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Help me build PC for recent Grad!

B

bulldawg1979

Member
I've spent lots of time on the internet and trolling the stores trying to pick out a PC for my son. I do not want to spend over $1,000. I'm an AMD 64 fan, so my searching has been restricted to this processor. Pre-builts in my price range seem to have 3400+ processors (probably Socket 754, although the sales clerk usually doesn't know for sure). The other components are less impressive, especially the video cards. I think that I can build a system that, overall, beats the pre-builts, but I can't afford a 3400+ processor. An article in Anandtech, http://anandtech.com/guides/showdoc.aspx?i=2426, recommends the AMD 64 3200+ Winchester ($190)as the sweet spot for a processor. I had been looking at the 3000+ (939) Winchester ($146), as it fits my budget better. How much of a performance hit will I take going with the 3000+ over the 3200+ (939) or the pre-builts 3400+ (754). I would appreciate comments and suggestions on the complete system (son wants vid card with TV tuner):

1. Asus A8V Deluxe ($119 newegg) or DFI LanParty UTnF3 ($110 newegg)
2. AMD 64 3000+ or AMD 3200+
3. ATI AIW 9600 ($138newegg)
4. Corsair Value Select 1G (2X512) PC3200 ($79 newegg)
5. Western Digital Serial ATA 120G ($50 after rebate at Fry's)
6. SONY Black IDE DVD Burner Model DW-D26A - OEM ($51 newegg)
7. SONY Black IDE Combo Drive Model CRX320E - OEM ($31 newegg)
8. Windows XP ($79 Office Max)
9. Norwood Micro 17" LCD ($149 CompUSA-special at midnight 5/25/05) Is this a good monitor?
10. COOLER MASTER Centurion 5 CAC-T05-WW Black/Silver Computer Case With Side Panel Window - Retail ($71 including shipping from newegg)

Please let me know where I should make some changes. All comments appreciated.



 
You mentioned that you weren't impressed by the video card selection. Does your son need an AIW card for PVR purposes? If he doesn't, you could get him a much better gaming card by going with either a 9800 Pro for $120 or a 6600gt for a little more.
 
My suggestion is to go for the socket 939 3200+ Winchester, an Asus A8V-E Deluxe or the similar DFI LanParty with PCI express, and a GeForce 6600 or 6600GT.

The socket 939 is more expensive than 754, but it provides a solid upgrade path; you'll be able to drop in a cheap dual core processor a year or two from now without any fuss. Same thing with PCI Express; you can upgrade to the next line of video cards with no problem.
 
I would get a better graphics card, a 6600gt would be a much better choice. I think newegg has one for 150 right now. It's better than a 9800 pro and destroys that 9600.
 
Try this site if you want a prebuilt A64 S939 for under $1000 with a 1 year in house waranty. I bought my rig in my sig from them last x-mas for under $1000 and I could not be happier!!!!

If your son is PC savy and would not mind OCing then i would get the 3000+. If you don't want to Overclock then the 3200 for $45 more is probably a better solution. By the way I knew nothing about overclocking my cpu when i bought mine, and after a week on this site i had my 3000+ OCed from stock 1.8GH to 2.5Ghz which is almost as fast as AMD's top of the line FX-53 processor that cost $700. Very easy to do!!!!

If your son likes to play games the 6600GT has good performance as is the best economical mid range GPU choice!!!

I would also stick with the 1G (512 x 2) value ram and get one of the cases with a 450W Power Supply ( the X-blade looks good).

For the Optical drive i would go with a single NEC 3520, this is one of the best DVD writers on the market and for $50 bucks it does not make sence to buy a separte drive for DVD/CD reading(ripping). Just use the 3520 for all cd/dvd media tasks and if by some small chance you wear it out just replace it when and if that happens!!

<a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.buyxg.com/system/"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.buyxg.com/system/"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.buyxg.com/system/"><a target=_blank class=ftalternatingbarlinklarge href="https://www.buyxg.com/system/">https://www.buyxg.com/system/</a></a></a></a>
 
richardrds: I like the idea of OCing, just never tried it. If I could get as much out of the 3000+ Winnie as you, I wouldn't worry about spending the extra money on a faster processor.

sangyup81: I have a THERMALTAKE Silent PurePower TT-420AD(DUAL FAN) 420W Power Supply (+12V@18amps) stashed away in my closet that I was going to put in the system. Is it good enough?

