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New Athlon System, $250-$300?

W

WraithAkaMrak

Member
I want to build an Athlon-based system. (Would be my first time building a system.) I have about $240 coming, and I was hoping I could put together a decent system without spending too much more than that. I would need at the very least: case/PS, motherboard, CPU, RAM. What I want is something that's stable and pretty fast. I don't care much about overclocking or achieving the best FPS. (The only 'new' games I've got are Morrowind and SimCity 4.)

I currently have a Dell Dimension 800 MHz PIII, 512MB PC133 SDRAM, 20GB 7200RPM HDD, Radeon 9000 PRO 128, Sound Blaster Live Value PCI, CDRW, DVD-ROM, floppy, Win98SE. I would be taking most of this out and putting it in the new system (at least vid card, hdd, and cdrw).

After looking around Pricewatch and Newegg, I had come up with the following components:
AMD Athlon XP 2000+ Retail - $ 71.00
Biostar M7VIT PRO, VIA KT400 Chipset, 8x AGP, 333MHz FSB, onboard LAN & audio - $ 65.00
1 x 512MB Kingston PC2700 DDR RAM - $ 65.00
Antec SLK3700AMB ATX Case w/ 350W SmartPower P/S - $ 68.00
- which comes in at $269.00.

I'm wondering about the motherboard. Though it has pretty positive reviews at Newegg, there seem to be a few conflicts with Radeon cards. Also, everybody here seems to recommend going with an nForce2 motherboard (from ASUS or Epox). My thinking was, if I got a board with 333MHz FSB, I could upgrade to a Barton CPU some day when they were super-cheap. But after reading some, it looks like the Bartons are going to 400MHz FSB, which won't work with the KT400 boards (but would with nForce2's?).

The cheapest nForce2's start at $85, so I'd be adding $20-$30 to my total cost, depending on the board. Would I be better off getting a low-end nForce2 (like the Epox 8RDA non-pro or something), and spending less on one of my other components?

I know the Case & P/S is a bit more expensive than some, but it sounds like a really nice case, very quiet, with the 120mm fans. (Oh, and I don't know if I'd need to buy a 2nd 120mm case fan for the front of the case. It comes with one for the rear.) And a reliable/quiet P/S. I'm not sure what other cases would be good.

Sorry this is so long. Just hoping for some opinions/recommendations.
 
Stick with Newegg. Lifetime 5.81 rating for Matter of Fax (the $68 case).

- ECS L7S7A2 $66. Better performance, good overclocking potential. Good reviews.
- BLACK EVERCASE E4252BEF5 $40 + $10. Very nice case. As quiet as that Antec (The PSU isn't, but it isn't too loud, either).
- Same memory you're going for, $66
- Athlon 1700+ OEM $50 and overclock it to the memory's 166MHz front-side bus. You'll get better than the 2100+.
- Coolermaster HAC-V81 $12 +$6. Does not dissapoint.

Now that's $250 w/o fans.

Case fans:
-Enermax Adjustable 8cm x2 brings it to $273 (I dial mine down all the way, but it's nice to know I can ramp them up later if I want to). I'd recommend the same 12cm fans, too. You don't need an intake fan, just exhaust.

PSU:
- The case covers it above; but for good, quiet power, the Enermax EG365P-VE(FM) 350w is the best value.

You may like your setup better, but that's my opinion above. At the least the L7S7A2 is probably a better mobo.

Best of luck on the new system!
 
Thanks for the input. I've looked over the parts & reviews a bit.

Motherboard - That does look like a faster board for the money, with speeds competitive w/ nForce2.
Case - Looks like a quality case at $30 or so less. At what point would I need to consider moving to a 350W or higher P/S? I'd think the 300W would handle what I would put in it now, but thinking about future upgrades (CPU, drives, etc.).
Heatsink/CPU fan - The reason I had listed the Retail CPU is I was thinking the thermal tape on the AMD HSF would just be easier, as I haven't worked with thermal grease before. But maybe it's not worth worrying about. I question that dialable fan speed. Reviews said it was quiet on low, but noisy on high (which I guess would be expected). Could I just go with a low-noise Coolermaster (or other) w/o the dial? Coolermaster CP5-7JD1B-0L looks to have good reviews and very quiet.
CPU - I am apprehensive about overclocking, as I've never done it before. I really don't want to blow it and wreck any of my hardware. If it's very easy, and I know for a fact it won't hurt my system, I guess I'd be willing to try it.
Case fans - Again, I'm not sure about the adjustable fans. I wouldn't want to have them set to low, and then overheat w/o realizing it. Would you put those two in the front/back, or one in back and one to replace the standard side fan? If I just need one in the back, I could keep the side fan and put an 80mm Antec SmartFan in the back.
 
