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Need help picking the right pc

N

nullbox

Junior Member
Hello,

I'm looking for some help on getting a pc that is perfect for me. I'm going to use this computer mostly for gaming.

Here is what i came up so far:

Power Suppy- 500 Watt Power Supply

Processor- AMD® Athlon XP 3200+ QuantiSpeed CPU [512K L2 Cache] (Which is better AMD or INTEL?)

Processor Cooling - Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink + 2 Extra Case Fans

Motherboard- Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe w/LAN, 5.1 Sound, IEEE-1394, USB 2.0 8x AGP Motherboard

Memory- 1024 MB Dual Channel [512MB X2] DDR-400 PC3200 Memory Module

Video Card- ATI Radeon 9800-XT 256mb

Hard Drive- 120 GB HARD DRIVE

CD/DVD Drive- 16x DVD-ROM Drive

CD-RW/DVD-RW Drive- 8X DVD+R/+RW + CD-R/RW Drive

Sound Card- 3D Wave Stereo Sound Onboard

Speaker System- [Black] Logitech Z-640 5.1 Surround Speakers + Subwoofer

Also, is 500 watt power good enough to power this pc?

Did i pick out a OK system for what i want to use it for?

Thanks in advance,
nullbox
 
Welcome to the Forums 🙂 I would recommend the retail-boxed Athlon64 3000+ or higher, not the AthlonXP, for starters. Athlon64 is more powerful, and there may be 64-bit enhancements in future games too. Albatron's K8X800 Pro II motherboard has really nice onboard audio (8-channel!), if you want to switch to the Athlon64.

For the power supply, make it a high-quality power supply first of all, before looking at the wattage rating. 500W cheapies... ewww! 😛 Antec TruePower480 or 550, Enermax, Fortron or Sparkle Power, sure. PowMax, CoolMax, JoyFunYou*... uh, no. 😛 And before anyone freaks out that I'm agreeing about the ~500W range, remember... GeForce FX6800. Someday. 'nuf said. 😉




*[/i]ok, I'm making this one up 😛[/i]
 
Originally posted by: mechBgon
Welcome to the Forums 🙂 I would recommend the retail-boxed Athlon64 3000+ or higher, not the AthlonXP, for starters. Athlon64 is more powerful, and there may be 64-bit enhancements in future games too. Albatron's K8X800 Pro II motherboard has really nice onboard audio (8-channel!), if you want to switch to the Athlon64.

For the power supply, make it a high-quality power supply first of all, before looking at the wattage rating. 500W cheapies... ewww! 😛 Antec TruePower480 or 550, Enermax, Fortron or Sparkle Power, sure. PowMax, CoolMax, JoyFunYou*... uh, no. 😛 And before anyone freaks out that I'm agreeing about the ~500W range, remember... GeForce FX6800. Someday. 'nuf said. 😉




*[/i]ok, I'm making this one up 😛[/i]
Click to expand...

*LOL...and if not the above mention setup I would lean towards an Intel 2.8C Rig then OC it to 3.2-3.5GHz.
 
dont buy the 9800xt either....grab a 9800 pro 128 and then use that money for extra RAM...or for higher qaulity RAM even....the XT is overpriced....mechbgon is right...go for a amd64 3000 or an oem 3200....the 2.8 OC's is a good deal too...depending on how comfortable you are with tweaking...
 
Welcome to AT!

And on drives (hard disks and optical drives), go for local sales if you want the lowest cost. You can sometimes get a 120GB drive for $60, a 16x DVD for $20 and a 8x burner for $70.
 
Originally posted by: Ionizer86
Welcome to AT!

And on drives (hard disks and optical drives), go for local sales if you want the lowest cost. You can sometimes get a 120GB drive for $60, a 16x DVD for $20 and a 8x burner for $70.
Click to expand...

def agree on that, drives are a lot cheaper in stores when u wait for the rebate adds or plain old sales
 
Get a 9800 Pro along with an Athlon 64. Also, try to get higher quality RAM (Kingston, Corsair, Mushkin, Crucial, maybe PNY?).
 
If you get a Saphire 9800 PRO, you will at least end up with an R360 core, ( 9800XT ) and all that will be needed is a bios flash for the card. You save some $$ here.

I would recommend a Aopen 89MAX motherboard for the A64.
Get an A64 3000+ retail, which comes with a heatsink and 3 yr warranty.

