Budget PC input needed

[bradul]

I am surprising my brother with a computer upgrade and I would like to stay around $400, and less is always better. The parts that I am interested in purchasing are a DVD drive (non writeable), hard drive, RAM, motherboard, CPU and seperate graphics card.

I do not know what would be best, AMD XP, Sempron, Celeron......

I have been looking on Newegg and have put together a few options but not quite sure the best places to spend the money. One possibility was this configuration:

Asus 16X DVD-ROM Drive, Model DVD-E616P1, Retail
Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only
Kingston ValueRAM Dual Kits 184 Pin 512MB(256MBx2) DDR PC-3200
CHAINTECH "7NJL6" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard For AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ "Barton", 333MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
AOpen nVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 Video Card, 128MB DDR, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "FX5500-DV128" -RETAIL

totals $390 before shipping

I am attempting to get something that will give decent bang for the buck and have the longest life.

Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

You're definitely on the right track with AMD. Value and performance.

If you give individual component prices that might help as well - there might be a Hot Deals lurker with a line on some bottom-line prices.

Edit - Oh, and welcome to Anandtech. Wish I had a brother like you.

- M4H

 

[SneakyStuff]

Don't get a 256MB x 2 kit, get one 512 stick, you'll have more room to upgrade later if you get a 512 stick. And get the evga 5500, not the AOPEN, because the AOPEN model uses a 64 bit memory interface, whereas the evga uses a 128 bit.

 

[Harvey]

Everyone needs a brother like you. :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

For info on Athlon XP's vs. Semprons, check the Sempron article on the home page. On page 2, according to Derek Wilson (the author), the low end of the Socket A Sempron line is not a good deal because they are just rebadged T'breds.

If the familiar rectangular shape of the core looks a little too familiar, that's probably for very good reason. The K7 Sempron is actually a 166MHz FSB 256KB Thoroughbred-B core.

In the conclusion, he says:

For now, the Sempron 2800+ is not a choice that we recommend anyone to make while the Tbred AXP 2600+ is available.

The numbers on Pricewatch.com's CPU section confirm this. The lowest listed price for an XP2800+ (2.083 GHz, 333 MHz FSB) is $75, and only $80 for a Barton core with 512 MB cache (others unspecified), while the price for a Sempron 2800+ (2.0GHz, 333 FSB, 256K cache) is $98. They're both good CPU's, but there's no point in paying more for essentially the same or less hardware.

Depending on how much time you have, and whether there's a Fry's Electronics near you, they often offer deals on 2800+ CPU's with one of several ECS motherboards for about the going price of the chip. One of the boards they offer, the N2U400-A, uses the nVIDIA nForce2 Ultra400 chipset. I've seen these boards. They may not be a choice for overclocking, but as good, reasonably full featured boards, they'll do quite well. Since they're essentially free, you can always go for a better board, later.

NOTE: Unless the ad specifically names the nVidia board, you have to call Fry's to confirm which board they are offering with any given special. Their rotation also includes a VIA chipset board (not bad, but only AGP4, not as nice as the nVidia board) and an SiS board that (IMHO) could be overpriced when it's free.

Likewise, check Fry's and the weekly specials from the Office stores (OD, OM, Staples, Circuit City, Best Buy, etc.). The specials on RAM and hard drives vary from week to week, but lately, I've seen 80 GB WD and Maxtor drives for around $40 after rebate. At that price, you can consider doing him (or yourself) a favor, and buy two drives, one for Ghosting, and a moble rack. There simply is NO better security than being able to go back to your last good Ghost of your drive.

 

[footbal07]

if you are looking to overclock i would go with the shuttle an35n, and a mobile barton 2200+ or 2400+. i would also recomend getting one 512 of pc3200 to free up your dimms.

 

[bradul]

After further research I am closer to ordering. The current possible components are:

Western Digital 80GB WD800JBRTL UATA100 8MB Buffer - Retail Hard Drive Kit.
$34.99
Kingston 512MB PC3200 400MHz 64x64 DDR 184Pin - Model KVR400X64C3A/512
$59.99
Asus 16X DVD-ROM Drive, Model DVD-E616P1, Retail
$28.50
AMD Athlon XP 2600+ "Barton", 333MHz FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
$94.00
ROSEWILL RADEON 9600 Video Card, 128MB DDR, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "RW9600-128D" -RETAIL
$78.00
Shuttle "AN35N-Ultra" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL
$55.00
Logitech Z640 5.1 Speakers -RETAIL
$39.94

Total without shipping
$390.42

I am not positive still about the video card or motherboard. There are so many nForce boards to chose from (ultra, MCP.......) and I am not sure what the current bang for the buck is in video crads not exceeding $100.

Any additional assistance is greatly welcomed and thanks already for the input.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

As long as you're positive that's a 128-bit 9600, that's a good buy. The AN35N-Ultra is an awesome NF2 board - I use it myself and it clocks like crazy.

My opinion? You're set.

- M4H

 

[bradul]

According to the Rosewill website it is 128 bit. In regard to the motherboard would spending a little bit more be worth my while. About $30 more steps me up to:

ASUS "A7N8X-E Deluxe" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL

Soltek "SL-75FRN2-RL" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL

EPoX "EP-8RDA3+" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU -RETAIL

Will the added investment pay off now and or farther down the road?

Sorry for all the questions just trying to get things right.

 

[cmdrmoocow]

Where are you getting those prices from? Newegg lists them for more...

 

[bradul]

The prices are from various sources, the Newegg prices are only for the motherboards, video card and dvd-rom.