Okay boys, I've got a few questions...

1. Aren't there any other women here?????

2. I built my old system EONS ago!!!! We've gotten alot of mileage out of it, but I just CAN'T STAND IT ANYMORE and husband is FINALLY going to let me rebuild it. So..... I've picked out the following and then I need some help from you guys. I want to be able to transfer from our miniDV camcorder to DVD. The camera has IEEE 1394 interface. I would also like to put our old VHS homevideo tapes onto DVD before the kids destroy them. We don't do any heavy gaming yet. Is the ATI the right card or is it too much or too little for what I want it to do? Any other system problems or conflicts that you can see? Will I need an additional capture card? Is there anything else I will need to do video? Brianpower is minimal right now. Pregnant (and very emotional) with #4 so am very tired and I'm finding it REALLY difficult to concentrate on typing this post, let alone my research for the new system. I feel like I'm leaving something out!!! The 15 month old is fascinated by the keyboard and the lights on the computer. I've lost track of how many times she's shut the whole thing down with that tempting little power button....... She keeps side tracking or completely stopping me from reading online and frankly I think she's starting to get a little jealous about how much time I've spent glued to the monitor.

ATI ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON 7500 64MB AGP RTL

Asus A7N8X Deluxe V.2

AMD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU

KINGSTON HyperX Series 184-pin 256MB DDR333 (PC2700) 32X64
DDR RAM modules, Model# KHX2700/256 (2 of these)

Seagate 120 GB HD 7200rmp

Plextor DVD+R/RW IDE Drive Model PX-504A-SW

Windows 2000 Pro

COOLERMASTER AERO 7+ - My computer is housed in the bottom of my 8'9" 200 year old cabinet. I'm not willing to cut any more holes in the back or bottom of the cabinet other than what mice have added through the years before it got to me. That would devalue the cabinet. Fortunately the mice knew what they were doing and made the holes just the right size for all of my cables!!! And with Little Miss Quick Fingers running around here shutting the computer off everytime she notices the door open, I have to be careful about leaving it open for ventilation. I'm sure she will outgrow her fascination soon, but there will be another one doing the same thing in the not too distant future. Just want to make sure the CPU stays cool enough. Is it worth the $45.00 or can I get by with what is boxed with the CPU?

Any suggestions will be appreciated!!! New Egg dropped the price on the Barton by $30.00 this week, so I'm at about $1000.00. Would like to keep it in that range but am willing to sacrifice a little matrimonial bliss for a better system.

Thanks,

Babyjo

1. I don't know if there are any other ladies here because it is difficult to tell on internet At least you are the first one I believe you are a lady.

2. From the message you typed, ATI would be fine for you but I say get at least a AIW 8500, or better AIW 9700Pro, they are relatively much cheaper than before, and won't hurt your budget a lot. ATI AIW lines are equipped with everything you need, so no capture card needed. And for the CPU cooler, I don't think you'll overclock so the stock cooling would be more than enough for you, but if lady wants to make her system look good you may consider some cooling fan with LED.

Finally, hope your little girl grows up nice and healthy, and good luck with the coming one

It is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=22996" target="_new">My System Rig</A>

I love kids, kids love the easter bunny.
See for yourself...<A HREF="http://www.freakhole.com/?pic=11332&s=recent&p=14" target="_new">http://www.freakhole.com/?pic=11332&s=recent&p=14</A>

3DMark 03 = 4,101
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=775464" target="_new">http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=775464</A>
<font color=red>"I want that dam Cramack to finish Dom3 Now I wanna play!" - young rage3d forum member</font color=red>

Look how happy this baby is with his new t shirt on!
<A HREF="http://www.freakhole.com/?pic=10607&s=recent&p=19" target="_new">http://www.freakhole.com/?pic=10607&s=recent&p=19</A>

3DMark 03 = 4,101
<A HREF="http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=775464" target="_new">http://service.futuremark.com/compare?2k3=775464</A>
<font color=red>"I want that dam Cramack to finish Dom3 Now I wanna play!" - young rage3d forum member</font color=red>

1. There are exactly 3 female members who are active here.
2. Ever considered the Western digital Special edition drives? They're better than seagate but seagate has lower noise of course. And I dont think you'll be needing the HSF even if you overclock to a certain extent.
Good luck for your family.

<font color=blue><b>OKK!! Which one of you wise guys stole my sig! </font color=blue></b><font color=red><b><i>Jay Kay</font color=red></b></i>

Yes, there are three women i know of, Melb_angel, qoop and girlnamedlou... and someone who probably dresses as a woman, wingding.

Barton good
mobo good
ram good (512 is handy for video editing stuff)
120gb drive is good, though you will allways wish for more
dvd+rw drive is good, though there are cheaper brands than plextor out there.
coolermaster aero is also good. Toms Hardware actually use one for their benchmarking.
If 45 seems a little too much for you, see if you can find a Spire FalconRockII or volcano 7+
The graphics card is ok, good enough for vid work... but a bit dated. specially if you want to play the odd game.
Funds permitting, look at a 8500 or 9700 (nonpro)

cheers


<b>My PC is so powerful it developed AI and enslaved me in a make believe virtual world... called Freelancer</b>
<A HREF="http://www.picturetrail.com/master_poobaa" target="_new">PooBaa's Pics!</A>

And ignore GenW, he just want to be the god father of your new born child.

It is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=22996" target="_new">My System Rig</A>

you aren't ocing so you dont need namebrand ram.I have two pices of samsung pc2700 that I got 6 months apart. I get dual channel and have run them to 187 fsb without problem.that would give you a few more dollars towards a 9700AIW. Have fun,and dont let the rugrats bite.

