I think this will work

[Old Man River]

Three Hurricanes practically destroyed my one main desktop computer. Now I?m limping along on my 10 year old laptop and this 70-year-old man can?t afford the high price replacement toys. As a writer, I open several ?Word? documents along with several Web pages at a time and need the system that can handle that task. This is the first time I?ve used what nerve I have left to push on in building my own. I?ve very carefully studied what people have said on each product and have buried myself in reading explanations on the products, their link to the manufacture, and what they had to say about compatibilities with other products until I?m dizzy. I?ve had all the overheating problems causing CPU crashes, and problems of not enough memory to carry me through my work. I don?t have room for the multiple speaker ensembles with the sub woofer, center channel theatre array; I?d rather plug in a headset to watch a movie, or listen to music. I may have wished for a few things I don?t need, and I may have left out others that I do need, other than a keyboard, mouse, and software. I hope I won?t have to take this machine to an expert to build it. I hope everything is compatible. Wish me luck.

It will eventually run me close to $700.00 Plus Tax & Shipping

The system:

Rosewill Value Series Black ATX Mid-Tower Super Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "R103A" $29.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=11-147-010&depa=1

AMD Athlon XP 2700+, 333MHz FSB, 256K Cache Processor $105.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=19-103-342&depa=1

ASRock "K7S41GX" SiS741GX Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU $42.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-157-022&depa=1

Rosewill 184-Pin 512MB DDR PC-2700, Model RW333/512 $64.27 do I need two?
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=20-223-006&DEPA=0

Seagate 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST380011A, OEM $62.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=22-148-015&depa=1

ViewSonic OPTIQUEST Q71B 17" CRT Monitor $116.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=24-122-128&depa=0

Lite-On Black 16X DVD-ROM, Model SOHD-167T, OEM $24.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=27-131-118&depa=0

Sony Internal 16X DVD+/-RW / Double Layer Drive Black, Model DW-D22A-B2, OEM $65.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=27-131-241&DEPA=0

NEC 1.44MB Black Internal Floppy Drive, OEM $7.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=21-152-005&depa=1

KINYO PS-193 2.0 Multimedia Speakers $4.75
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=36-401-014&depa=0

Microsoft Windows XP Home $197.00

 

[Mik3y]

looks fine.

 

[NarcoticHobo]

Get an OEM version of XP, you can get the pro for $135 and the home for $90 or so. Same exact thing just no box or manual, probably won't need that anyway if you are doing it yourself.

 

[Confusednewbie1552]

What Power Supply are you getting? Other than that it seems fine.

 

[Boonesmi]

the system looks like it should work great for what you are needing

but like was mentioned above.... you would be better off getting an OEM version of windowsXP

http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=37-102-151&depa=6

 

[Boonesmi]

Originally posted by: Confusednewbie1552
What Power Supply are you getting? Other than that it seems fine.

for the system he is talking about putting together. the powersupply included with that case will most likely work fine

 

[Old Man River]

I was thinking of getting the OEM version, but will that give me a better OS, or just a cheaper one? The difference is, the OEM seems to leave out a lot of the tools I think comes with the regular version.

Would someone please tell me why the OEM would be better?

 

[IronMentality]

Old Man River:

- Purchase the OEM Version of Windows XP Home Edition. Use shopping.com and PCWorld.com's Product Finder to find the cheapest prices for the OEM VERSION only. The retail version is just a fancy box with a manual for over $100 more -- it's not needed. You don't need XP Professional since your not doing any networking dealies.

- Get an Enlight power supply... they tend to be the absolute best. I would also recommend the Antec brand.

- Rosewill is just a 'repackaging' brand basically. Do not use there memory. Stick with Corsair, Kingston, Patriot, Mushkin for memory.

- While your just using stuff for productivity it seems -- you might be able to find a SATA hard drive for the same price as the IDE. SATA is a newer interface that allows for transfer rates. If it's just a "few" dollars, and I mean $5 or the same price -- it's worth it to get an SATA hard drive.

