New AMD system...

[andytomp]

Sounds like you lot know what you're talking about. I'm in the process of working out what I'm going to buy for a new system I'm putting together. Not to big a budget, so I think I'm going to go for an AMD solution. Don't need to play s*** hot games. But do need to be able to edit videos, music, graphics and develop software on it. If I sound a bit rusty, I haven't had to upgrade for a while so my knowledge is about 3 years out of date.

Case: Aopen H600A (sturdy ATX case aparantly) £60

Mobo: Gigabyte GA-7VRXP £84

Chip: AMD Athlon XP 2200+ £145

Memorey: 2 x 512MB of DDR266 (PC2100) £168

HD: Western Digital Caviar WD1200BB, 120 GB - DMA/ATA-100 (Ultra), 8.9 ms - 7200 rpm - 2 MB buffer £130

GPU: Asus V8420 128Mb (gforce ti4200) £165

Soundcard: SB Audigy Player PCI £75

A couple of questions?
1. What the difference between Non-parity and ECC memorey?
2. Any recommendations on a heatsink a fan or the chip? I'd like to keep sound down if poss

Does that system sound ok for about £850?

Cheers...

[Google]

[andytomp]

Thanks for the prompt reply. I just spotted the memory thing - I can get 512MB modules of pc2700 from crucial, so I'll go for that.

If I was to go for the raid0 option does that mean my overal capacity would be 60GB (or is that raid1?). Is it as simple as buying two disks? I see that the mobo I've choosen supports raid, so I guess I don't need a raid controller.

Would an option be to get a 120GB disk, and then buy another down the line and set up raid? Or does that defeat the point?

I'll look into the Video card, I need to be able to import video onto my machine. So some research is needed I think...

[andytomp]

My God! I never thought you could get a sexy heatsink. I like.. I like... (Dribble).

That QuietPC site has got me excited. The idea of a no noise computer would be heaven. My machine at the moment sounds like a VW beetle going up hill in 4th sometimes. The only solution is to listen to music REALLY LOUD.

[andytomp]

So the raid0 is just a performance thing? Would it be noticable? I thought about SCSI, but I don't think I can justify the cost.

As far as video goes I'll probably just want to be able to import from a video camera, so I guess firewire or usb2 would be useful (I think the SB Audigy Player has a firewire port on it, I'll have to check).

I like the idea of a super quiet pc. So I don't really need the supplied PSU with the Aopen case (as I'd want to get a special quiet PSU). Any recommendations on a simple / strong ATX case?