1200 to build a computer, and here's what i have!!

[h22prelude310]

Case: ?!?!?!
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 / 2.53GHz Northwood 512K Socket 478 Processor 533MHz Processor Bus ($190)
Motherboard:?!?!
RAM: 512mb Mushkin PC 2700
CPU Fan: ?!?!
Video Card: ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 128mb DDR DVI/TV-outt AGP 275/550MHz ($125)
Hard Drive: 80GB Western Digital ($85)
Floppy Drive: Sony 1.44MB ($7.50)
DVD Drive: Pioneer Internal ATAPI 16X DVD-ROM ($63)
CD-RW: Plextor 48X24X48 ($95)
Power Supply: Enermax 350W ($63)
Monitor: ?!?!
Sound Card:?!?!?
Total so far is: $817.50, that means I have about 400 bux left for the rest of the stuff...

 

[SleepyGreggy]

Switch to Lite-On components and instead of 125$ for a 9000Pro, the money u save invest into a 9500Pro. Difference like day and night.

 

[Mavrick007]

What is the purpose for the machine?

 

[BaboonGuy]

here are some comments i had on what i felt i could comment on, hope it helps

case: if you want something cheap go with an evercase for around $20. i use one and they are awesome..for something a little more fancy go with the $50 lianli deal i saw in the hot deals forum recently

cpu: personally i would go the amd route because its just so much cheaper than intel stuff. buy a good stepping 1700+ tbred B for around $60 and you can overclock that baby to 2700+ performance, much faster than a 2.53 ghz pentium 4

motherboard: well if you go with amd then most definetly buy an nforce2 mobo, either an epox or an asus

ram: again, if you go the amd route buy two sticks (dual channel memory performance rocks on nforce2's) of either 256 or 512 mb ram. buy either corsair twinx or kingston hyperx (highly overclockable stuff)

video card: definetly do not buy the 9000 pro, but rather get a 9100 pro (8500 with a new name). they outperform the 9000s and are cheap. also, you probably dont need to spend for the 128 mb of ram as 64 mb of ram will do just fine especially since its a low end card. save your money and upgrade later to a 9700 when they get lowered in price

hard drive: great choice, but make sure you get the special edition version with 8mb cache. stellar performance

dvd + cd-rw drive: buy lite-ons for your dvd and cd-rw drives, they are top of the line stuff and will save you a good amount of money

monitor: i was just reading about the samsung 955df 19" monitor and it looks really great

sound card: i use a turtle beach santa cruz with my logitech z-640s and all i have to say is that the sound is amazing. the versatility of the card is great as well as i can switch very easily from using my 5.1 speaker setup to my headphone/microphone setup without having to go down around the back of the computer

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: BaboonGuy
here are some comments i had on what i felt i could comment on, hope it helps

case: if you want something cheap go with an evercase for around $20. i use one and they are awesome..for something a little more fancy go with the $50 lianli deal i saw in the hot deals forum recently

cpu: personally i would go the amd route because its just so much cheaper than intel stuff. buy a good stepping 1700+ tbred B for around $60 and you can overclock that baby to 2700+ performance, much faster than a 2.53 ghz pentium 4

motherboard: well if you go with amd then most definetly buy an nforce2 mobo, either an epox or an asus

ram: again, if you go the amd route buy two sticks (dual channel memory performance rocks on nforce2's) of either 256 or 512 mb ram. buy either corsair twinx or kingston hyperx (highly overclockable stuff)

video card: definetly do not buy the 9000 pro, but rather get a 9100 pro (8500 with a new name). they outperform the 9000s and are cheap. also, you probably dont need to spend for the 128 mb of ram as 64 mb of ram will do just fine especially since its a low end card. save your money and upgrade later to a 9700 when they get lowered in price

hard drive: great choice, but make sure you get the special edition version with 8mb cache. stellar performance

dvd + cd-rw drive: buy lite-ons for your dvd and cd-rw drives, they are top of the line stuff and will save you a good amount of money

monitor: i was just reading about the samsung 955df 19" monitor and it looks really great

sound card: i use a turtle beach santa cruz with my logitech z-640s and all i have to say is that the sound is amazing. the versatility of the card is great as well as i can switch very easily from using my 5.1 speaker setup to my headphone/microphone setup without having to go down around the back of the computer

mushkin is very good quality RAM i would recommend it. i have it and i have no regrets. make sure to get the 2 2 2 latency 2700.

