Two systems

A friend wants me to build him two systems--one for himself and one for his kids. These will not be overclocked. His will be for Photoshop and M$ Office. His kids' system will be for AIM, M$ Office and games like Jump Start 2nd grade.

Price is not an issue.

So far, here's my idea:

Retail Athlon64 2800+

FOXCONN "755A01-6EKRS" SiS755 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL

A-DATA PC3200 (512MB) and/or PMI PC3200 (1GB)

MSI MX440

EverCase E4252-91

74GB Raptor for Photoshop System, see bottom for kids system

LG Electronics DVD Burner

LG Electronics CD Burner

FSP300-60ATV

The case fans will be Panaflo 12L's. I'll probably use EAR isolators.

There are already keyboards, mice, monitors, speakers, power cables.

A few things:

1. These systems must use Windoze. Which version of XP or 2000 should I get?
2. How much better would an FX or faster socket 754 CPU be for just the Photoshop system?
3. I'll get the CD and DVD drives one at a time so I can try out LG drives and possibly change to a different brand.
4. I do not want the PSU's intake on the bottom because that results in a pocket of hot air if the case is not modded. Should I get a different PSU from the one that i have selected for any reason?
5. I was originally planning on making P4 systems, but after using an Athlon64, I changed my mind.
6. If this system is too loud, I'll deal with it after it has been assembled.
7. Is there anything else I should change?

Thanks

CHANGES:

The kids' hard drive may be one of these two:
1. 8MB cache, 80GB or 120GB drive on sale at CompUSA/Circuit City.
2. Samsung Spinpoint with 8MB cache

AIM, Office and jump star 2nd grade...you need raptors and A64s for that?..photshop i can see..yea but the kids rig? thats overkill.

Drec said:

AIM, Office and jump star 2nd grade...you need raptors and A64s for that?..photshop i can see..yea but the kids rig? thats overkill.

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Probably I'll get a hard drive on sale at CompUSA or Circuit City or a 36GB Raptor for kids' rig.

But an A64 2800+ with a motherboard is only about $100 more than XP's with a similar motherboard.

Is nobody replying because these are great systems or because nobody can see the thread?

I wouldn't bother purchasing a Raptor for the kids system. A WD 80-120 gig drive (or if you want more speed, a Hitachi 7k250) will serve them fine. Furthermore, I think an MX440 is very weak, even for they are planning to use the computers for. A Radeon 9200 or an FX5200 would provide a better boost for the systems. Also, with the PSU, a 350W or 400W Fortron wouldn't hurt all, and may improve stability as well.

Aslan said:

I wouldn't bother purchasing a Raptor for the kids system. A WD 80-120 gig drive (or if you want more speed, a Hitachi 7k250) will serve them fine. Furthermore, I think an MX440 is very weak, even for they are planning to use the computers for. A Radeon 9200 or an FX5200 would provide a better boost for the systems. Also, with the PSU, a 350W or 400W Fortron wouldn't hurt all, and may improve stability as well.

Click to expand...

The
FSP300-60ATV is rated almost exactly as powerful as the FSP300-60PN.

I have read that this power supply is enough to power Dual Athlon MP systems with as many drives as possible.

The FSP350-60BT is rated a bit less powerful than the FSP350-60PN.

For those who don't know, Sparkle power supplies are identical to Fortron power supplies with the same model number.

I'd like a few opinions on this. Should I get the FSP300-ATV, the FSP350BT or something else?

Here are Fortron brand PSUs at Newegg.

Here are Sparkle brand PSUs at Newegg.

I'm researching video cards. This is one thing about which I never read much.

I'm sure the MX440 will be fine for the Photoshop system. I have an MX4000, which is much worse than an MX440, but I've never had problems in GIMP.

By the way, the MX4000's one good point is that it doesn't need a cooling fan, so it's silent. Also, the heatsink isn't very warm. This must be because it sucks so much.