Helping family friend w/ new comp. Specs?

[JoPalm]

Hey guys, I'm helping out a friend choose a new comp and could use some suggestions from all you AT'ers. It'll be mostly used by 2 kids younger than 14 so hw use and maily internet use by the parents. The hard drive is gonna be larger than 80GB since they say the childern use it up in no time. Also I think 512MB ram should do and also a sufficient video card for light games since the children are pretty young? What are your suggestions for the other parts of the compuer, ie, cpu, mobo, cd-rw, type of ram? Price range, well less is better of course so maybe $900 CDN or lower for sure?

Suggestions please .

Thanks!

 

[Boonesmi]

i would do something like

-soltek sl-kt600-rl (support for the full range of athlonXP cpu's, + Sata ports + killer high end audio + LAN + all the other normal stuff on a new motherboard link $78 shipped

-athlonXP 2500+ link $91 shipped

-buffalo pc3200 ddr link $85 shipped

-seagate Sata harddrive link $109 or maybe link $81 shipped

-liteon 52x32x52 cdrw link $37 shipped

 

[JoPalm]

Thanks for the quick reply Boonesemi. Are the new SATA drives worth getting, price wise, over the IDE drives? Is that price for Seagate a good one for a 120GB? Would I save much from a, say, 120GB IDE over a 120GB SATA? I've been out of the loop for a bit. An Athlon cpu / mobo combo I presume is still one of the better price/performance ratioS?

 

[Boonesmi]

the sata isnt much more then the older style IDE.. and the seagate sata drives are very good quality IMHO

and yup i think the athlon mb/cpu combo is the best option


buy the way incase you didnt notice.. i updated my first thread a couple times (adding stuff and fixing a link)

 

[Boonesmi]

ohh and make sure you get a decent powersupply.. dont use the generic ones that come with lots of the cheaper cases you see for sale

 

[JoPalm]

What kind of video card would you suggest and what are your thoughts on these KT600 boards: (These are CDN prices btw)
$89 Gigabyte GA-7VT600L KT600 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR w/Sound Lan USB2.0 ATA-133 Socket A
$99 Gigabyte GA-7VT600PL KT600 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR w/Sound SATA Lan USB2.0 ATA-133 Socket A

MSI have any good KT600 boards?

 

[Boonesmi]

i dont like the GA-7VT600L at all (its not a very good board and it doesnt have Sata ports)

im not familiar with the L-P version, but do believe it has the Sata ports


the asus a7v600 is also a very nice motherboard, and so is the MSI board (and i really dont have much experience with any of the others)

 

[Boonesmi]

for a video card its kinda hard to say, and it really depends on what your price range is

the high end cards are dominated by ATI like the radeon 9800 pro or XT but they cost quite a bit
but for around $200 you can get an nvidia geforce fx 5700 ultra (which is the next card ill probably own)
and if wanting to spend around $100 i would probably get a geforce4 ti4200

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: Boonesmi
i would do something like

-soltek sl-kt600-rl (support for the full range of athlonXP cpu's, + Sata ports + killer high end audio + LAN + all the other normal stuff on a new motherboard link $78 shipped

-athlonXP 2500+ link $91 shipped

-buffalo pc3200 ddr link $85 shipped

-seagate Sata harddrive link $109 or maybe link $81 shipped

-liteon 52x32x52 cdrw link $37 shipped

This rig is going to be for family use so I assume it needs to be stable. Buffalo is pretty hit or miss. Since you arent going to be doing any hardcore overclocking I would go with crucial pc3200 instead, its only 4$ more direct from crucial

 

[Johnbear007]

Originally posted by: JoPalm
What kind of video card would you suggest and what are your thoughts on these KT600 boards: (These are CDN prices btw)
$89 Gigabyte GA-7VT600L KT600 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR w/Sound Lan USB2.0 ATA-133 Socket A
$99 Gigabyte GA-7VT600PL KT600 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR w/Sound SATA Lan USB2.0 ATA-133 Socket A

MSI have any good KT600 boards?

