Ann Fennell wrote:
> deciding what to order - and I'm in a rush.  I am going to pay
> someone to help me put this thing together, but I don't know what
> parts to get and I don't want to be "guided" to buy parts from the
> person who will putting it together for me. I've been looking at
> places like newegg.com, but I just don't understand all the lingo and
> all the compatibility considerations.

If you're worried about compatibility considerations, go with a 
motherboard bundle from a place like MWave or Monarch instead.  That way 
your expensive pieces (motherboard / CPU / RAM) are guaranteed to work 
together.

> I have & want to use: NEC DVD Burner, generic CD reader, 3.5 floppy
> drive, Seagate Barracuda 120g IDE HD, USB printer, USB scanner, USB
> UPS, USB camera card reader, Serial LG 19" 1400:1 Monitor, Logitec
> cordless keyboard & laser mouse (USB and PC/2) and I will be getting
> an external firewire hard disk enclosure (any suggestions for that?).
> I don't do music or video/sound intensive games with the PC, so I
> will just keep the speakers I have - they are quite adequate for
> error notifications or video clips, etc.

Easily accomplished.  CD/HD technology has not changed a lot over the 
years.  Any new HDs that you purchase, you'll want to be buying SATA 
because a lot of motherboards are including 4-8 SATA plugs but only 1 
IDE/PATA plug.

In fact, your current system having (3) IDE devices is going to be a 
problem with most newer motherboards and will complicate the install. 
You're going to have to go with an older motherboard in order to get the 
multiple IDE sockets.

I tend to recommend the BYTECC ME-835U2F which is a dual interface 
enclosure with an interior fan for cooling the HD.

> I'm wondering if the power suppy and fan would be usable, or WORTH
> using, and the 512 memory that came in the HP or whether it would be
> too slow or less dependable (5 years old or so)?

You will probably not be able to re-use the PSU, fan, or memory.

> I'd like a well-ventilated case with firewire ports and space for at
> least three (120gig) hard drives and at least 2 QUIET fans)and it
> would be nice if the drive containers came out of the case. I saw an
> Antec Performance I p180B ($94) that sounds pretty good, but it has
> no side air vents and it says it needs PSU with long cables (what is
> PSU, power supply unit?) It describes front ports, but doesn't
> mention rear ports, which I need for scanner, printer, UPS, Mouse
> card reader, etc).

I have a p180b, it works well and the cable length wasn't an issue. 
You just have to be focused on cable routing and installing the shorter 
cables first.  Ports are typically on the motherboard and the case type 
won't matter at all (ATX motherboards come with a custom backplate that 
fits into a 2"x7" opening on the back).  In addition, there are usually 
plugs on the motherboard that let you route additional USB/Firewire 
plugs to either the front or the back of the case.

If you're willing to spend the money for the P180/P180B case, remember 
that it doesn't include a PSU, which will run another $60-$80.  Other 
then that, it's a pretty nice case and I only have a few minor quibbles 
with it.  It doesn't need side vents for cooling.  But you may find the 
top blowhole to be a bit annoying.

The p180b case does a decent job of keeping multiple drives cool and 
isolates a good bit of the noise due to the case construction.  It's not 
the easiest case to work with (a bit technical and complex) but it's 
definitely got a lot of capacity.

An alternative option would be the Sonata II case, but the internal 
drive bays on the Sonata II are not as well cooled as the p180b.

> I need a power supply (450 watts or more? - what determines how much
> power source you need?).  One called Raidmax RX630A has great ratings
> (it should for $98), but when the description gets down to "24-Pin,
> ATX-2.01v, 1x 20/24pin Main Power, 1x ATX12V 4pin/8pin, 8x
> peripheral, 4x SATA 1x PCI", then I have NO IDEA what it's talking
> about and whether I might be getting something incompatible with
> something else.

For the # of components (3 hard drives, 2 CDs, but no power-hungry 
video-card) something in the 450-550W range should be adequate.  Make 
sure you get a PSU that is 24 pin ATX 2.01 or EPS12V.

> I would like to use my 512 memory (2x256 chips)and add 512 more, but
> I know it has to be "compatible" and maybe I don't want to do this if
> the memory in the HP is very slow or something (5 yrs old), then I'd
> rather just get a new, faster 1gb - IF,IF it would REALLY be
> NOTICABLY faster (I don't do gaming).  But what kind - I don't know
> what all the numbers mean.  I'm not dumb, but I'm just unfamiliar
> with the specs & terms - I'm lost.

Memory tech has changed over the years, you'll be unlikely to use your 
512MB of memory unless it is PC3200.

