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I want to buy a new PC? any advice???

O

Overkast

Senior member
Hope I'm posting this in the correct forum section. If not, I apologize.

Anywho... I'm looking to buy a new PC this fall (October-November). I want a nice n' fast machine, but I don't necessarilry want to spend top dollar for the latest and greatest technology. For example, rather than forking over a ton of money for a P4 3.2GHz, I'd much rather save a few hundred dollars and get a P4 3.0GHz.

Also, I'm torn between a P4 processor and an AMD processor. Hopefully someone here can give me the best recommendation based on my computing needs and expectations.

My expectations are:

-I want to be able to play games like SimCity 4 smoothly, as well as Halflife 2 and other 3D games.
-I also need enough power to handle graphic design-intensive applications such as Photoshop and even AutoCAD

So basically what my expectations come down to are: I want the best of both worlds... a processor type that can handle both games and workstation intensity.

For the amount of money I want to spend, I customized the following system:

Case: Enlight 7250 Mid-Tower ATX, 430 Watt, 2 Front USB - Black $125.00
Intel CPU: Intel Pentium 4 3.0 GHz (512k Cache, 800 MHz FSB) $424.00
Motherboard: Asus P4P800 Deluxe with Audio/GB.LAN/S.ATA/Firewire/RAID (800Mhz FSB) $155.00
Case Fan: Black 80mm Case Fan $8.00
RAM (1st stick): Corsair XMS TwinX 1,024 MB PC3700 DDR467, Heat Spreaders, Matched Pair $370.00
RAM (2nd stick): NONE
Hard Drive 1: Western Digital 80 GB, Ultra 100, 7200 RPM, 8MB Cache $102.00
Hard Drive 2: NONE
CD-ROM: Asus 52X IDE - Beige $35.00
CD-RW / DVD-RW: Pioneer DVR-A05 IDE [DVD 4x2x12x - CDRW 16x8x32x] - Beige $241.00
DVD Drive Only: NONE
Zip Drive: Iomega Internal IDE Zip Drive 250 MB $85.00
Floppy: Mitsumi 1.44 MB Floppy Drive - Beige $13.00
Video Card: ATI RADEON 9800 Pro 256MB (Dual Head, DVI, OEM) $549.00
Monitor: NONE
Modem: NONE
Sound Card: SoundBlaster PCI 128 $20.00
Speakers: NONE
Keyboard: Mitsumi 104 Key Keyboard PS/2 - Beige $12.00
Mouse: Microsoft Intellimouse Optical USB (OEM) $30.00
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (OEM) $149.00
Other Software: NONE
AntiVirus Software: NONE
FireWire (IEEE 1394): Kouwell PCI FireWire, 3 Port $35.00
Network Card: 3COM 10 / 100 PCI Network Card $58.00
Wireless Networking: NONE
Router: NONE
Hard Drive Controller Card: NONE
Extended Warranty (Barebones Only): NONE

In your expert opinions, does this customized system sound like it will meet all of my computing needs? Do you see any hardware conflicts in this list? Does the case allow for enough air to get through and cool off my processor/video card? Did I go overboard in any areas that I can cut back on to use the money towards a new monitor instead (or something)?

Any advice would be very much appreciated.

Thanks everyone!
 
first off, are you planning on Overclocking?

2.8C would be a better choice than the 3.0 either way
the pc3700 XMS is only $323 at newegg
with the saved money on the memory i would put it towards a larger or secong HDD
only 16X cd burning with the a05, you may way to put another $10 on top of the 52X cd drive and get a 52X CDRW
9800 pro 256 may help you in Auto Cad and photoshop but i dont know if it will do all that much better than the 128 version
IMO, the zip drive is a complete waste of money
get a better sound card. audigy 2 maybe
lose the firewire unless you need more than the 2 that comes with the board
lose the network card and use the onboard LAN

welcome to the forums
 
Thanks for the welcome shady. And thanks for the feedback too!

No, I don't plan on overclocking because quite frankly, I don't know much about it... and knowing me I'll end up frying my processor as a result.

When you say a 2.8C, do you mean Celeron? If so, can you elaborate a little more on why you suggest doing so?
 
