Attempting to put together a pc Advice

[jvc8400]

HI all could someone here help me in the right direction on putting together a Dell pc here is what i got so far below..

Dell Dimension 8400 barebone case with 350 power supply cables and Intel motherboard with the 925X chip.
P4 3.4ghz 800fbs cpu
Crucial ballistiz ddr2 4200 533 mhz 1 gb total
VGA LEADTEK PX6600GT TDH EXTREME video card
2 Western Digital Raptor 74GB 10,00RPM SATA hard drives
Sony Internal 16X DVD+R / Double Layer/DVD+RW Drive

That is all I have bought so far.. I have not put in the cpu, video card, 2 hard drives, ram, dvd drive, Yet.

I would like to know what else I need to get before i start putting it together any comments are very welcome also I have no clue how to hook up the 2 hard drives to run in 0 raid heck I do not even know what that means yet but i would like to have it like that.
I am also thinking about replacing the Dell factory heat sink for the cpu but there is like a green plastic scroud that covers the factory heat sink that i might have to remove.
Also I am thinking i should get a bigger power supply like 550W
Thanks

 

[gaara]

Are you getting Dell to build this computer for you or something?

General rule of any experienced enthusiast, don't have anything to do with Dell. Tell me what you'd like this computer to do and how much you are willing to spend on it, and I will help you construct the best PC possible, which will probably be cheaper and perform better than anything you have planned with Dell.

 

[jvc8400]

Gaara I have allready bought everything that I listed....I know i screwed up going with Dell and Intel cpu but i had allready bought about half the package before i found out AMD's were better for gamming.....well I am just up grading from an P3 733mhz pc and seen the Dell case with power supply and mother board on Ebay and thought okay just put one together from scratch and thats where i made my mistake but i am kind of stuck now with all the new parts I have allready bought so i might as well just put it together and upgrade again in a year or two..
I just serf the net. play a few games etc thats about it.
But if you can still point me in the right direction with what I have then that would be most helpfull.. ow forgot to mention the dell case package came with Windows Home edition.

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Your system is good, but a bit unbalanced

 

[gaara]

Sorry, I wasn't aware that you already had some parts purchased.

Bigger power supply is a good decision, something from companies such as Antec, Thermaltake and Ultra will be good choices. Make sure they have enough rails with large enough currents on them.

Pick up a generic floppy drive, you'll need it, especially if you have SATA drives.

Cooling is also pretty essential, if the case doesn't have any fans I'd recommend looking into getting at least two and positioning them as intake and exhaust fans.

I think that about does it, you can always custom mod your case by adding fan controllers, leds etc., but they aren't essential.

As for setting up a RAID 0, I would first like to make sure you are aware of the risks associated with this RAID. Half the data of a file is stored in one drive, and half in the other, so if one of the drives fails, the data on both drives will become corrupted.

Anyways, a RAID 0 is where you will setup up two hard drives to read as one. Half the data is stored in one and half in the other, which leads to faster seek and access times, therefore your files should load faster.

Installing a RAID is a bit tricky, you should first make sure your board supports RAID 0/1. Then you need to install the RAID controllers via floppy disk in order to make them fuction properly. This must be done before the OS is installed.

In addition, Windows needs drivers for SATA drives that should have come with your MB on a floppy disk (these can be downloaded from the manufacturers site if you don't have the floppy so don't worry). During the Windows install, you will be asked to push F6 to install mass storage device drivers, so push it, pop in your floppy, and you're set.

Remember, if data security is important to you, a RAID 1 would be a better choice.

 

[jord4952]

Are you getting Dell to build this computer for you or something?

General rule of any experienced enthusiast, don't have anything to do with Dell. Tell me what you'd like this computer to do and how much you are willing to spend on it, and I will help you construct the best PC possible, which will probably be cheaper and perform better than anything you have planned with Dell.

gaara is right...but id rather have a Dell than a Gateway..am I right? I do have a Dell P4 in which I am posting this message as we speak...It is a good computer, 2 years old, runs like new.. the only thing is about this computer is that I am paying 28% interest...28%!!!...i think thats a bunch of Bull...it is best to build one yourself i think, you get what you want at a fraction of the price. find your two primary uses for the computer; i.e. gaming, internet, school etc. then find a budget price, locate all your parts and build. But, if you wish to stay with this project I suggest you get a RAID controller card for your hard drives, remember to get all your parts first before you build, you dont want to stop in the middle of the project to find something else you need.

 

[jvc8400]

Wow Gaara thanks thats a hell of a lot of good information I had no clue what raid 0 was now I know..Dell kind of sucks I called them with some of the numbers on the motherboard in an attempt to identify which Intel model motherboard I have and I got some guy who could hardly speek english and all he could tell me is that i had the 925X motherboard ...I was like I knew that dip shi_ ... but I think Intel has only made like 3 or 4 different motherboards with the 925x chip...
Okay so I need a Floppy drive to install the Raid controllers, I was not sure what i needed I thought i would have to buy something for one of the pci slots to make the hard drives work together.
What is raid 1?
Oh the case sucks there is a fan for the cpu and another small that looks like it would cool the pci - pci express slots I am seriously thinking of drilling a bunch of holes and mounting an exhaust fan.
how important is it to replace the factory heat sink?
also I wanted to get the Ati x850 but found out it would cover a pci slot that i might need.

 

[jvc8400]

Thanks Joard I thought there was some kind of card but was not sure for running the hard drives but i should find out like Garra said if my motherboard will even accept them....That 28% interest deal you have really does suck man sorry to hear that.

 

[gaara]

If you plan on overclock, I would suggest replacing the heatsink, however running at stock speeds should be fine with the retail heatsink. Just monitor your temperatures and if things get too hot (70+ degrees under load), look into replacing it.

RAID 1 is similar to RAID 0, you once again have two identical drives, however with a RAID 1 the same data is stored on both drives, that way if one of your drives fails, your data will still be safe on the other drive. Keep in mind that this limits disk space and is expensive, having two 74GB drives would only give you 74Gb total space.

If you want both speed and security, you may consider a RAID 0+1, which uses four identical drives, in which half the data is written to two drives, and half to the other two drives. This is quite expensive though.

 

[jvc8400]

Gaara I still first need to find out if the motherboard will support 0+1 right? I will try Intel befoare i try Dell again there kind of not to helpfull with info, then if it does i could buy two more identical hard drives and have 4 total with half the data written to two drives, and half to the other two drives. What do you know about a raid controller card?