Check and advise on my Spec please

Big Dee

Big Dee

Big Dee

Associate
Joined
17 Oct 2005
Posts
95
Location
Hampshire
This is going to be my first PC and I'm going to have a bash at building it myself (a recommended by a friend) and I would like it to be cool and fairly quiet.
The PC will mainly be used for the general home office use ie. for internet, email, music, movies but not so much for gaming.
I could push my budget another £100 or so, if needed.
I intend to keep this PC for a few years, so hopefully the components I have chosen are reliable brands and will see me through.
I have read a PC build book to get some background info but as you'll see from my comments below, I'm still unsure
about some of the components and I really would appreciate some help here to make sure thats its _all compatible_ before I buy.


BU-030-OK AMD Athlon X2 3800 Retail / Asus A8N-SLi SE / 1GB Geil PC3200 Dual Channel Kit - Bundle (BU-030-OK)
CP-134-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - Retail (ADA3800BVBOX) (CP-134-AM) 1
MB-101-AS Asus A8N-SLi SE nForce4 SLi (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-101-AS) 1
MY-005-GL GeIL 1GB (2x512MB) PC3200 Value Dual Channel Kit CAS2.5 (GE1GB3200BHDC) (MY-005-GL) 1
£288.85 £288.85
GX-093-AS Asus GeForce EN7300GS-HTD 256MB DDR2 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-093-AS)
£37.95 £37.95
CA-054-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)
£48.95 £48.95
FG-024-AK Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-024-AK)
£9.95 £19.90
CA-002-SS Seasonic S12 600W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-002-SS)
£84.95 £84.95
HD-058-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 250GB ST3250824AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-058-SE)
£53.95 £53.95
CD-041-PL Plextor PX-755SA Serial ATA 16x16 Dual Layer DVD±RW ReWriter - (Black/Beige) - Retail (CD-041-PL)
£59.95 £59.95
HD-002-MI Mitsumi FA 404M 7in1 USB 2.0 Floppy & Media Drive - Black (HD-002-MI)
£12.95 £12.95
MO-052-VS Viewsonic VX2025 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-052-VS)
£259.95 £259.95
KB-058-LG Logitech Cordless Optical Desktop Rechargeable Black/Silver - OEM (KB-058-LG)
£29.95 £29.95
OS-001-MS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (N09-01528) (OS-001-MS)
£49.95 £49.95
SW-018-MS Microsoft Works Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-018-OEM)
£36.95 £36.95
SW-017-NO Symantec Norton Internet Security Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-017-NO)
£19.95 £19.95
Subtotal £1,004.20
VAT £175.74
Total £1,179.94


My comments on the choice of components (feel free to advise on each):-
=======================================================

-- Out of the above list I am still not 100% certain about my choice of CPU, Motherboard and Memory and I really need advice on this.
I'd like to go for an AMD 64 X2 3800+ (skt 939) cpu as it appears that is the way to go and what I have chosen is the cheapest 3800+ bundle with 1GB memory.
If you suggest I buy the cpu, mobo and memory separately then that would be OK too.

-- Should I go for SLi mobo and if so, what are the advantages?

-- Does the recommended mobo have onboard 2.1 or 5.1?

-- Do you get a fan and heatsink (with the cpu) in the 'Bundle'?

-- Do you need to upgrade the heatsink/fan from what is supplied in a CPU Retail pack? Seen something about a Zalman passive cooler?
What's involved in the installation?

-- Attaching the heatsink to the cpu (using the paste) is probably the most scariest part of the build for me.
Can someone assure me the installation isn't so bad ?

-- I was recommended memory by Crucial. I don't know anything about the GeIL brand. Is it any good?

-- The other item I am not totally sure of is the graphics card, I just picked one from info I had but it'll need to be compatible with the monitor.
How noisey are the fans on them? I would like a *recommendation* here please.

-- I have chosen the Lian Li case (plus replacement fans) and it was recommended to me on the OCUK forum.

-- The Seasonic PSU was a recommended brand from a PC build book I have.Have I gone overboard with 600W or should I get a 500W one?

-- The Seagate HDD was a recommended brand from a PC build book.

-- The Mitusmi FDD may be useful to have especially with the Media drive as I'll have pictures to upload from my digital camera.

-- The Plextor DVD drive was a recommended brand from a PC build book.

-- I have chosen the Viewsonic VX2025 monitor as it was recommended to me on the OCUK forum and I think 20" Widescreen is the way forward.

-- I have also added the necessary software for the build and have included it in costing.

-- Is there any component I have missed?


Thanks a lot.
 
I'd probably suggest something along the lines of this, it costs a shade more but you get 2gb Ram, better CPU cooler and a much better graphics card which will help with the 20" monitor.

MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£54.95 £54.95
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£161.95 £161.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£14.95 £14.95
GX-097-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GTO 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-097-SP)
£59.95 £59.95
MY-006-MK Mushkin 2GB DDR EM3200 Enhanced Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) CAS3 (991461) (MY-006-MK)
£109.95 £109.95
CA-054-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)
£48.95 £48.95
CA-001-SS Seasonic S12 500W Silent ATX2.0 Power Supply (CA-001-SS)
£69.95 £69.95
HD-058-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 250GB ST3250824AS SATA-II 8MB Cache - OEM (HD-058-SE)
£53.95 £53.95
CD-030-NE NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE)
£21.95 £21.95
HD-002-MI Mitsumi FA 404M 7in1 USB 2.0 Floppy & Media Drive - Black (HD-002-MI)
£12.95 £12.95
FG-024-AK Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-024-AK)
£9.95 £19.90
MO-052-VS Viewsonic VX2025 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-052-VS)
£259.95 £259.95
KB-058-LG Logitech Cordless Optical Desktop Rechargeable Black/Silver - OEM (KB-058-LG)
£29.95 £29.95
OS-001-MS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (N09-01528) (OS-001-MS)
£49.95 £49.95
SW-018-MS Microsoft Works Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-018-OEM)
£36.95 £36.95
SW-017-NO Symantec Norton Internet Security Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-017-NO)
£19.95 £19.95
Subtotal £1,026.15
VAT £179.58

Total £1,205.73

In answer to your questions a SLi motherboard generally isn't worth it unless you have the intention to go SLi in the future and a 7300gs isn't the card to do it with.

Pretty much all motherboards now have onboard 5.1, all Nforce4 based motherboards do certainly so the one you had selected and the one I have picked do.

The CPU you had selected was a retail one which means it comes with heatsink, fan and thermal paste. The one I've selected is OEM so you need to buy a separate heatsink and fan(the Arctic Freezer 64) which is better than retail and will also come with some thermal paste.

Installation isn't too bad, you just need to remove the protective material from the thermal paste(usually a sheet of plastic) then line the heatsink up with the mounting holes and attach.

Crucial is good, Geil is good but the Value line has increased in price recently so I'd advise Mushkin which is also a good brand and marginally cheaper.

I'd change the graphics card as I have advised as even without much gaming a 7300gs is a very limited card.

The case is fine so I've left that and I believe the fans you have chosen are pretty quiet.

The PSU would be overkill slightly so I've gone to the 500w partly to save money as well.

Seagate hard drives are a good solid reliable brand so no issues there.

As for the rest I've only changed the Plextor as although they are good drives they are overpriced when NEC or Pioneer do as good a job at less than half the price.
 
I would go for Semi-Pro's spec as it is more balanced and has 2GB of RAM. For example, you definitely won't need a 600W PSU for a spec like that.

The only thing I would change from Semi's spec is the hard drive, there is a new Seagate 250GB 7200.10 available which has better specs and is cheaper.

Also, Andy from OcUK's Tech Dept suggests that Seasonic PSUs don't work so well with Asus motherboards, so I would consider changing it for a Tagan (the non-modular versions are in stock). See Andy's post here.

Otherwise, the spec is spot on for your needs.
 
Thanks guys for your detailed feedback. It all looks good but I have some further questions:

-- Do you get a thermal paste or a pad with the Arctic Freezer?

-- What are Heatpipes on the Arctic Freezer 64?

-- So if Seasonic ones aren't compatible with the Asus brand is it worth changing the mobo brand? (btw, I'm happt to stay keep Asus)
I was told that Seasonic psu's are very quite and reliable but I see that the Tagan brand are also from Andy (OcUK).
Which Tagan model do you recommend?

-- How noisey is the fan on the ATI graphics card? I assume there's no need to change/upgrade.

-- What's the reason for not having 1GB memory? (btw, I'm happy to go with this, but I just wanted to know)

-- I have never heard of the Mushkin brand, are they good as Crucial or other leading brands?

-- Out of interest, I looked at the Muskin website and could not locate find info on this product 991461 and it's compatibilty with the mobo, any ideas?

-- Could you tell me briefly what SLi actually does, as it appears I not too sure myself now?

-- Could you do an updated version of the shopping list, so I can see what all the component are please.

-- How long do you think it will take me to physically build the PC and then how long to install the software?
This will give me an idea how much time I need to allocate for the whole build to be fully operational?

-- Is the actual build fairly straight forward and is there anything I need to be aware of? any hints would be useful

-- Can you recommend me any links that describe and shows (with pictures) the build procedure?

