Help build me a computer...

[Franz316]

I have a 800mhz Tbird right now on a A7V, yeah I know its old now. I do a lot of high end video editing and 3D design so you can only imagine how frustrating it is waiting hours to render a few frames. I've decided its time to upgrade. I want to spend around $1000 maybe more if it is worth it. I am willing to go to Intel if the performance is there but I prefer AMD.

A very good Mobo RAID is not a neccesity, 333 FSB

The fastest CPU available

At least 2100 Ram I think 512 to 1gb will do

I do not need a Harddrive since I will be reusing parts

I do not need any CD Drives, but maybe a DVD Writer if it fits the budget.

A decent sound card, nothing outragous

A good video card, I think a 9700 is to much so a 4600 will do, I do need VIVO though

And thats it, I am looking forward to seeing what you guys come up with.

Thanks

 

[Dogmeat]

Heres my suggestion.
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe (has great sound, SATA RAID for future & 2 NIC's built in) $142 tufshop.com
XP 2600 333 FSB $277 partspc.com
2x 512 mb micron pc2700 DDR $243 Alpha International Business Inc
Video - ABIT Geforce4 Ti 4200 chipset; TV out; DVI out; Retail (Part - ABGF4TI4200128) $ 150
DVD Burner - Start at $200 and go up - I like the pioneer

Lets see-- uh+um+ni+ooh+ unhu = $1012 + shipping - well cut back to 512mb RAM and its in the park.
Later buy the SATA drives
Also, maybe wait on the DVD RW for now and save another $150 and get the latest one.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Dogmeat
Heres my suggestion.
ASUS A7N8X Deluxe (has great sound, SATA RAID for future & 2 NIC's built in) $142 tufshop.com
XP 2600 333 FSB $277 partspc.com
2x 512 mb micron pc2700 DDR $243 Alpha International Business Inc
Video - ABIT Geforce4 Ti 4200 chipset; TV out; DVI out; Retail (Part - ABGF4TI4200128) $ 150
DVD Burner - Start at $200 and go up - I like the pioneer

Very good suggestions. The other board to consider for an Athlon system is the Epox 8RDA+. It does not have some of the features of the Asus but is a little cheaper so it just depends on whether or not they are features you need. Anandtech has an nForce 2 Roundup with details on 6 boards including the two we have mentioned. If you go with an AMD system, you definitely want an nForce 2 board.
I'm not sure how much of a difference it makes, but it would be ideal to have 2 sticks of DDR to take advantage of the the nForce dual-channel memory controller. So if you decide to only go with 512, you may want to go with 2 x 256. Of course this will make it more difficult to add more RAM, so you should probably just go ahead and do 2 x 512.
The Ti4200 is a good choice. The 4600 is quite a bit more expensive for only a small performance gain.

Once you go over $150 on a cpu, AMD and Intel are about the same as far as performance vs. cost.
If you go with Intel, the 845 PE chipset would be my choice. But you may want to look into the Granite Bay boards or wait for the SIS dual-channel DDR 333 boards. The benches so far on Granite Bay aren't that impressive.

 

[Franz316]

Hmmm after reading the review on the Asus A7N8X Deluxe I must say I am impressed with it. I will go with that MB now and use 2x 512mb.

I have a question too, what are the chances of the the new setup accepting my existing harddrive and OS(XP Pro) with little or no problems? I know I will probably have to format but is there a chance it might work?

 

[DT4K]

There is a chance, but there are a lot of different drivers that are dependent on your mobo chipset, so it is hard to remove all traces of old drivers.

 

[Franz316]

Ok here is what I am about to order, tell me what you think...

Enermax 305-B Tower w/ 350W PS

Asus NForce A7N8X Deluxe 333FSB

Athlon 2600+

2x 512 DDR 2700 Corsair

IBM 160GB HD

Pioneer DVR A05 4xDVD-R/DVD-RW

Albatron Ti4600V VIVO

It comes out to a little more than I wanted to spend but I think it will last a good amount of time before being outdated. It should be quite an upgrade in all aspects. Does anyone else have some imput on my question above?