- NEC makes the best DVD Burners. I'd advise to go with them for a double layer DVD burner that you want. Then, get a Lite-On CD-RW drive as your 2nd optical drive -- they make the best CD burners.

- Samsung's floppy drive I believe might be a dollar less than the one your looking at, feel free to save a buck and get it

- Just remember to ditch Rosewill period -- they are repackagers and MAKE SURE to get an Enlight or Antec PSU. The PSU powers your components obviously -- if it blows out, so will your investment in the other hardware.

Good luck and happy holidays.

 

[Yanagi]

Dont quote me on this, but I think the OEM has all the tools that the retail has. Just that it doesn't come with the shiny box.

 

[ts3433]

It's just cheaper for the same OS as the one in the retail box--explain why you think the OEM is stripped-down and maybe we can clarify.

For multitasking I don't know that you'll need a gig of RAM, as I seem to run fine on 512MB with XP, a few Firefox tabs, Winamp, Gaim, and OpenOffice.org running. Check and see if that integrated graphics chipset you picked out is like the nForce2 IGP in that it really benefits from dual channel--if that's the case, get 2 sticks of something. (Also remember that up to 64MB of system memory--this is user-adjustable in the BIOS--will be eaten up by the graphics, so if you install 512MB, you have only 448MB to run stuff in. You're probably fine, though--my commit charge is usually around 300MB in the conditions mentioned above.)

Try and use the savings on the OEM WinXP to swap your case for an Antec case + PSU and maybe get some better quality RAM (you may as well get some Corsair Value Select CL2.5 PC3200--it's usually the same price as PC2700 and will work fine).

IronMentality: SATA is not an option for him with boards in that price range--they don't have it at all. My board was $15 more than his and it doesn't have SATA either. Besides, it provides no performance increase to speak of at the moment, unless you're running a Raptor or have a SATA II drive on an NF4.

 

[IronMentality]

Originally posted by: Yanagi
Dont quote me on this, but I think the OEM has all the tools that the retail has. Just that it doesn't come with the shiny box.

Yes. OEM Windows XP is the Retail Windows XP except without the fancy packaging.

 

[Old Man River]

Originally posted by: IronMentality

Originally posted by: Yanagi
Dont quote me on this, but I think the OEM has all the tools that the retail has. Just that it doesn't come with the shiny box.

Yes. OEM Windows XP is the Retail Windows XP except without the fancy packaging.

I?m dizzy from spending a week on this project that it?s a little hard for me to digest what everyone has told me.

I will refer to this topic and study it from time-to-time and try to think about those kind suggestions you?ve all made. I wish I had come to this forum sooner; perhaps I might know a bit more than I do now.

You all have me convinced though on selecting the OEM version of Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition; that one I don?t have to think about any longer, thanks.

I hope I can get this computer soon, I will need to wait and save some money for it, I?m retired, and living off of a small pension and SS.

In the meantime, I will look around this forum, and the rest of the web site and see what I can find that may be of interest to me.

Have a good day.

 

[IronMentality]

Just remember:

- Enlight or Antec PSU is an absolute must -- a bad PSU could short out your entire investment
- Asus, AOpen, or Soyo Motherboard for stability of your PC
- Kingston, Mushkin, Patriot, or Corsair Memory... don't buy reboxers like Rosewill
- Seagate HD or Western Digital HD -- (Seagate does carry a 5 year warranty though) try to get an SATA if possible... much better performance and the cost is possibly $10 more at maximum
- NEC DVD Burners are the absolute best
- Lite-On CD Burners are the absolute best
- Samsung Floppy Drive will save you a buck

 

[Old Man River]

Okay, I?ve changed my choices to what I was told. I?ll have some questions on the Mother Board I?ve selected because I chose that board hoping that it would run my monitor and feed my speakers without spending the money on a video and audio board. The ASRock Chipset Motherboard I can only assume, doesn?t need a Video, or Audio board to operate a monitor, and a left and right speaker. I fought with myself on this simply because I could not find any place I looked that would tell me right out that it would, or it wouldn?t and I?m still not sure it will fire up two powered, audio in speaker amps on those two speakers I?ve selected. I?d go with a better Motherboard if I knew better on how to accomplish the needs of the monitor and speaker assembly I?ve chosen.

