Need parts, and advice :)

Michael

Michael

Active Member
I'm looking for the following parts;

1.) Hard Drive - SATA2 preferred, 160GB+ preferred
2.) Mobo - Must Support; AM2, DDR2 PC2-5300 and PC2-4200, PCIe x16 is a plus.
3.) PSU - 250w + - Must support the above mobo

All parts will be under -almost- constant use throughout the day, all PC's sit idle around here at night. Must handle abuse well!

My budget is around $150 for everything. The mobo and PSU are for a buget build, a PC that will be used mainly for word processing, surfing the net and downloading/uploading files. The hard drive won't be a part of that budget build and should be comparable to the Hard Drives I have now (see sig).

The final budget build will consist of;

AMD AM2 3500+
1GB DDR2
40GB IDE Drive
160GB IDE Drive (which is coming out of my main PC, which is being replaced by the Hard Drive I decide on here)
DVD/CD Burner
Vista Basic
Onboard Video will be used until I can afford another video card, which is why PCIe x16 would be excellent if it fits into the budget.

I've been researching and will post my findings in a bit.

-mak
 
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That is quite a limiting budget for the parts you want. I would recommend a Western Digital hard drive. I have had my Western Digital hard drive for over four years now and had no issues with it.

At NewEgg.com they have a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), Western Digital, 80 gigabyte, 7200 RPM hard drive for about $48.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822135106

Larger hard drives will cost you about $25 more.

As for motherboards I can give you one point of advice. Do NOT buy a Foxconn motherboard. This is my second Foxconn motherboard and it has bugs. My first motherboard got fried within its first 45 days of use. Foxconn does not make quality products in my opinion.
 
daisymtc said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148262
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128045

Assuming you are normal ATX PSU, you need to double check
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371005
you need to make sure the mail in rebate terms & conditions

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817174026
Click to expand...

Those all look great, but I don't do MIR's, especially with online services. The Hipro looks OK, and I'm told it's a decent budget brand.

That gigabyte board only has two slots for RAM, four would be better suited for me since I use 512MB sticks, upgrading later would be easier.

May I ask what made you choose these products? Was it based soley on price, or do you have experience with them?

-mak
 
makmillion said:
Those all look great, but I don't do MIR's, especially with online services. The Hipro looks OK, and I'm told it's a decent budget brand.

That gigabyte board only has two slots for RAM, four would be better suited for me since I use 512MB sticks, upgrading later would be easier.

May I ask what made you choose these products? Was it based soley on price, or do you have experience with them?

-mak
Click to expand...

I usually base on brand, specifications and price. Also ppl comments, online reviews...
Alternative MB:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130125
 
What are the eventual plans in terms of the video card? It would be worth getting a PSU that can support a future card if it can fit into the budget.

Between your PSU options, I'd go for the 300W Hipro. Winsys PSUs are pretty terrible, and between the 300W and 350W Hipro units, the 300W is actually better spec'd, almost certainly a newer design (not that rated specs mean much at this pricepoint).

Somewhat better are a few of the lowend FSP/Sparkle models, something like http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817104951 (a little more expensive, but still under $25). If your PSU budget will stretch to $30, and I would recommend stretching it, particularly if you intend to upgrade the video card, the Hipro True 400W is a better choice.
 
I think, now, I'm going to be moving Vista Basic, the hard drive it resides on, and my current mobo over to the 'budget' PC, and I'm going to use the new mobo and hard drive for my PC.

I'm probably going to pick up that 250GB Seagate listed above, and one of those Hipro PSU's, probably the 400w.. however, that 400w got bad reviews - should I be worried about that? I know, take newegg reviews with a grain of salt, but when items get bad reviews they always worry me.

So now, I just need a mobo with the following requirements;

4 RAM slots, compatible with PC2-4200
AM2 x2 compatible
PCIe x16 (true x16 would be best, my current runs at x8 speed.. and I wish it were faster)

The PSU I have now is a 250w Delta, and I'm told it's a very nice PSU.. I never get hiccups or freezes from it, which of those hipro PSUs do you think would be best, also taking into account the bad reviews each has gotten.

As for what my PC gets used for, basically everything.. I use Photoshop Cs3 Extended, Office 2007, Paint, .gif animation, Flash and Fireworks.. etc. It's used quite heavily and usually sits idle (powered on) while I sleep and am at work.. so all of the parts I get need to be able to take that kind of use with ease.


I'm looking forward to your replies :)

EDIT:

I forgot to mention that since my current Vista build will be moved to the budget PC, I'll be installing Vista Ultimate on the new hard drive, with that new mobo but using most of the old parts, like the video card.. one of the hard drives, etc.. so now I want the hard drive to be SATA2.

EDIT x2:

I need a PSU with 19a on the 12v rail.. the 300w Hipro claims it possible, but the 400w claims 15a, I'm confused..
 
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This is what I've picked out, please tell me if I could do better for the price :)

99451629dr9.png


Links:

Hard Drive

Mobo

PSU


The only two things I'm concerned with is that PSU.. I've heard good things about Hipro, and I've been using an OEM Delta 250w PSU that's worked great for the last 6 months (out of the 6 months, I'd say my computer was powered off for maybe a total of 10 hours).. but I've also heard Delta PSU's are of good quality..

