ChappyEight

Disclaimer: For the record, I'm going to copy this post to a couple different message boards so forgive me if I'm stealing minutes of your life away due to multiple forum postings.

I apologize in advance because this post might be lengthy. Hopefully, those smarter than I can give me some advice as I'm about to purchase and build my first system. Some of my questions will be extreme noob questions as I was unable to get answers after lots of searching. Most questions I had I was able to find suitable answers to through this forum and others.

I have posted on here before with potential system setups, but I've refined it a bit more here.

First things first, the system I'm looking at (I'm guessing it to be a mid-level system). I should note, I've already purchased a mid-size case and this fan controller:

• - PSU --> Corsair HX 620W
  - MoBo --> Abit IP35-Pro
  - CPU --> Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
  - HDD 1 (OS Drive) --> WD Caviar SE 160GB
  - HDD 2&3 (RAID 0) --> WD Caviar SE16 500GB
  - RAM --> Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2GB (1GBx2)
  - Optical --> Lite-On 20X DVD+/-R w/LightScribe (SATA)
  - Video Card --> EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 312MB
  - Monitor/Keyboard/Mouse are being recycled for now.

First off, I am pretty sure all these parts are compatible, but I'd like some reassurance on that. Secondly, I am open to any and all suggestions. If you see holes in the system or you think other parts would work better, then fire away, I'm all ears.

On to the newbie questions.

• 1. Do I need a floppy drive? I know that the manual I downloaded for my preferred MoBo mentions a floppy for flashing the BIOS and I've seen others mention it on these boards. Since I've never really seen a straight answer, what's the verdict? Is a floppy needed or can the BIOS be flashed through something like a USB thumb drive?
  
  2. I noticed that a lot of people get 2 optical drives. Is there any particular reason for this? It seems that most DVD burners are combo drives so I'm not sure if I'm missing something.
  
  3. I installed my new Sunbeam fan controller and I was just verifying that the fans (2x120mm, 1x80mm) would hook up correctly. The fans have 3-pin connectors so they plug right into the controller w/out any sort of adapter. The problem is that the cable on my 120mm fan in the back won't reach all the way up to the fan controller to plug in. Is there a 3-pin female to 3-pin male extension available? If not, what the crap do I do?
  
  4. This the most noob question of them all. I know it's been hotly debated over the years, but what is the general consensus in regards to whether or not to leave your computer on all the time.
  
  4a. Secondly, on a home-built machine, it seems that most PSU have an on/off switch of their own. Does this stay on all the time even after you shut down like normal (through Windows)?

I truly appreciate your willingness to trudge through this long of a post. Thank you all in advance for any advice/comments/suggestions/insults you provide.

Chappy

voyagerfan99

2: I think it's good to have 2 optical drives in case you need to say burn a CD while using a Live Linux CD. you can't remove the LiveCD to burn it, otherwise Linux won't run. Thats why the second drive is good - or if you need to install a RAID driver and your only optical drive is taken up by the windows install CD.

4.It really makes no difference. I've heard it causes more stress on the components when you turn them on and off. You can leave it on if you want, but occasionally reboot so it can clear the RAM and whatnot.

4a. It's just another way to turn the computer off and on. The PSU turns off after windows shuts down the computer, but if you don't want power leaking into the computer (very little will) and causing your electricity bill to increase (probably a cent or two) but it makes no difference.

__________________
Drum Major - Windham High School Marching Band
Mach Speed MSNV-939 nForce Socket 939
AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ (OC'd to 2.20 Ghz)
Power Up Black ATX Mid-T Case w/450w & Clear Side
3 GB DDR RAM
450 GB Storage (80-ATA, 120-ATA, 250-SATA)
Visiontek Radeon x1650 Pro 512MB
22" Viewsonic LCD w/ iPod Dock + 17" Dell CRT
Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard
Computer Pics

Vipernitrox

the setup looks fine to me.
the only thing i could think of is that i don't really like the brand abit, have had some bad experiences with it.

Also note that setting up raid isn't easy. It'll require a fair part of research from your part. Don't ask me about raid though i don't know to much about it.

the newbie questions:
1. floppy drive is not really needed. All recent motherboards support bios flashing from usb thumb drives. That is even if you need to flash your bios, most of the time it isn't needed at all.

2. i've got 2 optical drives because i tend to copy alot of disks and it spares me the time of first copying a cd/dvd to my hard disk and then burning it to an empty cd/dvd. If you don't copy disks much 2 optical are useless.

3. yes there are extensions cables like this one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16812119147

4. well it's easy, just compare it to a bicycle. You can use it more but it weares out more. So it'll be broken sooner. Same with computers, if you leave it on all the time it naturally gets whore out faster.

4a. don't screw around with that button. just shut down the windows way. You'll completely take off all power of your computer. It has no use unless your resetting your bios.

Hope this helps. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask.

__________________
Samsung Syncmaster 226BW 22" @ 1680x1050
Antec P182 - 3 Nexus Real Silent 120mm Fans
Deceased until further notice
Pics: 1 2 3 4

Respital

The build looks fine.

The motherboard looks good but i always want to recommend something different.

For a little better mobo and for alot cheaper i would suggest either the,

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX All Solid Capacitor Intel Motherboard - Retail
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128059
Price: $89.99

That motherboard is perfect if you wont be using more then 4 sata ports at once.

Or

GIGABYTE GA-EP35-DS3R LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Dynamic Energy Saver Ultra Durable II Intel Motherboard - Retail
Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813128086
Price: $132.99

I personally have the P35-DS3R and it works great!

The only differences from the two are.

1. The second one has 8 opposed to 4 sata ports.
2. The second one can have an FSB of 1600Mhz (O.C)
3. The second one can have a memory clock of 1200Mhz (O.C.)
4. The second one has 8 x USB 2.0 oppose to 4 x USB 2.0

Thats pretty much it.
Hope this helps.

__________________
/My Rig:/
/Case :/ Antec Sonata III
/Power Supply :/ Antec Earthquake 500W
/Motherboard :/ Gigabyte P35-DSR3
/Processor :/ Intel E6850@3.4Ghz
/Ram :/ Consair 2x 1 Gb 800mhz
/Video Card :/ Zotac 8800 GT

/3DMark06 Score :/ 11730