When it comes to these Desktop computers, I am stupid, but not all that stupid. I?ve spent my life working on computers, but not the desktop variety. I?ve worked for Radiation Inc., RCA, and United Space Alliance at the John F Kennedy Space Center for 45 years, or more and the two systems just are not the same. Memory consisted of two eight feet tall racks filled with Myzzer boards; Atomic Cesium Oscillators clocked as many as 15 other systems slaved to the master. This ol? man is having a hard time learning a new language on computers, but it?s fun.

Here are my changes:

Antec Black ATX Mini Tower PC Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK1650B" ? Retail $60.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=11-129-150&depa=1

Lite-On 52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive Black, Model SOHR-5238S Black, Retail $26.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=27-106-942&depa=0

NEC 16X Double Layer DVD±RW Drive, Black, Model ND-3500A BK, OEM
$64.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=27-152-032&depa=1

Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 ? Retail $70.13
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=20-145-026&depa=1

 

[ts3433]

From your motherboard's page at Newegg
Onboard Audio: 5.1 Channels AC97 audio codec
Onboard Video: Integrated with Real 256E 3D Graphics controller, support 64MB Max shared memory

Should answer your question on the board. Virtually every consumer-level board these days will have some sort of onboard audio that's good for low-end stuff. I probably would have gone with an nForce2 IGP myself (instead of the board you got with the SiS chipset), but that would be a bit more cash and you'd have to change your RAM to 2x256 (NF2 IGPs like dual channel a lot).

In response to IronMentality's comment on motherboards: There are plenty quality makers beyond the usual big three (Asus, Abit, MSI--to an extent) and your AOpen/Soyo (I have no information on the reputations of either of these companies). For examples: Shuttle, DFI, Chaintech, Epox, Soltek. For the needs of the OP, a Biostar with an NF2 IGP would also be fine, as is the ASRock he picked out (they're supposed to be good for being really cheap boards).

EDIT: I can't use message board code at all

 

[Home Built]

I didn't see a CPU HS/Fan on your list. Every now and then you won't get H/S Compound so add that to your list.

 

[ts3433]

Originally posted by: Home Built
I didn't see a CPU HS/Fan on your list. Every now and then you won't get H/S Compound so add that to your list.

His processor is retail boxed--no HSF or thermal goo necessary.

 

[Home Built]

You're right. I missed that.

 

[Old Man River]

Thanks Trevor. Having just turned 70 this last month, I?m just barely able to keep up with you all. But the information I?m getting here is oh, so much appreciated. With the changes I?ve made taking advice from you all, I think I will have a much better computer than I would have had from the beginning. However, I think this will add up to almost a thousand dollars now, and I was trying to stay somewhat under that price. Puters are expensive!

Here are more of my changes:

ASUS "A7V600-X" KT600 Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU ?RETAIL $59.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-131-486&depa=0
Supported CPU: Socket A AMD Athlon XP/Athlon/Duron Processors
Chipset: VIA KT600 + VT8237
FSB: 400/333/266/200MHz
RAM: 3x DIMM for un-buffered non-ECC DDR400/333/266 Max 3GB
IDE: 2 x UltraDMA 133 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X, 6x PCI
Ports: 2xPS2,1xCOM,1xLPT,1xLAN,8xUSB2.0(Rear 4),1xS/PDIF out,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: ADI AD1888 6-Channel Audio
Onboard LAN: 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x Serial ATA, RAID 0/1
Form Factor: ATX

