Need advice on building a comp.

[ankitpayal]

I am building a new computer that will use some things from my Dell Dimension T550 (Monitor, DVD drive, HD, Floppy, Zip, Network Card). However, the more important things will be new. These are the things that I have settled on:

ATI Radeon 8500 for my Video Board
Sound Blaster Audigy X-Gamer for my Sound Card
Plextor CDRW 24X/10X/40X EIDE for my CD-RW Drive

The rest I am unsure about:
After reading through the other forums here, I am leaning towards a P4 1.8GHz CPU but an Athlon XP 1800+ is also very tempting. The problem I am having is which should I go for? I know the AMD is much faster, but it also produces a lot of heat and a heat sink will cost extra. Also, the AMD will use SDRAM only right? Or can I get a top-rated ASUS MoBo that will use RDRAM (512 MB)? With the P4, I would buy an ASUS P4T-E.

As for the case, can I use my existing Dell case or will I have to go for a new case? 99% sure I will have to buy a new one, just want to confirm. Also, which case would you recommend? I would like it to be in black or silver but it doesn't have to be that. What kind of a Power Supply will I need, how many watts? Does it come with the case?

A key question: Will I be able to transport my current HD to the newly-built computer without having to reinstall the OS? I am running WinXP Pro Corp.

Is there anything else I will need to build my computer? My budget is around $1,100 and so far things are coming out to be around $1,050, so i have room to wiggle. If I get an AMD I will probably have more room to wiggle. I have already order the CDRW and the Sound Card. Everything else can be changed.

Your help will be greatly appreciated.

[iisbob]

Go with the Athlon, it supports DDR SDRAM which has proven to outperform RDRAM systems-and looks to be the standard memory architechture for the future, RAMBUS tried to be propietory and in the PC world that's tatamount to a death sentence.

Not too mention that Intel is changing the P4 structure soon so any motherboard you buy now willbe unable to be upgraded in the future unless you buy another new board. Whereas the Athlon XP is built to stay on the same socket A infrostructure currently available.

The raedon seeems like a decent card; however ATI's commitment to driver support has been dismal at best-causeing their product to seriously lag behind in performance compared to Geforce's-try and get a Geforce 2 Ti200-cheaper than the 8500 and ofers better performance/support from nvidia.

As for your Harddrive-considering you are using XP, you'll more than likely have to re-activate again anyways since you're making such large hardware changes; so i would go with a fresh install and let windows load fresh specific registry entries for all your new equipment-you'll be thankful down the road.

With the money you'll save on buying an Athlon, you'll be able to afford a decent heatsink/fan-i'd recommend either thermosoinc's newest model or one of the thermaltake volcano's ( model 5 or 6 ).

Good luck on your build. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif


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iisbob
""I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did. I said I didn't know."
Mark Twain

[fixrupr]

A new hard drive, floppy, and CD cost would be offset by the value of keeping the old Dell working. I would think that if you sell it, you would at least break even. Not to mention the fact that your old HD (assuming it is the original) will slow down the new PC.



"I'm all in favor of keeping dangerous weapons out of the hands of fools. Let's start with typewriters."
--------Frank Lloyd Wright (1868-1959)---------

[ankitpayal]

I have narrowed my choices and am now going to build this:

ATI Radeon 8500 (the latest drivers offer excellent performance)
Athlon XP 1800+ on a Soyo SY-K7V Dragon Plus MoBo.

I will get a ThermalRight SK6 Heat Sink. The Alpha 8045 doesn't fit on the Soyo MoBO. I have 512MB DDR PC2100 SDRAM from Crucial.

My PS is a HighPower ATX 340W AMD PSU.

I am still looking for a good case. I have the Corp. edition of Win XP Pro, so i don't have to activate it.

[Randy_tx]

In so far as moving the hard drive to your new system........you can do it for sure, but be prepared for a number of motherboard resources [with a new motherboard installed]and the other devices associated with the new chipset to need new drivers etc. Don't know exactly how XP handles all of this [hopefully better than Win2000!]. Go with AMD and DDR ram.

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Will XP save Me ?

[ranchdog]

Many..Many issues (from users) on the Dragon+ board.

Go to www.amdmb.com (http://www.amdmb.com) and click on Forums. Go to Motherboards and Soyo.

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

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

[ankitpayal]

Thanks ranchdog for the info. I have been browsing that forum as well. I am convinced from other users that the latest BIOS upgrade solves most of the problems. I need help on a fan for the SK6 and a case.

[ranchdog]

Agree on the BIOS upgrade situation.

There is an excellent HS/F review at www.Hardocp.com (http://www.Hardocp.com) . It includes the SK6. Believe they were using the Delta 60MM. When you get there highlite Review and select Cooling.
Luck.

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

[This message has been edited by ranchdog (edited 11-28-2001).]

[RobHW]

Maybe the information I have at my site will help!
http://www.mysuperpc.com