need help/opinions for my 1st custom built pc !!

[gerrard17]

I've decided to take the plunge and build my 1st pc - I need however loads of help on what to get..I've no idea what it better than what. Here what I was thinking

Antec True Blue 480w - any better or quieter ones ?? (quiet is important to me !!)
coolermaster black widow case(with side window)
P4 3.2
Abit IC7-MAX3 or anything thats better
1gb corsair or ocz RAM - 3500 or 4000 ?? platinum, gold etc ??any opinions
Ati 9800XT 256mb - asus, hercules, creative or sapphire ???
Seagate 7,200 160GB x 2 - raid 0 setup
Plextor DVD- +RW
Sblaster Audigy 7.1 zs platinum Pro (ive got the logitech Z680's)

any opinions/ help will be really appreciated

 

[AlphaWolf]

Well if you really really want quiet you could look at fanless solutions.

 

[Malo]

Plextor is a nice choice. a bit more pricey that others but IMO well worth it.

 

[gerrard17]

what kind of fanless solution ??? remember I'm not that technical !!!

have you got any tips, things you might change if you were me???

have you seen those thermaltake cases and the butterfly 480w supplies ??? has anyone any opinions on them ???

 

[Tim Murray]

the TrueBlue 480 is about as quiet as you can find from a normal PSU (read: not one filled with heatsinks (like one that's been Zalmanized) or one cooled through watercooling). I Like It and give it my seal of approval.

Corsair has never steered me wrong, either.

Finally, get a nice Thermalright heatsink coupled with a low RPM fan or the Zalman CNPS-7000AlCu (or the all-copper one) for quiet processor cooling.

 

[gerrard17]

thanks for the tips....

what do you think about the graphics card ??? shall I get the sapphire, hercules etc - whats the best ???

also, I was gonna change to western digital (sata) apparently they are better, its this true ???

 

[thegrommit]

thanks for the tips....

what do you think about the graphics card ??? shall I get the sapphire, hercules etc - whats the best ???

also, I was gonna change to western digital (sata) apparently they are better, its this true ???

Asus and Hercules seem to have the best reputation, while Sapphire are the contract manufacturer for the "Built by ATI" cards. Assuming the core and memory speeds are the same, go with whichever package suits (included games, outputs) you best.

IIRC, WD's SATA drives use a native interface rather than a SATA/IDE bridge. So yes, they should perform (very) slightly better than those that don't.

 

[Bjorn]

I would go for a Athlon 64 3000+ instead of the P4. It's faster then the 3.2 GHz P4, at least when we're talking about games. And it's also a lot cheaper though you'd have to buy registred RAM which is a bit more expensive.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpu/showdoc.html?i=1937

 

[Mariner]

You don't need registered RAM for the non-FX version of the Athlon 64 do you? :?

 

[Bjorn]

You don't need registered RAM for the non-FX version of the Athlon 64 do you? :?

You're correct. Only for the FX and Opteron. So it's even better then i thought first

 

[Tim Murray]

Just put in a WD SATA drive today. Nice and quiet, plus it has normal Molex power in addition to those newfangled SATA power connectors. (I didn't try hooking them both up at the same time. That probably would have been... bad. )

 

[thegrommit]

it has normal Molex power in addition to those newfangled SATA power connectors.

As do the Maxtor SATA drives