ASUS ATI RADEON 7000 Video Card, 64MB DDR, 64-bit, TV-Out, 4X AGP, Model "A7000/T/64M" ?RETAIL $36.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=14-121-508&depa=1
Specifications:
Chipset/Core Speed: ATI RADEON 7000/150MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 64MB DDR/300MHz
BUS: AGP 1X/2X/4X
Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub)+TV-Out(S-Video+Composite Out)
Support 3D API: DirectX®, OpenGL®
Cable/Accessories: Not Specified
Max Resolution@32bit Color: 1920X1200

Seagate 120GB Barracuda 7200RPM SATA II with NCQ Hard Drive, Model T3120827AS, OEM $99.50
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=22-148-039&depa=1
Specifications:
Capacity: 120GB
Average Seek Time: 8.5 ms
Buffer: 8MB
Sustained Transfer Rate (Mbytes/sec): 32 to 58
Average Latency (msec): 4.16
Rotational Speed: 7200 RPM
Interface: Serial SATA 150
Features: Up to 20 percent performance improvement over previous SATA, 100 percent software compatible with existing PCs
Manufacturer Warranty: 5 years
Packaging: OEM

Also: with the change to SERIAL ATA II I think this is appropriate.

6-Inch, SATA (SERIAL ATA Power Adapter) SERIAL ATA(15-Pin) to 4-Pin to Power Supply Needed for Seagate Serial ATA Hard Drive Adapter. $2.49
http://www.newegg.com/app/view...=12-104-555&DEPA=0

CNet Internal 56K V.92 PCI Fax/Data/TAM Modem, Model CN5614RV ? Retail
$10.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=25-171-001&depa=0


Anyway, you all have a Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year, every one of you. I know I will, I?ll drop in here and look things over when I can, I?ve been ordered to visit two people over the holidays, a lady friend in Orlando, :heart: and two former working friends of mine, now married to each other, we?re going to have some good deep-sea fish to eat.

 

[ts3433]

For your needs, I really would suggest staying with integrated graphics, as a Radeon 7000 is worth nowhere close to $36. A GF4MX (the same thing used in an nForce2 IGP) would probably provide around the same performance in games (for what that's worth to you ), and that's nearly free with an IGP board (you won't notice a loss of 64MB system RAM with what you plan to do). Don't stress about getting SATA either--there probably won't be any tangible performance increase for a while--much less one that is meaningful to someone merely dabbling in Word and Firefox. Hell, SATA II-specific features aren't even used by any desktop boards with the exception of S939 A64 boards using nForce4 chipsets and maybe some of the newer Intel 9xx boards (don't quote me on the latter, though). If you do get a SATA HDD, you probably won't need the power adapter with it--I have an Antec case + PSU and it has a couple of those connectors on it already. It's probably meant for PSUs that were out before the SATA spec.

I do suggest checking out jpeyton's system thread, which used to be stickied to the top of GH. You'll undoubtedly see ways to get that under your original $700 budget--don't worry about the future-proofing things many of the rest of us are talking about. That's all mainly for the most hardcore of gamers--those who spend $300-$400 on video cards, etc.

 

[Mrvile]

Next time you could try Hurricane Insurance.

Otherwise you made some very smart decisions switching to Antec for the case and Corsair for the ram. I don't know about the Radeon 7000 though, I'd stick with a GF4. I had a GF440MX on my old HP and it was beautiful.

Nice motherboard, it has everything you need (DDR400, AGP 8x) and a crapload of PCI slots to fit your needs.

