DIY computer setup help.

[basslover1]

Ok guys, I'm gettin tired of the computer im using now, so I figure its time to upgrade and the DIY route seems to be the best way IMO, so I scrounged around newegg.com and picked out all the parts I need. I'm trying to keep the price down, so going the 64-bit route isn't really an option for me. Anyway, here'd what I ended up with.

Lian Li PC-65B aluminum case - $121.00
DFI "NFII ULTRA INFINITY" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard - $90.00
ATI RADEON 9800PRO Video Card - $223.00
Thermaltake W0010 Silent Purepower 480W PSU - $66.00
AMD Athlon XP 3200+ "Barton" Proc. - $181.00
Mushkin 184 Pin 1GB(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - $250.00
Lite-On Black 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive - $43.99
Microsoft XP Home OS - $90.00

Total price with shipping comes to 1,199.96

Now, I'm not a computer guy by any means, my heart and soul is in car audio, so I just went with a little advice given to me by a friend and pieced this together. I might ditch XP if I can buy it used elsewhere, my friend might be selling his version when he gets XP Pro.

Thanks for all your help guys.

 

[DaveSimmons]

In your shoes I'd buy an Antec Sonata case, use its power supply (-$87), buy less expensive Crucial or Corsair RAM (-$75) and get an A64 instead of just an XP.

An nV 6800 GT card would add a bit, but could be worth it if you want to play Doom 3.

 

[Tostada]

You're spending $1200 without getting a monitor, and you can't fit an Athlon 64 into the budget?

Some things you should know:

You should get the $82 512MB Corsair PC3200 sticks if you're on a budget. You will barely see any benefit in going to CL 2 RAM.

An Athlon XP 3200+ for $181? The Athlon 64 2800 is a little faster in most things, and it's $148. If you're not going to overclock any, the $172 Athlon 64 3000+ is probably your best bet.

The $99 Epox nForce3 250Gb is a very good board, and it's less quirky than the $127 Neo Platinum nForce3 250Gb.

Anyway, the point is that you can switch from an Athlon XP 3200 to an Athlon 64 3000 for the same price, and it'll be a much better system. This is without even considering the fact that you can also save $86 on your RAM by going with Corsair CL 2.5.

The Radeon 9800 Pro for $223 isn't a good deal. In that price range, the card to get is the $196 MSI 9800 Pro with the XT core (currently out of stock at NewEgg). But, seeing as you should be saving $86 on your RAM, you should easily be able to afford the $283 eVGA GF 6800, which is a much better card.

 

[moonsite]

And if you still want an XP, just buy the 2500+ and overclock it to 3200+, save you $100 there. Why get a combo drive when you can just buy a DVD-Writer. I would just get the Abit NF7-S or the Asus Deluxe board instead.

 

[basslover1]

Duh, forgot to mention what I want out of the pc. First off, gaming isnt really important to me that much. I mean, I will play the occasional game but nothing near the requirements of Doom 3. I think the nicest looking game I've played was Soldier of Fortune, and that ran smoothly on my Celeron 733 i have now.

Mainly, whatever I buy, I'm gonna have to live with for 4-5 years, so I figure if I can get somewhat top of the line now, down the road it wont be complete shit.

Mostly, it will be for school work, music, movies, videos, and the internet, with the occasional game as well. But, I hate lag thats why I'm trying to get something thats efficient now, and never have to worry about it.

Thanks.

 

[peacemaker1ps]

I agree.
If you want to stay amd xp, Get 2500.
They are ALOT cheaper than what they were.
or
Go with athlon 64.

 

[basslover1]

Originally posted by: Tostada
You're spending $1200 without getting a monitor, and you can't fit an Athlon 64 into the budget?
Yea, I know

Some things you should know:

You should get the $82 512MB Corsair PC3200 sticks if you're on a budget. You will barely see any benefit in going to CL 2 RAM.
Ok, that I can live with. I figured I'd go crazy on the ram because I somehow managed to use 75% of my systems 192megs, and I have no clue how.

An Athlon XP 3200+ for $181? The Athlon 64 2800 is a little faster in most things, and it's $148. If you're not going to overclock any, the $172 Athlon 64 3000+ is probably your best bet.
Eh, from what I've seen the AMD64 hasn't been proven yet, is it better? Probably, but is it going to have problems on the first few production runs? Probably

The $99 Epox nForce3 250Gb is a very good board, and it's less quirky than the $127 Neo Platinum nForce3 250Gb.
Ok? But, the board I chose, it is worthy, isn't it?

