My Custom pc

[ciproxr]

Heres my newegg wishlist

http://secure.newegg.com/app/WishR.asp?ID=1415989


First of all this is the first pc im building, and would like some of the knowledgable people on this forum to confirm i have everything i need to build my pc....also i would like to keep everything around 450, under no circumstances over 500(and that has to unclude taxes and shipping)

I already have a monitor a 17" flat panel, and a 80 GB western digital, mouse/keyboard/speakers/modem.....

I know the case isnt the best one in the world and i did notice everyone makes a big deal about the antecs, but honestly i hate the way they look, but if someone can recomend another better case for around the same price, i would consider it.

i know the video card i have selected is a little older but im not that much of a gamer, the only game i play is age of empires conquerors expansion , and i think the pc im building is more than enouph. If anyone things i can get something better for around the same money, then i will consider it......Also a big factor is selecting a video card is how compatible it is with my motherboard...I have had serious porblems b4 with direct x and drivers for video cards, and honestly i want no more problems......the problem were with pci cards, i have never had a agp one.

I will buy a better video card in the fall when age of empires 3 comes out....other then those games i barely play any at all.

about the motherboard, should i go with a chaintech or a ABIT "NF8-V" NVIDIA nForce3 250GB for a few bucks more ?

And last but not least do i have everything i need to build fully working pc, im talking about every single part, cable, fan and heatsink

Im waiting for people to confirm my list , then i will order everything right away .Thanks in advance.

P.s a friend will be helping me put my pc together who has done this sort of thing b4.

 

[ciproxr]

forgot to mention that i have a windows installtion cd, but i need the floppy to boot it.

 

[ciproxr]

bump

 

[Ike0069]

Wow, an A64 system with a RADEON 7000. I can't believe Newegg actaully still ahs them on hte shelf.
Are you going to use this for much else other than surfing/E-mail (and the occasional gaming you mentioned)? If not, you might be better off with a Sempron or maybe drop to a 2800+ just to save a little money.

 

[Duvie]

What wil you be using this for???

 

[rivethead]

Are you set on going with Socket 754?

If not, for an additional $50+/- you could step up to a Nforce4 board (socket 939) and a PCI-E video card and get a Winchester instead of a Newcastle. The Winchester will run cooler and use less energy, plus socket 939 will give you more future upgradability. You'd have to step up to a PCI-E video card, with the least expensive one at NewEgg being $58.

I recently bought the Chaintech VNF4 Ultra mobo for $99 and a AMD 64 Winchester for $146. The non Ultra Chaintech NForce4 mobo is about $85, I believe. Ultra just gives you SATA2, an onboard hardware firewall, and a few other things.

Do you need a floppy? If you're just needing a floppy for the OS install, why not just borrow one and save yourself $10?

As for memory, the socket 939 boards have dual channel memory features, so you'll want to go with 2x256mb to take advantage of that. But if you could scrape up the cash, 1GB would be better (more memory is always better - duh)

I guess the bottom line is: you could put together a more powerful system for your $500 max budget if you wanted to. Unless you're in CA (or NJ too?) there's no sales tax on orders from NewEgg. Your specs as priced get you to $405, so you've got room to upgrade.

My biggest concern with your system is your desire to play a future release of a game. Games these days (and in the future) demand more and more. If you're really serious about wanting to play this game to be realeased this fall, you might want to anticipate needing a stronger machine. I think you can do it within your $500, I really do. Don't be too hasty with the buy button. Wait for some others to comment as well.

Bump if you need to.

One hint: you might want to put the specs of your proposed system in your post....some people are a bit lazy with clicking on the links...I know I've been guilty of it

 

[ciproxr]

Thanks for your replys..... i will be using my pc mostly for watching movies, chat/email, and im a heavy file-sharer......but i i deffinitly want to be able to play those 2 games mentioned........

rivethead your right and i totally appreciatte your advice.


CD/DVD Burners (RW Drives)
1 Samsung Black 52X32X52X16 DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive Black, Model TS-H492A/BEBN, OEM
Specifications:
Write Speed: 52X CD-R, 32X CD-RW
Read Speed: 52X CD-ROM, 16X DVD-ROM
Interface: ATAPI / E-IDE
Buffer: 2MB
OS Support: Windows XP/2000/Me/98SE
Packaging: OEM more info-> -See It! N82E16827151061
$38.00

$38.00
Computer ATX Cases
1 Rosewill ATX Case with 400W Power Supply and Side Window (Black), Model "TU-155" -RETAIL
Specifications:
Case Type: Mid-Tower
Color: Black
Material: Steel & Plastic
Drive Bays: 4 x 5.25" Exposed, 2 x 3.5" Exposed, 3 x 3.5" Internal
Expansion Slots: 7
Front Ports: 2x USB2.0, 2 x Audio, IEEE 1394
Power Supply: Rosewill 400w
Cooling System: 1 x 80mm Blue LED Fan (rear)
Motherboard Compatibility: uATX/MicroATX/ATX
more info-> -See It! N82E16811147001
$54.50

$54.50
Floppy Drives
1 NEC 1.44MB Black Internal Floppy Drive, OEM
Specifications:
Capacity: 1.44/0.72 MByte
Average Access Time: 3ms
Interface: 34 Pin Standard Floppy Connector
Form: 3.5"
Media Type: 3.5" double-side high density, 3.5" double-side density
Features: Maximal performance in minimum space
Packaging: OEM Drive Only more info-> -See It! N82E16821152005
$10.00