 

[LordPhoenix]

--All Retail Build from Newegg.com--


Component Description Price

Case : Antec SLK1650B $75.00

CPU : AMD Athlon XP 2500+ $86.00

Mobo: Biostar "M7NCG 400" nForce 2 IGP w. gf4mxintegrated $66.99

RAM : Corsair 512MB PC3200 $74.00

HD : Seagate 80GB 7200 RPM IDE HD $66.00

MONITOR : Samsung SyncMaster 790df 17" CRT $148.50

OPTICAL DRIVE : NEC 3500A DVD+/-RW $62.00

OPTICAL DRIVE : LITE-ON 16X DVD-ROM $25.00

FLOPPY DRIVE : NEC Floppy $9.99

SPEAKERS : Aopen MS-698B Black 2CH Speakers $11.49

OS : Windows XP Home $89.00

$713.97
________________________________________________________________________________

--Cheap! Smart! A64 Build from ANANDTECH F/S FORUMS + Newegg--

Case : Antec Sonata $98.00

CPU : AMD Athlon 64 2800+ $130.00

Mobo: EPoX "EP-8KDA3J" nForce3-250Gb $71.99

RAM : Corsair 512MB PC3200 $65.00

HD : Seagate 80GB 7200 RPM IDE HD $40.00

MONITOR : Samsung SyncMaster 790df 17" CRT $148.50

OPTICAL DRIVE : NEC 3500A DVD+/-RW $62.00

OPTICAL DRIVE : LITE-ON 16X DVD-ROM $25.00

FLOPPY DRIVE : NEC Floppy $9.99

SPEAKERS : Aopen MS-698B Black 2CH Speakers $11.49

OS : *Bootleg, Heh* $-

VIDEO CARD : GEFORCE 3 TI 200/REGULAR/500 FROM F/S FORUMS $30

$691.97

Time ta sleep!

 

[Old Man River]

I?ve found that I might like the:

Western Digital Special Edition 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model WD800JB, OEM Drive Only
For $60
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=22-144-122&depa=0

somewhat more than the:

Seagate 40GB Hard Drive
Seagate 80GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST380011A, OEM $62.00
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=22-148-015&depa=1

But, I really don?t know why, other than the reviews. I know the Seagate has a five year warranty and the Western Digital has only three, but...

Sigh... that?s the way life is sometimes.

A GF4MX (the same thing used in an nForce2 IGP) would probably provide around the same performance in games (for what that's worth to you), and that's nearly free with an IGP board (you won't notice a loss of 64MB system RAM with what you plan to do).

Thanks Trevor. I?ve spent half the night studying what little I can find on the subjects of shared RAM, puzzling over what all the hieroglyphic terms used in the processes, and I think I am almost there on understanding what takes place in a Motherboard, and what to look for.

This is the motherboard I want, though it may cost a little more.
BIOSTAR "M7NCG 400" nForce2 IGP Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU ?RETAIL $66.99
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-138-234&depa=0

Specifications:
Supported CPU: Socket A AMD Athlon/Athlon XP/Duron Processors
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce2 IGP + MCP
FSB: 200/266/333/400MHz
RAM: 3x DIMM support Dual Channel DDR333/266/200 Max 3GB
IDE: 2x UltraDMA 133 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X, 3x PCI, 1x CNR
Ports: 2xPS2,1xLPT,1xCOM,1xVGA,4xUSB2.0(Rear 2),1xLAN,1xGAME,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: Realtek ALC650 6-Channel AC97 CODEC
Onboard Video: GeForce4 MX
Onboard LAN: Realtek 8201BL 10/100Mbps
Form Factor: Micro ATX

You would think the manufactures would give a little explanation on that; after all, wouldn?t it solve the problems of uninformed customers buying a product only to find out that they can?t use it, or that it?s unsatisfactory for what they want to use it for?

Thank you very much for pointing me to jpeyton's system thread, there should be more advice found in the internet as good as his, though lately I haven?t run across it. I wish I had his advice long ago. I?ll try to post a thank you on his thread when I have a little more time. I spent some time last night reading a few pages on it, and then I needed to get off the Internet for other things. I agree; that should be a sticky thread.

I have the cost of my new computer project down to a little over $600.00, but that is before I add Windows XP HOME Service Pack 2 ?OEM,
Microsoft Office Basic, Microsoft Money Standard 2005, Norton Antivirus, An APC 350VA Back-UPS, a Logitech Trackman, and a MICROSOFT INTERNET KEYBOARD. The grand total will be just over a thousand dollars.

