pc parts recommendations

[jkr48625]

hey guys, i've picked out some hardwares but i haven't got a clue as to which motherboard, memory and coolers i should buy. i'll be using the pc mainly for playing mp3s and dvds.

Antec SOLO Quiet Mini Tower Case (http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=18500#)
Antec 92mm SmartCool (http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=75009) OR Antec Large Fan (92mm) (http://www.antec.com/us/productDetails.php?ProdID=77037#)
Cooler Master Real Power 550W SLI (http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=RS-550-ACLY.&other_title=+RS-550-ACLY.+Real%20Power%20550W%20SLI) OR Cooler Master eXtreme Power 650W (http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=RP-650-PCAR&other_title=+RP-650-PCAR+eXtreme%20Power%20650W) OR Cooler Master iGreen Power 500W (http://www.coolermaster.com/index.php?LT=english&Language_s=2&url_place=product&p_serial=RS-500-ASAA&other_title=+RS-500-ASAA+iGreen%20Power%20500W)

Logitech Cordless Desktop S 510 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126180)

Viewsonic 19” VG1930WM (5ms) DVI/WideScreen (http://www.viewsonic.com/products/desktopdisplays/lcddisplays/graphicseries/vg1930wm/) OR Samsung 19” 940BW (Widescreen) 4ms/DVI (http://www.samsung.com/Products/Monitor/LCD_Digital/LS19HAWKBQXAA.asp) OR LG 19” L194WT(WideScreen) 5ms/DVI (2000:1) (http://us.lge.com/products/model/detail/computer%20products_lcd%20monitors_19%20inch_L194W T-SF.jhtml)

Altec Lansing FX6021 (http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details.asp?pID=FX6021) OR Altec Lansing MX5021 (http://www.alteclansing.com/product_details_MX5021_OOS.asp) - do i have to buy a sound card or the onboard audio will do?

Lite-On Super Multi 20X DVD RW (http://www.cdrlabs.com/reviews/index.php?reviewid=297) OR ASUS DRW-1814BLT 18x DVD Writer (SATA) (http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=29&id=2195) - should i buy a dvd-rom to play my dvds? if not, would the dvd-rw be able to play region 1 & 3 dvds?

Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 16MB 250GB 7200rpm (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822148144) X 2

Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819115005)

these are the motherboards, memories and coolers i'm choosing from:

[jkr48625]

regarding win xp pro's Product Activation Facts (http://www.microsoft.com/piracy/activation_faq.mspx):

"If a reinstallation of the software is needed, is reactivation required?

Not always. If the same version of the software is reinstalled on the same machine and the hard disk is not reformatted prior to reinstalling, the software will remain activated. Reactivation will be required if the hard disk is reformatted and the software is reinstalled. This is because the software's activation status is stored on the hard drive and reformatting the hard drive erases that status."

if i do reformat my hard disk, does that mean i have to pay for a new license?

[david eaton]

if i do reformat my hard disk, does that mean i have to pay for a new license?
No, but you may have to contact MS to get a new activation code. Not really a problem.

[rond36]

Where are you buying your parts?

Are you going to buy a video card? It isn't listed!

For your intended use any of the listed motherboards would work. You shouldn't need an aftermarket CPU cooler if you buy a retail CPU, it comes with a good cooler that is sufficient for your CPU at stock settings. Any PC 6400 DDR2 800 CL5 RAM will work. I prefer Crucial, Kingston, and Corsair for standard memory.
do i have to buy a sound card or the on-board audio will do?
That depends on what motherboard you choose.
On-board sound has come a long way in the last couple of years. Try using the on-board sound, if you don't like it you can buy a sound card later.
should i buy a dvd-rom to play my dvds? if not, would the dvd-rw be able to play region 1 & 3 dvds?I would suggest buying another DVD-ROM and set one for region 1 and the other to region 3 because you can only change the DVD region a limited number of times before it gets locked on a region and can't be changed.

regarding win xp pro's Product Activation Facts:

"If a reinstallation of the software is needed, is reactivation required?

In your case yes, reactivation will be required. You will need to format and reinstall. Whether or not you need to buy a new copy of XP Pro depends on which version you have. Retail versions are transferable, but you will need to remove it from your old PC. OEM versions are not transferable. Versions purchased pre-installed on a retail PC are not transferable and most likely will not even install on your new PC! If you have an OEM version you will need to buy a new copy for your new PC because the old copy is locked to your old hardware.

