need help with a new system

[Atticka]

here is a new system, piece by piece, I need help filling in the blanks

feel free to rip it apart and suggest upgrades!

Lian-Li 40 (brushed metal case, 300W power)
ASUS mother board (I'm an ASUS fan)
P4 or AMD, arround 900MHZ to 1.1GHZ
128 MB PC133 RAM (should I get more?)
Quantum Fireball AS 30GB (already have, mobo should support ATA 100)
Quantum Fireball KA 20GB (already have)
ATI all in wonder RADEON (I like the Radeon with all the features it comes with and its DVD ability's, I like gaming too, any other suggestions?)
Sound Blaster LIVE! (any other suggestions?)
Promise ATA100 controller (for extra IDE devices)
72x TrueX (not sure I need 3 CD drives, this can go)
Pioneer 10X DVD slot loading (already have)
HP 9310i CD-RW (already have)
HI-Val LS120 floppy drive (already have, thinking of upgrading, this is an IDE device)
3Com SOHO 10/100TX NIC (already have)

ORB cooling fan for the CPU and case fans galore!

am I missing anything? what upgrades do you guys suggest?


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Atticka
sorry, no time for a sig

[This message has been edited by Atticka (edited January 23, 2001).]

[This message has been edited by Atticka (edited January 23, 2001).]

[Vindir]

Sweet case there. Expensive tho.
Asus, Abit, MSI boards. The Abit k7t or k7t-raid board is the most solid board out there if you go for a thunderbird. k7t-raid you can leave out the promise controller as well. Might as well leave out the kenwood, no point in three drives unless you just have the money to burn. As cheap as ram is right now you could easily go for some good cheap cas2 ram and get 256megs. Crucial, Memman.com, and corsair are quality sticks of cas2 that aren't going to bust a wallet. Again if money is no issue you can go with some mushkin rev2 cas2 which has time and again been tested at and above 150mhz. Or better yet their new rev3 qualified at I believe 160mhz. Muskin is what I use, like the quality and the name, but it isn't a prerequisite of a solid computer. The voyetra turtle beach santa cruz is a good card. Doesn't bench as high as the sb platinums, but hopefully driver support will soon make that change. Good card. Just a suggestion since you asked for one might as well stick with what ya got.

To end the post, I'd like to make the most important point, don't go with an orb. It simply isn't reliable enough of a hsf that I'd trust any 900mhz+ computer with it. If the price and what they tell you the super orb is rated for is what you're basing it on. Check out http://mikewarrior.freeservers.com/ for the lowdown on why I say this. Go with the globalwin fop38, the taisol cgk42092, or the alpha 6035.

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Humbly representing the first order of OC Knights.

The route the pulse takes through the gates determines the function. It is technology at its purest: utter simplicity generating infinite complexity. - Approaching Zero

[This message has been edited by Vindir (edited January 23, 2001).]

[Sol]

What OS are you going to run? Also, might want to get 256 megs of ram. RAM is very cheap right now.

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"You know, I have one simple request, and that is to have sharks with frickin laser beams attached to their heads. Is that too much to ask?"

[Atticka]

most likely Windows Millenium or 2000 Proffesional and maybe a partition for Linux.

this is going to be my workstation/game rig/home theatre component so I want it to last a long time.

thanks for the suggestions!

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Atticka
sorry, no time for a sig

[Vindir]

Originally posted by Atticka:
most likely Windows Millenium or 2000 Proffesional and maybe a partition for Linux.

this is going to be my workstation/game rig/home theatre component so I want it to last a long time.

thanks for the suggestions!

Thinking of future reliability you could put some research into the whole aspect of unlocking the multiplier on your thunderbird and going with a kt133a board. Will allow you to need nothing more than a processor upgrade for the next year or beyond. Definately go for 256 megs if you're thinking of winme or win2k. Suggestions are what we're here for.


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Humbly representing the first order of OC Knights.

The route the pulse takes through the gates determines the function. It is technology at its purest: utter simplicity generating infinite complexity. - Approaching Zero

[Atticka]

so what ASUS mobo is good?
you guys really seem to like the AMD-Thunderbirds, but they always seem flakey to me (issues with windows 2000 and stuff)m have they worked the bugs out of the AMD's yet?

RAM is RAM to me, as long as it error free I'm good

as for IDE devices, current setup with out the Kenwood drive is 5 devices (2CD, 2HD and the LS-120 is IDE as well), so I think I might need the extra IDE controller.

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Atticka
sorry, no time for a sig

[Toyotech]

I just built a 1GHz Thunderbird w/ the abit KT7 mobo. Great system, price point puts Intel (chipzilla) out of reach. Get the Abit KT7 Raid and forget the controller and get rid of that LS120 pain in your back.

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1 GHz Thunderbird
Hercules G-Force 2 MX
128 megs ram
MX300 Sound
3 Com Nic Card
Hollywood 98 DVD
Windows 98

[Newbie-Overclocker]

Sweet system Id get well im getting the 1.3GHZ p4 witch should oc to 1733mhz the p4 1.3GHZ is only like 75-100$ more then a 1.2GHZ athlon b4 u flame me thats becuse the p4 comes with rd-ram.

p4 1.3 can oc to 1.73 with 128megs of ram = 800canadian
1.2GHZ t-bird with 128 ddr = 700canaian

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Dual p3 600s 1 cbo and 1 cA2 @ 840Mhz=1.68Ghz
1.75volts on each
256megs cas2 micron
30 gig ata 100 IBM HD
MSI dual bord
voodoo 5 5500 183/183
Sound blaster live value!
p4 1.3GHZ and geforce 2 ultra 5 days away!

[Atticka]

hmm....forgot about DDR

what motherboards support DDR?
is DDR RAM available yet?

if I can I think I'm gonna go the DDR route if its not too expensive and there is a mobo I like

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Atticka
sorry, no time for a sig

[Atticka]

ok, so far I've taken some of your advice

Lian-Li 60, 300W
Abit KT7A-RAID
AMD Thunderbird @1Ghz
128 MB PC133 RAM (256MB if budget allows)
Quantum Fireball AS 30GB
Quantum Fireball KA 20GB
ATI all in wonder RADEON
Sound Blaster LIVE!
Pioneer 10X DVD slot loading
HP 9310i CD-RW
HI-Val LS120 floppy drive
3Com SOHO 10/100TX NIC


anything you guys suggest I should get to make this PC that much better?
other periphs are (that I already have):
Epson Stylus color 900
Logitech internet keyboard
MS Intelimouse explorer (the big *** silver one, present from MS)
Logitech Quickcam PRO USB
Altech Lansing ACS-48 speakers
17" viewsonic monitor
Linksys cableDSL router/switch

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Atticka
sorry, no time for a sig


PS, been calling th case a Lian-Li 40, but its actually the 60, so a Lian-Li 60 case, the all aluminum one.

[This message has been edited by Atticka (edited January 23, 2001).]