My Next Computer - Comments Please

[teddyv]

Finally upgrading from my Dell 8100 - will be bringing over my two optical drives, 19" CRT, 3.5 Floppy and 120-gig IDE HD (currently WinMe boot - will slave, pull data off and reformat.)

Stability and reliability are the only priorities - still haven't decided AGP or PCIe, I like the A8N AGP simply because I can use my three old pata HD's (40, 80 & 120 boot), though with a 160-gig sata I will probably just load everything onto that. As you can see, there is literally no price difference between AGP and PCIe. I have Comcast Cable modem and will have USB printer, USB webcam, Canon SD-400 USB2 cable & Canon Alura 2 MiniDV Firewire cable.

Your comments and advice would be deeply appreciated!

AGP
ASUS A8V DELUXE ($114)
CHAINTECH SA6600 Geforce 6600 256MB ($117)

PCIe
EPoX EP-9NPA+Ultra ($105 - originally had the MSI but scared off by RMA/Support horror stories)
ABIT RX700pro Radeon X700PRO 128MB ($122)

Either AGP or PCIe
AMD Athlon 64 3000+ Venice ($146)
Antec LifeStyle SONATA II ($109)
CORSAIR ValueSelect 1GB (2 x 512MB) ($90)
Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 SATA NCQ ST3160827AS 160GB ($87 - this is OEM, does it still carry the 5-year Seagate warranty?)
Logitech PS/2 Wired Keyboard&Mouse ($16)
Microsoft Windows XP HOME (SP2)

Do I want to add an inexpensive sound card? I'd like to be able to run speakers, but when I plug in a mic headset have the rear speakers shut off.

 

[shoRunner]

what will you be using the computer for?

and according to the newegg site it says that the seagate drive has a 5yr warranty

if you have your winME disk you can save a few bucks by going with a xp upgrade version, best buy currently has it for $79

 

[teddyv]

I will be using the computer mainly for e-mail & web, photoshop, dreamweaver & Ultima Online. I do have the WinMe disk but it is a Dell OEM disk - with my terrible luck with rebates the full and upgrade are within a few dollar of each other.

Thanks for the info on the Seagate - I wasn't sure if it was like other OEM products that only carry like a 30-day warranty as opposed to the full warranty for retail package.

 

[Fenuxx]

Looks good to me. Should be MUCH better than a Dell 8100 .

 

[Ricemarine]

My little tidbits heh.

-Get the pci-express, but get the 6600gt if possible.
-If you don't have the money, drop the sonata II for a slk3000b
-Where's your power supply?

 

[fueledbymetal]

That's very similar to my current build. I'm going with the PCI E option so there'll be more future upgrade potential.

 

[GamerExpress]

Originally posted by: Ricemarine
My little tidbits heh.

-Get the pci-express, but get the 6600gt if possible.
-If you don't have the money, drop the sonata II for a slk3000b
-Where's your power supply?

I agree, but the Sonata is fine, he really doesn't need to spend the money in this area, spen it on your video card!!!

 

[teddyv]

Thanks for the replies, please keep them coming.

Q1. Where's your power supply?
A1. The Sonata II comes with a 450Watt SmartPower 2.0 ATX 12V V2.0. From what I've read Antec makes excellent PS's so I thought I'd stick with it - I am not doing SLI so hopefully 450 watts will be good enough? One thing I really like about the Sonata II is the swing away yet lockable front panel, plus I need the USB/Firewire & Mic/Headphone front jacks.

 

[mode101wpb]

I upgraded from Windows 98 to XP Home with a Dell OEM disc. Save a little cash going with the upgrade over the full version of XP.

Go PCI-E, it will be much better for the future.

 

[teddyv]

the Sonata is fine, he really doesn't need to spend the money in this area, spend it on your video card!!!

The X700Pro and the 6600 (non GT) were my two finalists in the "try to get a card for under $100" game - I don't think I will tax either for what I have planned. The X700Pro looks pretty evenly matched to the 6600GT - is one known for being more stable and reliable than the other?

I guess my question is, is this XFX PVT43GNDF3 Geforce 6600GT 128MB worth the extra $25 over the X700Pro?

With the X700Pro the system comes in about $100 more than I wanted to spend - but I expected it would and allowed myself the cushion

 

[teddyv]

So it looks like all is good except the Vid Card - looking more and more like a 6600GT

 

[raildogg]

X800GT instead of 6600GT. price is similar but X800GT is faster