About to order my "Allen" machine parts. Need clarification on a few things....

[Siberian]

When I looked up some of the components listed for the "Allen" machine on the Newegg and Pricewatch websites, I came across a few things that were somewhat confusing to me. I just want to make sure I don't mess up and buy the wrong stuff so here goes.....

The Asus motherboard listed as A7V333-X on the "Allen" machine specs. I can only find the A7V333-X/L at Newegg.com. Is this the same board? The price is significantly lower than what Allen listed. It is $85.99 compared to the $110.00 that Allen suggests. Also, it does not mention anything about the 1394 port. As well, the spec on the X/L says "NO RAID". Is "Raid" something I will need?

Can I pretty much use any good ATX case that has a 350watt power supply already included or do I need to buy a separate case and power supply as listed? For that matter, if I find a case I like and it has a larger power supply, like 400watt, is that okay too?

As far as the extra fans… if the case already has one or more built in fans, which one of the two fans listed would I NOT have to buy? The Enermax adjustable 8cm or the Volcano cool mod?

I could not find the Micron PC2700 DDR SDRAM listed on the newegg website. Can I use another brand with no problems or should I just buy the memory elsewhere and make sure I get the Micron?

I am a little confused about the video card. The original list says to use the ATI 7500 Radeon 64Mb DDR 4x Dual Monitor Video Card $49.00. But then later in the section for upgrading the system, it says "the video card can be upgraded to the ATI Radeon 9000 dual video card. See Swaphappy's thread on using dual video with PTLE." THEN, just below that it says " *For Dual VGA Monitors, purchase one DVI to VGA adapter for this video card." Okay, what is it? Which card do I get for dual video monitors and do I have to get that DVI to VGA adaptor?

I was just going to leave the floppy drive out. That won’t cause any problems will it?

For the hard drives... the 20 gig Western Digital ATA100. Newegg has model WD200BB which is the IDE ULTRA ADA100. Is that the right one? Also for the 80 gig, am I looking at the model WD800JB?

If I want to add a 3rd hard drive (80 gig) for backing up audio files in case my primary one crashes, how do I accomplish this? Do I need to get an external firewire drive for that?


If anyone can clarify this stuff for me I'd really appreciate it. I am getting ready to order all of this stuff in the next day or so and I just want to make sure I am getting the right components.

Thanks all!

[PDEES]

Originally posted by Siberian:
When I looked up some of the components listed for the "Allen" machine on the Newegg and Pricewatch websites, I came across a few things that were somewhat confusing to me. I just want to make sure I don't mess up and buy the wrong stuff so here goes.....

The Asus motherboard listed as A7V333-X on the "Allen" machine specs. I can only find the A7V333-X/L at Newegg.com. Is this the same board? The price is significantly lower than what Allen listed. It is $85.99 compared to the $110.00 that Allen suggests. Also, it does not mention anything about the 1394 port. As well, the spec on the X/L says "NO RAID". Is "Raid" something I will need?

I don't have this mobo, but go to www.asus.com and get the model number then do a search on your best price www. You didn't mention which system you were buying: 001 or 002?

Can I pretty much use any good ATX case that has a 350watt power supply already included or do I need to buy a separate case and power supply as listed? For that matter, if I find a case I like and it has a larger power supply, like 400watt, is that okay too?

The case Allen found is so far the best value. If you have a case and all the pieces fit then you saved$22 for the case. Sure go for a 400w, will not hurt when you add a 3rd HDD or other bits.

As far as the extra fans… if the case already has one or more built in fans, which one of the two fans listed would I NOT have to buy? The Enermax adjustable 8cm or the Volcano cool mod?

From my talks w/ Phil, it is not a matte of which one not to buy, but rather get those 2 fans, as one is for the mobo and the other for the cpu. Your query is directed on the mobo fan. Just buy it and set the other to side.

I could not find the Micron PC2700 DDR SDRAM listed on the newegg website. Can I use another brand with no problems or should I just buy the memory elsewhere and make sure I get the Micron?

I strongly recommend sticking w/ micron or corsair. I bought some crap off ebay for great savings, "pca" and my system just wasn't stable. Now I have to sell it back on ebay and maybe break even. Newegg didn't save the world, pricewatch is just that, they will point out prices that can be attractive. Sounds as if you think everything must come from newegg so U can save shipping costs. I did the same, but found my corsair cheaper elsewhere that justified the shipping costs.

I am a little confused about the video card. The original list says to use the ATI 7500 Radeon 64Mb DDR 4x Dual Monitor Video Card $49.00. But then later in the section for upgrading the system, it says "the video card can be upgraded to the ATI Radeon 9000 dual video card. See Swaphappy's thread on using dual video with PTLE." THEN, just below that it says " *For Dual VGA Monitors, purchase one DVI to VGA adapter for this video card." Okay, what is it? Which card do I get for dual video monitors and do I have to get that DVI to VGA adaptor?

I was just going to leave the floppy drive out. That won’t cause any problems will it?