Originally posted by: Overkast
Thanks for the welcome shady. And thanks for the feedback too!

No, I don't plan on overclocking because quite frankly, I don't know much about it... and knowing me I'll end up frying my processor as a result.

When you say a 2.8C, do you mean Celeron? If so, can you elaborate a little more on why you suggest doing so?
Click to expand...


No it's not a celeron, the c means it has an 800mhz fsb.
I agree go with a 2.8c instead of a 3.0c you will save over $100.
Go with a 9800np isntead of 9800pro 256mb and save $300- I don't think that there is much of a performance difference.
If you don't plan to oc go with something like crucial 512mb/ddr3200 @ $97 each.

Thats almost $600 right there.

Good luck,

Tom

 
2.8C refers to the Pentium 4 2.8 GHz with a 800Mhz FSB.

Also you probably don't want to be making these decisions now, wait the 2 months until you are ready to buy the computer to see where prices are at then.
 
Welcome to the AT forums 🙂

By 2.8C he meant a P4 2.8C (800 MHz bus) as opposed to a P4 2.8B (533 MHz bus). With 2.8 GHz you save a nice chunk of money to improve other parts with only a tiny drop in processor speed. 2.8 should be fast enough for any games released in the next couple of years.

A P4 at stock speed only needs PC3200 RAM not PC3700 -- buying faster than (good) PC3200 is a waste of money.

Up the soundcard to an Audigy2.

The Pioneer A06 sells for about $250 at newegg and is dual-format (+ and -) while the A05 you've chosen is only (-). You might consider getting a standard DVD-ROM drive (Liteon, Pioneer, Sony) in bay 1 and the Pioneer A06 in bay 2, to save wear on the burner and since ROM-only drives have less problems playing games with CD copy protection.

Why the firewire card? The motherboard has firewire, and so will the Audigy if you get it.

Change the videocard to a radeon 9800 pro 128 MB. 256 MB only increases speed (a tiny bit) running at 1600x1200 or higher with both anti-aliasing and filtering turned on, and no newer games will be playable at those settings.
 
First off, welcome to the Anandtech Forums. I'm a longtime member and I think you'll find this place a great resource for info.

Anyway, if I were you I'd go with an Intel based CPU/Chipset system. I know many people and AT members will argue about the price😛erformance ratio of AMD systems but Intel an Intel CPU/Chipset combo is usually rock solid and with a little overclocking can be a good deal. I'm a big fan of Asus motherboards so I like your choice there. I'd spend a little less and get a lower speed CPU and overclock it a bit. You'll get the same speed for less $$$. I've got a GB of "PC3500 433MHz ULTRA Platinum Series"in my system and I'm running it overclocked and fast speeds (can't remember the numbers exactly) but it's rock solid. Like shady06 said, do you really need a Zip drive? Couldn't you use one of those little USB "drives" instead? And I agree again, that video card is *very* expen$ive. Are you going to take advantage of it? AFAIK, any games that are out now will not need use it and by the time games come out that would there will be better cards available for the same money. I'd definetely get a cheaper card and save the $$$. Oh, and use all of the onboard stuff. No need to pay twice for something. If you have problems with something then you can disable it on the MB and get an addon card.

Good luck! 🙂
 
also the motherboard has a built-in network card so you don't need the extra one.

Actually by dropping the 9800 pro to 128 mb, buying cheaper RAM, and dropping the firewire/net cards you can afford to stay with a 3.0 GHz processor and also buy the DVD-ROM and audigy 2 with cash left over.
 
Awesome! Thanks for the great feedback guys. It really helps alot, and I really appreciate it too.

I don't know much about overclocking, but I'm interested in finding out more about it. If I do get into overclocking, what type of fans and cooling add-ons (like a master cooler case) do you recommend? Are there some super-power fans out there that will help me prevent processor over-heating?

Thanks again. I'm already diggin' this forum and I've only been here for 2 hours! You guys rock.
 
I agree with just about everything that shady06 said if your going to go with intel.

