Re: Building my own PC -- hardware advice needed

Tech-Archive recommends: Repair Windows Errors & Optimize Windows Performance

From: John Blaustein (no_at_spam.com)
Date: 06/13/04 

Date: Sat, 12 Jun 2004 20:58:13 -0700

Miss Perspicacia Tick,

I'll go to the other NG. Sorry if I'm not in the right place here. I will
be using XP, however.

I know that my HDs aren't the fastest, but I own them and want to use them,
at least for a while.

I'll check out your newegg shopping cart. Thanks for the link and your
comments.

John

"Miss Perspicacia Tick" <misstick@lancre.dw> wrote in message
news:40cbcc74$1_3@127.0.0.1...
> John Blaustein wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > I'm not sure this is the right place to be asking about hardware
> > selection, but if it isn't, perhaps someone will point me in the
> > right direction. If it is the right place to ask, I'll appreciate
> > any comments anyone is willing to share.
> >
> > I am going to build my own PC -- first time I've done this. My main
> > use of the PC that requires power and speed is Photoshop CS. I will
> > not do any gaming or anything else that requires 3D graphics.
> >
> > Having had two PCs with ASUS motherboards that worked very well, I
> > will stick with ASUS.
> >
> > Here's what I'm planning:
> >
> > Intel P4 3.0 Ghz CPU
> > Matrox G450 graphic card (perfect for Photoshop)
> > 2 -- Western Digital WD1200JB EIDE drives (I have these already)
> > 1 -- Plextor CD/DVD burner (I have this already)
> > Floppy drive
> > Faxmodem
> > LAN and Audio built into MB
> > USB and Firewire ports
> > Antec case w/350w power supply
> >
> > My questions concern choice of motherboard and RAM.
> >
> > The motherboards I'm considering are:
> >
> > ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe -- 875C chipset -- $169 (at newegg.com)
> > ASUS P4C800 Deluxe -- 875C chipset -- $163
> > ASUS P4P800-E Deluxe -- 865PE chipset -- $116
> >
> > The specs of these three MBs seem almost identical, so I'm wondering
> > if anyone has experience with these boards who could give me a reason
> > to select one versus another. I'm not clear on what I'd get with the
> > $169 board that the $116 board wouldn't give me. In other words, is
> > the extra money worth spending? (I don't need WiFi which the
> > P4P800-E Deluxe has included.) I am not clear about the differences
> > between the 875C and 865PE chipsets, and what those differences, if
> > any, will mean to me as the end user. Also, I can't tell the
> > difference between the P4C800-E Deluxe and the P4C800 Deluxe.
> >
> > RAM:
> > I will buy PC3200 RAM, 1GB or 2GB of RAM -- all of the MBs above will
> > hold 4 DIMMS. Checking Kingston RAM prices on newegg.com, there are
> > several choices of 1GB (2x512) packages, ranging from ValueRAM at
> > $194 to HyperX at $282. I know I need to buy matched pairs of DIMMS.
> > I'm not clear on the difference between the ValueRAM and the HyperX,
> > other than the price. Both have very similar specs. I want good,
> > fast, stable RAM, but I don't want to spend any more than I need to.
> > Any help or recommendations?? (I used Kingston as my example, but
> > Crucial and Corsair have the same range. These three brands have
> > been recommended to me.)
> >
> > Thanks for any help, recommendations and comments.
> >
> > John
>
> You'd be better off asking this in alt.comp.hardware (found via your ISP's
> news-server) as this group is for folk having issues installing hardware
> under XP.
>
> You're cutting corners, and that's never advisable. For Photoshop you
should
> really be looking for the fastest drives available and that means a WD
> Raptor 10K. Here's my recommendation for a graphics editing system
>
http://secure.newegg.com/app/shoppingcart.asp?DEPA=1&submit=ADD&item=29-102-162
> (you will, of course, need to add an OS to that). The AMD64s are much
better
> suited to graphics editing than the P4.
>
>

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