need advice on budget pc build

[Max_s]

first i should say i'm very glad i've found this web-page, since our current system is sooo noisy, the silence is number one priority now, although the budget for new home pc is limited.

Processor:
Athlon 64 3200+ Venice E6 Stepping - this point is clear and undoubtfull.

Motherboard:
Epox 9NPA+ Ultra S939 nForce4 Ultra with Zalman NB47J - i was looking for a more or less budget motherboard without sli, but with IEEE1394. although epox is not much popular here but it seems to be not a bad choice.

Case and Power supply: Antex P150 or Yeong Yang YY-5603 Midi-Tower with Seasonic S12 330W. Antec is probabily a better case, but a bit more expensive and i don't think i really need 430W power.

RAM: 1024MB DDRRAM Corsair Value Select 1GB Kit PC400

HD: 200GB Samsung SpinPoint P120 SP2004C SATA II

DVD Burner: LG GSA-4167B

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Silencer 64 Ultra

VGA: Asus 128MB Extreme EN6600 Silencer TD PCIe or Gigabyte GeForce 6600 TurboForce, 128MB DDR, DVI, TV-out, PCIe (GV-NX66128DP); don't need more power, but would like to have a passive card.

So I need some help to confirm or to make the better choice. Probably I will need also a case fan if i go with yeong yang. What else i need for the pc? thanks in advance.

[jackylman]

Take a look at this mobo: AsRock ULI M1697 and maybe this one: ABIT AT8 They're both dual video card boards, but most seem to be that way nowadays for some reason.

If you don't need 3D, you can also check out the GeForce 61x0 integrated video boards.

[derekva]

first i should say i'm very glad i've found this web-page, since our current system is sooo noisy, the silence is number one priority now, although the budget for new home pc is limited.

Processor:
Athlon 64 3200+ Venice E6 Stepping - this point is clear and undoubtfull.

Motherboard:
Epox 9NPA+ Ultra S939 nForce4 Ultra with Zalman NB47J - i was looking for a more or less budget motherboard without sli, but with IEEE1394. although epox is not much popular here but it seems to be not a bad choice.

Case and Power supply: Antex P150 or Yeong Yang YY-5603 Midi-Tower with Seasonic S12 330W. Antec is probabily a better case, but a bit more expensive and i don't think i really need 430W power.

RAM: 1024MB DDRRAM Corsair Value Select 1GB Kit PC400

HD: 200GB Samsung SpinPoint P120 SP2004C SATA II

DVD Burner: LG GSA-4167B

CPU Cooler: Arctic Cooling Silencer 64 Ultra

VGA: Asus 128MB Extreme EN6600 Silencer TD PCIe or Gigabyte GeForce 6600 TurboForce, 128MB DDR, DVI, TV-out, PCIe (GV-NX66128DP); don't need more power, but would like to have a passive card.

So I need some help to confirm or to make the better choice. Probably I will need also a case fan if i go with yeong yang. What else i need for the pc? thanks in advance.

A few comments:

- Make it easy on yourself, go for the P150 case - it's extremely well thought out and now that they've got the PSU issues resolved, it's a safe buy (although, to be fair, I took the NeoHE 430 out and replaced it with the quieter S12-330 - the NeoHE ended up in my daughter's computer)

- For the CPU cooler, you should consider the Scythe Ninja as it has more than enough cooling capacity to passively cool a 3200+ Venice

- Instead of a 6600, spring for the 7600GS (eVGA has a passive one) - better performance and less heat due to 90nm process

- I concur with jackylman - go for the AsRock ULI M1697 motherboard - it's loaded with features, has passive chipset cooling and is reasonably priced

- If you can swing it, go for 2048MB of RAM as you'll need it if you ever decide to run Vista.

Good luck on your new system, and Welcome to SPCR!!!

-Derek

[QuietOC]

Epox 9NPA+ Ultra S939 nForce4 Ultra with Zalman NB47J - i was looking for a more or less budget motherboard without sli, but with IEEE1394. although epox is not much popular here but it seems to be not a bad choice.

I have had some excellent Epox boards and some that were just okay. All were reliable.