Thanks again.
 
answers most questions see +++ after you question.

Thanks guys for your detailed feedback. It all looks good but I have some further questions:

-- Do you get a thermal paste or a pad with the Arctic Freezer? +++ Already applied to the bottom of the cooler - no need for any more.

-- What are Heatpipes on the Arctic Freezer 64? +++ it's part of the design of the cooler - they take the heat away from the cpu.

-- So if Seasonic ones aren't compatible with the Asus brand is it worth changing the mobo brand? (btw, I'm happt to stay keep Asus)
I was told that Seasonic psu's are very quite and reliable but I see that the Tagan brand are also from Andy (OcUK).
Which Tagan model do you recommend? ++++ Tagan are very good and very quiet. i have the 530W one U15 model and it's great.

-- How noisey is the fan on the ATI graphics card? I assume there's no need to change/upgrade. ++++ you can change the cooler if you wish - not sure how noisy - someone else will do.

-- What's the reason for not having 1GB memory? (btw, I'm happy to go with this, but I just wanted to know) ++++ 2gb makes programs/windows etc run much smoother and generally is the best way to go for future use.

-- I have never heard of the Mushkin brand, are they good as Crucial or other leading brands? +++ Muskin are generally regarded as a good overclocking brand of ram. Muskin, G Skill, Crucial, Corsair etc are all very good brands.

-- Out of interest, I looked at the Muskin website and could not locate find info on this product 991461 and it's compatibilty with the mobo, any ideas? +++ not sure - sorry!

-- Could you tell me briefly what SLi actually does, as it appears I not too sure myself now? +++ SLI means 2 of the same grpahics cards running together in the same pc to potentially produce twice the power of a single card.

-- Could you do an updated version of the shopping list, so I can see what all the component are please.

-- How long do you think it will take me to physically build the PC and then how long to install the software? ++++ generally take your time for a first build - nice clean workdesk/space, then about 2/3/4 hours dependant on how confident you are. mine took about 3 hours including windows etc.

This will give me an idea how much time I need to allocate for the whole build to be fully operational? +++ as above.

-- Is the actual build fairly straight forward and is there anything I need to be aware of? any hints would be useful +++ make sure you have everything you need read, phillips screwdriver, anti static wrist band (or just keep touching the radiator) don;t handle the components more that needed.

-- Can you recommend me any links that describe and shows (with pictures) the build procedure? ++++

http://www.tigerdirect.com/static/html/pcbuildingtips.html
http://www.buildeasypc.com/

Thanks again
enjoy and have fun!
 
The Arctic Cooler 64 comes with a thermal pad on the bottom which is fine for most uses and will allow some overclocking should you want to, dedicated overclockers will change it but for normal use it is more than good enough. The heatpipes just describe the tubes leading from the base in contact with the CPU to the radiator beside the fan.

Seasonic would probably be fine but the Tech Manager for OcUK builds far more systems than I do so if he recommends Tagan then I'd have no problems changing it. I'd pick something around the 500w range, either Easycon because they are modular if in stock or the standard non-modular are just as good.

The fan should be pretty quiet and you can I believe alter the speeds using software like ATItool or if necessary you can replace the cooler.

I currently have 1gb Ram in my PC which does me fine but I'd suggest going for 2gb as more and more programs require that much Ram plus memory is cheaper now than it has ever been.

Mushkin are good, they are used a lot by people who overclock as they have good timings and can run at higher speeds than normal. The page for the sticks is here but although it doesn't have compatability listed it will work fine with your Asus motherboard or any other you use it with.

SLi is Scalable Link Interface(I think I have the acronym right) but basically it involves linking two graphics cards together to utilise the power of both together, it doesn't quite give you double the power and it is pointless on low end graphics cards but with a couple of high end graphics cards and a monitor with a huge resolution it does make sense.

As to how long it takes I'd allow a day or so if this is your first build, this will mean that you don't have to rush anything. Best advice I can give is to take your time, don't try to force things and if you are unsure then you can always ask someone on here.

Here is the updated specification taking into account Explicit's suggestions.

MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£54.95 £54.95
CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£161.95 £161.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£14.95 £14.95
GX-097-SP Sapphire ATI Radeon X800 GTO 256MB DDR3 TV-Out/DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-097-SP)
£59.95 £59.95
MY-006-MK Mushkin 2GB DDR EM3200 Enhanced Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) CAS3 (991461) (MY-006-MK)
£109.95 £109.95
CA-054-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)
£48.95 £48.95
CD-030-NE NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE)
£21.95 £21.95
HD-002-MI Mitsumi FA 404M 7in1 USB 2.0 Floppy & Media Drive - Black (HD-002-MI)
£12.95 £12.95
FG-024-AK Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-024-AK)
£9.95 £19.90
MO-052-VS Viewsonic VX2025 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-052-VS)
£259.95 £259.95
KB-058-LG Logitech Cordless Optical Desktop Rechargeable Black/Silver - OEM (KB-058-LG)
£29.95 £29.95
OS-001-MS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (N09-01528) (OS-001-MS)
£49.95 £49.95
SW-018-MS Microsoft Works Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-018-OEM)
£36.95 £36.95
SW-017-NO Symantec Norton Internet Security Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-017-NO)
£19.95 £19.95
HD-079-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 250GB ST3250620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-079-SE)
£49.95 £49.95
CA-005-TG Tagan TG530-U22 530W ATX2.01 2Force SLi Compliant Silent PSU (CA-005-TG)
£59.95 £59.95
Subtotal £1,012.15
VAT £177.13
Total £1,189.28
 
Thanks again Guys, your guidance is really useful (inc. the links) and I like the spec of this build now, knowing that all components are compatible.
I feel that for a PC under £1,200 it's worth it with the quality components (compared to ready built systems) and it should last me a few years.

Which Tagan PSU do I go for?
TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-008-TG), or the
TG530-U22 530W ATX2.01 2Force SLi Compliant Silent PSU (CA-005-TG)

Cheers.
 
Any comments on my updated spec? (I'd like to order the components asap).....


CP-152-AM AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 3800+ (Socket 939) - OEM (CP-152-AM)
£161.95 £161.95
FG-000-AR Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940) (FG-000-AR)
£14.95 £14.95
MB-088-AS Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra (Socket 939) PCI-Express Motherboard (MB-088-AS)
£53.95 £53.95
MY-006-MK Mushkin 2GB DDR EM3200 Enhanced Performance Dual Channel Kit (2x1GB) CAS3 (991461) (MY-006-MK)
£109.95 £109.95
CA-054-LL Lian-Li PC-7 PLUS Black Aluminium Midi-Tower Case (No PSU) (CA-054-LL)
£48.95 £48.95
FG-024-AK Akasa AK-183-L2B Ultra Quiet 120mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-024-AK)
£9.95 £19.90
FG-023-AK Akasa AK-182-L2B Ultra Quiet 80mm Fan - 3 pin (FG-023-AK)
£3.95 £3.95
CA-008-TG Tagan TG530-U15 530W ATX2.01 Easycon SLi Compliant Modular Silent PSU (CA-008-TG)
£61.95 £61.95
MO-052-VS Viewsonic VX2025 20" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Silver/Black (MO-052-VS)
£259.95 £259.95
GX-061-PC PowerColor ATI Radeon X1800 GTO 256MB GDDR3 AVIVO TV-Out/Dual DVI (PCI-Express) - Retail (GX-061-PC)
£104.95 £104.95
HD-078-SE Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB ST3320620AS SATA-II 16MB Cache - OEM (HD-078-SE)
£59.95 £59.95
CD-030-NE NEC ND4570 16x16 DVD±RW Dual Layer ReWriter (Black) - OEM (CD-030-NE)
£21.95 £21.95
HD-002-MI Mitsumi FA 404M 7in1 USB 2.0 Floppy & Media Drive - Black (HD-002-MI)
£12.95 £12.95
KB-074-LG Logitech Cordless Desktop MX 3000 Laser - Retail (KB-074-LG)
£54.95 £54.95
SP-000-AE Acoustic Energy Aego M 2.1 Speakers (Black) - Retail (SP-000-AE)
£69.95 £69.95
SC-034-CL Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Music - Retail (SC-034-CL)
£64.95 £64.95
AC-000-AC Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound (3.5g) (AC-000-AC)
£5.95 £5.95
OS-001-MS Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition inc. SP2 - OEM - 1Pk (N09-01528) (OS-001-MS)
£47.95 £47.95
SW-018-MS Microsoft Works Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-018-OEM)
£36.95 £36.95
SW-017-NO Symantec Norton Internet Security Suite 2006 - OEM (SW-017-NO)
£19.95 £19.95
Subtotal £1,235.95
Shipping (City Link Parcel Next Day (Delivered Mon-Fri)) £24.95
VAT £220.66
Total £1,481.5
.
 
Ah-ha, managed to find this lost post at last......

Yeh, it's been nearly 18 months I know but I and wanted to thank ALL the people who had advised me on my new pc spec back in June 06.

I bought the PC parts as suggested and the build went well. The PC has been running brilliantly.

I could not have done it without you and the Overclockers Support team.

Thanks again and apologies for the vey very late update.
 
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