Help with the specs of my next PC

[RickBull]

Hi. I'm new to your forum, but I joined up because the replies in other threads seemed quite friendly, unlike some forums I know of .

Anyway, I'm planning on building a new PC, to use for recording music (I'm an amateur musician). I've made a list of components I'm planning to use, but having not followed the developments in the PC world too keenly for the last couple of years, I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to check the list below, and make sure eveything will work together? All suggestions are also welcome!

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CPU: Intel Pentium 4 BTX 630 Socket 775 3.0GHz 2MB EM64T
Motherboard: MSI P4N Diamond Socket 775 nForce4 SLI PCI-E ATX [UPDATED to a different motherboard, as the old one didn't support SATA-300]
RAM: Corsair Memory TWIN2X1024A - 6400 XMS2-6400 2x512MB 240DIMM CAS5

What I'm worried about here is have I got the right type of each thing, and are they getting the best out of each other?


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HDD: Hitachi Deskstar T7K250 250GB S300
Graphics: Gigabyte GF 6200 256/128MB TC PCI-E

Just like to know really if these will work with the motherboard, and if the HDD will achieve SATA 300 with said motherboard:


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No question about these really, just in case you're interested :grinthumb
Power supply: Antec SmartBlue 350 GB (was thinking of upgrading this the higher power version, not sure if there is any point though?)
Case: Antec P180 EU PC Case Performance One Series
DVD Drive: http://www.dabs.com/ProductView.aspx?QuickLinx=3TS2


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I realise this is quite a big task for anyone to sift through, so no worries if nobody has the time

Thanks,
Rick.

 

[DonNagual]

I just did a calculation of your PSU needs and you're at about 300w or so. I think you'll need a better PSU than a 350, otherwise you'll be working it pretty hard. MINIMUM you should get is a 380, but you should consider a 450w I'd say, especially if you ever plan to upgrade anthing or add another HDD for example.

But good choice for looking at the Antec PSUs. They are trustworthy. Oh, and I love that case you are looking at too.

I don't know enough about Intel based systems, so can't help you there. Hopefully someone comes along soon. cheers!

 

[RickBull]

Thanks for replying DonNagual. I'll go for the higher output power supply then, as I also need to power my input box (for the microphones and instrument inputs and such).

Yeah, the case is quite nice looking, isn't it. I found it on a quiet PC website, as I'm hoping to eventually buy stuff like HDD encloseures, and quite CPU fans, so that I don't get too much noise on my recordings.

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EDIT:

I've taken a look at a couple of other Antec power supplies, and I think I'll probably go for one of the following:

• Antec TruePower 550 12V AC 550W ATX
• Antec TRUEBLUE 480PGB

Anyone have any comments about my choice between those two?

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EDIT 2:
Sorry for all these edits I've updated the original specs as the old motherboard didn't support SATA-300. Now the memory won't run at the full 800MHz that it's capable of, but I assume it's okay to do that as it used to be with the old 66/100/133 MHz SDRAM?

 

[RickBull]

Sorry to keep bumping this thread, but I just wanted to say that I've bought the bits now (with some changes to the original list), so I'll find out if they work soon enough!

 

[Victor587]

Any reason in particular for SLI? If you get one really good card, it works just as well and even better in MOST cases..