System build specs

[Merlin]

Hi guys,
This is my finalised spec for my new machine - any really silly errors, ommissions or choices?

AMD Athlon XP 2800+ (Retail)
Abit NF7-S Rev 2.0
TwinMOS PC3200 DDR 512MB
LiteOn LTR-52327S 52x/32x/52x CD-RW
LiteOn 16x DVD-ROM
Maxtor SATA 120Gb 8Mb Cache
Coolermaster Centurion ATX
Q-Tec 450w Dual Fan Gold PSU
Samsung 3.5" Silver Floppy Drive
MSI GeForce 4 MX440
NEC 15" TFT (Refurb)
Genius Comfy KB-06X Black PS2 Keyboard
Creative Mouse Optical 3000
YS-Tech FD8125 80mm SILENT
Coolermaster 5.25" Front Bezel
Coolermaster 5.25" Front Bezel

[Barry]

you would be better getting a xp2500 rarther than a 2800 and the q-tec 450 psu is carp and will fall over

[Ango]

Yeah, I agree that an overclocked XP2500 would probably be better. And I would choose a better quality PSU, something like Enermax or Atec maybe...

[Merlin]

why xp2500? and what psu should i be getting, bearing in mind the price of the q-tec?

[Howard]

Looks good, couple of points though:

Do you really need a floppy drive?

Two 256MB sticks of DDR for dual channel?

If you're gonna do some serious gaming, you might want something more powerful than a GF4MX. It'll play most recent games with no serious problems though.

In answer to your question, the XP2500s are obviously cheaper than the 2800s and overclock quite well. If you won't be doing any overclocking however, then the 2800 is a good choice.
To be perfectly honest, the Qtec PSU will power your system fine, it's just not as well made or highly specified as some of the more expensive ones like Enermax, etc. It'll be noisier as well.

[chrisf6969]

I would probably get the combo DVD/CD-RW drive they are just as fast at the CD-RW & DVD only drives.... and only take up one 5.25 drive bay and one channel so you can add a DVD burner later.... like the Lite On 48x24x48x16 CDROM/CDRW/DVD Combo Drive LTC-48161H - OEM

and cheaper.... ex: $50 vs $80 ($40 + $40)

[Barry]

Originally posted by Howard

To be perfectly honest, the Qtec PSU will power your system fine,

The 550w qtec maybe but there is no way the 450 would do a proper job of it

Edit:

Thread

Originally posted by Agent
DO NOT get the Q-tec PSU.
Use the search box and find out peoples past experiences with them...

[TooNice]

Meh... I am not a harcdcore system builder or anything.. But I wonder why people skimp on the PSU.. Its one of those pretty long term investment and next to the monitors/keyboard/speakers and such, one of the last thing you'll need replacing.

And it is the thing thats gonna run the rest of the components in your case properly

Anyway, I've read good things about Antec Truepower series (they aren't cheap, even the 330W cost ~£50 - but think about it).

[Lexeus]

Well if you say a Q-tec 450W PSU would not be able to power that then im guessing you would laugh at an Ebuyer generic 400W PSU ? As thats what i'm using in my system and it has no problem powering an Athlon XP 2500+, 2 x 512 Samsung PC-2700, MSI K7N2-ILSR, Combo drive, FDD, 2 (sometimes 3) hard drives, a not bad VGA card, and seven 80mm case fans.

But anyway, I have heard some bad things about q-tec PSU's too. Even though, I'm quite sure it would be fine; but if there is an alternative from the same supplier I would probably go for that, as I think I even heard once that an almost new one of these fried just about everything in a guy's computer. I would go for an ebuyer 400W Mine works great and is more than great value

[Merlin]

ok guys, thanx for all the helpful feedback. having just been round to a friends house to find his pc on the kitchen table with a dying (and very hot) PSU, i think ill be going for the enermax after all!

other things mentioned...
i'd like separate cdrw and dvd drives so i can copy disc to disc straight away. anyway, if i get a DVD burner itll replace the dvd drive, so i wont use any more drive bays!

i went for a single 512mb stick so i can put in another later. the abit website says that it can only run 2 sticks of ddr400 ram, and i want 1gb eventually.

and yes, i really do need a floppy drive!