As also stated above, check with your local staples, best buy, CompUSSR as they are always running specials on hd's and opticals.

Stick with some good ram. Corsair or Kingston. You can even go with Corsair PC-3200 Value Ram, which easily overclocks to 220 fsb, giving you a 220 mgz increase in clock power.

As for power supplies, look at the 530 watt Fortron over at newegg.
 
Does anyone know any good sites where you can customize your own pc? The only one i found was ibuypower.com? Are there any better ones?
 
Originally posted by: nullbox
Does anyone know any good sites where you can customize your own pc? The only one i found was ibuypower.com? Are there any better ones?
Click to expand...
Newegg! 🙂 Start building your own parts kit, order the stuff, build it and enjoy. Here you go:

  • Case
  • Power supply
  • Motherboard
  • Processor
  • Memory
  • Hard drive(s)
  • Optical drive(s)
  • Floppy drive
  • Memory-card reader/writer if you want one
  • Video card
  • Monitor(s)
  • TV-tuner card if you want one
  • Audio card (or use onboard audio if it's good stuff)
  • Speakers/headphones
  • Mouse
  • Keyboard
  • Surge supressor or uninterruptible power supply
  • WindowsXP Professional or whatever OS you're wanting
  • Other software
  • Pizza & beverages
Go for it, you can do it. See the guide in my signature if you want to scope out the mechanical assembly details. 🙂 I have one recommendation: stick with Parallel ATA drives instead of Serial ATA drives if you're not used to dabbling with motherboard BIOS menus, because it's simpler to set up PATA usually.
 
Just a few thoughts on your system.
Getting an Athlon64 3000+ is a much better choice than a Barton 3200+. For a motherboard, the ECS 755A-2 is availible at newegg for ~$89, and as the 754 can run only two dimms in ddr400, you don't need three dimms. It is a great motherboard for the price, make sure to get some good RAM to go with it. OCZ has some good deals as of late.
I had a 9800 Pro for ~month before I sold it to a friend and it was great. Quite powerful, ran very stable.
I don't think I would buy a prebuilt computer, unless I had the money for a sweet Falcon or Alienware, as I am so picky about my case, drives, etc. There are a lot of options out there, enjoy!
 
Okay, i picked out the system i want to build: Let me know how i did.

ALSO: How long does it take to build a computer? Is it really hard? Sorry, this will be my first.


Power Supply- For these system specs. How much watt should i get?

Motherboard - Asus K8V Athlon 64 DDR400

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (What does this compare to the p4?)

Ram - 1gb Corsair

Hard drive - Seagate 120 GB

Video - ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128
 
Originally posted by: nullbox
Okay, i picked out the system i want to build: Let me know how i did.

ALSO: How long does it take to build a computer? Is it really hard? Sorry, this will be my first.


Power Supply- For these system specs. How much watt should i get?

Motherboard - Asus K8V Athlon 64 DDR400

CPU - AMD Athlon 64 3000+ (What does this compare to the p4?)

Ram - 1gb Corsair

Hard drive - Seagate 120 GB

Video - ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128
Click to expand...

400W Seasonic PSU IMHO

If it's first time you build, it can take some hours + software install. Prepare to use a day, and try not to get too frustrated, just take one step at a time. It's great experience, and shouldn't be too hard, check some of the good "how to...." around the web.
 
Here's my nominee. It has everything I listed above, except for keyboard, mouse, monitors, pizza and beverages. See what you think, guys: Newegg wish list

By the way, I've been razzed in the past for recommending >400W power supplies, with all the SFF people chiming in about how their 220W PSU does great. With the onset of the GeForce FX6800 and probably the Radeon R420's, it looks like I was being too conservative, if anything 😛 So this kit has a TruePower 550 and when you consider that it'll probably have a 3-5 year lifespan... yeah. Time will prove where wisdom lies... 🙂
 
i would wait on the video card until both the 6800s and x800s are out next month before making a decision, if all else u could prolly get a good deal on a used 9800pro from someone one upgrading to one of the new cards. if you cant wait go wit the 9800pro. Also i would recommend vantec 80mm stealths for your case fans. i second the a64 3000+ over the xp. it is better for gaming and will be noticably faster as more 64bit programs come out.
 
Originally posted by: nullbox
Thanks for this wish list...i thin you forgot the sound card.
Click to expand...
Nope. She's got onboard VIA Envy24 8-channel hardware-accelerated audio 😀
 
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