What you guys reckon?

[RufusKing]

Right, I finished putting my parts shopping list together. Thanks a lot you guys who lent me the advice, it's helped a lot and Im really looking forward to putting the bad mofo together, and my lappy will be too when I stop gaming on it and let it just run my audio again.... there is a dent in the case from my palm and thumb where I rest it when I play games and its warped the case in!

Anyway, can you guys see any potential problems in this set-up, or does it look like everything will be compatible with everything and run sweetly. I'll also post the prices, so if you guys know anywhere where they are cheaper, give us a shout.

Case: Antec Plus View 1000... £58.39

MoBo: NF7-S V2 - £77.43

CPU: Athlon XP2500+ - £67.32

CPU Heat Sync + Fan: Cooler Master Aero 7+ £28.14

Memory: TWINMOS PC3200 512MB DDR400 CL2.5 OEM 5518 - £68.15

PSU: Antec 400W PSU Smartpower Dual Fan - £55.34

HD: Maxtor 6Y080M0 Plus 9 80Gb Serial ATA 7200rpm - £65

GFX: Radeon Saphirre 9600 256mb - £103.06

Sound: Audigy 2 - £59.05

CD-RW: Lite-On CD Burner £35

-------------------------------------------
All Prices Inc VAT
-------------------------------------------

Some PSU's said they supported SATA, is this just a n00b conning marketing trick, or does a PSU need special support, my guess would be no, but best to ask someone who knows. Did I miss anything internally speaking? Do I need to put in a floppy drive or can I get away without one?

Cheers dudes....

-Rufus

[Knoxville]

Personally i'd go for a 9600pro over the 256mb version, and im sure someone will question your choice of psu based on their experience, other than that seems a nice spec

[RufusKing]

well the PSU was the hardest choice of the lot, feedback on that would be good. I posted a more detailed question on an older thread of mine about it.

as for the gfx card, why go for the version with the less memory... Its more expensive too so I guess it runs better but it dont really make sense. Anyway of enlightening me to the reasons.... cheers dude.

[Korky]

i will, first there is no game out there which will run noticibly faster with the extra mem atm, also its not a pro (i think) therefore lower clock speeds and they dont overclock as much either, so the 9600pro will out perform the 9600 256mb

[Stewart]

As already said, the 9600pro will probably outperform the 9600 256mb, for only a few quid more.

In technical terms, no games give a monkies about 256mb of RAM at the moment, and by the time they do, 9600s will be cack, so all that RAM on that card, is no use either now, or in the future.

Get a 9600pro 128mb for £120 or so.

[RufusKing]

nice advice guys, shopping list will be adjusted shortly

[Stewart]

As your getting the ABit NF7-S why not drop the Audidgy sound card, and put the money towords a better graphics card?

[BUFF]

Originally posted by RufusKing


Some PSU's said they supported SATA, is this just a n00b conning marketing trick, or does a PSU need special support, my guess would be no, but best to ask someone who knows. Did I miss anything internally speaking? Do I need to put in a floppy drive or can I get away without one?

SATA drives don't use normal 4 pin molex power connectors but a new type (unless Maxtors which have both old & new types).
This should mean that the PSU has some cables with the new style connector so that you don't need an adapter.

[Korky]

Second Vaul's mensioning about the soundcard, nvidia sound storm (on board sound) is amazing, and with the extra money a 9700pro is at hand.

[Stewart]

Hey, I said something about computers that was vaguely correct!

I rule!

Seriously though, with that extra 60 notes, you could get a 9700, or use the cash to upgrade another part of your system.

Why pay 60 notes for a sound card on a motherboard with quality sound built in?

[RufusKing]

my whole life is and will be based around the loveliness of audio.... I know 7.1 is a little OTT and I am going to extend my budged to get the suggested radeon, but do you guys really thiunk that that its not worth gettin an audigy, I know for pro audio apps its crap, but for games it looks pretty sweet... any opinions on that?

[RufusKing]

my whole life is and will be based around the loveliness of audio.... I know 7.1 is a little OTT and I am going to extend my budged to get the suggested radeon, but do you guys really thiunk that that its not worth gettin an audigy, I know for pro audio apps its crap, but for games it looks pretty sweet... any opinions on that?

[KAIN]

There isn't too much of a difference quality wise, so unless you have 7.1 speakers I'd say the Soundstorm is fine

If you play Battlefield it is much faster with a gig of ram.

On graphics card front, as said previously either get the 9600 Pro or try and pick up a cheap 9700 Pro which is the best bet

[Platty]

unless you are playing with sound editing or a lot or audio stuff (not just music etc) dont bother with the Audigy. Save the cash and upgrade something else in the system IMHO.

[Trickle]

Originally posted by Vaul
As your getting the ABit NF7-S why not drop the Audidgy sound card, and put the money towords a better graphics card?

Agreed. Unless you are a musician then you prolly wont need anything more than the onboard NF2 sound. Its less cpu intensive than Audigy2 anyhoos.

[RufusKing]

I am a musician/producer.. I already have an audio system which is suffering from my gamng habits ut I wanted a nice sound set up for gaming and to play about with surround mixing. I wouldnt touch an audigy thoughif it werent going to be a gaming system too. An idea what the NS7-S on board sound latency gets down too? If it gets low enough I can use it for a second system to run music apps in sync otherwise I may just scrap the idea of the audigy and get another EMagic EMI 2|6 for my audio needs and use the on board for game.

I assume the onboard has all the good stuff like EAX compatability and the like?


~PS sorry about the amount of typos, I am atr work and the keyboard is a nasty mofo to type on, STIFF keys, and the layouts different to my lappy