Request critique of proposed systems

[KrazyKarl]

Hello everyone,
first I would just like to say thank you to everyone on this board who has taken the time to share their knowledge. I have been doing searches and reading old posts relevant to my questions and this has helped me whole lot and I really appreciate it.
Well, my question is, : I am going to have a PC custom built for both audio and gaming - I will probably run a dual boot system w/ two different versions of XP and my software choices are initially going to be Buzz and FruityLoops going on one partition, with XP tweaked for audio, and games and itnernet mp3 etc. going on another partition. Anyway I have basically narrowed it down to one basic AMD cofiguration and one basic Intel configuration. If anyone could please take the time to review my selections, and provide input, I would really appreciate it.
Here is my selections, please let me know if you see any incompatibilites or other suggestions:

AMD System:

Case: Enlight 7237 mid ATX case
PSU: Enermax EG 365P-VE
motherboard: Abit NF7-S
processor: Athlon XP 2600+ Barton 333FSB retail box w/ hsf,shin-etsu thermal grease for cooling
RAM: I need 512MB... saended for my mobo is twinx512-3200C2 or salesman at Monarch recommended Corsair TwinX512-2700LL but the Corsair website said the recommended for my mobo is twinx512-3200C2 or LL. The difference in price between the 2700LL and the 3200C2 is $15 more but I am on a very tight budget and every little bit helps!
HD: Western digital 800JB (will expand to 2 drives when I get the money so I can have a dedicated audio drive)
CDRW: MSI 52-32-52, this was the cheapest, is this going to be ok?
Floppy drive: mitsumi
Video Card: this is another area where I am having trouble deciding. My options are fairly low-end, under $100 cards but I don't want to get a card that will cause instability. I will probably get either and ASUS or Gigabyte Geforce FX 5200 card. the gigabye is $70, the ASUS $90. I am also considering an MSI geforce4 MX440 for $60. Another option is the ASUS RADEON 9200SE for $65. Like I said I want to play games so I am definitely looking for best price-performance here, but I am concerned about compatibility/reliability.
Sound card: I can't afford one right now, but I will likely upgrade to an m-audio 24/96 or similar card. I'm fairly sure nforce2 is compatible with the audiophile card, I seem to remember reading that here.

Intel system:
Case, PSU, HD, cdrw, video, and sound card are all going to be the same options as on my AMD system.
Motherboard: I will likely get Abit IS-7, perhaps Gigabyte GA-8IPE1000-Pro as it is $10 cheaper and I've read that it is much easier to do upgrades/installation on.
Processor: pentium 4 2.6c 800FSB retail box w/ hsf and thermal grease for cooling.
RAM: corsair TwinX3200-C2 (2*256)

I am leaning toward the AMD system, as it will be about $50 cheaper and seems to offer pretty much the same level of performance, I believe. If anyone has any input into the whole issue of which system to go with, I would really apprecaite that as well.
Thanks in advance,
Carl

[This message has been edited by KrazyKarl (edited 01-15-2004).]

[+Erik.+]

what you have chosen seems ok and I am sure you will have success in running with that. I'd still favour the AMD at that speed rating as AMD still has the advantage below 3ghz.

All I would stress, and I appreciate a tight budget, but saving 10 or 15 $ here and there will possibly only cause disappointment and more money being spent on the same stuff in the future. I've been a victim of this time over.

For example, things like your case and PSU you really need to check out and ask questions from the place you buy it. How quiet is it more importantly, some cases amplify the noise levels while others can really dampen it. Same for the PSU, check out the fan in the PSU, is it quiet or does it sound like a plane taking off?

I can vouch for the fx 5200 being suitable for DAW and games and if you have no interest in overclocking the card get the fanless version. You'll have trouble running something like Silent Hill 3 on 1024x768, but running the latest games in 800x600 still offers a great picture and good speed, and all my older games (pre 2003) run great in 1024x768. If you can, get the card with the dual monitors in case you ever get a 2nd monitor.

Nforce 2 and audiophile should be fine and I am sure the CDRW will be just fine for what you need. Always burn at lower speeds for audio anyway, if its serious. I have a 40x drive but rarely burn above 24 or 32x.

I guess the p4 might turn out a bit faster with the faster ram but the price will be a lot more.

Anyway, i am running a similar system with ax 2100XP AMD, 512mb ram and 3x120gb hard discs and its sound. I am very happy with it since i've got everyting worked out and working properly now.

[This message has been edited by +Erik.+ (edited 01-16-2004).]

[KrazyKarl]

Erik-
thanks so much for you reply. I have decided to go with the AMD system and I am going to invest in a high quality power supply, Antec TruePower 430W, as I got a deal on my video card. as far as the case I don't even own good microphone or preamp yet and am mostly going to record guitar from the line out on my amp and multitrack softsynths and stuff like that so noise is not too much of a concern right now.
Thanks again for your advice, hopefully everything will work out for me eh?
-Carl

[+Erik.+]

its not so much that the noise of the pc comes through on the recording as much as it might drive you crazy listening to a noisy machine all day. And if you like to mix at night and don't want to wake the neighbours you'll end up shoving a duvet over the case http://www.audioforums.com/forums/biggrin.gif

if you want to record your guitar i suggest you get a low latency card quick smart as this will enable you to record and play your guitar using live vst effects, and you need low latency for that. If you are happy with just using your hardware effects then do so.

[KrazyKarl]

thank you Erik for your advice :) I will def. be getting a pro quality low-latency card/IF as my first computer upgrade. For now though I will just use the SoundStorm, I hear it is pretty good. I ordered the AMD system today after talking to several people on the net and on the phone, so in a few weeks I will be up and recording! see ya'll around, I'm sure I will come back to learn more about this whole recording thing :)
-Carl