If you go with Intel:
drop the firewire and lan
shop at newegg
the P4 2.8c is a better buy than the 3.0
(like shady said)
the only recommendations that I have (Intel wise) that differ is the Multimedia
Shady was correct in that the 128 meg version of the Radeon 9800 will perform just as good if not faster on current games, but that may change in the near future as more advanced video games come out. But then again by the time those games do come out, video cards are so far ahead of the games that newer versions of the cards will probably be released and you will want those instead. I personally just bought a Radeon 9600 and saved a few bucks, I figure by the time I push that card atleast another generation or two of cards will have been released. Heck, UT 2003 didn't even push my Geforce 3 Ti4200, let alone the Geforce 4 Ti 4200, and my Radeon sleeps through the games. (I waste to much money). My philosophy buy slightly cheaper, but still high quality stuff, and upgrade every year. New versions of Direct X are released too often to constantly buy the best cards.

Also you will need to upgrade the sound
Audigy 2 for gaming
M-Audio Revolution 7.1 or a Terratec card for audiophile sound.

As far as being torn between AMD and Intel, I have been an avid AMD user for some time, and will probably continue on with AMD.

The advantages of AMD:
The chips are cheaper - so you can upgrade more often
The boards are also cheaper
Multi CPU boards are cheaper to build than a single High end pentium
The disadvantages of AMD

AMD has lost its performance crown to Intel and may not get it back in the 32 bit race

I currently run a gaming computer with a Athlon 2400+ and Radeon 9600, nothing comes close to pushing it, and it was cheap ~$550 for the box only. Expect to pay ~$800 - ~$900 w/o rebates (lots of mail in rebates) An Athlon 2600+ runs $106.00 at newegg.

But if you want bragging right on all your games, and scorching fast fps then the Intel P4 is the only way to go.

As far as AutoCad and all those high end programs go, those are what we call multithreaded applications. To get top speed out of those you need a SMP computer such as a Tyan Tiger MP (dual processor). Then you can slap two athlons XP's in it (MP's not mandatory) and it will still be cheaper then a high end single pentium setup. The only problem with that is that dual processor mobos are slightly slower than single processor mobos at gaming because of the extra overhead of managing the CPU's.


If you want cheap gaming I recommend
Althon XP 2600+ or 2800+ = $100 - $135
Motherboard
Asus A7N8X Deluxe (has Nforce2 no need for sound card saves another $100) the mobo = $120
or DFI Lan Party similar to the above but slightly different config
Both mobos have dolby digital sound, built in firewire, usb 2.0, RAID, serial ATA, Dual LAN, and much more

If you want top notch gaming
Shady's recommendations will do just fine

If you want top performance at cad and similar programs (will still play games but no bragging rights, but average people wont be able to tell the difference)
Tyan Tiger MP with dual Athlon XP's ~$150 plus 2x$100you will need a sound card with this mobo

Finally you might want to consider VIVO. I got my first VIVO card recently and I am so happy with it that I threw out the DVD player, CD player, and VCR. RF remotes and VIVO = the ultimate home theater setup.

Also keep in mind the Optoron will be out for the average user versions later this year, 64 bit computing will greatly speeding up high end applications as well as give game designers more tools to play with. Ontop of this there will be alot of developments in the near future with DDRII, WiFi, BlueTooth, and who knows what else. Nforce2 has so many features built in, there's no telling what the next round of mobos will have built in.

I buy quality stuff, but technology changes so fast I like to upgrade my computers once a year, so I never go all out. Remember its your call, it's all depends on your preference.
 
mm, you dont need to know much to o/c a pentium. just up the fsb, and see if its stable, if it is, keep goin, checkin temps, when it becomes unstable, up the voltage till its stable, and keep temps in check.

MIKE
 
you want quiet ---

goto dangerden.com .... 2nd best performing waterblock out there (that isn't made out of silver), I have a Maze 3 and Love it!

quiet fans = Vantec Stealth, Pabst, Antec
The quietest fan made = Verax fans .... expensive but ohhhh so nice, not to mention cool looking

a good website for modding is
http://www.7volts.com/

Zalman CPU coolers are real nice, n quiet for air cooling check out their website http://www.zalman.co.kr/english/intro.htm
Coolermaster Cases are good to
Aluminum case with front intake fan it

such as
Cooler Master Model# ATC-201-SX
http://www.coolermaster.com/case/p201.htm
$119 at newegg
 
Wait, are you building your own, or buying one prebuilt?