> AMD processors seem to be well thought of, but there are
> compatibility issues here too, I know - is this where SATA/IDA/ATA
> comes it?  (I prefer AMD, I think - I'm confused - athlon?? sempron??
> what IS all this stuff)?

No compatibility issues between the AMD/Intel stuff.

For the Intel side it's roughly:

Celeron -> Pentium 4 -> Core Solo -> Core Duo -> Core 2

AMD stacks up as:

Sempron -> Athlon64 -> Opteron

Where each level is a bit more powerful then the previous.  For your 
needs, the Athlon64 X2 chips are a good bet.  The Opteron / Xeon names 
are server-level chips and a bit overkill for a regular user unless 
you're doing lots and lots of video work.  On the Intel side, I'd 
recommend the new Core Duo or Core 2 Duo chips.

> I need fans, at least two QUIET ones, SPACE for 3.5 floppy, DVD
> writer & CD (want to use the ones I have).  I want to use my hard
> drive (Seagagte IDE Barracuda 120g) so there's something about SATA
> that I don't want, I gather. And have room for 2 or 3 more HDs (I
> save a lot of stuff, including backups and images).  Can I have BOTH
> IDE and SATA??

The p180b sounds like the case for you, it will be a bit more expensive, 
but you'll have lots of expansion room.

You can have both IDE and SATA, and you'll want to go with SATA for 
future drives (smaller cables, better availability of ports on newer 
motherboards).

> If some of you could just list some decent, very good quality parts
> that are compatible with each other (but not necessarily the latest
> and greatest blazing fast - I don't do gaming and don't want to spend
> a million dollars, but I do want good quality that will be
> dependable, not just the cheapest available.

Here's the typical build that I'm currently purchasing, all parts are 
from MWave and I've included MWave part #s.  I've gone with the older 
939 socket CPU because of your need for IDE ports and Firewire.  I only 
work with Asus boards currently, but have had decent experiences with 
ABIT, Gigabyte and Tyan in the past.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/bundle.hmx?
- go to the AMD bundles, 939 socket, X2 CPUs

$0414 MB-BA21810 AMD ATHLON 64 X2 3800+
- Asus A8N-SLI DLX motherboard (only one with 2 IDE and firewire)
- Kingston/Crucial 1GB (512MBx2) memory
- Assemble and test for $9
- Prices for memory are up this month (about a 30% jump)
- Prices for the 3800+ CPUs are up by about 20% this month

Video card, PCIe, pick one (I prefer NVIDIA's drivers):

$0039 AA45500 eVGA GeForce 6200 LE
$0080 AA38840 eVGA GeForce 6600 LE (a more capable card)

$0080 AA48650 Seagate 250GB SATA drive
- go with SATA drives for your future purchases

$0070 AK18105 Windows XP Home OEM
$0131 AA15070 Windows XP Pro OEM
$0299 AA24200 Office 2003 Professional OEM

$0115 Antec P180/P180B case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811129017
- not available from MWave

$0067 Thermaltake W0090RU ATX12V 470W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153027
$0080 Thermaltake W0093RU ATX 12V 2.0 Version 500W Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817153028

Okay, I think that covers everything:

$0414 motherboard / CPU / RAM / test
$0039 GeForce 6200 video card (low-end)
$0070 WinXP Home OEM
$0115 Antec p180b case
$0080 500W PSU
=====
$0718 for the base system, plus any extra hard drives or other 
components that you want to purchase.

Not the cheapest system that I've spec'd, but it's going to be extremely 
expandable.  You're paying a bit more for the case because you specified 
the desire for 120mm fans and that noise was a factor.

For the truly budget-minded person, you could go with a Sonata II case, 
a microATX motherboard with less expansion capabilities and cut the cost 
to about $550 plus hard drive.

> Oh yes, I want this to last from now on, perhaps with replacement
> parts down the road; could I get by with an OEM XP
> (non-hardware-specific) OS, or would I have to have a non-OEM XP
> (full retail version)?  I'm now using my HP key with a non-specific
> OEM that someone gave me so I could partition my own disk instead of
> HP limiting me to one partition, but this HP key probably won't work
> if I have a non-HP motherboard, right?  But will I have ANY problems
> with a legal OEM that is not specifically tied to HP (or DELL, or
> whatnot)?  If I have to change my motherboard (God forbid) down the
> road, will such an OEM still activate?  I don't want VISTA and I
> don't want SP2, so I want to be sure that my OS is good to go from
> now on, even when I make hardware changes, because I probably won't
> be able to find SP1 much longer - its already hard to find.

I don't think you're going to have a choice with XP SP2.  What are your 
objections with SP2?

I'll let someone else guess about the activation issues with an HP OEM 
key on non-HP hardware.

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