Author Topic: Nice new or upgrade bundle (Read 4708 times)

Tony · « **on:** July 25, 2003, 13:07 »

Hi there,

I friend of mine had a Tiny PC that went walkabout [a blessing really

] it was based on a Pentium 3 450Mhz CPU with 64MB of PC100 memory.

Anyway I'm popping a Novatech Motherboard Bundle into a new Midi ATX case, and also adding a 52x24x52 CD-RW drive.

The Mobo is based on a Via Appollo KT400 chipset and comes complete with a AMD XP2400+ CPU, and a 512MB DDR PC2700 333Mhz memory moduale installed. A nice Mobo bundle, assembled and tested prior to despatch, worth a look at £148 http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/specpage.html?MBB-KT424B

They had 15 in stock Thursday morning, at Midnight they had 12 left so I ordered one. Today 2.00pm Friday they have only 4 left, so fill your wellies quick.

Loaded with W2K Pro.........mmmmmmmmmmmmmm .........lovely

Tony · « **Reply #1 on:** July 25, 2003, 16:09 »

Well it's 4 o'clock and they are all gone, better luck next time.

Sandra · « **Reply #2 on:** July 25, 2003, 16:16 »

It looked ok Tony,any idea whos motherborad they use as I cant see them making their own from scratch?

Tony · « **Reply #3 on:** July 25, 2003, 17:11 »

Quote from: Sandra on July 25, 2003, 16:16

It looked ok Tony,any idea whos motherborad they use as I cant see them making their own from scratch?

I don't have a clue Sandra, but I reckon they must be alright as they seem to shift alot. Just been looking at their custom built configerator, I notice the AMD choice starts at XP2600+, and there are two Mobo choices an Abit and a MicroStar board. Maybe Microstar make them, but I'm only guessing. I have a MicroStar in my PC I built last September, might be able to spot some build simularities?

Simon · « **Reply #4 on:** July 27, 2003, 15:00 »

Using one of those bundles, I'm considering building another PC, for possible re-sale, or maybe for a friend, at cost. I'm just doing it for fun really, and for the experience. I may even keep it a while to do some experiments on, so I can re-format at will without the hassle of protecting data.

What do you think of this potential shopping basket? This is for a basic home machine. Nothing too fancy.

Oh, and apart from the monitor and speakers, is anything missing?

Sandra · « **Reply #5 on:** July 27, 2003, 15:12 »

Probably ok Simon,why a 56K PCI modem though as if you keep it yourself you dont need it and if you sell it on they may not need it either ?
As its a 133 board wouldnt you be better getting a 133 hard drive to optimise it ?
Has that board got onboard LAN,if not stick an ethernet card in it in place of the modem and network it to your other PC and have a play around with that,that way if you want to clear yours up by wiping it at anytime you have another working pc to play with and get info on :doggie:

Simon · « **Reply #6 on:** July 27, 2003, 15:22 »

Good point about the hard drive, Sandra. My intention would be to sell the PC on, rather than keeping it myself, although, as I said, it would be handy to have a play about first, without worrying about losing data.

Bearing the saleability aspect in mind, I would not expect most people would need networking facilities, but that could obviously be added afterwards. The 56K modem is really a standard piece of kit that most people would need. Even having BB, I still sometimes use mine if Pipex goes down. Again, if a buyer wanted broadband, they could upgrade it themselves.

Tony · « **Reply #7 on:** July 29, 2003, 21:45 »

Well the components came yesterday afternoon, so I had it built after tea. The motherboard is made by Matsonic !!!! Chinese naturally. But better than paying Compaq prices for Chinese gear with a Compaq logo on it, or is it

First thing I noticed was a big sticker over the orange 8xAGP slot. Do not install 3.3v AGP4X VGA card because it may course the malfunction [honest chinese translation] I'm thinking, ummmmm that no name TNT 16MB AGP card I dug out of my Mates Tiny lump of crap, will it work on this board. It worked OK in the AGP slot of my MSI KT333 MOBO, but low and behold wonder no more, the thing wont fit the slot. Anyway to test it out I popped in one of my Matrox dual head PCI cards, no probs. Then on the web and ordered a Radeon 7500 64MB from Dabs, should arrive tommorrow.

Next prob finding drivers for the external modem my Mate brought minus driver CD. Found some on the web using my own PC popped em on a floppy and tried em in the new PC. Guess what, the floppy is knackered, swop this swop that, yep it's knacked. I phoned my mate up, did you know your floppy drive is knackered....what's a floppy drive.....right he doesn't need one of those then. Anyway he has a nice new 52x24x52 CD-RW. Finally get the right driver at the second attempt for the modem.

Testing the USB ports, one on the case front works and one doesn't, funny that I noticed a connector half on half off as I was assembling the board. Talking of case quality Novatechs budget Midi ATX offering with 2 front USB and a 350 watt PSU [what attracted me in the first place] cost £29 odd. I bet this chinese firm also make razor blades, using the same gauge steel

And screws to assembale !!! 32 bloody things by the time you have fit every thing. So I'm sticking to my Suntek [German built] cases in future, OK they are £46 but you only have two screws to screw in during the complete assembly of the PC...oh and one nurled screw if you want to use it.

So we have a tinny case,incompatible graphics card, knacked floppy, and an iffy USB port, not the end of the world is it.

But it gets worst, I check the CPU temp and it is running at 66 Deg C, my AMDXP2000+ plus runs at 44 Deg C. I feel the heatsink, not hot at all, so on the phone to Novatech.

