work, web design etc.

Any comments appreciated

Cheers
Mick

OfflerCrocGod

I URGE you to get a 2500+ and overclock it to 3200+ speeds - it is an extremely easy operation (change the FSB in the BIOS from 166 to 200 - that's it!!!).

furlong

I quite like the idea of doing that but I really must have a stable machine.

Will the memory I have specified work with a 2500 overclocked and what sort of cooling (cpu and case) would I need, will it be stable?

go on you know you want to convince me to overclock it;)

Cheers
Mick

Ryaner

Standard cooling works well and the memory will still work with the system. It may even oc with the cpu without a problem

Creamy Goodness

the cases are built on the same chasis (same inside) only differences are the plastic on the outside

furlong

Thanks for the help folks....does the oem 2500 come with cooling? If not any recommendations for what cooling to get?

Cheers
Mick

Ryaner

oem is just the chip. The boxed set has cooling and aint much more expensive

Woden

if your looking at komplett they mainly have oem chips, a decent cooler is the cooler master aero 7+ lite i think for around €22, with regards to overclocking its not as simple as has been made out above, you may need to mess around with voltages and keep an eye on temperatures and you need a decent power supplies, not to put you off theres not that much to it but as i said not as simple as its made out.

thats decent enough ram you are getting and will be able to handle it if you overclock as its designed to run at 200mhz anyway.

furlong

Thanks guys....I understand a fair bit of the theory of overclocking and don't mind fiddling with the settings.

The chieftec cases come supllied with a 360watt power supply, will this be ok to overclock or should I go for something better?

Great help btw thanks:)

Woden

not sure how good chieftec power supplies are but it should be fine, least its not a generic piece of crap, may i suggest the antec sonata case also which comes with a nice antec psu which is a very good make

furlong

I did look at the Sonata and liked it a lot.....but the size put me off as I would prefer a full tower case. Size/looks aren't an issue as the PC won't be moved around.

It seems that the Antec power supplys are better thought of than the cheiftec so what full tower would you folks suggest from Antec?

Thanks
Mick

OfflerCrocGod

OCed two 2500+s to 3200+s without changing the Voltage, in terms of cooling it should cause no problem the Barton is nice and cool - there is nothing difficult in OCing a 2500+. Lots of MB start off at half speed anyway you afto actually change the settings in BIOS to get it to actually work at its rated speed - so while you are there you may aswell set it to 200 instead of 166.

Woden

Originally posted by furlong
I did look at the Sonata and liked it a lot.....but the size put me off as I would prefer a full tower case. Size/looks aren't an issue as the PC won't be moved around.

It seems that the Antec power supplys are better thought of than the cheiftec so what full tower would you folks suggest from Antec?

Thanks
Mick

the antec AMG1000 full tower antec psu almost identical to the chieftech, i have the version mysell with the transparent side panel.

viewable here

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Antec_160.html

furlong

Ok I think I am nearly decided, the Antec Plus 1080AMG Metallic Gray File Server Case - 430W TruePower PSU (CA-001-AT) which is just below the amg 1000 on the overclockers site looks like the same unit without window and wit 430 watt power supply.

Unless anyone has any other thoughts I will go for that.

so system now looks like.....
Antec Plus 1080AMG Metallic Gray File Server Case - 430W TruePower PSU (CA-001-AT)
amd 2500+ (oc to 3200)
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe
1Gb kit DDR PC3200 Premier Dual Channel - OCZ
Cooler Master AERO 7 Lite or Cooler Master AERO 7+
Is the 7+ worth nearly double the price? How about thermal grease etc what is best?
How about case fans? There is one supplied with the case should I get more?

I will use existing discs. floppy, cdrw, graphics card and screen for the time being.

Thanks for all the help folks nearly there now!

Mick

Woden

yeah there is a mistake on the site i think it should be the amg 1000, the 1080 refers to the plusview version with the side panel and no psu.

no the 7+ is not worth nearly double the price people have been seeing as good performance with the lite version, thermal grease get yourself arctic silver 5 its available from overclockers also.

more case fans it up to yourself will give you better cooling and a better overclock perhaps, how noisy do you want the case to be? there is some nice quiet 80mm case fans out there such as the sharkoon ones available from www.elara.ie or possibley from www.peats.ie not sure how much are they push though

furlong

Noise isn't a major issue but I don't want a hurricane howling in my ear;)

current system is a pos with 4x 9gb scsi discs balanced on cassette tape boxes sitting next to the case with the side off and a 6gb ide sytem drive inside the case. I doubt the new system could be any noisier;)

I have a 120gb samsung which I will be using as the system drive in the new system plus another one for data, the idea is to move all the current data to the new system along with about another 100gb from various other systems and back-ups.

I think I will order a couple of quiet case fans as well, I can always disconnect them if the noise is too much.

Any particular sharkoons I should look for? Is it worth getting the ones with a potentiometer adjustment?

Thanks mick

Woden

you can check out there fan range here

http://www.sharkoon.com

and you'll see the silent ones i was referring to, i used a couple of vantec stealths in mine and they seemed alright as well, however i think COL_LOKI has the sharkoon stuff and likes em and he does be concerned about noise .

is it worth getting ones with adjustment, i don't know tbh, i use an adjustable 92mm enermax fan (80mm ones available from www.hitide.ie) but i keep it at full blast anyway if you wanted to go to the bother you could get a fan controller up to yourself and what you individual requirements are. noise doesn't bother me as i'm usually playing a game or listening to music or something

Ryaner

I've got 5sharkoon fans in my system. The front ones are the only ones that can be heard when next to it because of the metal grills. My system does still have the air noise a bit though from the zalman fan I think.
The fans on hitide are meant to be completely silent. 12db last time I checked and if thats actually true your not gonna hear them in the dead of night.