Does anyone have experience with the Norwood Micro 17" LCD? For $149 at CompUSA tonight from 11:00 PM to midgnight, it sounds like a good deal, but I don't know if it is a good quality monitor.

Keep the comments coming!
 
Getting OC's up to 2.4-2.6G is very common on the Winchester core 3000+ CPU's (using the stock HSF, no fancy cooling required), and the new Venice Core 3000+ CPU's even do better!!!!

That Thermaltake PS will do fine, I am using a cheap noname 420W PS (Turbolink ????) that came with my case and it is only rated at 18A on the +12 rail and my 6800GPU is drawing way more power then the 9600AIW you are looking at getting. 🙂

The 6600GT blows the 9600AIW away in gaming performance and is only a few $$ more ($160). You may want to consider getting the 6600GT and then also adding PCI PVR card like this:

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Hauppaug...sm/oid/99358/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

If he is like my son he is going to want to play games also 🙂 !!!!!
 
Unless it's a dedicated PVR solution, avoid software based cards as with heavy filtering (not sure what level of filtering a 9600 offers, as I had a 9700 AIW). The ATI cards have limits on what you can do on your computer besides capturing with decent filters or a larger resolution.

If PVR is the main point of this computer, drop the 9600 and pick up a hardware based capture card. Drop the second sony drive, as the dvd burner will burn CDs as well. Possibly dropping the CPU another notch or two. Pick up another Hard Drive. If the budget allows go for a 19" LCD. I would recommend a Benq FP931Benq FP931.

A nice monitor, 16ms response. Fairly inexpensive as far as 19"LCDs go. If he plans on watching TV on the monitor, giving more viewable space is also nice as well.

On the video side try for something in the 6600gt area with a hardware card, over the x800 XT. When you record TV on a hardware card, you will actually be able to use your computer for other than PVR functions, without frame drop.








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Qty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update MSI K8N Neo4-F Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail
Model #: K8N Neo4-F
**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only.
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $86.00 $86.00
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Update Antec LAN BOY SUPER LANBOY Silver anodized aluminum ATX Mini Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #: SUPER LANBOY
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $83.00 $83.00
Internal Hard DrivesQty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update HITACHI Deskstar 7K250 HDS722525VLAT80 250GB 7200 RPM IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM
Model #: HDS722525VLAT80
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $116.00 $116.00
Memory - SystemQty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM DDR 400 (PC 3200) Unbuffered Dual Channel Kit System Memory Model VS1GBKIT400 - Retail
Model #: VS1GBKIT400
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $77.00 $77.00
Monitors - LCDQty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update LG L1730S Silver 17" 12ms LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #: L1730S
**Dead Pixels Policy: Replacement or Refund for 8 or more dead pixels only.
$30.00 Mail-in Rebate
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $249.99 $249.99
Power SuppliesQty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update THERMALTAKE Silent Purepower W0014RU ATX 480W Power Supply - Retail
Model #: W0014RU
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $56.00 $56.00
ProcessorsQty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Winchester Integrated into Chip FSB Socket 939 Processor Model ADA3000BIBOX - Retail
Model #: ADA3000BIBOX
**This item is warranted through the product manufacturer only.
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $148.00 $148.00
Video Cards & Related DevicesQty. Product Description Unit Price Savings Total Price

Update Leadtek A6600 GT TDH Geforce 6600GT 128MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
Model #: A6600 GT TDH
$20.00 Mail-in Rebate
Remove Save Move To Wishlist $169.00 $169.00
Subtotal: $984.99
 
For about the same price as your AIW 9600, you could get a nice 9500 Pro for $65 from the FS/FT forums (which will be much faster than the 9600 non-pro that the AIW card is based on], plus a new, hardware-based TV tuning card like the Avermedia M150.
 
Not sure of the "guts" of the system but, this weekend Walmart has a Smperon System at 3000+, the processor would be a thow away, for $550, monitor speakers etc. Not even sure if this mobo could be upgraded to take your requirements but the price is surely right.


Doc G
 
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