Budget $1500, For an All-purpose rig including a 17" LCD for college

[Lyfer]

Friend needs a new rig, the old XP2200 I built two years ago is aging and he wants a rig that can handle some "mild" gaming, and for school work.

Budget of $1500 including a 17" LCD. Here's what I've got on my list far: Athlon 64 3200 Skt 754 (dont care for DC RAM), prolly 6600gt AGP video card, 1gb of mushkin/corsair value-ram, Dell branded or Samsung 17inch LCD, and NEC 3500A dvd burner. The case will more than likely be an Antec sonata with the Truepower 380w.


I plan to most of the parts from newegg/zipzoomfly and dell.com for the LCD.


All recommendations welcomed😀.


Thanx!

Update, this is what I have so far: (please critque)

Chenming black midtower case
Antec TruePower 430w
Chaintech VNF3-250 value
Athlon 64 3400 RETAIL (socket 754)
Corsair 1gb value ram
Seagate 120gb SATAII
NEC 3500A DVD burner
sony 3.5" floppy
Creative Labs SB Audigy 2 OEM
XFX Geforce 6600GT AGP
Logitech X-530 5.1 speakers
MS keyboard/optical mice combo

My total so far is just slightly over $1.1k. So I have about a $400 difference for the LCD. The seagate SATAII should work fine with my board right? BTW this is a hecka lot of pc for the $$$.😀

 

[alm4rr]

check out this AT guide
http://www.anandtech.com/guide...c.aspx?i=2282&p=11

 

[jpeyton]

Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz Winchester Retail $190
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum $140
PDP 1GB XBL Dual Channel $230
Samsung 160GB 7200RPM 8MB HD $90
PNY 6800GT 256MB AGP $389
NEC ND3500A DVDRW $68
Antec Sonata/PSU $99
AG Neovo 17" LCD 16ms $284
Total: $1490

OR

Athlon 64 3400+ 2.4GHz Newcastle Retail $220
Chaintech VNF3-250 $70
Corsair Value Select 1GB (512MBx2) $160
Samsung 160GB 7200RPM 8MB HD $90
BFG 6800 OC $290
NEC ND3500A DVDRW $68
Antec Sonata/PSU $99
AG Neovo 17" LCD 16ms $284

Total: $1281

 

[Tab]

Or wait for Nforce 4 boards...

 

[RedShirt]

I remember when $1500 was a "Budget" computer. Now it can get you a screaming top of the line computer.

 

[Lyfer]

Does the DFI lanparty board offer any improvements over the $72 chaintech board? The DFI is only $99.

 

[jpeyton]

Originally posted by: Lyfer
Does the DFI lanparty board offer any improvements over the $72 chaintech board? The DFI is only $99.

It overclocks like a beast compared to all other S754 boards. And it uses the 250Gb chipset vs. the vanilla 250; that means it has Nvidia Gigabit Internet and Hardware Firewall built-in.

 

[w00t]

dont get the lcd and get better parts
also get a socket 939 processor

and if u want wait for the new nf4 boards to come out and get a pci express card when the prices come down they are real high right now other than that nice pc. maybe if u dont get lcd u can get a better video card
and another Seagate 120gb SATAII on raid 0 just a thought


lol edited twice

the DFI-nf3 250 is the best nforce 3 board out for overclocking see the review at site

 

[Lyfer]

No overclocking will be done, this rig will run entirely at stock speed. Stability and reliability are key. Not really interested in Socket 939 cpu's because DC doesn't offer a significant performance boost that is worth the extra $$$$. THe A64 2.4ghz at $220 retail is a darn good deal, thats why I decided to go with it.