The best choice for a rebuild

[chu]

Heya; I used to build computers for myself and friends but gave it all up a while ago. I'm moving now, and since I'm not going to have dial-up (I was using a 10 year old laptop to check e-mails) I need something that can do allright on a broadband connection. Here's what I have access to now

ASUS A78NX-E Deluxe mobo
AMD 2800+ Socket A Processor
Gainward Ti4200 64 MB GPU
DVD Drive
3.5" Drive

I took my old PC2100 RAM and threw it into my brother's Dell 2400, it stuck, so now he's gone from 256 megs to 1 gig, and I'll pick him up a PCI vid card today, but looking at my old parts, I think I could still put together a decent system for myself with the old parts more cheaply than buying a new system.

First, I don't like the video card; I'm not even sure that the fan works on it, so that's a liability. A new, not-too-high-end card would be great, but I haven't been keeping up with news, and this stuff changes faster than a casual user can track. I pretty much want to play the odd strategy game, and watch movies etc. without any slowdown.

Second, I was never particularly good at building quiet systems. I'd like to build one that has minimum sound output, as I really don't want to have that horrible hum in the background, so any help there is appreciated.

Third, I know I need RAM but I'm used to going with Crucial; any recommendations are welcome.

Fourth, a decent HD?

Fifth, I know this might go under the second point, but what is a good case, esp. for quietude?

And lastly, I don't have any cooling on the CPU. I had some horrible suspended fan-over-heatsink thing that I really hated, so I'm definitely just going to chuck that or sell anything extra I have on ebay for a buck or two.

Allright, that's all I can think of for now. Thanks!

Cheers,
Peter

 

[Mr. Switch]

ok,

1. Since your running on a SocketA system, you'll be needing an AGP video card. Nvidia's 6200's are awsome for people that don't play games but need something with relativly new technology and is reliable. 6200's should be sub- $100. Make sure that you get the AGP 6200, PCI-Express won't fit in your motherboard. also, don't get any 6200TC or a 6200 that has anything to do with Turbo-Cache, they take away system RAM.

2. most 6200's have fanless heatsinks, so they won't make any noise. but if you find one that does have a fan, dont' worry, its not that loud.

3. Get the fastest RAM your motherboard supports, (probably PC3200). and get at least 1GB of it.

4. If your motherboard supports SATA, go for it. but if you want to keep it simple, a regular Ultra ATA or DMA hard disk will do you fine. if you find that you are constantly filling your entire disk up with software, than consider getting a larger disk.

5. if you want something quiet, get steel. it doens't resonate as much as aluminium but is alot heavier, so if you move your computer alot, get aluminium to save your back, but get steel to keep it quiet.

6. a good socket A 80 or 120mm heatsink and fan would work good. newegg has a ton of them.

 

[PZEROFGH]

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