theburner

I am in the process of buying the PC you guys helped me configure, and I have a couple of questions.

MOBO: Abit IC7-Max 3
This mobo specs out a Prescott Intel Chip.. I want to install a 3.4GHz CPU, but the Core is Northwood. The Mobo says it is P4 478 processors, and that the chip has to be a Prescott.

Is this critical? Prescott's (the ones I could find) all run 3.0 GHz and lower... BTW, both the Northwood and Prescott are P4 478's..

Also, will the MOBO come with the metal face plate for the core Interfaces on the Case? I found a case I like, but the punchout holes in the core section don't match up with the Sound/Serial/NIC ports on the MOBO...

Other than that here is what I am looking at putting together:

Mobo: Abit IC7-Max 3
CPU: 3.4GHz Pentium 4 Hyperthread Northwood
Corsair XMS 512MB PC3200 400MHz x2
Maxtor 60GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive x2
Sony DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model

I have 2x IDE Drives I will be adding (60 and 120 GB), another DVD Drive and CDR Drive, various PCI Cards, and a 128MB DDR 8x AGP Graphics Card (can't remember version of Radeon it is)..

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Lasereth

Good choice on the motherboard...I think it's the best P4 motherboard on the market. Every 533 MHz and 800 MHz FSB Pentium 4 will work on the IC7 Max 3. You have nothing to worry about. The Prescotts are new, and well, they're nothing special. Tom's Hardware even reports them being slower than the normal P4's in some tests. You can get the 3.4 GHz Northwood P4 and it will work fine on that mobo.

The motherboard should come with the piece you're talking about. Every motherboard I've ever ordered has came with one. You just need to snap out the piece on the case and snap the one that comes with the motherboard in (so it matches up with the motherboard sound, keyboard, mouse, USB, etc.).

The setup looks good, but one thing you want to take notice to: you'll need a damn good power supply unit to make this PC run. I recommend getting a 430w Enermax or better. If you get a shitty PSU (the ones that come with most cases today), then there's a good chance that it won't even turn on. This is VERY important; I suggest a 430w Enermax PSU with the highest of priorities!

Finally, you really need to know which videocard you're getting. Quite frankly, the videocard is the most important aspect of a gaming machine today. A few years ago, you could get buy with a good processor and a shitty videocard, but now you MUST have a good videocard even if your processor sucks.

Which Radeon were you planning on getting?

I recommend the Sapphire Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB from www.newegg.com . It's a little over $200 and is the best deal you're ever going to find on a videocard. If you want to spend less than $200 on a videocard (which I highly recommend against with that setup) then just say so. I'd go for the 9800 Pro 100%.

-Lasereth

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Redjake

Some tips:

Buy a big fucking Power Supply. Get an Enermax (best out there in my opinion). I'd get a 400 watt or above if you can afford it.

The "plate" you're talking about comes with your new motherboard. It's called an I/O Plate, and they snap into most ATX cases with easy. Just snap the current one out, and pop the one that comes with your new mobo in. Problem solved. No Dremel necessary

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Redjake

Another pointer: Don't buy some cheapy generic 500 watt Power Supply. Those things suck. If it's RAIDMAX or POWMAX or anything of the sort, you will be Perma-Fucked. Buy an Enermax, Sparkle, something like that. If it's a $30-$40 450 watt PSU, chances are, it's not. <b>Trust me, I have experience in this shit.</b>

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theburner

Lasereth.. U are the man. Quick response, thank you very much.

You nailed the snap out metal part smack on. (Hurt?

I was looking at a minimum 400watt, but I am going to go with the 430 then. I guess a 450 wouldn't hurt then either? I want to buy as intelligently as I can, I want to upgrade to keep up with technology instead of treating the PC as "disposable"

I am not using this for gaming, just Video and Camera work in the DV Realm, so the graphics card should be good for now. That will be next on the line for upgrading though.

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theburner

Redjake: Thanks bud. I have seen the Enermax and they seem to be high quality.. Great advice. I have a tendancy to research the hell out of the gear, but I really did almost overlook the Power supply.

THANKS!

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sixate

FUUUUUUCK Enermax!!

I just bought a 470 watt Enermax PSU, and it was a pile of fucking dogshit that couldn't even boot my system. Plus, the piece of fucking horseshit didn't have nearly enouigh molex connectors for all of my devices. On top of paying $100 for a PSU I had to go but 4 fucking molex splitters just to get everything connected, only to find out the fucking piece of shit didn't have enough juice to power my system.

