PC components advice (1 Viewer)

[Gil D]

Andre,
The great thing about a PC is that making one that is HTPC capable comes nearly for free today

I put together a PIII based system with the Asus CUSL2-C motherboard sometime ago and it works great. Now I am looking to upgrade my older Celeron based PC. The price for the PIII hasn't dropped by much since then and the AMD just offers too much bang for the buck so this time I'm planning to go with the AMD.
I really like the Asus MB I have but the AMD 761 based MB (A7M) is too pricey. I am targeting the Epox MB but haven't decided between the 8K7A (AMD 761) or 8KHA (Via KT266). Can anyone help me decide on which one - stability and compatability are my main concerns. Apparently the two MBs use different South Bridge chips Via 686B in the 8K7A vs Via VT8233 SuperSouth in the 8KHA.
I bought the Radeon LE 32MB DDR w/ video out from newegg awhile back and have been very pleased. If you play alot of games you may want the GeForce, but apparently you can hack (simple SW change) the LE so that it is equal to the normal Radeon in performance. For DVD no hacks are necessary. Not sure what to go with in a Sound card. I bought the SB Live Value last go around but it doesn't have the normal SPDIF jack. How is the XGamer for $20 more, does it come with rca and toslink jacks? $150 is too much for a sound card IMO.
How bad is the heat in the AMD PC? I'd like to use just the PS fan and the AMD fan that comes with the T-bird retail box. Heat and noise are bad for HTPC IMO.
Also which PS do you guys recommend for under $40, or around $60 with a midtower case. Color is not an issue, I'm not a racist

 

[Andres Munoz]

Gil, I have the regular X-Gamer (not the 5.1) and I like it very much. You should be able to find it for more or less $50. I'm planning to get a 5.1 soundblaster (either MP3+ or X-Gamer) and I haven't been able to find it for less than $80 (w/o shipping).
As far as the case, my PC will eventually become a HTPC so I'm getting the Antec KS-780B (black) but it's a little out of your budget (around $75). I've read a lot of good comments about it.
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Andres
http://home.earthlink.net/~coolvirus
[Edited last by Andres Munoz on August 18, 2001 at 07:22 PM]

 

[Kimmo Jaskari]

Not sure if it really applies in this case, but I wanted to put in a recommendation for PC Power & Cooling powersupplies. They're at Link Removed
I had a cheapo 300 watt PS before and the voltage readings reported by my motherboard were all off with .2 or .3 volts at least; the worst was almost an entire volt too high.
The PC Power & Cooling one I got was spot on, have some deviations at 0.05 volts etc, ie completely negligible.
Especially with Athlon systems you're going to need a powersupply with enough power to supply clean and steady current. I think many hard to trace PC problems come from fluctuating power; my old powersupply fried my old motherboard, which is why I got the one I have now.
If I were building an Athlon system I'd probably get something like their Turbo Cool 425 or 450 watt models... but at around $200 they aren't cheap. Good, but not cheap.
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/Kimmo

 

[Camp]

I really like the Asus MB I have but the AMD 761 based MB (A7M) is too pricey. I am targeting the Epox MB but haven't decided between the 8K7A (AMD 761) or 8KHA (Via KT266). Can anyone help me decide on which one - stability and compatability are my main concerns. Apparently the two MBs use different South Bridge chips Via 686B in the 8K7A vs Via VT8233 SuperSouth in the 8KHA.

AMD 760 vs. Via KT266: I'd call them even on stability but there is certainly a slight speed advantage in favor of the AMD chipset. I don't think that speed advantage is very noticable, however (except, perhaps to the serious overclocker).

 

[John_Bonner]

Gil D wrote:

I bought the Radeon LE 32MB DDR w/ video out from newegg awhile back and have been very pleased. If you play alot of games you may want the GeForce, but apparently you can hack (simple SW change) the LE so that it is equal to the normal Radeon in performance.

Here's an article explaining how to do it.
ATI Radeon LE "tweaks"
You can get this card for $71 from newegg.
Here's a site providing software for doing just this.
RadeonTweaker Page
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JB
"These go to eleven" - Nigel Tufnel

 

[Andres Munoz]

newegg.com has 2 Radeon LE versions, w/o TV OUT for $71 and w/ TV OUT for $79.
I'm assuming that the one with w/TV OUT is the one with S-Video right?
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Andres
http://home.earthlink.net/~coolvirus

[Edited last by Andres Munoz on August 23, 2001 at 11:03 AM]

 

[John_Bonner]

It looks like the $79 Radeon w/TV out has composite video, see link:
$79 Radeon from Newegg
[Edited last by John_Bonner on August 23, 2001 at 12:46 PM]

 

[Andres Munoz]

I see composite and S-Video. And it looks like the package comes with composite video cable and what looks like S-Video cable.
[Edited last by Andres Munoz on August 23, 2001 at 12:58 PM]

 

[John_Bonner]

My bad!
That would explain the 2 cables (Duh!)
I bought the $71 version (Radeon 32MB DDR LE no TV out).
When it came time to use the latest drivers, the ATI website did not have any for the Radeon LE's. Instead I used the drivers for the 32MB DDR (non-LE) since they are essentially the same card. No problems so far.
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JB
"These go to eleven" - Nigel Tufnel

 

[Andres Munoz]

Now that you mention the LE with no TV out, it looks like newegg is not even listing it anymore. I only see the $79 one, not the $71 one.
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Andres
http://home.earthlink.net/~coolvirus

 

[John_Bonner]

It's still there. Second from the bottom.
I should mention that this is the OEM version. No fancy box, no instruction manual, no cables. Just the card in an anti-static bag with the installation CD.
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JB
"These go to eleven" - Nigel Tufnel