Q) What are the 10 hardware characteristics used to determine the hardware hash?

A) The 10 hardware characteristics used to determine the hardware hash are: Display Adapter, SCSI Adapter, IDE Adapter, Network Adapter MAC Address, RAM Amount Range (i.e. 0-64mb, 64-128mb, etc), Processor Type, Processor Serial Number, Hard Drive Device, Hard Drive Volume Serial Number, CD-ROM/CD-RW/DVD-ROM. The Processor Serial Number has been replaced by the system BIOS serial number because Intel scrapped the processor serial number program due to customer protest.

Q)How does product activation determine tolerance? In other words, how many components of the PC must change before I am required to reactivate?

A)Common changes to hardware such as upgrading a video card, adding a second hard disk drive, adding RAM or upgrading a CD-ROM device will not require the system to be reactivated.

Specifically, product activation determines tolerance through a voting mechanism. There are 10 hardware characteristics used in creating the hardware hash. Each characteristic is worth one vote, except the network card which is worth three votes. When thinking of tolerance, it's easiest to think about what has not changed instead of what has changed. When the current hardware hash is compared to the original hardware hash, there must be 7 or more matching points for the two hardware hashes to be considered in tolerance. If the network card is the same, then only 4 additional characteristics must match (because the network card is worth 3, for a total of 7). If the network card is not the same, then a total of 7 characteristics other than the network card must be the same.
I think that the BIOS serial number is also worth 3 or more points because I had to change a BIOS chip once and had to reactivate XP Pro and every time I need to reinstall XP on that system I have to call MS for a new hash because the CD key won't work anymore. I have to keep an activated drive image for that PC on CD-Rs

[jkr48625]

must i buy a video card? i'm on a budget and i'm not into gaming. on my current pc, i have a lite-on cd-rw and an asus dvd-rom. i dont remember setting my dvd-rom to play any specific region dvds and yet it's able to play both region 1 & 3 dvds using this software DVD X Player 4.0 Professional.

For your intended use any of the listed motherboards would work. You shouldn't need an aftermarket CPU cooler if you buy a retail CPU, it comes with a good cooler that is sufficient for your CPU at stock settings. Any PC 6400 DDR2 800 CL5 RAM will work. I prefer Crucial, Kingston, and Corsair for standard memory.

must it be PC 6400 DDR2 800 CL5 RAM and nothing else? i'll be buying 1 gig of memory and eventually upgrade it to 2 gig. do i have to stick to the same brand of memory or can i mix and match? regarding os, should i buy win xp pro x64 or stick to the original with sp2? i would like to transfer files from pata drives (formatted under win98 fat32) to sata using an external ide/sata HDD case. would i have any problem reading/connecting the files on the pata drive on the new pc?

[rond36]

You need to choose a motherboard.

I think the Gigabyte GA-965G-DS3 (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ClassValue=Motherboard&ProductID=2361&ProductName=GA-965G-DS3) would be a good motherboard choice.
It has Intel GMA X3000 on-board video but has a PCI-E X16 slot if you decide to add a video card later and it has 8 channel hi def audio.
The only way to avoid buying a video card is to buy a motherboard with on-board video. Without a video adapter of some kind PCI, PCI-E, or on-board there won't be a place to hook up your monitor and your PC will not boot.

I suggested PC 6400 DDR2 800 CL5 RAM because that is what Intel recommends for the Intel P965 and G965 chipset and you will most likely end up with one of those two chipsets

[jkr48625]

i've decided to go with GIGABYTE GA-965GM-S2 (http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Products/Motherboard/Products_Overview.aspx?ProductID=2388&ModelName=GA-965GM-S2)

would these memories go along with the motherboard and cpu?

[rond36]

Yes any of those should work with that motherboard, it Supports DDR2 800/667/533 memory

[jkr48625]

rond36, do i install windows xp before tweaking the motherboard bios?

[rond36]

If you are just playing MP3s and DVDs you shouldn't need to do any BIOS tweaking but if you need to, do it before you install XP.

[jkr48625]

actually, i'll be asking the shop to install the hardwares and softwares. is there a way to check if it's done to my liking?