FUUUUUUCK Enermax!!

My 470 watt Vantec will handle anything I throw at it and laugh the entire time. Again.....

FUUUUUUCK Enermax!!

With all the shit you plan on adding a fucking piece of shit Enemax will not power your stuff up. Trust me, I know. Their PSU only come with 6 fucking molex connectors. My Vantec has around 14, and more wires than you'll ever need.

FUUUUUUCK Enermax!!

theburner

Oh crap.. Now I have a connundrum.. Anyone else have any feedback on Power Supplies? With all I have going on all I need is to put it together only to have a PS crap...

Thanks Sixate!!!!

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sixate

Just so you have an idea of what my system has to power up:
4 80gig Westen Digital SE's
AMD3200+
Gigabyte GA 7N400 Pro2
Kingston HyperX(2x512) PC3200
ATI 9800 PRO
Turtle Beach Santa Cruz(sound card)
Dual Cathodes, 4 LED fans, 92mm Tornado, Fan controller, card reader, CDR, & DVD.

If you want to take a chance that's up to you, but I'm just letting you know yo may have problems with an Enermax PSU that can't handle what a Vantec PSU can. Click the link to see the PSU that I have. I would highly recomend it to anyone. Never had a problem with it.

http://directron.com/van470a.html

Also, check ot the link below to see what Enermax pile of fucking shit I wasted money and time on. I'll never even consider an Enermaz PSU ever again in my life. They suck!

http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProduc...103-446&depa=1

Lasereth

Uhh, just because yours came broke doesn't mean Enermax sucks. If my Athlon XP came broke, that doesn't mean all Athlon XP's suck, it means they shipped me a bad processor. Don't judge an entire product line and/or company because you got a bad one. I've heard nothing but good things from dozens of people about Enermax PSUs. If a RAIDMAX, Sparkle(!!!), or POWMAX PSU won't even BOOT up a PC and then Enermax will, that says a lot.

If your Enermax came with a small amount of molex rails, then you simply bought the wrong one for your needs. That's not Enermax's fault.

I'm sure Vantec makes great PSUs. The ones you want to really avoid are POWMAX and RAIDMAX. In other words, the PSUs that come with cases for free or very little money. I still recommend Enermax and Sparkle for the best PSUs.

-Lasereth

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

MontanaXVI

I am with Laser Enermax, is a great PSU, along with Antec both good solid PSU's

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Redjake

FUUUUCK Enermax? My Enermax came with 11 molex connectors, and it's only a 410 watt. You got screwed, not my fault (or Enermax'). Like Las said, just because it came damaged doesn't mean they all suck.

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Redjake

by the way, I'm pushing the following with my 410 watt Enermax:

160 GB
160 GB
120 GB
80 GB
20 GB
NF7-S Mobo
Barton 2500+
Soundblaster Live! 5.1 PCI card
GeForce 4 Ti4200
Two Strands of El Wire
Cold cathode
7 80 MM LED fans
IDE Controller PCI Card
768 MB PC2700 ram
48X CD-RW


Powers it quite nicely.

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Off the record, on the q.t., and very hush-hush.

sixate

Just so everyone knows. My Enermax PSU wasn't damaged or broke. It's just a fucking piece of shit that can't power up a lot of devices. I sold it to a dude I work with, and it works fine on his system because he doesn't have nearly as much shit to power.

I put up a link of the Enermax PSU I bought. Now, can any of you Enermax fanboys tell me that the PSU I bought was the wrong one for what I needed. I don't think so. If I told all of you what PSU I was gonna buy beforehand you would say it was a great choice, but the fact is it's a piece of fucking shit.

I'll bet my life that my Vantec is far superior to anything Enermax could ever dream of making.

Lasereth

If your Enermax isn't broke and is just a "fucking piece of shit," then why does Redjake's 410w power his entire system with 5 HDDs while yours doesn't? Sounds broke to me. You're the first person I've heard recommend a Vantec, so you're placing quite a bet with no way of backing it up. You're right as well...if you asked us beforehand which PSU to get, we'd say Enermax, but guess what! Now that it came broke, I suggest you RMA it and get another Enermax, because they make damn good PSU's.

-Lasereth

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

sixate

Are you not listening to me?!?!?!
It's not fucking broke! It just doesn't supply enough juice for my system. Why does it power up a system with very little devices? It's been working another dudes system flawlessly for over 3 weeks. If it was fucking broke it wouldn't fucking work! Got it? Good.

