Money in my pocket please suggest a system

[DrJackson]

I've built systems before, but don't really want the hassle this time.

Suggestions for a decent system pre-assembled under $1000
I can always add things later such as video card etc, but just looking for a suggestion on MB Combo, HD, case, etc.

 

[mechBgon]

Welcome to the Forums DrJackson If you describe the expected type of usage for the system, people will be able to tailor their advice to your needs.

 

[Harvey]

Hi, DrJackson. The bad news is, there are NO prebuilt systems (meaning department store brands like Dell, HP, Compaq, etc.) that will give you anywhere near the value you'll get from a custom built system. The good news is, once you define your needs, if you live in a major city, you can probably find a local shop that will have the parts you want, build it for you for a better price, and stand behind it with a decent warranty.


As mechBgon] said, tell us what you want to do with it, and you'll find a lot of folks who can help you put a good list together.

 

[DrJackson]

This will be ultimately a gaming machine

 

[Harvey]

JMHO, but you'll get more bang for the buck with an Athlon + mobo combo, leaving more money for the rest of your system. Others may disagree, but Before we get into flame wars, do you have a preference for AMD vs. Intel?

Also, cruise Hot Deals and other deal sites to save some serious bucks on your setup. If you have a few weeks to wait for stores like Office Max/Depot, Staples, Best Buy, etc. to cycle through their specials, you can save a lot on your hard drive, CDRW and RAM. For example, a few weeks ago, I picked up an 80 GB Maxtor drive for $32, including tax, after rebate. There are other similar deals going on almost every week. This will help if you want to spring for a couple of high end items like a better vid card for your gaming.

 

[Dragonbate]

This is the sytem I just ordered from Newegg... My Bday
Its not the fastest board.. in fact its pretty slow but its got features, its cheap, and its an asus.

Qty Product Item # Unit Price Qty x Price

ASUS KT600 Motherboard for AMD Socket A CPU, Model "A7V600-X" -RETAIL
Specifications:
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 more info-> N82E16813131486 $70.99 $70.99


AMD Athlon XP 2500+ "Barton", 333 FSB, 512K Cache Processor - Retail
Specification
Model: AMD Athlon XP 2500+
Core: Barton
Operating Frequency: 1.83GHz
FSB: 333MHz
Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/512K
Voltage: 1.65V
Process: 0.13Micron
Socket: Socket A
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+
Packaging: Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included) more info-> N82E16819103379 $80.00 $80.00


Corsair Value Select 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - OEM
Specification
Manufacturer: Corsair
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 3
Support Voltage: 2.5V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: 64M x 64 -Bit
Warranty: Lifetime more info-> N82E16820145479 $88.00 $88.00


NETGEAR 54Mbps Wireless PCI Ethernet Adapter, Model WG311
Specifications:
Standard: IEEE 802.11b, 802.11g
Wireless Data Rates: up to 54Mbps
Security: 40/64/128-Bit WEP
Interface: 32-bit, PCI 2.2
Frequency Band: 2.4G
Weight: 125g
Dimensions(mm): 132.8x21.8x121
System Requirements: Pentium III above PC, PCI 2.2 slot, 20Mb+ of free hard drive space, Windows 98SE/Me/2000/XP
Special Features: First-time-ever wireless video streaming, Dynamic rate shifting, Virtual Private Network (VPN) pass-through. more info-> N82E16833122119 $58.99 $58.99




Subtotal » $ 297.98

 

[mechBgon]

If I were buying today, with $1000 for the basis of a gaming rig, I would choose an Athlon64 3000+ (or higher), 1GB of high-quality PC3200 or faster, and I'm not sure what I'd pick for a motherboard... Albatron has one with the very fancy VIA Envy24 audio on it, so from a feature perspective that would be hard to beat, if you've got a speaker system worthy of an 8-channel hardware-audio setup. Don't forget a good, beefy power supply... personally, I like what some people consider "overkill," and would use an Antec TruePower 430 (which is what I use in my home and work systems).

But still make sure to spend your biggest bucks on the video card, particularly if you intend to hitch it up to a monitor that wants you to run at a high resolution (a big LCD monitor, for example). With Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB cards starting just above $200, it's hard to justify buying anything less than that.

Like Harvey says, you can simply walk into your local shop and say "I want a system built with an Antec Plus1080AMG with the TruePower430 power supply, an Albatron K8X800 ProII motherboard, a retail-boxed Athlon64 3000+ with heatsink/fan unit, two 512MB modules of Kingston HyperX 3500, and _________________" (fill in whatever other stuff you want to start out with). They will argue with you for a few minutes trying to tell you what they think you need, and you will get fed up and go buy the stuff at Newegg.com instead, put it together in two hours, and congratulate yourself on your nice new cherry-picked rig


Counterpoint #1: you can buy an Athlon64-based Compaq, check out their site if you lean that way. A cheap way to get a licensed copy of WindowsXP, which is ~$135 if you buy it OEM at Newegg.

Counterpoint #2: also there are Shuttle, Biostar and Asus small-form-factor barebone systems if you like the SFF concept.