Critique System Build

[ShadowFox]

Intel Pentium4 1.8A GHz 512K Socket 478 400MHz FSB $186.00
1 512MB Mushkin BASIC PC2100 DIMM $128.00
Gigabyte GA-8IRX Intel845 chipset, ATX 478PIN $114.00
ATI Radeon 32MB DDR 4X AGP $44.00
CreativeLabs V.92 56K modem $20.00
Toshiba 16X DVD, 48X CD ROM $48.00
Lite On 32x12x40 CDRW Model LTR-32123S $90.00
Western Digital 120GB 7200RPM WD1200BB $192.00
Panasonic 1.44MB floppy $8.00
Microsoft 114 key Internet Keyboard PS/2 $17.00
Logitech B69 Corded Optical mouse $12.00
Cyber Acoustic CA-2022 2 Piece speaker Set $17.00
ANTEC SX630 w/ 300W P4 Ready PSU $65.00
Sunon 80mm 40cfm 30db fan $5.00
2 80mm Wire Mesh Fan Filter $9.98
CyberParallel Dual PCI, CyberParallel PCI $99.98
SIIG 4-port Serial Low Profile $98.99

Total $1155.00

I'm going to be selling this system, and i need it to work perfectly. Yes, the guy that i'm selling it to requires that it has 6 serial, 4 parallel, and 4 usb ports (if you know any better or cheaper ways to get these in there, let me know). This will be my first Intel system (i've already done two amd's) so is there anythiung special that i need to know? What is on this system is the bare minimum specifications wise but once i add all the shipping, software (thats right, no warez) and my profit, it comes up to about $1970. Well enough of my incoherent rambling, anyway post any suggestions you have.

Thanks

(P.S. no AMD zealots please )

 

[Wolfsraider]

<< ATI Radeon 32MB DDR 4X AGP $44.00 >>



why skimp on the video card

get that man a radeon 8500 seriously if your building a kick a@@ system don't ruin it by skimping on the top three most important items

i have an all in one radeon and it won't be going in my new computer as it is three generations old and the framerates are starting to really show in the newer games

newegg sells it from pricewatch.com at 129.00 ant this is a great deal as it puts him at the top of the video food chain

hope this helps

 

[ShadowFox]

Lol, the guy i'm building it for is a farmer. I'm serious. Beyond that i dont really expect him to go off and start fragging zombies on RTCW. But that was one of the things i've been thinking about, i'd like to keep the vid card to $80 or less.

 

[Wolfsraider]

sorry

then yes that system is good to go imho

 

[ledzepp98]

is it safe to assume that as a farmer he lives in the boonies, and therefore has no real hope for a cable or dsl broadband connection in the not too distant future? If broadband internet might be possible, maybe you should toss in a $15 network card just in case.

 

[Athlon4all]

If he's not a gamer, then I'd suggest getting Asus P4S333-VM instead for the Mobo. It is mATX, it has on-board video that is close to GF2MX 400, and it has On-Board Lan and Sound. Otherwise, looks good but seriously does a farmer need 120Gig's?

 

[Mavrick007]

Save the $50 and go with the 1.6a instead of the 1.8a. Then use the extra money to get a decent vid card at around $100 or so. It's worth it to take away that video card bottleneck.

Heh It sounds like the machine is going to be used for a pRon bbs with such a large hd. Then all the other farmers won't have to look at their sheep so seductively.

 

[slunk]

I'd drop the 120 gig drive. Major overkill! 40 should be more than enough. Why not go with a GeForce card? Much better driver support.

 

[hoihtah]

drop your wd1200bb and pickup wd1200jb.
it's worth your extra $20.
it's the nicest ide drive ever.
you won't be disappointed.

 

[ShadowFox]

ledzepp98:
The mobo has an integrated NIC, so i've got that base covered.

Athlon4all:
Thank you very much for the recommendation on the motherboard, i'll check it out.

And to pretty much everyone, i'm going to talk to him about the harddrive, maybe bring it down to an 80 or so.

Thanks!


Edit: Problem with the Asus P4S333-VM being microATX: Pci slots, currently, the two parallel adaptors, the modem and the serial adapter take up 4, and the P4S333-VM only has 3

 

[m1ke101]

<< Save the $50 and go with the 1.6a instead of the 1.8a. >>



think that's a good idea, considering the 1.6a's are so easy to overclock anyway.

 

[DT4K]

Sounds like a great system, but here are a couple of thoughts.

What all will it be used for? That's really what we need to know to give you informed opinions.

Unless he needs to save lots of video or mp3 files, a 40 or 60 gig HD for less than $100 should be more than he will ever use.

If it's being used for gaming or heavy multimedia, stick with the 1.8A and go for a better video card. GeForce3 Ti200 for around $130 . If it won't be used for gaming/multimedia, the Radeon will be fine and I agree with some others that the 1.6A would be a good savings.

Same goes for the RAM. For most uses, 256MB would be plenty. Besides, with memory prices the way they are now, it might be wise to get 256 now, and wait a while before adding more.

 

[ShadowFox]

He's going to use this computer for a database of all his farm stuff, run a few work related apps, thats pretty much it. You may say this computer is overkill for that, but this guy keeps his computers for a LONG time. The computer that he's upgrading from came preloaded with windows 95.

 

[DT4K]

<< He's going to use this computer for a database of all his farm stuff, run a few work related apps, thats pretty much it. You may say this computer is overkill for that, but this guy keeps his computers for a LONG time. The computer that he's upgrading from came preloaded with windows 95. >>



In that case, stick with the Radeon you mentioned, drop to the 1.6A, and go with a 60GB HD. I work at a place with 500 employees and our file server has a total of 95GB of drives and we are just now reaching capacity. Unless his farm is a huge commercial farm, I doubt he will ever come close to using 60GB, let alone 120.