$10.00
Memory - System
1 Kingston 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
Specifications:
Manufacturer: Kingston
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 3-3-3
Support Voltage: 2.6V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: 64M x 64 -Bit
Warranty: Lifetime more info-> -See It! N82E16820141424
$48.00

$48.00
Motherboards - AMD
1 CHAINTECH nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 Athlon 64 CPU, Model "VNF3-250" -RETAIL
Specifications:
Supported CPU: Supports the new generation of AMD Socket 754 Athlon64 CPU
Chipset: NVIDIA nForce3 250
RAM: 3x DIMM for DDR400/333/266 Max 2GB
IDE: 2x ATA 133 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X/4X, 5x PCI, 1x CMR
Ports: 2xPS/2,2xCOM,1xLPT,1xLAN,6xUSB2.0(Rear 4),Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: 5.1-Channel AC'97 Codec
Onboard LAN: Realtek 8100C 10/100Mbps Fast Ethernet
Onboard SATA/RAID: 2x Serial ATA 150, RAID 0/1
Form Factor: ATX more info-> -See It! N82E16813152043
$75.00

$75.00
Processors
1 AMD Athlon 64 3000+, 512KB L2 Cache 64-bit Processor - Retail
Specifications:
Model: AMD Athlon 64 3000+
Core: Newcastle
Operating Frequency: 2GHz
FSB: Integrated into Chip
Cache: L1/64K+64K; L2/512K
Voltage: 1.5V
Process: 0.13 Micron
Socket: Socket 754
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2, 3DNOW!, 3DNOW!+
Packaging: Retail Box (Heatsink and Fan included)more info-> -See It! N82E16819103486
$146.00

$146.00
Video Cards
1 ASUS ATI RADEON 7000 Video Card, 64MB DDR, 64-bit, TV-Out, 4X AGP, Model "A7000/T/64M" -RETAIL
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®
Max Resolution@32bit Color: 1920X1200
Retail Box (See pics for details) more info-> -See It! N8

 

[ciproxr]

i live in a nj so yeah i have sales taxes , and about pci video cards, im really afraid of them lol....also i love the amd athlon 64 3000, ive heard great things about it...Im not too worried about the video card cause i can always buy a better one later , its the pc that has to last... I plan on buying a 200 dollar video card in the fall so i just want a good pc right now , as fast as possible i can get for the money im willing to spend, the i will upgrade.....

i thought i would go with Socket 754, cause its cheaper plus it should be around long enouph, i probably will end up buying a new pc in 2 years...

is it possible to go with the socket 939 and still use the same crappy video card...as u guys can see im not really worrying abou the video card.....i just would rather get by pc faster insted of waiting

 

[andy nowotny]

My Advice

CPU: AMD Athlon 64 3000+ 90nm 939Pins $146

Motherboards: MSI NF4 K8N NEO4-F $86

Memory: Kingston ValueRAM 512MB DDR400 KVR400X64C3A/512 $46

Video Cards: XFX NVIDIA GeForce FX5200 128MB PV-T34K-NT $45

 

[ciproxr]

andy nowotny sounds pretty awesome, i will consider that, thank you

would love to hear more opnions, i know theirs alot fo smart people on this forum, please feel free to state your opinion...

 

[justly]

You could also go socket 939 with the MSI RS480M2-IL that uses the ATI Radeon XPRESS 200 Chipset and the 939 version of the 3000+. This would save you about $18 because you would not need the video card (the integrated video on that board is probably better than a Radeon 7000 anyway). As mentioned above this would be best with duel channel memory if you want to do that. About the only thing that is bad about this option is if you plan to overclock (as that board is said not to have much in the terms of overclocking options).

As for needing a floppy to install a Windows OS that should not be needed with XP. If you are using something older like Windows 98 or Millennium then you might have problems finding drivers for up to date hardware.

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

EDIT: Wow, it took me to long to look at stuff, justly beat me to it on this board

What about a board with integrated video until you can get a nicer videocard?

Is age of empires 3d intensive at all? Anyway, if you get that board above, you'll get a viable 939 solution with video for $94 instead of spending $110 to get something going on 754.

For $440 shipped you could get

A64 3200+ 939
MSI motherboard
512mb twinmos ram
Samsung burner you wanted
Antec Case/PSU combo

You could easily bump this down to your original budget by backing it down to a 939 3000+

I would stay away from a Rosewill powersupply. The antec one I linked to will have a high quality powersupply, better airflow, 120mm fans instead of 80mm, and will be better built.

I recommend just borrowing a floppy from another computer for setup if you need it like revethead suggested.

When you get your new videocard maybe you can get another 512mb of ram and you'll be in really good shape.

 

[ciproxr]

you guys blow my mind lol ,what i love about it is the intergrated video is i dont have to worry about video compatibily which is what ive had nightmares with......plus if i buy a better video card later on, if something happens and it dosent work , i have the intergrated video that i can rely on to always work, genious lol

IF anyone else has an opinion , please feel free to post it.

I think antec cases are ugly but i might end up buying......i thought of it and i prefer a well built case with a good power supply and less problems over a cool looking one that might give me problems.......thank you so much YOyoYOhowsDAjello , you even picked out the stuff for me and got the links.....

 

[ribbon13]

Whatever you do, don't buy a rosewill PSU. NEVER!

 

[YOyoYOhowsDAjello]

If you don't like the look of the antec case, you can always get whatever style of case you want and put a decent powersupply in it. I really like the antec deals though because you get a quality case and a quality powersupply together and you end up spending less.

 

[ciproxr]

YOyoYOhowsDAjello the shipping on the pc you put together for me seems to be 5 dollars LOL