I suggest building your own. With the money you want to spend on the rig in your first post, you could buy:

AMD Athlon XP 2500+ Barton core
Asus A7N8X Deluxe Motherboard
1 GB ram(corsair, crucial, whatever)
Waterchill watercooling kit
Radeon 9800 Pro 128 MB
Cheiftec Aluminum case

And still have tons of money left. And you could always overclock it and make it a lot faster if you want. Or you could swap out the 2500 with a 2800, or 3000.

There are a lot of choices you could make. What is your budget?
 
My budget is roughly $2,500. Yes, I want to try and build my own. But if I do so, I'll be eating up shipping costs if I do it online, right?
 
Originally posted by: Overkast
My budget is roughly $2,500. Yes, I want to try and build my own. But if I do so, I'll be eating up shipping costs if I do it online, right?
Click to expand...

actually, if you go with newegg, shipping for the whole system will be in the $50 range but you save a LOT of money over going into a retail store
 
ya newegg rocks

save lots of $$$$$

shipping included still a lot cheaper

goto a local computer store and compare.....

Last week I needed a 40mm fan for my Linux box and couldn't wait 2-3 days, I needed it in 2-3 hours. Went to the local comp store paid $20. The exact same fan was $2 online. I felt cheated... But local stores gotta pay rent. 🙂
 
So is it safe to say that I should build my entire system at newegg.com? I take it they have a huge variety of hardware to choose from, correct?

Are they usually the cheapest online vendor? I was referred to bizrate.com from a friend, but I'm not sure about bizrate's credentials.
 
mwave.com has cheaper prices than newegg on ALOT of the same products, their shipping and service is comparable to newegg also. i bought parts for my first system back in 01' and going to do so with the one im building in August.
 
With a $2500 budget there isn't much you CAN'T buy.
Ditch the 9800 Pro 256 MB and get the 128 MB one.
Ditch the PC3700 RAM and get PC3200 (PC3700 is only useful if you're overclocking, and you said you're not going to)
Watch local sales at Best Buy and Circuit City... they recentl had a sale with that 80 GB WD drive you have listed for $60. They sometimes have the 120 GB one for $100 too if you need some more space.
If you're going to get a DVD burner/CDRW drive in one... why buy another separate CD-ROM drive? Buy a DVD-ROM so you can read DVD's and CD's in that drive, and use the other drive exclusively for burning.

And about newegg... the only time I've found a price lower than newegg from a reputable retailer is from googlegear... and usually the difference is in S&H... newegg might have an item for $20 and free shipping, and googlegear might have it for $18 with $5 shipping... so you gotta pay attention to that too.
Also, newegg chips FedEx... if the FedEx driver in your area sucks, GoogleGear ships UPS. I used GoogleGear for a while cause my FedEx driver sucked... he's been replaced, so now I buy most of my stuff from newegg.
 
yeah, you have to watch out for shipping too... but after comparing both newegg and mwave shopping carts with the exact same components and same shipping mwave.com came out to be around 200 dollars cheaper for me anyways
 
120GB 8MB Maxtor for $60 at Depot. Sale ends tomorrow. See hot deals for info.

Drop to 2.4c for the best value in an HT P4 system, or go AMD with 2500+

The sound card is quite cheap; maybe look at a Santa Cruz or an Audigy/2

No need for a firewire/1394 card if you end up getting an audigy or a board that has a firewire.

BTW some person on GH mentioned a site where you can find a XP Pro licence for $100 to save you $50 there.
 
Not much new to add, other than that Pricewatch is your friend.

That DVD burner can be had for $170 OEM ($185 retail). The 106 model for $190 OEM ($240 retail).
 
Originally posted by: shady06
Originally posted by: Overkast
My budget is roughly $2,500. Yes, I want to try and build my own. But if I do so, I'll be eating up shipping costs if I do it online, right?
Click to expand...

actually, if you go with newegg, shipping for the whole system will be in the $50 range but you save a LOT of money over going into a retail store
Click to expand...

Is there a section on newegg.com to customize a new computer system, or do you have to add all the hardware parts to your shopping cart individually?
 
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