I'm also worried because I see a VIA chip on that mobo.. from what I read it's soley for the firewire port, but to my knowledge the same chip should be shared with PCI.. how does this effect overclocking? ..and, is that a good board for overclocking?



Thoughts? Can I do better for the money?
 
makmillion said:
I think, now, I'm going to be moving Vista Basic, the hard drive it resides on, and my current mobo over to the 'budget' PC, and I'm going to use the new mobo and hard drive for my PC.

I'm probably going to pick up that 250GB Seagate listed above, and one of those Hipro PSU's, probably the 400w.. however, that 400w got bad reviews - should I be worried about that? I know, take newegg reviews with a grain of salt, but when items get bad reviews they always worry me.

So now, I just need a mobo with the following requirements;

4 RAM slots, compatible with PC2-4200
AM2 x2 compatible
PCIe x16 (true x16 would be best, my current runs at x8 speed.. and I wish it were faster)

The PSU I have now is a 250w Delta, and I'm told it's a very nice PSU.. I never get hiccups or freezes from it, which of those hipro PSUs do you think would be best, also taking into account the bad reviews each has gotten.

As for what my PC gets used for, basically everything.. I use Photoshop Cs3 Extended, Office 2007, Paint, .gif animation, Flash and Fireworks.. etc. It's used quite heavily and usually sits idle (powered on) while I sleep and am at work.. so all of the parts I get need to be able to take that kind of use with ease.


I'm looking forward to your replies :)

EDIT:

I forgot to mention that since my current Vista build will be moved to the budget PC, I'll be installing Vista Ultimate on the new hard drive, with that new mobo but using most of the old parts, like the video card.. one of the hard drives, etc.. so now I want the hard drive to be SATA2.

EDIT x2:

I need a PSU with 19a on the 12v rail.. the 300w Hipro claims it possible, but the 400w claims 15a, I'm confused..
Click to expand...

Hipro is an good Budget PSU. Look carefully, The 400W says 15+14. So 29 A, but it's not really added up.
 
makmillion said:
This is what I've picked out, please tell me if I could do better for the price :)

99451629dr9.png


Links:

Hard Drive

Mobo

PSU


The only two things I'm concerned with is that PSU.. I've heard good things about Hipro, and I've been using an OEM Delta 250w PSU that's worked great for the last 6 months (out of the 6 months, I'd say my computer was powered off for maybe a total of 10 hours).. but I've also heard Delta PSU's are of good quality..

I'm also worried because I see a VIA chip on that mobo.. from what I read it's soley for the firewire port, but to my knowledge the same chip should be shared with PCI.. how does this effect overclocking? ..and, is that a good board for overclocking?



Thoughts? Can I do better for the money?
Click to expand...

Change to 400W...

Delta is great... Hipro is not that bad...

VIA/SIS = Bad overclockers
Nvidia = Good overclockers
 
oscaryu1 said:
Hipro is an good Budget PSU. Look carefully, The 400W says 15+14. So 29 A, but it's not really added up.
Click to expand...

Being as that 400w doesn't have 19a on a single 12v rail, but has dual 12v rails.. would it be acceptable for my setup? My 7600GT says it needs 19a on the 12v rail, however, my 250w Delta has 15a on a single 12v rail and it's fine..


oscaryu1 said:
Change to 400W...

Delta is great... Hipro is not that bad...

VIA/SIS = Bad overclockers
Nvidia = Good overclockers
Click to expand...


Now you've got me seriously confused because the mobo has an Nvidia chipset, but has a VIA chip installed for the firewire :confused:
 
Being as that 400w doesn't have 19a on a single 12v rail, but has dual 12v rails.. would it be acceptable for my setup? My 7600GT says it needs 19a on the 12v rail, however, my 250w Delta has 15a on a single 12v rail and it's fine..
Click to expand...
The amperage requirements for the video card are the total amperage over all the +12V rails. For example, with the FSP unit I mentioned earlier, the two rails total to 22A, which exceeds the requirements for a 7600GT so would be fine.

nVidia overstate their power requirements somewhat so that PSUs that aren't capable of delivering their total rated power will still work. I'd keep the Delta their PSUs are significantly higher quality than lowend Hipro, and should be quite sufficient for your system, irrespective of the fact that the rated amperage is below what nVidia recommend.
Now you've got me seriously confused because the mobo has an Nvidia chipset, but has a VIA chip installed for the firewire
Click to expand...
It's the really the Northbridge that's important in terms of overclocking. Boards with nVidia chipsets will often have VIA firewire, Realtek audio chipsets, etc... That's not a problem. That board has an nVidia chipset :).
 
Can anyone do better on the parts I've decided to go with? My budget is still around $150-175, I'm just wondering if I should go with a cheaper motherboard and pick up a better PSU..

I'm also thinking about picking up the same HDD, but with 8MB cache.. it has nothing but 100% positive reviews everywhere I see it.. and I need the drive to be reliable.. it's only a $5 difference, which should I go with?


99451629dr9.png


Links:

Hard Drive

Mobo

PSU


EDIT:


Not sure why I didn't notice it before, but, I decided to go with that black 400w HIPRO PSU, I just didn't update the picture or link above.
 
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