A couple things


the 5700 ultra I think is a bad value, I would go with a 9600 pro for light gaming at 150$

Also, I dont like the
KT600

I Would go with something like the Soltek NV400 - L64.. it doesnt have SATA but SATA is worthless IMHO

Check the reviews it gets great reviews at anandtech.com and amdmb.com

 

[Boonesmi]

Originally posted by: Johnbear007

Originally posted by: JoPalm
What kind of video card would you suggest and what are your thoughts on these KT600 boards: (These are CDN prices btw)
$89 Gigabyte GA-7VT600L KT600 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR w/Sound Lan USB2.0 ATA-133 Socket A
$99 Gigabyte GA-7VT600PL KT600 Chipset 1AGP8x/5PCI/3DDR w/Sound SATA Lan USB2.0 ATA-133 Socket A

MSI have any good KT600 boards?

A couple things


the 5700 ultra I think is a bad value, I would go with a 9600 pro for light gaming at 150$

Also, I dont like the
KT600

I Would go with something like the Soltek NV400 - L64.. it doesnt have SATA but SATA is worthless IMHO

Check the reviews it gets great reviews at anandtech.com and amdmb.com

not sure why you "dont like" the kt600

its an increadibly mature and stable chipset.. the performance is a small half step behind the nforce2 400, and the features are more impressive then nforce2 by a long ways (especially since Sata is integrated into the chipset so its not on the pci bus... and the via vinyl onboard audio totally dominates the nf2 audio)

and the 5700 ultra a bad value?? uhh ok

 

[Boonesmi]

by the way another nice thing about the kt600 is that its much more forgiving with generic/cheap ram

the buffalo may be hit or miss when dealing with overclocking, but it shouldnt have any trouble at all on any of the boards mentioned above when running at stock speed

 

[JoPalm]

What card would you recommend in the $100 range, I think the cards you guys recommended is gonna be way to powerful for the kids. The only reason why I'm looking at diff brand mobo's is that I want to have the computer bulit all at one place for our friend, instead of me having to do it, know what I mean .

 

[Boonesmi]

if they arent going to be doing any gaming then anything from a geforce4 mx or newer would probably work just fine (you can usually buy them for around $50)

im not a big ATI fan. i totally respect their newer cards, but i dont know much about the lower end models (ie radeon 9000, etc) so if you are prefering ATI then hopefully someone with much more knowledge then me will respond

my wife uses this card link and for what she does it works perfectly.. she plays also plays lots of games (but nothing hardcore 3d)

 

[magomago]

you prepared for tech support? I'm talking support even after they themselves virus it up or something If yes...then I guess go with the suggesstions of the people tho i find it ironic you guys reccomend a 9600pro for "light" gaming

and i second the kt600....and don't overclock IMO just because it isn't worth it for what u are doing

 

[JoPalm]

I think a 9200 is enough for them even though it's a crappy card. Don't wanna spend anything more than $100 cdn.

 

[lenjack]

It's nice of you to do this for them, but understand that you will be 24/7 tech support for them as long as they have this computer. This is a very real issue and many have learned it the hard way.

 

[JoPalm]

Should I tell them just to get a dell then?

 

[MDE]

If you don't want to be pulling your hair out when they call you to fix the virus or something that the 'kids' did, then have them get a prebuilt with tech support.

 

[jjyiz28]

albatron kt600 chipset

perfect review. no extra fluff, only $63 free shipping.

9100 sapphire 128mb

good review, $69, free shipping. this card beats the 9200, 9000 silly. 128mb too, not that it would matter that much.

sparkle 300watt

dont skimp on PSU. this is good. $26 + $6. dont be fooled by bigger wattage numbers. its the quality that counts.

samsung 2mg cache 160gb

perfect review. $105. priced like a 120gb

 

[lenjack]

Yes, Dell. It will do everything they want and give you lots of relief.