New motherboard and case question

[echoecho]

I am looking into building a new computer at home and was looking for some feeback on the parts I am looking at. For the case I was looking at an Antec SX840 and for motherboard a Soyo K7V Dragon Plus with an Athlon XP 1900. Thanks for any thoughts you have.

 

[paparazi]

You might as go for the latest, so go for a motherboard that has the newer Via KT333 chipset and not the now superceeded KT266a.
MSI's KT3
Abits KX7-333 or R version for raid
Also Abits Extraudinary AT7 MAX
Soltek's SL-75 DRV5
Soyo KT333 Dragon Ultra
All these boards are EXCELLANT!!!! and have the fastest and most feature packed chipset! the Via KT333.
The other items are spot on! Martin Just trying to help, sometimes falling short, I am only human after all.

 

[EddieJ300]

I gonna take this moment to comment on the part that most folks don't give enough consideration.... The "CASE"!!!

Take a look at this web site....

http://www.addtronics.com/

Get the most room, strongest case I even put the luxury casters on mine. That's right it's on wheels. It's a sweet case! Here's a link to the case that I'm using.

http://www.addtronics.com/7896A.htm

And the casters

http://www.addtronics.com/LuxuryCaster.htm

Oh did I mention that it has nine (9) cooling fans? We are using Windows 2000 Pro. And we leave it on 24/7.

Happy building!!!

 

[crenim]

It's just personal opinion, I just built this new system of mine using a MAXTOP case I got from newegg.com

It had 2 fans built into it and I added 3 more because of the heat generated by my P4.

My reasoning for getting a P4 instead of an Athlon XP, (even though I am an AMD fan)was because of the 400mhz front side bus speed.

I'm running an MSI 845-ARU Motherboard, I chose it because it has 8 built on USB ports (4 USB 2.0, 4 USB 1.1... 2 in the front of the MAXTOP Case, 2 on the back of the board, and the 4 2.0 ports on a bracket.)

If you're going to go all out, having 512k L2 Cache like the P4's have is a great thing...

Anyway, these are just my personal preferences for the latest machines I have messed with..

-Matthew T. Jones
A+, I-Net+
mach2@brightok.net

 

[mistanapesis]

Eddy]300, I can see that the case you show looks very functional and practical but in my opinion its a real ugly piece of work. no style to it. there are many more stylish cases out there with the same abilities as that monolith. If your unsure....Dont do it!

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I bought an AOpen H600A case - it's fantastic to work with, and fairly stylish without being ostentatious.

Any of the Lian-Li cases, in the higher price bracket, look good, are very functional and super-light.

The SuperMicro SC-760 is also a very worthy case indeed, as is the whole SuperMicro range, and CoolerMaster arguably make the best non-custom cases in the world.

At the budget end, Scan computers do a pretty good "house" range (they also sell all the above named cases, except the AOpen);

http://www.scan.co.uk.

I would second paparazi's recommendation of going for a DDR333-based motherboard. The entire chipset has been re-engineered by Via for optimum performance. Even with a "low-end" Athlon XP and 266Mhz DDR RAM, this chipset will give a satisfyingly fast computing experience. There's really not much to choose between the current crop (see the benchmarks on Tomshardware.com). My vote goes to the MSI RAID, closely followed by the Abit AT7.

I hope this helps CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk

 

[echoecho]

Thanks for all your input, much appreciated.

 

[Stretchy]

I agree with paparazzi, the KT333 is oustanding, I use the ASUS version A7V333 with a AMD-Athlon 2100XP and its a staggering performance . To cool this i have a Coolermaster Copper based Pipe Heat sink and a Coolermaster ATC-201 case. This keeps the cpu at about 40C.....

have fun building _______________
Stretchy

 

[CitrixEngineer]

I've been pointed in the direction of The Overclocking Store as a good source in the UK - although until 5 minutes ago I didn't even know about them.

The prices look very good, and they offer a range of case modifications, not to mention the new Abit KX7 motherboard - so new it hasn't been reviewed on Tom's yet.

http://www.theoverclockingstore.co.uk/browseproducts.php?categoryid=8

I'm going to buy one of these, and find out what their service is like.

I'm tempted to get one of their cases, with an etched side window and cold neon light - I note they sell Lian-Li, GlobalWin and CoolerMaster...

CitrixEngineer@yahoo.co.uk