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Building a New Computer: Last Minute Decisions!!!

E

Eddie33081

Senior member
Hey everyone,

I havent built a computer in about 7months and a friend of mine wants one built with a budget of $900 and I volunteered to help him out.

Now this guy is really into a clean style so I would be looking at a all black monitor (maybe lcd if budget allowed) a aluminum/silver and black case. And all the matching peripherals.

Now I have only dealt with AMD before so i wouldnt mind sticking with that but if there are some great deals on intel I could try building an intel system as well.

So If I could get a suggestions on the following:

Good stable motherboard
Well priced speedy cpu
At least 512mb of ram
DVD/ CDRW suggestion
Video Card (wont play too many games but need to keep it open)
HD (Good ammount of space to last him a while)
Case Suggestion
Monitor suggestion
A very good set of speakers for price (4.1's, 5.1's,6.1 etc)
All for 900-950$ with a good silver/black color scheme


THX

eddie
 
1. Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton" - $86.00
I chose this processor because these generally (with a good motherboard) can hit 11x200, which is Barton 3200+ speeds very easily. That saves you $300 or so over the official 3200+!
2. Asus A7N8X-X - $74.00
This is one of the best motherboards to get your processor to run at 11x200, very overclockable. Some people may ditch this model because it doesn't have Dual-Channel DDR but according to Anandtech the nForce2 400 doesn't perform too far behind the nForce2 Ultra 400. Making this an ideal budget gaming motherboard.
3. GEIL 512MB PC3200 Extreme Performance Heatspreader - $85
I have personally never used this memory but it has high ratings here on the forums. It is also PC3200 so it can run sync with the Barton "3200+" FSB.
4. ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB - $148
In my opinion this is the current best-bang-for-the-buck on GPUs on the market right now. Since it's GPU can typically hit at least 500Mhz on the core (if you are an overclocker) this is a very potent card for the price. It is also DX9.0 certified so that gives you a little future compatibility.
5. Maxtor DiamondMax 9 - 80GB 7200RPM - $83
I chose this drive because it's quiet, it's fast and it's relatively cheap for it's size. It also has an 8MB buffer and supports ATA133 (although ATA133 doesn't show much of a difference over ATA100).
6. Lite-On 48161H CDRW/DVD-ROM Combo Drive - $54.99
Lite-On is among the better optical drive manufacturers and a combo drive for this price isn't that bad. Lite-On also makes some of the quietest and fastest drives on the market.
7. Creative SoundBlaser Audigy ES - $43.00
This lower end Audigy will do just fine for gaming as it supports hardware processing of EAX. If you want to do some music listening you should consider an higher level Audigy.
8. ThermakTake Volcano 9 HSF - $21.99
This model has a massive heatsink and it's fan can adjust speeds depending on if you want your processor to stay cooler or have the fan run quieter.
9. Samsung Floppy Drive - $7.50
Floppy drives are still needed, even if they are getting outdated. They are useful for booting the computer into DOS, flashing the BIOS, etc.

Total: $603.48 w/o shipping

NOTE: I have intentionally left out the case so you can choose one based on your preferences for weight, size, style, etc. This is not a strict system build and you can feel free to trade out any parts you would want to for better/worse ones.

=======================================================================================================

For a case I would pick one of the Aluminum Chieftec cases (here) which are offered in many colors, including Silver and Black. They also have excellent layout for plenty of fans and airflow.

Based upon your budget I would look for a CRT monitor, such as this 19" Samsung monitor.

Hope this helps! 🙂
 
PorBleemo has excellent suggestions. But with your $300 extra budget I'd

Get either a 2nd 80 GB HDD or a 160 GB HDD. Possibly a RAID array.

I personally don't like the Creative Audigy suggestion, rather, I'd go higher on the mobo to Asus A7N8X Deluxe for $123. It has great onboard sound.

The rest can be used for a nice set of speakers.
 
Cool. Thanks alot PorBleemo for your suggestion. I appreciate it. I will be putting it together myself and I am up to date on how to overclock as I am on a 2100+tbred at 2200mhz myself at home. I just havent been keeping up to date on whats a good deal these days for the money and I appreciate your help. I believe I may go with your exact setup possibly getting the onboard sound of an nforce2 board. Do you guys think that barton will run 100% stable at a good overclock? I am not making it for myself and I would hate for the thing to crash on the person im making it for. Also as far as fans I am looking into getting a hsf that is very quiet but will do the job perfectly.

Also, can you suggest some good speakers for music listeners. My buddy is not computer knowledgable but I want to get him something that will last a long time that he can enjoy to watch dvds and listen to music.


Thanks again.

-eddie
 
Do you guys think that barton will run 100% stable at a good overclock? I am not making it for myself and I would hate for the thing to crash on the person im making it for. Also as far as fans I am looking into getting a hsf that is very quiet but will do the job perfectly.
Click to expand...
Most bartons run fully stable at 3200 speeds, yes. sometimes a voltage boost is needed though.
 
Remember though guys, he said 900-950 with a monitor. If you want an LCD, that is going to be pretty tough, you will have to skimp on some other hardware. Porbleemo has a pretty good list IMO, here is what I would change:

Go with A7N8X Dlx - reason: the extra 40 bucksish lets you drop the audigy card. I personally LOVED the sound coming out of my A7N8X when I had it hooked up with the digital coaxial out.

Get a WD 80GB 8MB cache drive at newegg for $72 - this is just my personal preference. I have owned 10 WD's and never had one falter.

If you want a 17" LCD, you are still gonna have to drop some cash somewhere, since you still also need a case.

Smithers
 
Ok I've received a little more for my budget and have fit in a 17"lcd.

After all is said and done Im at 600$ for the computer itself. I configured a computer in neweggs basket but am about 100$ over. What are your guys opinions on the Epox 8RGA+. This would cut out the video card I was going to get and the soundcard. Ive decided on getting the 65$ logitech speakers for him and the western digital HD. I dont believe the 8rga has a dvi out but would I lose much quality going analog? Anyway let me know how I can cut some costs on the motherboard. OR if you know of any good ram that is low priced as I am looking for a 512mb pc3200 stick.


thanks
 
I would cut the Thermaltake out and use the stock HSF with a retail Barton (which will only cost you $5 more than the OEM - and gets you the 3 yr warranty). The retail HSF is pretty quiet and is fine to OC my 2500+ to 3200+!

I would also go with WD or Seagate HDD as I have had nothing but problems with Maxtor. Personal opinion here, of course.

If you are going with onboard video, you should get either 2x256 mb DDR PC3200 or 2x512mb DDR PC3200 memory. Dual DDR will really hellp out the onboard video. Look into the Shuttle MN31N motherboard if you wanna save some more bux.

Dump the Audigy and use the onboard audio, its as good as or better than audigy on many NF2 mobos.

I would disagree that LiteOn is a quiet optical drive. It isnt horrible, but there are others much quieter. The price is good tho.

As far as speakers...if a 2.1 system is desired, the Logitech Z-340 are decent speakers and can be found on sale for $25-30 at times.
 
Thanks


I believe I will be going with the retail and I am still deciding whether to go with 2.1 or 5.1 right now as far as speakers go. Which nf2 motherboard company makes the best onboard video board? Many people talk about the nf7, asus 7n8x, and epox 8rda but I havent heard much about those with onboard video. I think I will go about it that way to save the extra bucks. Do any of these mobo manufacturers make the onboard video with dvi connector? Im looking for aboard that will be stable at 200fsb and include good video and sound. Thank again for your help.


-eddie
 
onboard video is part of the nforce2 chipset so all nforce2 mobos with onboard video will be very comparable in performance
 
none that I know of with DVI out...but remember the DVI cable is quite expensive and rarely comes with the monitor. Check This Link out for NForce2 mobos with onboard video. I have had great experience with Shuttle MN31N, but look at all for features and price point you want.
 
Thanks again everyone for your suggestions. Now I am in the final stages of buying the parts. I will be buying all them today sometime.


Now the only thing Left that im trying to slim down is the case. My buddy is really into looks and would not like anything too wild like a windowed case. But cases like the coolermaster/lian-li cases would be to his liking. These would hurt my budget somewhat since they do not come with a psu so if anyone has any suggestions on a good case please let me know.

The one i was looking at was this Kingwin case. It is 83.00 here listed as kt-424-s . Again with this I would have to spend money on a budget psu that would put enough juice to slightly overclock the barton 2500+ im putting into it.

Any last minute suggestions on a case with a slick look like this would be helpful. He is pairing this with a viewsonic 171b so I would probalby put all black drives into this case to match.

let me know asap 🙂

-eddie
 
If he wants a LCD monitor and wouldn't have a problem with getting PC2700 memory check out this setup from Newegg. I have this same monitor I bought in May and it's really nice, definately would buy another one.

In Win Black Mid-Tower ATX Case w/ 300W Power Supply, Model IW-J523G.300BFU2D - Retail -$60
Lite On Black 48x24x48x16 CDROM/CDRW/DVD Combo Drive LTC-48161H-$50
SAMSUNG 1.44MB BLACK FLOPPY DRIVE Model# SFD321B/LBL - OEM, DRIVE ONLY -$7.50
WD WESTERN DIGITAL "SPECIAL EDITION" 80GB 7200RPM EIDE HARD DRIVE-$73.50
Logitech BLACK Optical Desktop - OEM -$31
CRUCIAL MICRON 512MB 64x64 PC 2700 DDR RAM - OEM -$79.99
BenQ 17" LCD FP767 Black Retail BenQ LCD 17" Monitor Model FP767 Retail-$339
Biostar Motherboard for AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/ Duron Processor, Model# M7NCD-$52
AMD ATHLON XP 2500+ "Barton" 333 FSB PROCESSOR CPU- RETAIL-$91
Creative SBS450 4.1 Speakers - RETAIL -$41
Sapphire OEM RADEON 9100 128MB DDR DVI/TV out BULK -$69
$949.98 shipped

Nice case&power supply, 512MB RAM, NForce2 MB, better video than onboard, & a 17"LCD monitor. The only thing I am not to sure of is the onboard sound, but he could always buy a better soundcard later. Hope this helps, good luck
 
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