 

[phatj]

I love posts like these :heart: Here's what i would do :
Case: Antec SLK3700AMB w? 350 antec ps - $72
CPU: 2.53 P4 - $180
Motherboard: Gigabyte 8SQ800 - $100
RAM: 2x512mb Samsung pc3200 - $140
VIdeo: ATI Radeon 9500 Pro - $175
Hard Drive: Western Digital 80GB 8mb Cache - $95
DVD: Samsung 16x - $35
CD-RW: 48x16x48 8mb buffer - $47
Power Supply: Included with case
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy - $67
Monitor: Samsung 19" CRT (955DF dynaflat .20mm pitch) - $200

That totals... $1111 !! I think you would be more than happy with this system. The antec SLK3700AMB is a sweet case (cool and quiet, plus room for 120mm fans), The 8SQ800 is a sweeeet motherboard for the P4 - plus with the 2 chips of 512mb pc3200... its gonna be blazing (Dual channel ddr on that mobo). You dont really need mushkin... your system would be so good that you dont really need overclockers memory (Samsung memory is wonderful for when you are not oc'ing). Radeon 9500 pro - awesome video with 8x agp. Sweet 8mb cache hdd, excellent sound card --
And the monitor is really awesome, great picture on that thing (its remarkable). Or if you want a DVI 19" crt... go with the Samsung 152T its only $100 more and that vid card supports DVI. Hope this kinda helped

 

[Ionizer86]

I've read that for lower capacity drives, Maxtor 8mb drives do better for performance.
Every week, there's like $20 to $30 after MIR burners that go at like 48x or 52x.
I've seen a $10 after price match and rebate Turtle Beach sound card.
Athlon XP2100+ chips are cheap: around $80 to $90. If you get a Tbred-B core, you can overclock to over 3000+.
If AMD, nForce 2 boards are the way to go.

 

[SUOrangeman]

Tweak to taste

I think I've got everything but the display. Considering that I've left room for $100, you can back off the RAM (mebbe 1GB instead of 2GB) and get a decent monitor. Back off of the 200GB drive and get a burner, and you should still easily stay under $1200.

-SUO

BTW, I did recently built the above system as configured.

 

[h22prelude310]

Tweak to taste

I think I've got everything but the display. Considering that I've left room for $100, you can back off the RAM (mebbe 1GB instead of 2GB) and get a decent monitor. Back off of the 200GB drive and get a burner, and you should still easily stay under $1200.

-SUO

BTW, I did recently built the above system as configured.

THANK YOU SOOO MUCH!!!

 

[SUOrangeman]

I forgot to mention, ...

If you are going with a smaller ATA-100 hard drive, you may not need the Promise card at all. Chop another $30 or so there.

-SUO

 

[Anubis]

Case: Antec SLK3700AMB w? 350 antec ps - $72
CPU: MD ATHLON XP 2500 "Barton" 333 - $175
Motherboard: Epox EP-8RDA+ - 101$
RAM: 2x CRUCIAL MICRON 256MB PC 2700 DDR RAM - $80VIdeo: ATI Radeon 9500 Pro - $175
Hard Drive: Western Digital 80GB 8mb Cache - $95
DVD: Samsung 16x - $35
CD-RW: 48x16x48 8mb buffer - $47
Power Supply: Included with case
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy - $67
Monitor: Samsung 19" CRT (955DF dynaflat .20mm pitch) - $200


Thats $1047. and itll be better then that P4. you really dont need 1 gig or ram. 512 will be just fine. other then that it looks sweet

 

[Sid59]

gah .. ditch the 9000 video card for a 9500 PRO
.. if you don't heed the advice on the liteon's .. ditch the pioneer and get a toshiba drive. I'm pretty fond of Plextor drives.

 

[Zugzwang152]

pioneers do make some damn spiffy slot-load drives though. only reason i stick with em.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: Zugzwang152
pioneers do make some damn spiffy slot-load drives though. only reason i stick with em.

yea i have one also its SWEET

and get teh LITEONS the plextors cost to much and offer NO advantage over teh Liteons

 

[optimistic]

Here's what Sharky Extreme did with their $1000

Maybe you can up the CPU and HDD with the other $200.

 

[mrman3k]

Get the Antec Lanboy case, a fairly good deal IMO. Plus you get a window.

I like the idea of getting a 2500+ Barton and an A7N8X Deluxe mobo which you can use with integrated sound. For now, you can stick with the retail cooler, and later get a good cooler like the Swiftech MCX462+.

 

[qquizz]

you can compare to my order so far:


Item List
MB NFORCE2 A7N8X DELUXE ASUS RTL (Qty=1,Price=142.99)
DDRAM 256MB 32MX8 PC-3200C2 CORSAIR X (Qty=2,Price=150.00)
HD 40GB|WD 7200RPM 8MB CACHE WD400JB% (Qty=1,Price=77.00)
CPU AMD|1700+ ATHLONXP TBRED RT (Qty=1,Price=61.00)
CDRW 52x24x52|LITE ON LTR52246 BLK% (Qty=1,Price=50.00)

Subtotal:480.99
TAX:.00
Shipping and Handling Charge**:6.00
Total:486.99

 

[NoSpeed]

Based on this recent review here, I would give serious consideration to the ABIT BH7 mobo. Anand rates it tops for overclocking and you should be able to pick one up for under $100 US.