Critique and advise please

I am preparing to build an AMD system.
These are the components I'm considering:
Case: Anatec Sonata II
CPU: AMD 3500+ 2.2 GHz Venice
Mobo: Asus A8N-E
RAM: Corsair PC3200 1GB Dual Channel
HD: Seagate Barracuda 250 GB SATA
DVD ROM: Liteon
DVD Burner: NEC ND-3540A
(is anything missing?)

What I need is comments on the above hardware and some help in choosing the right Graphics card.

Since I'm not a real gamer, I don't really need a high end graphics card.
Please make suggestions.
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i'd consider getting a good quality PSU (i throw this link up everywhere but check your minimum requirements and choose one above that) http://www.jscustompcs.com/power_supply/ and check out this thread for a good, trusted, branded name PSU
also think about good cooling, erm i'm not too sure about graphics cards but someone else will. do you only want on-board sound? thats usually fine unless you really want the best quality/the ability to do decent recordings.

 

That is a very cool case, they're really quiet but they do need a different power supply as mentioned above.

For graphics card, I'd get a 6600GT.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130220
there's a good one for a good price, just incase maybe you want to get into gaming, you have an affordable card that's got some beef on it that'll be hard to take down.

 

I'm looking into a "Radeon X### ??" but am unsure about the differences. A radeon X300 XT can cost more than a radeon X600 or X700.
So what's better (value for money), a lower model with a high sub-rank or a higher model with a lower sub-rank?
Is the 6600 PCI/PCI-E? Does that make a difference?

I was also told that the power supply in that case is good and that's why I chose it (it's not cheap)

 

Well, whoever told you that should have their credentials challenged. The power supply won't power a PCI-E system with the hardware you're running. Sure it's a decent power supply, but you're system will tear it down.

Well, what games do you run?
If price is a factor, and you don't do much gaming, the 6200's are pretty good cards.
A 6200 will run you around $60-$70.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130228
good one.

 

The computer i'm using now is an AMD Duron 651 MHz with 192 MB RAM and onboard video.
Never dared to install any games as i'm having a hard enough time using the internet and outlook at the same time.

I'd like to be able to play some games but I definitely won't be spending hours a day playing.

I have many browser pages open simultaneously along with the regular office tools (outlook, word, powerpoint) and skype and/or MSN messenger.

I sometimes do some CAD design (Unigraphics/SolidWorks). No aircraft design but it would be nice to create parts and small assemblies without wanting to kick the computer.

I do a bit of image manipulation with Photoshop and SWF Quicker (flash). Nothing too serious.

I'll be starting university in September (M.A.Sc) so I may need to use a mathematical simulation application (MathLab or something) for vibrational analysis.

 

As far as the power supply, you could probably easily stick with the one in the case but personally, as a guru, I would upgrade it. With the CAD and such I would recommend a Matrox card, but if there is any forseebale possibility that you will play games such as CounterStrike, Half Life 2, or Doom III, then that will definately not do. If you are looking at that i would recommend a 6200, X300 SE, or X600. As far as the ATI X series go, the higher the number the better the card. It is the same with nVidia. Also, with the letter suffixes, in order from lowest performance to highest, is as follows, no suffix, SE, Pro, XL, XT, and XTPE. With nVidia it is as follows (I am pretty sure, but I would appreciate somebody else checking this as I don't keep up with nVidia), no suffix, LE, GT, and Ultra. I might have no suffix and LE confused but I think that is right. I have the exact same processor and it should easily handle advanced math problems. Good luck in college.

 

So would you recommend a 6600 or a x600/700?
What is a good brand?
does the 128MB or 256 MB make a real difference?

 

an X600 will be fine but memory on GPU's doenst make much difference its the speed of the memory that really counts, im unbiased with graphics cards but ATI cards are generally better!

 

Oh contrare! Video card memory makes a massive difference in games, along with memory and core speeds. Also the type of memory, RAMDAC speed, size of the memory controller and so much other stuff. But anyways, here are some suggestions. They are ordered by brand and by cost/performance in ascending order within brands.
nVidia 6200 TC
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125178
nVidia 6200
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814145108
nVidia 6600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170070
nVidia 6600 GT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130214
ATI X300
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125148
ATI X300 SE
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102415
ATI X300 SE w/ HyperMemory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102539
ATI X550
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102563
ATI X600 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814102417
ATI X600 XT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814125146
ATI X700
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814121540
ATI X700 Pro
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814123146
Well, this may look like a lot and well, it is. There is one of every 6000 series card up to the 6600 GT and one of every X*** series card up to the X700 Pro. Basically what i recommend you do is decide how much money you want to spend on a video card and find the one of these that comes the closest to matching that price. If you have any questions I or probably most of the people here can answer them.

 

I see that many different brand names for the radeon x700pro and the 6600gt.
Prices fluctuate between the different brands.
What are the good brands for the x700pro and the 6600gt?

And a different question, any point in getting a dvd reader in addition to a writer? does it save wear and tear? is it worth the extra $30 CAD?

 

Well Sapphire, ATI, Asus, eVGA, BFG, and Leadtek are all good companies. if anybody else has suggestions please put them down. I'm pretty sure that all the ones I suggested are good brand names, but some may not be. And, I don't see a need for a reader and a writer unless you want to speed up the task of copying (not pirating ) DVD's.

 

I'd personally go with the X700Pro as it's a bit cheaper than the 6600GT and often has 256Mb's of memory which can make a difference in some more demanding games and if you use CAD sometimes you won't mind it either. The card is not designed for CAD but it will do pretty well.
Good brands are ASUS, Gigabyte, HIS, and MSI. Stay away from Diamond, and Powercolor if you can. They're fine but have cheesy coolers that can die on you.
I personally wouldn't bother with a separate DVD ROM drive as you can do everything you need with ther burner. Unless you copy CD's a lot there's no advantage really.

 

There are two sockets on my mobo marked CHA1_FAN and CHA2_FAN.
Can anyone tell me what they are?
there is one plug from the psu that can fit into either one.
the mobo is Asus A8N-E.
Terrible instructions on everything. Not written for the first time builder.

 

are there three metal prongs on each one? If so, it's a 3-pin power connector for fans. The lead coming from the powersupply is used to monitor the power supplie's fan speed.

 

as ninja said, but also some mobos also have a PWR_FAN header but this is pretty rare!

 

there ARE 3 prongs. so does it matter to which one I connect the power supply to? the cable coming out of the power supply can reach both.

 

id doesnt matter which, after its connected go into the BIOS and just make sure the fan speed is detected!

 

ok, i'll leave it out for now.
What's my next step?
do I just boot up the computer?
partition?
what's this whole bios setup thing? what do I do?

 

I have the a8n-e and there are 4 of those connectors on your mobo and they are to plug in your case fans , PSU fan, and your CPU fan. Also I have hasd problems with the onboard lan so i had to buy a new internet card, but maybe i just got a bad mobo. I suggest you look into it.