For the hard drives... the 20 gig Western Digital ATA100. Newegg has model WD200BB which is the IDE ULTRA ADA100. Is that the right one?

Yes, that's the one I ordered.

Also for the 80 gig, am I looking at the model WD800JB?

YEP. make sure it is the 8 meg cache

If I want to add a 3rd hard drive (80 gig) for backing up audio files in case my primary one crashes, how do I accomplish this?

buy another HDD and connect it to the cables supplied with the kit.

Do I need to get an external firewire drive for that?

No.


If anyone can clarify this stuff for me I'd really appreciate it. I am getting ready to order all of this stuff in the next day or so and I just want to make sure I am getting the right components.

Thanks all!

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[Siberian]

It's for Digi001..

[Stone Knife]

There is so much to cover in your post I'll just tackle a couple.

Please understand that I mean this to be helpful and polite- from some of the questions, I am led to opine my heartfelt best advice for you to wait on doing this project yourself until you accumulate a bit more knowledge about computer components and the information anyone would need to know to successfully accomplish assembly and configuration.

Your questions are thoughtful and good questions, they just are questions that someone with a comfortable knowledge of this aspect of computing would already know. Y'know?

For example, if someone who was contemplating building a kit car would ask you, can I do without this carburetor and just get by with the distributor instead?- would be similar- you'd think, uh. Maybe you shouldn't mess with it just yet.

OK so on to the questions:

The Volcano is a heat sink and CPU cooling fan that is necessary. The 8 Cm fan would be a case fan and not necessary if you had a different case supplied with one or more other fans.

A higher-rated power supply is ok, but getting one that provides stable, clean power is at least as important as its' peak output rating. Enermax is a great brand for that.

Yes, if you go for the Radeon 9000 you would need an adaptor, provided you were going to be using two analog monitors, because those 9000's come with one analog and one digital connector. If you used one analog and one digital monitor, then you would not need the adaptor.

I can't tell you about the difference between the two MB's- or whether using a RAID card is advisable with the current set-up as outlined in the post.

"WD800JB"? -Yes. Two of those would be OK too.

That system is constantly changing as some parts become obsolete or turn out to not be the best choice, so we'll let someone else advise ya there.

Depending on your IDE bus situation it is certainly possible to have 3 hard drives and use one for backup, or a Firewire external could also perform that duty adequately. The internal 3rd one would likely cost less.

You just might want to check in with these guys before clicking on 'purchase' for those parts...

and be sure to read this first if you do decide to go ahead.

[PDEES]

Cool. When in doubt, call newegg on MOnday. They are friendly. Just tell them that you what the mobo w/ blah blah and it appears what you see on the net isn't that version. I ordered 80% my allen/Phil hybrid from newegg. Ram from pricewatch, as it was muchno cheaper, shipping included. Don't forget oem M$ win xp for $98.

[Siberian]

Oh, I guess I should mention... I am having someone else build it. It is someone who builds PC's professionally for a living so he has experience under the hood. I just want to make sure I get the right parts.

[Stone Knife]

Check. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Allen Hallada]

Siberian,
I'm not sure what the L stands for on that motherboard. Haven't seen that before. What I've been recommending is that people buy the RAID version that also comes with firewire onboard and USB 2.0 and use the RAID ports as regular IDE channels and not for RAID. You can use them either way. I do think they are still better than the onboard VIA IDE motherboard channels. The A7N8X (non Deluxe version) has been working well for many also. It just isn't supported by digi at this time so you may not get tech support if you need it.
I would stick with the Enermax powersupply for highest quality and stability. For hard drives you can use any ATA100 7200rpm drive for your system drive. I would stick with something around 20GB. The WD Special Edition 8MB cache drive I listed is working well for audio drives.
On the video cards, the ATI 7500 I listed is also a dual monitor card but you need the adapter I listed at the bottom for using it with two VGA screens. Not sure if the 9000 needs an adapter or not. You will have to check out the picture at www.newegg.com and see.
For ram go to www.crucial.com and you will find the ram you need. You can also find Micron vendors at www.pricewatch.com . If you get the A7N8X you may want to get the matched ram set for this motherboard. You can find it bundled with the motherboard now.
Good luck,
Allen [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[Siberian]

Okay, I'm still not sure I'm finding the EXACT mother board. Every search has landed me with either the ASUS A7V333 RAID, or A7V333-X/L no raid. I have not found a retailer that has an A7V333-X RAID.

On the Newegg website I have found this board model...
N82E16813131412

Can someone go to the newegg website and type in this part number and verify that this is the right one?

Thanks

[Stone Knife]

Some (cheap) Radeon 9k's come with only an analog connector and an s-video... the others have one s-video, 1 analog, and 1 digital connector. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Yes, if you go for the Radeon 9000 you would need an adaptor, provided you were going to be using two analog monitors, because those 9000's come with one analog and one digital connector. If you used one analog and one digital monitor, then you would not need the adaptor.

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