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Need to cut down...any ideas?

W

whattaguy

Senior member
I'm helping one of my youth group guys build a gaming rig. I believe his max is $1000, and he's going to need everything. Right now, I'm about $200 over budget when shipping is included.


ANTEC Black Solution Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK3700-BQE" -RETAIL
$76.00

ASUS "SK8V" K8T800 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 940 CPU -RETAIL
$179.00

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK
$195.00


AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail
$185.00

Crucial 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 8T - OEM
$174.00 (2x512)

Hitachi 80GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model HDS722580VLSA80, OEM
$66.00

SAMSUNG 955DF-T/T 19" DynaFlat CRT Monitor -RETAIL
$215.00

NU Technology Black 8X DVD+RW/-RW Drive, Model DDW-082 BLK
$65.99


Subtotal » $ 1,155.99


Do you have any suggestions of where I can cut corners? Any suggested improvements on this set-up? Thanks.
 
Ditch the mobo, you can get a decent Chaintech/Retail A64 2800 for only $223 at newegg which should lower your total quite a bit. Mushkin Basic Pc3200 512mb can be found for $78 on newegg, that'll shave some more off.
 
That motherboard will not work with that chip, the motherboard is Socket 940 and the processor is Socket 754. Try this one instead, I believe it is in stock at mwave,com for the same price, Excellent motherboard and a lot cheaper.
 
Athlon XP mobile w/ either Abit nf7(-s) or Shuttle an35n ultra ..
and grab the harddrive for about $80 to $120(bigger sometimes is better) out of a HotDeals thread ..dump the NuTech ..get the NEC 2500 or 2510..<typo>

DW800A @ 1327 and counting 😀
 
Updated...thanks to you guys.

ANTEC Black Solution Series ATX Mid-Tower Case with 350W Power Supply, Model "SLK3700-BQE" - $76.00

NEC Black 8X DVD+/-RW Drive, Model ND-2500A/GW, OEM with roxio Software
$70.99

Hitachi 160GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive, Model HDS722516VLSA80 Part# 13G0254, OEM Drive Only
Item# N82E16822145051
$98.50

Mushkin 184 Pin 512MB DDR PC-3200 - Retail
$79.00 x2
$158.00

SAMSUNG 955DF-T/T 19" DynaFlat CRT Monitor -RETAIL
$215.00

CHAINTECH "VNF3-250" nForce3 250 Chipset Motherboard for AMD Socket 754 CPU -RETAIL
$88.00

AMD Athlon 64 2800+, 512KB L2 Cache, 64-bit Processor - Retail
$185.00

UBI SOFT FarCry - PC Game - OEM
$25.00

SAPPHIRE ATI RADEON 9800 PRO Video Card, 128MB DDR, 256-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP -BULK
$195.00

Product total: $1,111.49


It's a little better, but I'm still a tad over budget.
 
Originally posted by: Lyfer
Ditch the mobo, you can get a decent Chaintech/Retail A64 2800 for only $223 at newegg which should lower your total quite a bit. Mushkin Basic Pc3200 512mb can be found for $78 on newegg, that'll shave some more off.
Click to expand...

Seconded.
 
Get the monitor later?

If you were in the Seattle area I have a 15" you could have free, and you can probably find a used 15-17" in your area really cheap with everyone moving to LCD and new 17" going for under $100.
 
Originally posted by: Brian48
I think you can get by with only 512mb for now. You can always add on another stick next month.
Click to expand...

That's what I was going to recommend. You could also, as suggested, go with an AthlonXP 2500+ and a Shuttle AN-35N Ultra (or other cheap NForce2 MB), which would drop almost $150. It does limit future upgradability a bit, though; you'll be able to get to a 3700+ 64-bit chip on the Socket 754 platform, whereas the Athlons are really limited to ~3200+ speeds (higher if you do some extreme overclocking) and are 32-bit only.
 
you can save another $20 by getting the 19" flatscreen viewsonic CRT from newegg.

and get a smaller hard drive, that will save you another 30 bucks.
 
That monitor is only $179 at BestBuy. But it isn't the greatest Shadow Mask monitor, I went though two before I finally returned it. There was always something wrong with it.
 
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Get the monitor later?

If you were in the Seattle area I have a 15" you could have free, and you can probably find a used 15-17" in your area really cheap with everyone moving to LCD and new 17" going for under $100.
Click to expand...

I am in the Seattle area! I live in Everett.
 
Originally posted by: Matthias99
Originally posted by: Brian48
I think you can get by with only 512mb for now. You can always add on another stick next month.
Click to expand...

That's what I was going to recommend. You could also, as suggested, go with an AthlonXP 2500+ and a Shuttle AN-35N Ultra (or other cheap NForce2 MB), which would drop almost $150. It does limit future upgradability a bit, though; you'll be able to get to a 3700+ 64-bit chip on the Socket 754 platform, whereas the Athlons are really limited to ~3200+ speeds (higher if you do some extreme overclocking) and are 32-bit only.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was thinking future upgradeability, since this is his graduation gift for college. I want him to be able to get the most out of his money. I would make him a overclocking system with the NF-7, but he doesn't know anything about OC-ing nor does he want to learn. He just wants to play. I'm sure if $200 makes a big difference in quality and stability, I think it will be fine. But then again, his family doesn't have a fat pocketbook either. Thanks for all the suggestions.
 
I thought socket 940 was going the way of the dinosaurs? Seriously, a socket 754 system will be just as fast if not just a little slower than a socket 939 or 940 system.
 
Originally posted by: whattaguy
Originally posted by: DaveSimmons
Get the monitor later?

If you were in the Seattle area I have a 15" you could have free, and you can probably find a used 15-17" in your area really cheap with everyone moving to LCD and new 17" going for under $100.
Click to expand...

I am in the Seattle area! I live in Everett.
Click to expand...
Check your PMs, though no hurry, it's just gathering dust 🙂
 
AMD Athlon 64 2800+ $184

Chaintech VNF3-250 - $80.99

Hitachi 160GB SATA - $96

Corsair Value Select 512MB PC3200 CAS2.5 - $84

NEC 8X DVD +/- RW - $67.99

MSI Radeon 9800PRO 128MB - $198.00

Antec SLK-2650 BQE w/ PSU - $79

Samsung 19" CRT 997DF - $199.99

TOTAL: $989.97

BTW, all prices include shipping. Also, I've heard better things about the 997DF versus the older Samsung you listed in your original post. The 997DF supports higher resolutions and refresh rates; and you can check it out in person if you have a Best Buy nearby.

The MSI 9800PRO has great reviews on Newegg; a lot of people report overclocking it to 9800XT speeds.

I prefer the NEC DVD writer, but the Nu-Tech is good too.
 
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