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Building New Computer... Take a Look.

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Vortex22

Diamond Member
It will be used mostly for internet/email/IM, light video/picture editing, maybe a few non 3d intensive games. Here is what I have so far:

ANTEC Solution Series Super Mid Tower Case with 350W Power Supply $64
Shuttle "AN35N-Ultra" nForce2 Ultra 400 $58
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail $80
Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 8T - OEM $78
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model HDS722516VLAT80, OEM $92
Samsung Black 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, Model SM-352NENB, OEM $41
Logitech BLACK Optical Desktop PS/2 104keys -OEM $20

Total so far $433

I just need a video card. Would something like a Radeon 9200 be good? Also, how does everything up there look so far?
 
Looks fine. I like the $42 Sony combo drive better because I think the Samsungs are a bit ugly...

That memory is CL3. I think it would be worth the extra $1 to get Mushkin CL2.5.

If you're going to get a Radeon 9200, the $53.50 Sapphire 128-bit R9200 is probably the best deal. Going with a crippled 64-bit card will only save you about $5, and you really don't want to even consider the R7000 if you're ever going to try to play a game.

The next step up would be the $94 Sapphire R9600, certainly not necessary for a few non 3D intensive games.

EDIT: How big is your monitor? If you're not running a really nice monitor at over 1024x768, I'd just get the Biostar M7NCG and forget the video card. But then you'd want to get dual-channel memory, so it all depends.
 
Great setup, but no offense, surfing the web, playing a few games etc. is a LOT more enjoyable with, say, an MX700 or something, b/c my sister has that same mouse, and it just doesn't do it for me... Otherwise, great system. I would also recommend the Sapphire 9200.
 
Originally posted by: Vortex22
It will be used mostly for internet/email/IM, light video/picture editing, maybe a few non 3d intensive games. Here is what I have so far:

ANTEC Solution Series Super Mid Tower Case with 350W Power Supply $64
Shuttle "AN35N-Ultra" nForce2 Ultra 400 $58
AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail $80
Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 8T - OEM $78
Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model HDS722516VLAT80, OEM $92
Samsung Black 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive, Model SM-352NENB, OEM $41
Logitech BLACK Optical Desktop PS/2 104keys -OEM $20

Total so far $433

I just need a video card. Would something like a Radeon 9200 be good? Also, how does everything up there look so far?
Click to expand...

dump that ram for mushkin ram that Tostada pointed out. everything else is ok to me
 
Crucial is fine. They have a great RMA program and their ram is generally very stable at default settings. Perfect for your system. I would only really consider mushkin if you're trying to squeeze all the performance you can out of the system and don't mind paying for it.
 
That is a pretty nice case for the money. I recently built someone a rig with a black one, and while it isn't quite as sturdy as the full size Antec/Chieftec case I have and not quite as easy to maneuver around in, it's a good choice.

With a cpu that has a FSB of 333MHz, you don't neet PC3200 RAM, PC2700 runs at 333MHz. So, if it will save you a bit of money, go for the PC2700. Otherwise, the PC3200 will work fine and may come in handy if you plan on upgrading your cpu to one with a 400MHz FSB. Also, the nForce chipset supports dual channel memory, so buy your RAM in matched pairs. The performance gain may be minimal, but if the cost difference isn't too much, go for dual channel.

You could consider an nForce2 mobo that has onboard graphics, as Tostada mentioned. You will pay a bit more the mobo, but you won't need a graphics card. Just make sure you get one with an AGP slot, so you can upgrade if you decide to later. Also, keep in mind that the system memory is shared with the onborad graphics chip, so you might want to get a bit more RAM of you go this route.

As far as the mouse goes, remember that the keyboard, mouse, and monitor are your main interfaces to any PC. If you get cheap interfaces, your experience will feel "cheap" IMHO. Logitech usually does make nice mice, but I burned through two cheap Logitech OEM Dell mice at work - they were teh suck. If your budget allows it, consider getting somehting a bit nicer. I used this combo with a rig I recenlty built, and its pretty nice for the money.
 
Originally posted by: Connoisseur
Crucial is fine. They have a great RMA program and their ram is generally very stable at default settings. Perfect for your system. I would only really consider mushkin if you're trying to squeeze all the performance you can out of the system and don't mind paying for it.
Click to expand...

so is mushkin. mushkin has better support than crcial IMO. plus those timings on the crucial suck balls. get the mushkin.
 
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