building athlon system

[spitzaf]

i'm new to the building of pc's, so this is my idea. please let me know of any changes or recommendations you may have, but low price is preferred.

Athlon TB 1.4GHz w/266 FSB
HSF included with CPU (AMD approved)
256 MB PC133 SDRAM
Biostar M7VKS mobo
Antec 250/300W ATX power supply

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Celeron II 633 (66 x 9.5)
Intel 82810 chipset
15 GB HDD
128 MB SDRAM

[Rick]

I think I would take a look at the Heat sink and fan very closely before installing anything.
I have found that the little extra for a better H/S and Fan is well worth the investment

I would recommend a larger power supply.
300 watt is the minimum for an Athlon system.
I have found its better to have a little extra in reserve (350-400)

Antec makes some very nice cases.
The 2 exhaust fans do a very good job or getting air into and out of the case.
You may want to install a third in the drive cooling fan holder.

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To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !

[iisbob]

I agree with Rick on the power supply and HSF combo, they are definately area's you don't want to skip on.

Biostar is a good board, but i would also recommend Epox, or Abit-both make very reliable boards ( i've got an Epox I443ex/lx board that has never crashed no matter what i've done to it yet, still going strong after nearly 7 years w/OC'd 375mhz Celeron ).

I've got an SIS735 ECS board now, it will let you use the 266 FSB for your CPU choice, and it's not very expensive. make sure that whatever board you choose, that you update to the newest BIOS and chipset drivers once you have it installed and running correctly.



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iisbob
"Ward, come upstairs and talk to The Beaver."
-- June (Mrs. Frisky) Cleaver

[ranchdog]

Hi Spitzaf....

The ECS K7S5A Motherboard would server you well. Especially for the price. With the SIS 735 chipset many of the Northbridge/Southbridge problems are eliminated.

I would go with a 1.3Mhz processor. The 1.4Mhz chip wants to knock heads with every BIOS that comes down the pike. Usually causing CPU heat problems.

With RAM being affordable finally, a person can use DDR RAM with the ECS Mboard. Something like PC2100 DDR 256MB.

Do your best to find an AMD approved power supply in the 350 Watt range. Will save you some grief in the future.

To get off the ground a CoolerMaster heatsink/fan that comes with a retail version CPU would suffice. (while saving a few bucks for a copper unit) Providing the PC doesn't constantly get put thru a massive stress test.

Just my .02 and Luck to ya.

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[kayofcircles]

Okay, you guys may have just saved us some grief. I am not planning to go higher than about 900 to 950 on the Athlon, but you're recommending a 350 power supply? We thought we only needed the 300. One reason we wanted to stay in the low end is because of the UPS backups we need here...at some levels, the UPS becomes almost as expensive as the puter itself.

[ranchdog]

Good Evening Kay.... Try to give you a somewhat sane reply.

Where does a person draw a line in the sand? If the line is drawn at below 1Gig Mhz with the CPU and the average # of peripherials (hardware) a quality 300W power supply can/will meet the task.

The higher-end CPU... The high $$ Video... numerous Hard Drives... CD-ROM and CD-RW and DVD and a Floppy Drive. Six high speed fans...

Suddenly, a stout PSU is necessary.

Luck.

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[spitzaf]

thanks a lot guys. from your comments, i've decided on:
ECS K7S5A w/DDR support (ATX)
350 W ATX PSU (CG-350W)
1.33 GHZ Athlon w/266 FSB
256 MB DDR 2100
Coolermaster EPS-6I11 HSF

i found the prices on pricewatch for $227 for all that, so i'm pretty excited.

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Celeron II 633 (66 x 9.5)
Intel 82810 chipset
15 GB HDD
128 MB SDRAM

[Rick]

kayofcircles

The UPS that you decide on or already have will/should work with both the 300 and or 350/400
The only difference will be the amount of time your unit (UPS) will be able to keep the system running.

I have one of the Trip-Lite units.(Omni smart 500 model.)
The time difference between my old 350 watt PS and this 425 watt PS using the same UPS is only a matter of moments.
Most of the units work in the 17/5 Battery Runtime (Minutes) at Half Load/Full Load

Unless you need something that will keep your system running for hours and not Minutes that is

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To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !

[kayofcircles]

Thanks, ranchdog and Rick . Recently upgraded to an APC 500 and hoping to be able to use that with "new" and have the older APC 350 (or 300, can't remember) to use with this one. Should be ample once removing the Sony RW from this one and installing in new. Will go ahead and get power supply for new in 350-400 range. Backup time is not a real issue..just need enough time, a couple of minutes, to get offline (if on), close out things in progress, and shutdown.

[ranchdog]

spitzaf.... Looking Good.

http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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......Indecision may or may not be my problem......
...... Kickin' A Rock....

[Rick]

kayofcircles

That 500 will be all you need to close out and shut down.
The addition or removal of one drive will not effect the performance that much.

My server ( with 8 drives ) is hooked to a 500 and with a 19 inch monitor (Power HOG) it still has more time than needed to close out and shut down.

That Old 300/350 UPS should work with no hassles

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To ERR is HUMAN
To REALLY screw things UP, YOU NEED a COMPUTER !