VGA: Asus 128MB Extreme EN6600 Silencer TD PCIe or Gigabyte GeForce 6600 TurboForce, 128MB DDR, DVI, TV-out, PCIe (GV-NX66128DP); don't need more power, but would like to have a passive card.

If you don't care about 3D performance, integrated video is much cooler, and really doesn't significantly slow down anything else. Plus you get it for free, which is always good for a budget. For gaming the 7600GS is a decent silent card. It also has some nice video features that the 6600 lacks and runs cooler than the 6600. There are even cooler running PCIe cards (6200TC), but the Xpress 200/6100/6150 IGPs have nearly the same 3D performance.

[Elixer]

Might look at the Antec 3000B Case. It can often be found at amazon or some other site for ~$45 shipped. Very quiet in combination with an S-12 power supply. As others have said you might want to look at a different CPU cooler, though the one you've choosen is certainly not a bad choice, especially from the price/performance perspective. The ninja is SPCRs current favorite. Also it's worth shopping a little bit for ram. I don't know how the ram market is right now, but when I was looking for ram it was only $10 or so to go from cas 3 to cas 2.5 ram, which in my mind is very worth it for that extra little bit of performance or overclocking potential.

[niels007]

what are you going to use the pc for?

[Max_s]

Take a look at this mobo: AsRock ULI M1697 and maybe this one: ABIT AT8 They're both dual video card boards, but most seem to be that way nowadays for some reason.

If you don't need 3D, you can also check out the GeForce 61x0 integrated video boards.

thanks for the hints. i checked the boards, but on the web-page of the store where i'm going to buy everything it is not specified that they have firewire IEEE1394. the good thing is that they both support Cool'nQuiet. but why you think thiese boards are better thatn the Epox? or ULi M1697 chip is better than nforce4?

apart from the fact that i play some game once in a month, i'm going to use the pc for photoshop, watching movies (so i need tv-out), and editing some family videos. what you think, i need a video-card on GF6600 or integrated 6100 is enough for these purposes?

[Max_s]

Derek, thank you very much for your reply and for the greetings.

- Make it easy on yourself, go for the P150 case - it's extremely well thought out and now that they've got the PSU issues resolved, it's a safe buy (although, to be fair, I took the NeoHE 430 out and replaced it with the quieter S12-330 - the NeoHE ended up in my daughter's computer)

Unfortunately i can not afford replacing the PSU. that's why the question arises, whether to take a better case with slighlty worse PSU or worse case but with a better (and with less power) PSU. and now we have three candidates.

- For the CPU cooler, you should consider the Scythe Ninja as it has more than enough cooling capacity to passively cool a 3200+ Venice
- Instead of a 6600, spring for the 7600GS (eVGA has a passive one) - better performance and less heat due to 90nm process
- If you can swing it, go for 2048MB of RAM as you'll need it if you ever decide to run Vista.

this all would be perfect and i would be happy to make it. but, although i need a silenence, this is a bit more budget pc, and i can't go with Ninja or 7600GS. unfortunately. the question is if the cooler and vga i've chosen are good ones or one can make a better choise, staying more or less in the same price region.

I concur with jackylman - go for the AsRock ULI M1697 motherboard - it's loaded with features, has passive chipset cooling and is reasonably priced

i need to check, if it indeed has firewire.

[Max_s]

If you don't care about 3D performance, integrated video is much cooler, and really doesn't significantly slow down anything else. Plus you get it for free, which is always good for a budget. For gaming the 7600GS is a decent silent card. It also has some nice video features that the 6600 lacks and runs cooler than the 6600. There are even cooler running PCIe cards (6200TC), but the Xpress 200/6100/6150 IGPs have nearly the same 3D performance.

what you are saying is if i don't take 7600gs (which is too expensive), and don't want integrated video, then i should get one with 6200TC, right?

by the way, are there good motherboards with integrated 61x0 with tv-out?

