Help Building A System.

[simonmac]

I have been asked to build a system for my cousin, he mainly wants it for playing games and internet access. What do you think of this:

80Gb W/Digital HDD WD800JB (8MB Cache)
128Mb ATI Radeon 9600XT (Connect 3D)
AMD AthlonXP PR2800+ (RTL) Barton CPU with a Akasa AK-827BL cooler
Asus A7V600-X (DDR M/Board)
512Mb Corsair DDR (XMS3200LLPT)
Sony DRU-700A Dual Format & Double Layer DVD-RW
Sound Blaster Live 5.1 Digital Sound Card.

Two questions really

One: Will this work? Is it all compatible?
Two: Not a 100% sure about the memory is this OK? Is it a over kill? Is quantity better than quailty?

Any help is much appreciated.

[rwniel]

Depends on the type of games really, but there doesn't seem to be any reasons why it shouldn't work. What is your maximum budget?

The 9600XT is a fair performer, if you haven't got the increased amount for say a 9800Pro. However, you may wish to consider a bigger hard disk than 80GB as for instance an 160GB HD is only about £15 more.

More memory helps in the latest games, but can be upgraded later (so isn't so much of an initial decision). If you don't plan on overclocking, then replace your choice of Corsair memory for regular Crucial memory.

You could probably quibble will little details on the rest, but you're in the right ball park.

Robert

[splobber]

Corsair memory is the dogs danglies. I use it in all my PC's.

[movaado]

As rwniel said, get a larger hard-disk. For spending another 20% you can get 100% more storage ;)

That motherboard has onboard 5.1 sound. If it were me, I'd not buy the Sound Blaster Live 5.1 and spend the spare money on getting a faster video card like a 9800pro or something

[JayX]

the 9800 is cheap as chips atm, so if you don't wan't a 6800/x800 class board (expensive) its the one to go for. i found the 200gb hdd was pretty much the best £/gb for a large hdd... 80gb is nothing these days. i'm running 160 atm and there's about a gb free. not good! and yeah, stick to the onboard sound, then if you want to buy a soundcard later, get an audigy2.

[simonmac]

Is a 128Mb 9800 Pro RTL better then a 256Mb 9600XT?

[rick67]

Yes. By miles. Just Google for some benchmarks.

[Er1c_C4RtM4N]

The other thing is dont the retail amd chips come with heat sink and fan included?

Looking at the list of parts, they are from the CCL page. You would be better off trying to get hold of an oem GeForce 6800LE rather than going for the Radeon 9600XT. If you can afford I would go for the GeForce 6800 128MB from eBuyer, but that is if the budget will spring to a £170 graphics card.

I wouldnt touch the Sony DVD±RW. Personally I would go for the Pioneer DVR-108. Cracking piece of kit for the money, and the price is coming down all the time.

Go for a SATA hard disk. They usually arent much more money and are worth it for the performance increase they give. I prefer Maxtor to Western Digital, but if it were available woud probably go for Seagate.

As said before, dont bother with the SoundBlaster card. Save the money and put it to your graphics card. Another point to consider is the case and power supply. AMD machines tend to run a little hot for my liking, so make sure you get a case with suitable ventilation and a power supply that provides sufficient power. 350W minimum power supply, but if you are building for games and getting a decent graphics card I would be looking for a 450W power supply as a minimum.

hth

James

[daveyb]

.......... Personally I would go for the Pioneer DVR-108. Cracking piece of kit for the money, and the price is coming down all the time.

Go for a SATA hard disk. They usually arent much more money and are worth it for the performance increase they give. I prefer Maxtor to Western Digital, but if it were available woud probably go for Seagate.

James

I agree about the Pioneer, works well for me.

But, re: hard drives, if you look at the latest PCPLUS the ATA Hitachi 72K250 scores as well/better than the similar spec SATA drives. You'd be more than happy with the Hitachi if you can live with the cabling (I do).