For some reason my ol? Dell 4100?s recovered somewhat. Something in it got smoked during the hurricanes, I know not what, but my ol? Dell must have shrugged it off and now seems to be chugging right along. I just can?t get used to reading from a 21-inch monitor again after sticking my face into my limping laptop. I like using the laptop while sitting in a comfortable easy chair. I almost want to rip into it, and two other old desktops I have and refurbish them, but that will wait until I learn what I need to know on this new computer project of mine.

And, before I forget, thanks to Mrvile and LordPhoenix for the good advice.

Mrvile: I, at seventy years of age and retired, find it very hard to pay the very high cost of insurance for apartment contents, boat and auto, and hospitalization only to find they balk at paying out the cost of damage. Three years ago, I had a heart failure, several operations, darn near going blind from macular degeneration, cataracts, and no longer could care for my home, so I retired and moved into an apartment. I?ll leave the insurance companies to get rich off of the young.

You all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Thanks.

 

[ts3433]

Yeah, that is a good NF2 IGP motherboard--make sure to get 2x256 of RAM for dual channel, though, as this is the rare instance you'll benefit from it with an AXP. Stick with the Seagate hard drive if it's not much more, though WD is fine too.

You can also save a boatload (well, maybe not quite) of money by not buying overpriced software like Office or Norton--I use OpenOffice.org and AntiVir, two great freeware apps; though you'll want to have access to a broadband connection for OO (it's around 40MB).

 

[Old Man River]

Santa didn?t come to my house and no nice ol? lady bought me a new computer either. I guess I will have to save my pennies so I can buy one hopefully within three to four months.

Stick with the Seagate hard drive if it's not much more, though WD is fine too.

I will, only I?m going with the Seagate 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive for
$54.50, there?s no way I?m going to need much more than that. My Dell has a 60GB hard drive, and it?s only a quarter filled. I partitioned it to five drives and left C Drive alone for program applications using Partition Magic. I may partition the Seagate, but only two times using, once again: C Drive alone for program applications using Partition Magic. I?ll give C drive at least 20 GB of room, I?ve only used 10.2 GB on it and it?s a 38.9 GB Capacity. On the other four drives are so empty, that it?s not worth mentioning. I have a ton of documents and photos on them.

also, I don?t think I will need any more memory then the two 256MB DDR memories I have. Two 512MB DDR memory sticks just seems to me to be an overkill for my use.

Anyway, here it is:

Antec Solution Series SLK2650-BQE Quiet Black Mid Tower, 350W PS
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=11-129-148&depa=0

AMD Athlon XP 2700+, 333MHz FSB, 256K Cache Processor ? Retail
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=19-103-342&depa=1

BIOSTAR "M7NCG 400" nForce2 IGP Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=13-138-234&depa=0

Corsair Value Select 256MB DDR PC-3200
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=20-145-025&depa=1

And another:
Corsair Value Select 256MB DDR PC-3200
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=20-145-025&depa=1

Seagate 40GB 7200RPM IDE Hard Drive, Model ST340014A, OEM Drive Only
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=22-148-013&depa=1

Zonet V.92 56K PCI Data/Fax Modem (very high reviews)
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=25-130-005&depa=0

ViewSonic 17? CRT Monitor
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=24-122-128&depa=0

Lite-On Black,52X32X52 Internal EIDE CD-RW Drive Black, Model SOHR-5238S
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=27-106-942&depa=0

Lite-On Black 16X DVD-ROM, Model SOHD-167T, OEM
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=27-131-118&depa=0

NEC 1.44MB Black Internal Floppy Drive, OEM
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=21-152-005&depa=1

KINYO Multimedia Speakers
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=36-401-014&depa=0

Windows XP HOME Service Pack 2 ?OEM
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=37-102-151&depa=6

Microsoft Office Basic
http://www.newegg.com/app/View...=37-116-181&depa=0