Motherboard and RAM advice needed

JB
Posted By
John_Blaustein
Jun 13, 2004
Views
906
Replies
11
Status
Closed
Hi,

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.

I’ve read many of the previous posts regarding hardware for Photoshop use and found it all to be very useful. As I zero in on what hardware to buy, I have a few questions that some of you with more hardware knowledge than I have might be able to answer.

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 (I have this already)
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.

Based on a call to ASUS sales asking for their advice, 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, other than slightly different specs.

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 (2×512) 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 were recommended by ASUS.)

Thanks for any help, recommendations and comments.

John

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ND
Nick_Decker
Jun 13, 2004
John,

I can’t answer all of your questions, but I just recently put together a system very similar to what you’ve listed:

Asus P4P800-E Deluxe
P4 2.8GHz
2 GB Kingston PC3200 Value RAM

PS CS runs great on it.

A couple of thoughts (and they come from my own bias about wanting a quiet, yet powerful, box):

From reading here, processor speed after 2.6GHz is not so important as front side bus speed, so I opted for the 2.8GHz with 800 FSB. The higher the processor speed, the more heat produced and the more fans you’ll need to keep things cool, which means more noise. (Sitting beside my old machine was like being at an airport.)

I also opted for an Antec case. My old machine was housed in an Antec, and they’re rock solid, well-built cases. The new machine is in an Antec SLK3700-BQE. It uses larger fans (120mm as opposed to 80mm) which turn slower. Less noise, same air movement. Also, I opted not to use the standard Antec power supply, which is noisier than several others and not as efficient. If you buy the case from directron.com, you can buy it without the Antec PSU (about $45 US). For PSU, I’m using a 400W Seasonic Super Silencer, a very quiet and much more efficient power supply.

It was my first time building a machine from scratch, too. Very gratifying, as it was damn easy to do, much less expensive, and I now know what every component in there is about.

Good luck, and if you need links to any of the above, let me know.

Nick
JB
John_Blaustein
Jun 13, 2004
Nick,

Thanks!

I’ll consider a 2.8 vs the 3.0. I’ll look at the Antec case you selected — I’m having trouble figuring out which one to buy since there are so many choices. I’ll also consider your power supply option.

Just curious… what hard drive(s) do you use?

The range in price of Kingston RAM from ValueRAM to the HyperX is huge. I gather the ValueRAM is working for you. That’s good to know.

John
RH
r_harvey
Jun 13, 2004
Ah… nevermind. Forget I was here. Sorry for the interruption.
DM
dave_milbut
Jun 13, 2004
I am going to build my own PC — first time I’ve done this.

Best advice, wear rubber soled shoes, don’t work on a carpet and STAY GROUNDED AT ALL TIMES!!! Static electricity can carry 75,000 volts in an instant. Enough to fry ANYthing in your system.

I agree with the 800mhz FSB. Go for a 400 or 450watt power supply. Get extra fans! Keep that sucker cool. Make sure your mobo has a temperature sensor and hook it up so you can keep it monitored.

I have an intel d865perl board. I hear the 875 is a bit better, but not much. There’s a lot on the web comaring the 2 chipsets.

My prefrence would be to buy the better RAM. PC3200 400mhz is a good choice. This is a critical componant.
RL
roger_leale
Jun 13, 2004
John,
Before you invest in your PC 3200RAM, visit the Asus web site to check which makes of RAM the chosen board will support in double channel mode. Most will only function in single channel mode. The most popular seems to be made by Samsung.

Roger
ND
Nick_Decker
Jun 13, 2004
John,

My system HDD (C:) is an 80GB Samsung SATA drive. Second drive, which I already had, is a Seagate 120GB which has a 30GB partition for PS scratch. I’ll probably add an additional SATA drive when funds allow (or when newegg runs another special on a good one. <g>).

On the Kingston Value RAM, I can’t comment on how it compares to the higher priced version, but my Value RAM is working fine with the ASUS board. (It’s the DDR400 PC3200 variety.)

Heres a link to a review of the Antec case that I bought:

< http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.php?op=modload&nam e=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=116& amp;page=1>

I opted for an additional 120mm fan in the front, as I don’t want to take chances with hard drives getting too warm.

Also, a link to a review of the power supply unit:

< http://www.silentpcreview.com/modules.php?op=modload&nam e=Sections&file=index&req=viewarticle&artid=97&a mp;page=1>

(If you decide to use that PSU, check to be sure that your vendor is supplying you with Revision A3, as I understand that Seasonic has made some important improvements over Rev. 2.)

Dave’s advice is good; make sure you have a way to monitor temps. Like most modern boards, you can keep track of them in the BIOS on the ASUS board, but I use a couple of free utilities to watch temps while I’m working:

<http://mbm.livewiredev.com/>

<http://www.private.peterlink.ru/tochinov/>

Motherboard Monitor can be set to launch at startup or not, but I like to know my CPU and case temps at a glance. The second utility, DTemp, shows you your HDD temps if they’re S.M.A.R.T. enabled, which your WD drives probably are.

Finally, I opted for a Zalman CNPS-7000 AlCu heat sink/fan. (You can find it by going to zalmanusa.com and clicking on Coolers for Intel CPUs.) It’s much quieter than the stock Intel CPU heatsink/fan, and does a better job of cooling the CPU, as well. It’s dead simple to install and includes a nifty little rheostat to tweak the fan speed if you want. (I leave mine turned all the way up, and it’s still very quiet.)

As I’ve mentioned in other threads, this system runs PS CS like a champ, and is cool and quiet while doing so. The fan on the PSU is temperature-controlled, and I rarely hear it ramp up while working in PS. The ceiling fan in my office makes more noise than my computer, and it’s pretty quiet, itself.

Nick
JB
John_Blaustein
Jun 13, 2004
Guys… I really appreciate the time you all took to help me.

Dave… I will be sure to be grounded. For my use, I suspect the 865 will be just fine and it’s not necessary for me to spend the extra money on the 875 MB.

Roger… ASUS suggests Samsung, Kingston, Crucial or Corsair RAM. PC3200 non-ECC, dual channel.

Nick… thanks for the extra info.

John
RH
r_harvey
Jun 13, 2004
Nick, Have you seen the ‘how to create short links’ section in Forum Editing Tips < http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/r_harvey/adobehtm.h tm>?
ND
Nick_Decker
Jun 13, 2004
Nope, sorry r, I musta missed it. I’ll try to do better in the future.
RH
r_harvey
Jun 13, 2004
I didn’t mean to sound harsh or insulting. I’m sorry if that message sounded that way to you.

Please, carry on.
EI
Enrique_Ivern
Jun 14, 2004
good places to look for articles on how to build your own comp…

www.tomshardware.com

www.hardwarecentral.com

there is also good info on specialized forums such as

www.icronticforums.com

www.sudhian.com

make sure you have copies of latest bios and drivers

have fun!

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