Rate this system I'm planning to build! + Screen Decision

[TicTac2]

Processor

Socket 754. AMD Athlon 64 3400 2.2Ghz.
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMD-Athlon-64...828060304QQcategoryZ80139QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£132.99)

Motherboard

MSI K8N Neo Platinum
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/prod...2hvd19wcm9kdWN0X292ZXJ2aWV3&product_uid=77869
(£66.42)

RAM

Crucial 1gb 184 Pin DDR PC3200
http://www.crucial.com/uk/store/MPa...D=MS-7030+(K8N+Neo+Platinum)&WSPN=CT12864Z40B
(£75.19)

Video Card

Nvidia Geforce 256MB FX5500 8X AGP
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-NVIDIA-GE...735752332QQcategoryZ67864QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£44.98)

Sound Card and Speakers

5.1 Sound Card and Speaker Bundle
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/QUALITY-SPEAK...6827069723QQcategoryZ3701QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£28.89)

Hard Drive

Maxtor 200gb SATA 8mb Cache
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sealed-MAXTOR...735748030QQcategoryZ16178QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£64.98)

DVD-RW Drive

Sony 16x Dual Layer DVD+-RW
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/SONY-16X-Dual...8733385383QQcategoryZ3754QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£36.94)

Keyboard

Saitek Eclipse Backlit
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/New-Saitek-Ec...838240353QQcategoryZ51083QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£40.99)

Case and Power Supply

Zorro Case With Clear Side + 450W PSU + Case Fan
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Zorro-Case-Wi...829078854QQcategoryZ51061QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£39.99)

OS

Windows XP Professional
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MICROSOFT-WIN...202843119QQcategoryZ41888QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
(£66.98)



Have visited a couple of sites getting together these parts but most are from eBay. Please can you confirm for me that everything is compatible? I want power but most of all I want the system to be reliable. Are these good reliable parts?

Anyware I could save money?
Do you think it would work well overall?

I would not play any of the latest FPS and stuff, but how good is the graphics card?

To be honest, just adding up the prices I had no idea this would already cost 600 (pounds), (nothing bought yet though) and I still need to buy a display.

I will be editing and viewing a lot of photos and only playing some moderate gaming. I'm not sure I have very much to spend on the screen now. . maybe 200? But I want a good one. . . . Should I sacrifice something elsewhere because I feel the screen is important for me.

As I posted in another forum:


I may play some games but not many, so I guess response time isn't very important to me. I will do quite a lot of digital photography and picture viewing on it so I want a high resolution. I may spend long hours at a time looking at it so I want the glare and eye strain to be low.

I think I want it 19 inches or bigger as minimum. Open to all brand suggestions, but remember I am in the UK if that makes a difference

.

So thanks for any advice about that too!

Thanks

 

[waynejkruse10]

For a monitor i suggest a Philips 190B. It is a 19" LCD Monitor and it is very clear. Im using it right now and i have had no problems with it at all.

The Graphics Card can handle high resolutions fine, and depending on your model - multiple displays however for gaming it isnt that great compared to lets say a 6600gt. But if you arnt gaming that shouldnt be much of a problem.

Also, are you sure you cant go to socket 939 rather than 754?

 

[Amd64Boy]

I must stress this! You cannot use a SATA drive as a master, its default is a slave. When you try and install windows on it Windows setup will not see the SATA drive. This does not apply if your going to be using Linux. If you already have a ATA or some type of IDE drive that your planning to use as your master this does not apply but beware!

 

[TicTac2]

ok, thanks.

a few questions:

1) Out of interest I am wondering whether one of these AMD 64s 3200+ or whatever would be faster than my Pentium M 1.86ghz in my laptop?

2) There seems to be a big choice of motherboards and now having decided to go to socket 939 I'm not sure which motherboard to get.
I want not too expensive, lots of USB ports, PCI-Express, Wifi/Lan, Ethernet and the normal selection of IDE ports and stuff. Any recommendations for motherboard?

3) So as my main Hard drive I should get an ATA or an IDE which would be compatible?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/AMD64-3000-CP...830230274QQcategoryZ80139QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

Could anyone tell me whether the Foxconn NF4 motherboard in this auction is any good? and also the fan.

Thanks for all the help

 

[weringo]

I must stress this! You cannot use a SATA drive as a master, its default is a slave. When you try and install windows on it Windows setup will not see the SATA drive. This does not apply if your going to be using Linux. If you already have a ATA or some type of IDE drive that your planning to use as your master this does not apply but beware!

lol wtf?

 

[locki433]

I must stress this! You cannot use a SATA drive as a master, its default is a slave. When you try and install windows on it Windows setup will not see the SATA drive. This does not apply if your going to be using Linux. If you already have a ATA or some type of IDE drive that your planning to use as your master this does not apply but beware!

What are you babbleing about. I loaded windows just fine on my Sata drives on both my computers. Your smoking something

 

[waynejkruse10]

all you need is the sata controller drivers, then it picks it up fine.

 

[TicTac2]

ok, so I'm guessing the SATA hard drive will be fine (will it come with the sata controller drivers?).

Any answers to my other questions?

Thanks

 

[waynejkruse10]

yes, the sata drive will be fine, the drivers usually come with your mobo.

 

[reggie_da_man]

Out of interest I am wondering whether one of these AMD 64s 3200+ or whatever would be faster than my Pentium M 1.86ghz in my laptop?

Yes a 3200+ Venice will cream that cpu. That setup you have there is really out of date and you really aren't going far with it. Ask anyone on this forum who got sucked into buying the FX-5500 they'll tell you that it's a piece of garbage, it doesn't even have enough pipelines to fully take advantage of the 256mb. Here's in my opinion, what you should be getting:

Motherboard:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813130491

CPU:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103535

Video card:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130214