Nice guy, reckons if I'm happy to fit another heatsink and fan it should be OK. So ones in the post tonight first class delivery, well I'm waiting for the Radeaon from Dabsso no big deal. And if it still runs hot, Novatech will deliver an new bundle the next day. anybody tried making phone contact with Dabs ? it's nigh impossible...see their E-Traders... not phone traders

So half my probs come from trying to re use second hand parts, not recomended if the source is unkown. And whilst I would not buy another cheap case thats me, the jury is still out regarding Novatech Mobo Bundles, I'll keep you posted.

Oh an observation, on my MSI Mobo the CPU temp cut out range is ajustable in 5 deg increments from 70C. upto 95C. On this Matsonic Mobo same 5 degree increments, but the range is 60.C upto 70.C.......funny old world. The Mobo looks fine, and I have run the PC all day, temp sticking at 66.C with a 4 deg C stop loss protecting it

Infact I'm connected to PC-Pals with it right now, so it might turn out fine after all

Like Simon says..it's fun building PC's

Tony

Sandra · « **Reply #8 on:** July 29, 2003, 22:11 »

Did the bundle include one of those things that guys dont/cant read Tony ( a manual,shouldnt they be called womanual as its only women that seem to read them) ?
If so I think its not very good as the specs on the website dont say which voltage of AGP card to use :doggie:

Incidentally Tony I was in Emit today and was debating whether to buy a P4 1.7 bare bones pc at £120.
It had a really nice case with front usb and audio and had a MSI 6534 v1 mobo which should take a 2.6 cpu at a later date once they have dropped to a more sensible price after the new Intel chips come on sale later in the year

Simon · « **Reply #9 on:** July 29, 2003, 22:33 »

Thanks for that report Tony. Sorry to hear you've had problems. Not problems, challenges, which is all part of the fun! I suppose sometimes, things can be just too cheap. $:-\$

Tony · « **Reply #10 on:** July 30, 2003, 00:06 »

Quote from: Sandra on July 29, 2003, 22:11

Did the bundle include one of those things that guys dont/cant read Tony ( a manual,shouldnt they be called womanual as its only women that seem to read them) ?
If so I think its not very good as the specs on the website dont say which voltage of AGP card to use :doggie:

Incidentally Tony I was in Emit today and was debating whether to buy a P4 1.7 bare bones pc at £120.
It had a really nice case with front usb and audio and had a MSI 6534 v1 mobo which should take a 2.6 cpu at a later date once they have dropped to a more sensible price after the new Intel chips come on sale later in the year

:heehee: course there's a manual and a couple of cables, and a CD, could'nt tell you how informative it is though, maybe later when I've time to read it

Took some finding that MSI 6534, but there it was in the archives

though I suppose it would be considered cutting edge in Padhiam.

having said that £120 in a case, it's not bad.

Maybe I was being a bit harsh regards the case, I suppose it's par for the course in the budget department, just I've been spoilt with my Suntek http://www.suntek.co.uk/start.html I've a TH-651 just look under functions, and click on the individual, pictures for enlarged pictures of the layouts.

In fact the Yanks are thinking of putting engines in em and running em in Bagdad instead of Humvee's

Simon,

As they say, it's all 'Grist to the Mill' I've had plenty brand name gear that has fallen over at the starting post. But I think I'll fit my own CPU heat sink and fan in future, and give that poor Chinese bloke a rest.

I thought Simon will be interested in how it's panning out with the kit, by the way the Novatech CD-RW was a Aopen branded writer.

Tony

Simon · « **Reply #11 on:** July 30, 2003, 09:24 »

Thanks Tony, keep us posted!

Simon · « **Reply #12 on:** July 30, 2003, 10:50 »

This looks quite a nice case, Tony, and not a bad price:

http://www.redstore.com/fx/techinfo.php?itm_code=QTECAS009

Tony · « **Reply #13 on:** July 30, 2003, 22:16 »

Yes Simon,

that case looks OK, but don't they all untill you feel the quality, mind you even if it's the same as the Novatech one quality wise, it's cheaper

Ok you know this already Simon, as week lmailed each other earlier, so this is for the benifit of the board.

About NovaTech bundles, remember the nice guy said, the replacement heat sink and fan will be with you tomorrow ........ my a*se it was. Where as Dabs.com, who incidentaly did not promise next day delivery , did deliver it next day, you can see what's coming I'll bet >

Anyway as I was waiting for the non existent delivery, I thought I would look at the USB front port problem, so I swopped the two front USB port cables around on the MoBo and the working /not working ports changed over. That means it is a problem with the Mobo, not the ports or their cabling,

That's it, whether the heatsink and fan turns up tomorrow, Novatech are getting that bundel back. I've pi**ed about with that board for two days now, and had to spend £41 on a graphics card I did not think I needed, so Novatech can credit my card for the bundle and arrange to pick it up.

And I will buy this board http://www.asrock.com/product/product_k7vt2.htm and an AMD XP2000+ 512MB 333Mhz crucial memory heatsink and fan http://www.thermaltake.com/products/heatsink/v10.htm and yes a new floppy drive from Dabs and I know I'll get it Friday morning before 10.00 am. It pans out the same price to the pound if you add the price of a floppy onto the Novatech cost. OK, a AMD XP 2000+ against 2400+ but all my mate does is surf the web, and his lad plas the odd game, so he will not notice the difference. Just lost confidence in Matsonic build quality, and unfortunately it has a knock on effect with Novathec in my eyes.

As you see I'm going to give another budget Mobo maker newcomer a go. But they are standing by their own brand name in the market place, so I expect better quality wise. OK, the board is a lower spec one than the Matsonic KT400 variant, but well up to the task in hand. Anyway I'm interested in comparing different motherboard maker packages.

As always I'll keep you posted,

Tony

Sandra · « **Reply #14 on:** July 30, 2003, 22:26 »

What price does it come to with that mobo and cpu Tony ?