[Max_s]

Might look at the Antec 3000B Case. It can often be found at amazon or some other site for ~$45 shipped. Very quiet in combination with an S-12 power supply. As others have said you might want to look at a different CPU cooler, though the one you've choosen is certainly not a bad choice, especially from the price/performance perspective. The ninja is SPCRs current favorite. Also it's worth shopping a little bit for ram. I don't know how the ram market is right now, but when I was looking for ram it was only $10 or so to go from cas 3 to cas 2.5 ram, which in my mind is very worth it for that extra little bit of performance or overclocking potential.

thanks for the hints. i looked at 3000b. what i don't like about it is that it has a door to access the optical drives, and that it does not have a firewire port on the front side. in the end i'll think about doubling the RAM. which CPU cooler would you suggest as an alternative, besides the expensive ninja.

[QuietOC]

what you are saying is if i don't take 7600gs (which is too expensive), and don't want integrated video, then i should get one with 6200TC, right?

No, A 6600 DDR is a good choice.

by the way, are there good motherboards with integrated 61x0 with tv-out?

Yes, you can get a 6150 motherboard with S-video output. In fact I think most of them have at least the header for S-video even if they don't have the actual jack. Some of the 6150 motherboards come with DVI and/or component video if you want to hook it up to a HDTV monitor.

[Max_s]

what are you going to use the pc for?

well, it's a home-pc, so internet, editing documents and pictures, watching movies, playinh older games once in a month, some video editing.

what about the other parts, like the hard drive or dvd-burner? do i need another case-fan, expect the one which comes with the case?

[jackylman]

Take a look at this mobo: AsRock ULI M1697 and maybe this one: ABIT AT8 They're both dual video card boards, but most seem to be that way nowadays for some reason.

If you don't need 3D, you can also check out the GeForce 61x0 integrated video boards.

thanks for the hints. i checked the boards, but on the web-page of the store where i'm going to buy everything it is not specified that they have firewire IEEE1394. the good thing is that they both support Cool'nQuiet. but why you think thiese boards are better thatn the Epox? or ULi M1697 chip is better than nforce4?

Both boards have one Firewire port on the rear panel and support for another with a bracket (included with the ABIT, purchased separately with the AsRock). I think they're better boards because their chipsets don't need active cooling or heatpipes, unlike Nforce4 boards. I own the Epox board in question, and I regret purchasing it because of the chipset heat.

[Max_s]

what you are saying is if i don't take 7600gs (which is too expensive), and don't want integrated video, then i should get one with 6200TC, right?

No, A 6600 DDR is a good choice.

by the way, are there good motherboards with integrated 61x0 with tv-out?

Yes, you can get a 6150 motherboard with S-video output. In fact I think most of them have at least the header for S-video even if they don't have the actual jack. Some of the 6150 motherboards come with DVI and/or component video if you want to hook it up to a HDTV monitor.

ok, so which of the passive cards on GF 6600 is better?

do i need a video card with GF6600 for watching movies and editing home-video?

[QuietOC]

thanks for the hints. i looked at 3000b. what i don't like about it is that it has a door to access the optical drives, and that it does not have a firewire port on the front side. in the end i'll think about doubling the RAM. which CPU cooler would you suggest as an alternative, besides the expensive ninja.

The Ninja is going to be overkill unless you want to overclock the 3200+. The cheapest solution is to undervolt the 3200+ and use the AMD heatsink with a motherboard that can reduce the fan speed. That will work good.

A Thermalright XP-90 or a Zalman 7000CuAl are pretty nice. The fan in my Zalman7000Cu is a little too noisy in my opinion. Or look for a sale on one of the heatpipe tower heatsinks.

[QuietOC]

do i need a video card with GF6600 for watching movies and editing home-video?

Actually, if you are mainly interested in video performance, use the 6150 integrated video, or get a Radeon X1600. ATi has great video quality, and they keep on improving it. Nvidia has been a little behind and you have to buy their PureVideo software to enable some of their video features.

[Max_s]

hi,
so i'm back again.

i looked at ASRock 939SLI32-eSATA2, it has lots of useful features and received positive reviews. However, as far as i understand it does not have fan header control. please confirm.

[sleepygenius]

I find that the MSI K8NGM2-FID is an excellent budget board for those wanting to build a budget computer as well as an HTPC. It comes with both DVI and VGA outputs as well as a bracket for component and S-video.

I haven't purchased the board yet, but I've been keeping an eye on it till I have the necessary funds to purchase it. While I was keeping an eye on it, I discovered these forums and it seems quite interesting reading these posts. I've been reading the forum for a while before registering.