Critique my new comp before I order the parts.

[Creole]

ok, im about to order this system so let me know what you think about it.

P4 2.8 800FSB HT
Asus P4P800 Deluxe i865PE
Corsair TWINX512 DDR400 Dual Channel
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum
ATI Radeon Pro 9700 by Powercolor
Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200RPM 8mb cache
Liteon DVD-ROM 16x + CD-RW 48x24x28 Combo Drive
Antec Lanboy 350W Case
Mitsumi 1.44 3.5 in Floppy

All of this courtesy of the Energy company.

Let me know if you have any suggestion.:D

[Smokey]

Im not keeping up with the Intel stuff, so I cant advise there, but I would advise you to get the Audigy2, rather than the Audigy1, there is a big difference in sound quality for music dvds etc.

[PenguinJim]

Consider getting yourself separate DVD and CDRW drives. Although I'm not sure whether or not Combo drives have overcome their initial problems, having separates will allow you to copy CDs nice and easy (just don't pirate anything, of course!). Plus, slot-loading DVDROM drives are way cool, my Pioneer is a fast and quiet mutha. See if you can get a cheap 48X Liteon burner - a lot of folks are selling them off cheap because of the 52X, but the speed difference is negligible, and the 48X is a little quieter (and, in case you missed it the first time, CHEAPER! Just in case money becomes a factor).

Oh, and ask the Energy company if I can have one too. I may not officially work for them, but I have never destroyed energy in my life ;)

[The Baron]

Meh, I'd go Barton 3000+ and Abit NF7-S 2. It'd cost about the same and perform better in most things. But, if you're going to be doing heavy video, sound, or image editing, definitely go with the P4.

But then again... Springdale/Canterwood are brand new, and they're likely to have problems..

[p0lish_p0w3r]

As for the HDD - use the WD special edition
Also consider a RAID PCI card or a mobo that has RAID embedded.

You may also consider getting a MOBO that is serialATA compatible.

Other than that I think u're fine :))

[Creole]

yeah, the Motherboard has SATA slots and
RAID and gigabit ethernet.

http://usa.asus.com/products/mb/socket478/p4p800-d/overview.htm

[Sazar]

Originally posted by The Baron
Meh, I'd go Barton 3000+ and Abit NF7-S 2. It'd cost about the same and perform better in most things. But, if you're going to be doing heavy video, sound, or image editing, definitely go with the P4.

But then again... Springdale/Canterwood are brand new, and they're likely to have problems..

engineers have been working on the canterwood/springdale mobo's and related hardware for signal integrity and stability issues for many many months already baron :)

the earliest I heard of the testing was in september of last year where they were having some issues with multiprocessor setups... but that has been resolved AFAIK...

I am sure that in the 6-8 months they have had to work on the solutions the issues arising will be minimal... intel has a reputation of building pretty decent mobo's :)

[The Baron]

Apparently, just about every non-Intel Canterwood board has problems; I just think it's too early to jump on the bandwagon without any real proof either way.

[Sazar]

Originally posted by The Baron
Apparently, just about every non-Intel Canterwood board has problems; I just think it's too early to jump on the bandwagon without any real proof either way.

yah I'll give you that.. I have not heard of the non-intel boards

but I do know that intel and dell engineers spent a lot of time working on intel boards for canterwood processors especially... and multiprocessor variations... :)

ergo... I have faith in intel boards being good for stability...

[The Baron]

The boards have just been out for a week, so I still think that you should pass and get something where you know what problems you will have.

[nin_fragile14]

I'd get a 2.4C P4 and overclock it to save some money. Other than that, it looks like a great system.

[stncttr908]

Looks good. Go for a Maxtor or WD drive, and seperate optical drives, so you don't put too much wear and tear on one drive. Seperate drives should cost about the same anyhow.

That thing should rawk with HT enabled. :D

[Gator]

Canterwood chipset + R9700 is a buggy combination I've heard. Maybe you should hold off on that?

Also, your getting a powercolor-brand R9700? I've heard complaints about those too, get yourself a Sapphire or ATI brand instead. And if you wanna save money, get the R9700 non-pro and overclock it to Pro levels ;)

Originally posted by nin_fragile14
I'd get a 2.4C P4 and overclock it to save some money. Other than that, it looks like a great system.

agreed!

[DaveW]

Originally posted by Creole

P4 2.8 800FSB HT
Asus P4P800 Deluxe i865PE
Corsair TWINX512 DDR400 Dual Channel
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 Platinum
ATI Radeon Pro 9700 by Powercolor
Seagate Barracuda SATA 7200RPM 8mb cache
Liteon DVD-ROM 16x + CD-RW 48x24x28 Combo Drive
Antec Lanboy 350W Case
Mitsumi 1.44 3.5 in Floppy <--- HUH???????


Whats the floppy for? Just think for a second, when was the last time you used a floppy? They are a waste of space, its one extra ribbon cable restricting airflow in your case, and its one last ye olde legacy PC device that should have gone out of fashion with dot-matrix printers. Just spend your ten bucks on a USB pocket drive or something :)

[Creole]

Doh, why didn't I think of that

[PenguinJim]

Originally posted by DaveW
They are a waste of space, its one extra ribbon cable restricting airflow in your case, and its one last ye olde legacy PC device that should have gone out of fashion with dot-matrix printers.

It's quite funny that you should say that, because my floppy drive sounds JUST LIKE a dot matrix printer when it's being accessed. Seriously :|

[Lunar]

You should drop the 9700 and get a 5900 Ultra :D

[GlowStick]

Looks like an Awesome system to me, i think you should stay with the intel, i am very pleased with the stability of mine.