Need the tech nerd help

[String7th]

I went computer part shopping with a computer buddy of mine and was tought the basics of building your own computer. I wanted to get other tech-superior opinions. Not really needing, "you need more ram" but more of opinions like, "that CPU will not fit the motherboard"

A: 4-U server case. 400watt power supply.
B: ECS-brand AMD motherboard capable of 3 pci slots, plus 1 pci-express, 4 Ram slots up to 32 gigs.
C: 4, 1gig sticks of ram. They sell in pairs and I'd rather have 4 gigs than 2.
D: AMD Phenom cpu, tripple core, 2.3 ghz
E: cheap dual out video card
F: cheap Firewire PCI board, firewire only instead of USB/FW (Iremember Brandon's post about his chipset thing.
G: Internal greenpower 250gig HardDrive, plus 400gig external HD
H: Windows XP

My main concern is that something may be missing. I've never build a computer before and I may be putting this all together and through multiple failures, someone says, "well this part here will never work with that there."
Anyone who has built computers before, please let me know if in theory, this set up will be everything I need.

[brandondrury]

I read your post, but I'll list all the necessary computer junk just because my brain works better this way.

motherboard
cpu
ram
video card
hard drives
dvd-rw
power supply
case
operating system

Make sure to get the fastest bus speed you can afford on the motherboard and make sure all components can support that bus speed (mainly RAM).

Obviously make sure your CPU and motherboard are compatible.

Make sure you get a heatsink with the case. Pay attention to the noise ratings for all fans. There is a dramatic amount of different from fan to fan and heatsink to heatsink.

Brandon

[BillyShears]

I reckon you should add a second internal hard drive for recording.

[String7th]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

Make sure to get the fastest bus speed you can afford on the motherboard and make sure all components can support that bus speed (mainly RAM).

Brandon

Is there another term for Bus speed? I'm seeing "Support transfer rate of 2000/1600/1200/800/400 mega-transfers per second" Is that the same thing? Also seeing "2600MHz Hyper Transport".
And the memory is showing DDR2 PC2-6400 as an example. What should match?

[brandondrury]

The bus speed is sometimes called "FSB" which stands for Front Side Bus.

I'm seeing "Support transfer rate of 2000/1600/1200/800/400 mega-transfers per second" Is that the same thing?

That sounds like it should be it.

Also seeing "2600MHz Hyper Transport".

That must be something new. I'm not familiar with it.

[String7th]

Under the motherboard specs, it says FSB is 2600MHz Hyper Transport(5200 MT/s).
On the Ram, it says the speed is DDR2 533 (PC2 4200)

Why must it throw all these numbers at me?
Also, is it better performance to have 4 sticks of 1gig or 2 sticks of 2gig?

[brandondrury]

Under the motherboard specs, it says FSB is 2600MHz Hyper Transport(5200 MT/s).
On the Ram, it says the speed is DDR2 533 (PC2 4200)

Send me a link. I'll figure this bullshit out for you.

Why must it throw all these numbers at me?

Mostly for their own amusement! (And mine....even though I've been duped into helping!!)

Also, is it better performance to have 4 sticks of 1gig or 2 sticks of 2gig?

I don't think it matters. I just get whatever is the better deal.

[String7th]

Motherboard
Ram
Not exactly what I'm planning to get but I just wanted to know what all these numbers mean. I understand making sure the motherboard and Ram supports the processor speed, but it's not in english.

[BillyShears]

Just to give you a different way of going about this................

If you don't think you are going to work out the technical details before you go and start buying parts, you might want to try this.

Start with the processor and motherboard combination. Visit a few different forums (including the Cubase one) and see what most people agree is a good match. Everyone has different opinions but there are always a few motherboard and cpu combinations that seem to be regarded as a good choice. Don't assume you must have a quad core as apposed to a dual core - does the software you are going to use support it?

Once you know what motherboard to get go to the manufacturers website and it will list the types and brands of RAM that they recommend you use. That way you can still make a good choice without knowing what every tech spec means.

[brandondrury]

The motherboard specs say "Memory Standard - DDR2 1066" but the RAM you've selected is only DDR2 533. So I would pay a little extra to get the DDR 1066 (PC2 8500)stuff like here.

Start with the processor and motherboard combination.

Just remember to meet the chipset requirements of your audio interface.

It appears the names are changing or my memory is going to hell. You want to match the FSB (Front Side Bus) setting on the motherboard with the Hypertransport setting on the processor. Your motherboard has 2600MHz Hyper Transport (5200 MT/s) so you want a processor that will run at at that same speed.

Note: This is just to maximize performance and keep costs low. If you snagged a CPU with a 2000Mhz Hyper Transport, it wouldn't hurt anything, you just aren't maximizing your system. Likewise, a 4000Mhz Hyper Transport would go wasted. This is probably a fairly subtle thing but when you get a system where all specs are maxed out the benefits are usually well worth it.