And, why would Enermax, this great PSU maker, make a 470 watt PSU with only 6 molex connectors? Are you even gonna try to tell me that doesn't sound fucking retarded? People need 470 watt PSU's because they have a lot of shit to power up, right? Of course.

I'd like to know what model Redjake bought because I have a hard time believing that a PSU with a lower power rating came with more connectors. Maybe it's an older model, and their new ones suck fucking balls, which they do.

shakran

Lasereth:
Usually I agree 100% with you about computer stuff, but I'm not sure where you got your hatred for raidmax P/S's. I'm an ultra cheap bastard so I tend to go with Raidmax cases because they're cheap as hell. I've currently got 5 boxes with raidmax p/s's in 'em, and they're all working fine, even on the main system which has a LOT of extra goodies on it. I won't say it's in the same league as a Sparkle, but for the average consumer, in my exp. anyway, the things aren't half bad.

Redjake

RAIDMAX aren't half bad as long as you don't plug in the suggested wattage into them I had a 400 watt RAIDMAX, and I blew the sucker with my current setup. Thought it may be just a bad PSU, so I got another one. It blew in 3 days. Bought a POWMAX 450 watt, blew it in a week. Bought an Enermax, paid twice as much for it, added more hardware, still hasn't blown yet.

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sailor

I love how this turned into a PSU debate...

That looks to be a good system. Were it me, I would throw in another 512 stick of RAM. Beyond that, sounds good.

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theburner

Sailor: I am going with 1GB (2x 512) Matched Corsair ECC DDR400 3200 RAM kits.. More expensive than non ECC by about $40-50, but I think it is worth it in the long run.
My main connundrum with the memory resides in the question:
Do I go the 3700 ram kit with higher latencey, or the 3200 ram kit with lower latencey... Pretty sure I am going with the 3200 and lower latencey w/ potential for overclock.
PSU debate is raging. The worst part is, the Power Supply I had picked out was the one Sixate Says is a POS. Not sure now which direction to take.. If it comes light on Molex, can I add more?

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Caphreak

Ive never heard anything bad about ThermalTake's 480W butterfly psu, i have it right now, it powers 4 HDD's (2 SATA), 2 sets of cathodes, 6 fans, 2 opticals, and some other random shit, and ive had lots of other stuff plugged in, never a problem. And it looks cool as hell!

edit:: yes, you can get more molex, you can make your own for like $2 each w/ hardware from radioshack, or just buy the Y's premade for like $4.99 each.

sailor

theburner, you should be fine with the 3200 RAM unless you plan on doing some *serious* overclocking. And yeah, you can get more molex connectors if you need them.

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"Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws."
--Plato

kutulu

"Gigabyte GA 7N400 Pro2"

I just built my first system and I used that motherboard. I've loved it so far.

Lasereth

No, I don't "got it good." I think yours is broke if it won't power your system. Broke means a lot of things...it might mean it came with a lower voltage than marketed, it might mean that it has conflicts with your components. It's still stupid to say that all Enermax PSUs suck simply because yours didn't work right. You can't say it's working correctly because it didn't power the components you plugged in, hence me calling it "broke."

I'm sure you're totally aware that different components require different voltages, so maybe your PSU was designed for a server with 5 high-wattage hard drives and little else. Why else would it be 470w with 6 molex connectors?

You still shouldn't tell everyone to avoid Enermax and that their new ones "suck fucking balls" simply because there's an obvious issue with it. You could just say that you've had a bad experience with ONE PSU from Enermax, not that their entire product line and company is bad.

I have nothing against POWMAX and RAIDMAX PSUs for the average user, but the average user simply doesn't have 4 hard drives and multiple disc drives. theburner's PC will have this, and I will argue to the death that a POWMAX or RAIDMAX PSU isn't the job for this.

My current PC has 1 HDD, 1 CD-RW, and a floppy. Guess which PSU I'm using? Yep, a RAIDMAX. They aren't bad for average users, but if you're gonna have all of those components, I have to go completely against using a generic PSU. I've seen too many of them blow up, stop working, start buzzing, blow transistors or resistors, and have capacitors fuck over simply because they're not made for high wattages. They're the Geo Metros of the computer industry. Great cars for 1 or 2 people that drive a lot, but if you have a 10 person family, you're gonna need a bigger car.

-Lasereth

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"A Darwinian attacks his theory, seeking to find flaws. An ID believer defends his theory, seeking to conceal flaws." -Roger Ebert

shakran

good points Lasereth. I'd forgotten he was gonna have 4 HDD's.