Anyway, the point is that you can switch from an Athlon XP 3200 to an Athlon 64 3000 for the same price, and it'll be a much better system. This is without even considering the fact that you can also save $86 on your RAM by going with Corsair CL 2.5.
read above

The Radeon 9800 Pro for $223 isn't a good deal. In that price range, the card to get is the $196 MSI 9800 Pro with the XT core (currently out of stock at NewEgg). But, seeing as you should be saving $86 on your RAM, you should easily be able to afford the $283 eVGA GF 6800, which is a much better card.
Hmm, I'll have to look into that one, thanks

 

[basslover1]

Originally posted by: peacemaker1ps
I agree.
If you want to stay amd xp, Get 2500.
They are ALOT cheaper than what they were.
or
Go with athlon 64.

Ok, with the 2500+ you reccomend I overclock it. This may be cool and all, but wont it lessen the lifetime of the chip?

 

[bluewall21]

Originally posted by: basslover1

Originally posted by: peacemaker1ps
I agree.
If you want to stay amd xp, Get 2500.
They are ALOT cheaper than what they were.
or
Go with athlon 64.

Ok, with the 2500+ you reccomend I overclock it. This may be cool and all, but wont it lessen the lifetime of the chip?

It will if you overvolt, and running at a higher speed can too, but since this is the end of Athlon XP production run, most processors should be able to run faster than their rated speeds, so it won't be a big deal. (Remember, this is speculation)

Anyway, I would go with an Athlon 64. The new processor cores are amazing, and it will not be obsolete when the era of 64-bit comes around (which should be in the next four to five years). Also, get the MSI 9800 Pro (for reasons listed above).

(look down, but I would get a cheaper graphics card, specifically the plain, vanilla 6800)

 

[nick1985]

vid card $389

Case $92

Hard Drive $85

RAM *2 = $158

Motherboard $79

CPU $214

CD/RW/DVD $39

OS $90


$1146

PWNS your $1200 rig

 

[basslover1]

Mmmkay, made a few adjustments

Lian Li PC-65B aluminum case - $121.00
DFI "NFII ULTRA INFINITY" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard - $90.00
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Video Card - $283.00
Thermaltake W0010 Silent Purepower 480W PSU - $66.00
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ "Barton" - $121.00
Corsair 184 Pin 512MB PC-3200 - $82.00
Lite-On Black 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive - $43.99
Microsoft XP Home OS - $90.00

Total price with shipping comes to $1,030.97

The video card is out of stock at newegg.com though.

Thoughts, opinions?

Thanks guys.

 

[n7]

Originally posted by: basslover1
Duh, forgot to mention what I want out of the pc. First off, gaming isnt really important to me that much. I mean, I will play the occasional game but nothing near the requirements of Doom 3. I think the nicest looking game I've played was Soldier of Fortune, and that ran smoothly on my Celeron 733 i have now.

Mainly, whatever I buy, I'm gonna have to live with for 4-5 years, so I figure if I can get somewhat top of the line now, down the road it wont be complete shit.

Mostly, it will be for school work, music, movies, videos, and the internet, with the occasional game as well. But, I hate lag thats why I'm trying to get something thats efficient now, and never have to worry about it.

Thanks.

Okay, you want this to last a few years?

You definitely want to go the A64 route in this case.
The next Windows will be 64-bit, so getting a 32-bit CPU to last 4-5 years makes zero sense.



Tostada had some great advice for getting a far better rig for your money.

 

[bluewall21]

You could save a bit by getting a cheaper power supply, like this one. And you can buy a case with equal quality and a lower price tag (Like the other Lian Li cases and the Antec or Cooler Master cases).

 

[basslover1]

Thanks for all your help guys, I'm pretty sure I found what I was looking for (check my last post).

Now, any suggestions on a decent LCD monitor? I know they are pricey so I'm lookin at either a 15" or 17" lcd panel. I'll probably end up with the 15" but any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks a bunch guys.

 

[nick1985]

Originally posted by: basslover1
Thanks for all your help guys, I'm pretty sure I found what I was looking for (check my last post).

Now, any suggestions on a decent LCD monitor? I know they are pricey so I'm lookin at either a 15" or 17" lcd panel. I'll probably end up with the 15" but any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks a bunch guys.

did you see my post? id take another look at it. it blows your rig away for a little more than $100 more. i dont want to sound like an a$$ or anything, i just think you have some poor selections. and $1000+ rig should be equipped with an athlon64.


**EDIT** i noticed you dont have a hard drive. if thats the case, the rig i made for ya is about the same price, and on a whole other level of performance.

 

[basslover1]

Originally posted by: nick1985

Originally posted by: basslover1
Thanks for all your help guys, I'm pretty sure I found what I was looking for (check my last post).

Now, any suggestions on a decent LCD monitor? I know they are pricey so I'm lookin at either a 15" or 17" lcd panel. I'll probably end up with the 15" but any suggestions are welcome.

Thanks a bunch guys.

did you see my post? id take another look at it. it blows your rig away for a little more than $100 more. i dont want to sound like an a$$ or anything, i just think you have some poor selections. and $1000+ rig should be equipped with an athlon64.


**EDIT** i noticed you dont have a hard drive. if thats the case, the rig i made for ya is about the same price, and on a whole other level of performance.

Yea, I saw it. Right now, as it stands I'm not all concerned with being on top of all this "cutting-edge" technology, thus why I'm gonna stick with the Amd XP 2800+.

I might switch to that case you showed me, it would save me 95 bucks over what I have now.

So lets see

Antec case w/ PSU - $92.00
DFI "NFII ULTRA INFINITY" nForce2 Ultra 400 Chipset Motherboard - $90.00
AMD Athlon XP 2800+ "Barton" - $121.00
PNY nVidia GeForce 6800 GT - $389.00
Western Digital 160gig IDE - 98.00
Kingmax 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-2700 - $78.00
Lite-ON Combo drive - 43.99
Windows XP home OS - $90.00

Brings me to $1,001.99 before shipping...comments?

 

[Randawl]

Basslover1,

You should really listen to what Nick1985 recommended. Don't stick with the 2800+. It's not that it is a bad processor, just that the 64 3200 leaves you better poised for the future. Besides, it's not "cutting edge" anyhow, that is left for the FX-53.
Seriously, follow Nick's advice.

Kind Regards,
Randawl

 

[basslover1]

Originally posted by: Randawl
Basslover1,

You should really listen to what Nick1985 recommended. Don't stick with the 2800+. It's not that it is a bad processor, just that the 64 3200 leaves you better poised for the future. Besides, it's not "cutting edge" anyhow, that is left for the FX-53.
Seriously, follow Nick's advice.

Kind Regards,
Randawl

And the 64 3200+ also leaves a larger hole in my wallet. I start college this year, believe me when I say I don't have much left over money to spend after my car payment, insurance, gas, food, and cell phone bills.

When the future comes, and I feel the need to update to a 64-bit Proc. I probably will, but for now the 2800+ more than suites my needs.

As for what I posted the last time, the only thing that I'm tenative about is the video card. Thats a huge chunk of change right there. I know its regarded as one of the best vid cards out there, but I'm not so certain I'll even need something with its capabilities. Might just end up going with the plain 6800.

 

[Frew]

Don't kick yourself in the nuts... Get the AMD64 is a way better buy especially if you are not overclocking.

 

[basslover1]

Grrrr :frown: after talking to my friend and search for prices, for 96 more dollars, I can swap the mobo, go with the 64-bit 3200+ proc. and use the pc3200 ram...dammit guys...why'd you have to do that to me.

 

[basslover1]

Ok, I decided to take your advice...Lets go

ANTEC Life Style Series Black Case With 380W Power Supply
CHAINTECH "VNF3-250" nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard for AMD
eVGA nVIDIA GeForce 6800 Video Card
AMD Athlon 64 3200+, 512k L2 Cache, The Only 64-bit Windows Compatible Processor
Kingmax 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200
Western Digital 160GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD1600JB
Lite-On Black 52X32X52X16 Combo Drive
Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition

Total comes out to $999.98 before shipping...whaddya think?

 

[FreshFish]

Duude, you have to go with the A64...I bought an XP 2800+ about two months ago and I am already regretting it! It's a great chip but the 64's are much better.


Edit: Also, I don't see why people are recomending any 6800 for you if you game so little. For a general use computer for college, a 9800 Pro should suffice, no problem. Hell, mine even plays Doom 3 fine.

 

[basslover1]

Your 9800Pro plays Doom 3 fine? Hmmm, I doubt I'll even play Doom 3, so you might be right about me not needing the 6800, although it would be cool to have it.

 

[FreshFish]

New setup is looking good. Only thing I would really recomend at this point is a DVD burner. It is really cool being able to copy and backup DVD's. The NEC 2510A is really good and somewhere around $75. Other than that ( and possibly the vid. card being too much) you're looking good.

 

[basslover1]

I thought about getting a dvd-burner, but my family owns maybe a total of like 3 DVD's, so I don't see us getting much to any use out of it. Since the price doesnt include a monitor if I decide to go with the 9800pro, maybe with the extra money I'll opt for the dvd burner. Who knows though...


EDIT- since you brought up the vid card, 9800pro is it worth the 43 bucks to go from the 128MB to the 256MB? ATI is the brand of course.