*cough* you call Samsung RAM not namebrand? Only those RAM with the brand name you never heard of are generic, Samsung is branded too!

It is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=22996" target="_new">My System Rig</A>

Thanks guys. I really appreciate the advice!!!!

I'm trying to decide how mad husband will be if I order the AIW 9700 pro or non pro instead of the 7500... Do you think it's worth it? My son will be 12 and does like to play games of course.

What should I use in place of the Plextor to save some bucks to put toward the AIW card? I want reliability and versatility.

I had problems with "generic" ram and my Asus P5A board, so I was trying to stay with ram from the Asus spec page to avoid conflicts. I do want to be able to overclock eventually when I have some extra time.... of course, who knows when that will be. Any thoughts on this?

My only problem with Western Dig HD's is the previous one I had did a spectacular rendition of a wood chipper one morning when I pushed the power button. I hadn't even messed in the case or moved it for several weeks prior to it's failure... At least Western Dig didn't have any problems sending me a new one after the tech heard the racket it was making over the phone, but of course I lost everything on it. So that said, should I return the Seagate and get a WD Special Ed?

Thanks,

Babyjo

There is only one version of AIW9700, that's Pro version! You should really get Plextor to save some cash but I don't think the turn over can cover the AIW9700 though. I just think of another way out, you can get a Radeon 9100/9200, then get a capture card, Pinnacle got some good quality products, or Leadtek for cheaper price. Overall this would cut some cost and you'll maintain performance to some point. Most of the current games for 12yr old boy doesn't require much GPU power, unless you are getting him some MA15+ games... so a Radeon 9100/9200 should be more than enough for your budget.
And for the RAM, Corsair is the best and stick to them.
Western Digital WD1200JB is a fast and stable hdd to get, but Seagate is not bad at all, this is not some very big deal but you should take note that WD comes with 3yr warranty.

It is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=22996" target="_new">My System Rig</A>

I don't really see the point of a separate capture card and a Radeon 9100, when you can get both and a TV tuner in the 8500 AIW card (same GPU). Unless you don't want the tuner, in which case the separate parts would be cheaper. My son uses an 8500LE and a Sound Blaster Audidy to capture firewire miniDV video, and it runs smoothly on his XP 1800+ system, so I can't imagine any problems there. The 8500 is good all-around card.

I also agree the Plextor is probably overkill, but I'm not up right now on what the best buy is out there - best to check out the other forums.

And of course, all the other parts are great. I have the Barton 2500+ running on the Asus A7N8X deluxe, but I haven't tried the stock cooler with it since I have a Vantec Aeroflow (check out tom's review - it's a great cooler). The stock Barton cooler is currently sitting on top of an old Palomino XP2000+, and it works nicely there (the stock Palomino cooler ran in the mid-60s on normal usage, the stock Barton cooler is keeping it at the mid-40s, to give you a comparison). The Vantec Aeroflow kept both cores running in the mid-30s.

Enjoy your new system!

Where does good judgement come from? Experience. Where does experience come from? Bad judgement.

oh man, another woman?? are they multiplying??? i didnt see any mention of needing a capture card for analoge video. if your just capturing from a digital camcorder you just need a firewire port. if you do need an anoloug source input you should get a separate card for that. maybe the ati tv wonder will do? im not sure on capture cards stuff.

<font color=red> black </font color=red> <font color=green> white </font color=green> <font color=blue> yellow </font color=blue> <font color=orange> purple </font color=orange> <font color=black> red </font color=black> <font color=yellow> green </font color=yellow> <font color=purple> blue </font color=purple>

Ah, true enough ... I was thinking of the 8500DV AIW, in case you needed the firewire port. But the Asus A7N8X Deluxe comes with the two firewire ports, so that's taken care of.

I still think that unless you do a lot of gaming, the 8500 AIW is good compromise for price/performance gaming and TV watching(compared to the 7500 and 9700 AIW models).

Where does good judgement come from? Experience. Where does experience come from? Bad judgement.

I don't see the use of a TV tuner for video editing. I wouldn't bother with an all-in-wonder unless you plan to watch TV on the computer.

I'd go with a cheap firewire card for video capture and the best video card you can afford... Geforce4Ti 4200, radeon 9500 PRO, and radeon 9700 non-pro are probably the best deals in their price ranges right now.

IF you've already bought the seagate then it's no use returning it. Not much diff anyways. Seagates are good too. I'm using one myself.

<font color=blue>And now for some feedback for the above post: EEEEEEEEEEWWWWW </font color=blue><font color=red><b><i>Jay Kay</font color=red></b></i>

I agree, there's no point in an AIW unless you want to watch TV on the computer (in which case I do indeed recommend the AIW over a separate TV tuner card and the potential conflicts that can cause). Otherwise, I'd recommend a Radeon 9500/9600 Pro as the best overall price/performance gaming card. However, the 8500/9100 is fine card for light gaming, and more than sufficient for video editing.

But there's no need for a Firewire card with the Asus A7N8X Deluxe - it comes with two built-in.

Where does good judgement come from? Experience. Where does experience come from? Bad judgement.

OK, I miss the point she mentioned Deluxe version.

So Babyjo, you can save your cash on the AIW card and capture card, and get the Radeon 9100/9200, so you can cut your cost and your husband won't be mad at you.

It is morally wrong to allow suckers to keep their money
<A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?id=22996" target="_new">My System Rig</A>

a chick?!!?!


*looks around*

that knows how to build her own computer?!?!


......


did she say Barton?
*faints*

-------

<A HREF="http://www.quake3world.com/ubb/Forum1/HTML/001355.html" target="_new">*I hate thug gangstas*</A>