 

[ScrapSilicon]

get a WD 120GB SE(8mb cache) instead, stepping up your psu chioce might be worthwhile as well to at least 400w +

 

[Franz316]

I just put the HD in there becasue thats the one I already have. I was looking at the ATI All-In-Wonder 9700 Pro and man that thing is a beast, the only problem is that it is $400. I think I might consider it since it has so many features. Does anyone here have one that can justify spending 400 dollars on it?

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

ok, give me a sec and i'll price one out, that will fit what you are looking for.

 

[JeffreyLebowski]

TURTLE BEACH SANTA CRUZ - OEM
newegg
ATI ALL-IN-WONDER RADEON 8500DV 64MB DDR AGP newegg
Intel Pentium 4 2.4BGHz 512K 533MHz CPU Northwood P478 Processor Retail Box
newegg
ASUS P4S533 Motherboard for Intel P4 478 DDR Retail newegg
KINGSTON KVR333X64C25/256 256MB 32x64 PC2700 DDR RAM newegg x2
ANTEC SOHO File ServerTower ATX Case Model SX1040BII with 400 Watt Smart Power
newegg
total before shipping=$770
So throw in a DVD burner for around $350 and add shipping, and you are at a little over $1100 for everyting you want.

 

[ahartman]

Gigabyte 8IEXP (on-board sound, LAN, USB2.0, Firewire)
1x512 Crucial PC2100
Radeon 9700 Pro
Antec 1080 Case (430 PSU)
Intel P4 2.53G
WD 80G SE

That all should come in under a grand.

Just realized you're keeping your existing HD - that brings it down to well under $1,000.

 

[optimistic]

I heard the Sony DVD-burners are the most universal when it comes to the various formats out there. There are $250 deals floating around for this burner, probably from Dell.com. And if you're going to spend that much for a videocard why not go with something along the lines of Radeon 9500 or 9700.

 

[DT4K]

Originally posted by: Franz316
Ok here is what I am about to order, tell me what you think...

Enermax 305-B Tower w/ 350W PS

Asus NForce A7N8X Deluxe 333FSB

Athlon 2600+

2x 512 DDR 2700 Corsair

IBM 160GB HD

Pioneer DVR A05 4xDVD-R/DVD-RW

Albatron Ti4600V VIVO

It comes out to a little more than I wanted to spend but I think it will last a good amount of time before being outdated. It should be quite an upgrade in all aspects. Does anyone else have some imput on my question above?

Looks good, but how much is that 4600. I would really suggest either saving some money and getting a 4200 or going all-out for the Radeon 9700. The 4600 is not a great price/performance deal right now.
I think the Enermax 350 will be totally sufficient. I don't see any reason to go higher than that unless you will be adding several more drives or other devices, OR if you just want to be able to say "I've got 400 W in my box" to brag.

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: Shanti

Originally posted by: Franz316
Ok here is what I am about to order, tell me what you think...

Enermax 305-B Tower w/ 350W PS

Asus NForce A7N8X Deluxe 333FSB

Athlon 2600+

2x 512 DDR 2700 Corsair

IBM 160GB HD

Pioneer DVR A05 4xDVD-R/DVD-RW

Albatron Ti4600V VIVO

It comes out to a little more than I wanted to spend but I think it will last a good amount of time before being outdated. It should be quite an upgrade in all aspects. Does anyone else have some imput on my question above?

Looks good, but how much is that 4600. I would really suggest either saving some money and getting a 4200 or going all-out for the Radeon 9700. The 4600 is not a great price/performance deal right now.
I think the Enermax 350 will be totally sufficient. I don't see any reason to go higher than that unless you will be adding several more drives or other devices, OR if you just want to be able to say "I've got 400 W in my box" to brag.

9700 Pro has its own separate power connector that is why I say 400 w or better ..it might be just for the peace of mind