What parts for a W3V Barebone?

Maybe somebody can help me with this...

I'm buying the Asus W3V barebone system here in Japan and am having a tough time decided what components to pick up. I started out with wanting a super simple used system but being the techno whore I am gradually made it to this level
I've been doing a lot of reading but can't really find a definitive answer for what I'm looking at...

Here's what I'm thinking,

Pentium M 740 or 750 ...of course the 750 is faster but does it run hotter, not as stable etc... Is it worth the extra $50?

Hitachi 5k100 or 7k100 ...does the 7k100 run hot..eat up piles of battery power? And if I go with the 5k100 should I stick with the ATA version or spend the little extra and pick up the SATA? What's the real world performance like between the two? I'm thinking of the 80 gb version in all cases.

Finally...what kind of RAM should I be looking at? It will probably be DDRII 4200, but I have no idea what name etc... I've been building desktop systems for a couple of years but notebooks are a completely new for me. I'm thinking that some sort of value RAM will probably do it but if anyone has suggestions or experience please let me know.

This notebook will be used mainly for work...internet, word processing, photo shop, light gaming... I already have a pretty stacked desktop for the FPS games so that's not a major concern.

Any opinions?

Thanks.

 

if the 750 does run hotter and stable as you say then the 740 would be a better choice the 1.73 and 1.86ghz difference isnt really much of a difference.

Ram wise you can probably stick with value ram such as kingston or corsair. Unless you need some of their special ram which is about 3x as much lol.

Harddrive i dont know about your specific harddrives but i have heard 7200 rpm ones run a lot hotter and noisier compare to 5400 rpm drives.

 

I was one of the first people to adopt 7200rpm drives more than two years ago.... I love them to death and yet I realize they don't belong everywhere... I've used them in everything from an M5 up to a W1...... and the honestly belong in a 15" or larger system....... Not because of the screen size, but because the chassis' are larger and have more room to absorb/remove the heat. You can put one in the W3v and it's going to work great, but some people like to complain and say the stock 5400rpm hitachi drive is "hot" (I've always said warm at best)... but 7200rpm will multiply that almost two fold.

The difference in the 1.73 and 1.86ghz pentium-m is minimal... both in the heat it produces and the battery life you'll get........ and in the performance they're capable of and the price you'll pay. Get what you want... neither are going to be "unstable".

 

Thanks for the info guys...I think I'll stick with the 5400 rpm Hitachi and maybe Pentium M 740 depending on what the money situation looks like.

I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Well, she's been up and running for over a week now and things are sweet. The 5400 RPM Hitachi and Pen M 750 fly...no serious heat issues either. The only problem came from my own stupidity, as I didn't realize there was a build guide taped to the shipping box until after I struggled putting it together...I had no idea how to lift up the bloody keyboard!!! Anyways, all the hype about the W3V is true. It's a nice little notebook that should last the test of time.

I love the SDIF...hooked up my Pioneer DIR2000C surround sound phones and watched a DVD in Dolby Digital. Very cool....

:asus: