building computer

jaysison · Jul 30, 2003

Im from canada and i want to build a computer. im have very low budget. i am a casual gamer. this is what im planning to buy. any suggestions on what to change and what to add.

ECS K7S5A Pro SiS 735 more info $68
Athlon XP 1800+ Retail $83
Thermaltake Dragon Orb 1 more info special $9.99
Sapphire Radeon 9100 128MB DDR Retail $110
2 x KingMax 256MB PC-2100 DDR266 SDRAM $94 = 512 MB
Maxtor 40.0GB $86
Pioneer DVD 16X (Black) OEM $52
Dell M770 17" *refurbished, 90-day warranty $95
Altec Lansing AVS200 OEM more info $20
Mecca CP-101 Future Dreamers Mid Tower (ivory/black) $32
HP USB Multimedia Keyboard w/ Mouse OEM $18

one more question, with this system, do i need a case fan? i'm not into overclocking.

RemisGodly · Jul 30, 2003

well if thats the budget you are on, i suppose you cant do that much better than that.
no you wont really NEED a case fan. but they are good to have.

Ionizer86 · Jul 30, 2003

Are the prices of chips up to XP2500+ only a tad more than the 1800+ in Canada?

Here, the 2500+ is around $85ish, while slower chips like the 2000+ are only a tad cheaper.

Is it possible to order from some stores here? Radeon 9100 128MB's are like $60ish, and there's free after rebate PC2100 once in a while, as with free optical drives and very inexpensive hard drives (it'd be cool if you had a relative from the the US to help).

jaysison · Jul 30, 2003

should i reduce the ram to 256 to give way for better cpu or better video card?

jacktesterson · Jul 30, 2003

People are always going to say you could spend a little more money

what they dont understand is you probably dont have it. so to tell you the truth, keep the rig your getting

for the money, thats a good stable budget system that will be just fine for casual gaming. Remember, the CPU after 1700+ doesnt really affect the game, its the video card that will be the bottleneck...but that 9100 will play games for avg users just fine.

jacktesterson · Jul 30, 2003

Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Are the prices of chips up to XP2500+ only a tad more than the 1800+ in Canada?

Here, the 2500+ is around $85ish, while slower chips like the 2000+ are only a tad cheaper.

Is it possible to order from some stores here? Radeon 9100 128MB's are like $60ish, and there's free after rebate PC2100 once in a while, as with free optical drives and very inexpensive hard drives (it'd be cool if you had a relative from the the US to help).

Prices in the US are no cheaper.....i am from canada as well. and no Barton 2500's are around 140 compared to 80 for a 1800+ CDN

you may think the prices are cheaper, but you have to factor in the avg canadian makes more money as well as the avg person in states (min wage where i am is $9.85/hr) and the cdn dollar is worth $.70 american. ....by the time its hear, its no cheaper...trust me

Jeff7181 · Jul 30, 2003

Originally posted by: jaysison
should i reduce the ram to 256 to give way for better cpu or better video card?

Absolutely not. I'd go with just one stick of 512 though. Will allow you to ad more should you ever need it. The CPU is fast enough for what you'll do with it.

I'd make a lot of other suggestions... but since you're on a tight budget, and I'm assuming you've listed those items in Canadian $$... I'm just gonna say...

"looks fine"

jaysison · Jul 30, 2003

can you please tell me your suggestions? here's my new updated rig that i got from your suggestions.

Asus A7V8X-X VIA KT400 OnBoard Audio $89
Athlon XP 1800+ Retail $83
Thermaltake Dragon Orb 1 more info special $9.99
MSI Geforce 4 Ti4200 $114
512MB PC-2700 DDR333 $118
Maxtor 40GB ATA133 $85
LiteOn 52X OEM $27
Dell M770 17" *refurbished, 90-day warranty $95
Altec Lansing AVS200W 2PC BOX $19
Mecca CP-101 Future Dreamers Mid Tower (ivory/black) $32
HP USB Multimedia Keyboard w/ Mouse OEM $18

I changed the 2 x 256 mb to 1 x 512 mb as you told me. And i changed the mobo to Asus A7V8X-X. But I also removed the dvd drive and changed it to a cd-rom drive to make up for the upgrades. As you can see if i buy 2 x 256 mb it would just cost me $94 but I bought the 1 x 512 mb so it cost me $118. Still looking for any suggestions.

robcy · Jul 30, 2003

The diffrence in price between the Asus and ECS is a lot more noticeable than any performance difference, which should not be noticeable. If 2X256 DDR2100 is cheaper than 1X512 DDR2700, then save the money. 1 gig of ram is overkill, and DDR2700 will only help you if you overclock. Honestly, a better investment will be a case fan

.

The original system seems to be a good entry level game machine, that will play games at acceptable fps.

Hankysmoo · Jul 30, 2003

If you're getting the Athlon 1800+ retail, why don't you just use the included HSF and save yourself $10.

nick1985 · Jul 30, 2003

dont get a kt-400 chipset mobo....grab an nforce 2 for about the same price

jaysison · Jul 30, 2003

so i should get the ecs mobo. i didn't know that retail cpu's have hsf. sorry bout that.

jaysison · Jul 30, 2003

Originally posted by: robcy
The diffrence in price between the Asus and ECS is a lot more noticeable than any performance difference, which should not be noticeable. If 2X256 DDR2100 is cheaper than 1X512 DDR2700, then save the money. 1 gig of ram is overkill, and DDR2700 will only help you if you overclock. Honestly, a better investment will be a case fan .

The original system seems to be a good entry level game machine, that will play games at acceptable fps.

i only chose the asus a7v8x-x because of its 8x agp capability. will i notice a big performance difference when running in 8x with the asus mobo or should i save $30 with the ecs mobo for other upgrades?

robcy · Jul 30, 2003

You will not notice the 8X at ALL. Unless you run games at 12xx X 9xx or higher resolutions at 32bits with AA/AF set to high. Unfortunately the 9100/9200 will choke at those resolutions well bofore 8X comes into play. Use the money else where, like maybe a 2000+ or 2100+ if possible. That will be a very noticealbe diffrence.

jaysison · Jul 31, 2003

thanks for all your advice guys.

jacktesterson · Jul 31, 2003

keep your original rig and save some money....

Radeon 9100's are 4x AGP anyways? correct me if I'm wrong

going to that Asus mobo will not make any noticable difference in performance, and ditch the 3rd party cooling, AMD's retail cooling does the trick. Go for 512MB ram, 1 GB would be kinda silly to put in that machine...because its PC-2100 and already outdated....

PC-3200 (or 2700) is backwards compatible...maybe invest in that with the money left over from buying the ECS rather than the Asus and buy a 512MB PC-3200 ram chip so you will have it the next time you upgrade.

my thoughts

jaysison · Aug 1, 2003

Originally posted by: AMDHardcoreFan
keep your original rig and save some money....

Radeon 9100's are 4x AGP anyways? correct me if I'm wrong

going to that Asus mobo will not make any noticable difference in performance, and ditch the 3rd party cooling, AMD's retail cooling does the trick. Go for 512MB ram, 1 GB would be kinda silly to put in that machine...because its PC-2100 and already outdated....

PC-3200 (or 2700) is backwards compatible...maybe invest in that with the money left over from buying the ECS rather than the Asus and buy a 512MB PC-3200 ram chip so you will have it the next time you upgrade.

my thoughts

is the ecs mobo compatible with pc-2700 or pc-3200? i don't think so. here i updated the rig once more. i chose a mobo with a onboard video because my geforce 4 ti4200 will be bought in the us. so it might take a little longer.

MSI KM2M-COMBO VIA KM266 DDR+SDR, MicroATX more info $88
Athlon XP 2400+ Retail $125
MSI Geforce 4 Ti4200 $114
KingMax 256MB PC-2100 DDR266 SDRAM $47
KingMax 256MB PC-2100 DDR266 SDRAM $47
Maxtor 40.0GB $86
Asus 52X $30
Dell M770 17" *refurbished, 90-day warranty $95
Altec Lansing AVS200W 2PC BOX $19
Mecca CP-101 Future Dreamers Mid Tower (ivory/black) w/ window $42
HP USB Multimedia Keyboard w/ Mouse OEM $18

any suggestions again?

robcy · Aug 2, 2003

with amd it is better to run 133/133 or 166/166 in FSB/MEM. When you go 133/166 in FSB/MEM you actually loose performance on many programs. the ecs board in PRO form will support 2700DDR but not 3200DDR. The VIA 266 is not a very good chipset, the 266A is very good, or might want to look into the 333.

Challenger · Aug 2, 2003

One suggestion, go to the Anandtech for sale for trade forums and you can find most of what you need cheaper

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