Get the Antec ... you won't be disapointed ... (except for those front usb ports that are just USB 1.1 compatible)
motherboard, CPU and Ram are good too ... good choice
 
I second going with the Antec case/power supply. You really can't go wrong with that combination. Sure it costs a few bucks more initially but all the Antec's I've had (and still have) are very solidly built and reliable. The Metallic bronze looks best if you happen to have black cd/dvd/floppy drives.
 
Do you think the ECS L7S7A2 (SiS 746) would outperform the Biostar M7VIT (VIA KT400) significantly? The ECS seems to have benchmarks near the nForce2 boards.
 
Motherboard: definitely faster.

Case: Nothing wrong w/ the Antec stuff by any means, I'd just prefer saving a bit there.

Overclocking:
PC2700 memory: 166MHz
Athlons up to 2400+: 133MHz
You can run it async and get good performance in bandwidth heavy situations, but lose performance in others (it has to wait a bit since they are out of sync), or run it at 133MHz with slightly better timings. Or you can run the 2100+ or 1700+ at 166MHz, get extra performance, and running sync w/ the memory. Or run it at 150/150, or whatever.
The L7S7A2 runs the memory/FSB separately from the PCI and AGP buses, so changing it won't overclock PCI and AGP devices (same w/ Nforce2 boards). While the said processor *may* not run at quite as high speeds, it'll just screw up and you'll have to run it slower. You won't damage it unless you run it at an unstable speed for a long time. You don't have to overclock or anything, just putting in my wallet-hugging $0.02.

Heatsink: The 1700+ at Newegg is only OEM. I'll grant the pad is easier to deal with. If you want quiet, going with the said coolermaster and dialing it down, or replacing the fan would do well.
For the CP5-7JD1B-0L, it may be quiet; I haven't used it.

Case fans: You won't overheat w/o knowing it, unless you have an extremely cluttered case w/ no exhaust fans. The upside of them is that you can adjust them. If it cools fine really low--leave it. If it doesn't, raise the speed. The YS-tech ones I have not tried, but are supposed to be quite good as well. Some people say they are a bit louder, but go down lower than the enermax and have a better knob.
You don't need much case airflow. The thing is, that you need good, constant airflow. That doesn't mean a lot of air, it means maybe 10-30CFM coming in the front and sides, and exiting at the top rear.
 
Well, you could get 1x256 PC2700 DDR and put the savings toward the NForce2 mobo (I assume its a EPoX 8rda). Then, in a month or two, when you can get another $40 get another 256 MB of RAM. This way, u get the faster mobo, and u can take advantage of Dual Channel on the NForce2. You may not be able to play SimCity 4 very effectively at first, but after you pump up to 512 it should be OK.

My only other suggestion would be to wait a few more weeks to get more cash and get the 8RDA+, 2x256 or 2x512 memory, and sell the Sound Blaster Live sound Card (the EPoX on board sound is better). As hard as it would be to wait, that's what I would do...

EDIT: I'd also get the 2100+ TBred B processor. Cooler and if you decide to OC someday, it would be soooo ez.
 
What do you guys think of the Soltek SL-75FRN-L/75FRN2-L? It's 5/5 at Newegg, and goes for $79 (while the Epos 8RDA+ goes for $96). Has LAN & audio. The ECS is $61, and I'll forget about the Biostar.

So I would be better off going with the $50 Athlon XP 1700+ OEM and doing a 'safe' overclock, than going with a higher rated Athlon (2000 - 2500), and then looking at the Barton CPUs when they drop to $50 too?

It looks like Speeze makes a pretty cheap, quiet HSF and case fans. I could get a Maxtop 350W for $42, to shave a few $ more. I really think I'd do better to get a 350W case than a 300, even if I don't need it yet. And the Antec is nice, but I think I'll spend more on the board or CPU, less on the case.
 
imo, you should go with the 1700+ and do a safe overclock
but be warned many people have and are still getting T-Bred A's from newegg
 
Originally posted by: bgeh
imo, you should go with the 1700+ and do a safe overclock
but be warned many people have and are still getting T-Bred A's from newegg
Click to expand...
😵 Newegg doesn't differentiate between the A's & B's on the site? How do I make sure I get a B, then?
 
Heheh. I keep going back and forth over these different components.
Current lineups:

AMD Athlon XP 1700+ OEM - $48
ECS L7S7A2, SiS 746, onboard LAN, AC'97 audio, to 333MHz FSB, DDR400 - $61
1 x 512MB Kingston HyperX PC2700, CL2 - $76
Antec SLK3700AMB, 350W SmartPower P/S, 1 x 120mm case fan - $82
Speeze HSF (5F263B1M3) - $12
1 x YS TECH 120mm Case Fan - $13
-----------------
$292.00 -- Better case & P/S.

-or-

AMD Athlon XP 1700+ OEM - $48
Epox 8RDA+, nForce2, onboard Lan, MCP-T audio, to 333MHz FSB, DDR400 - $96
2 x 256MB Kingston HyperX PC2700 - $87
MAXTOP CSX-8870K with USB Port 350W Beige/Silver CASE - $42
Speeze HSF (5F263B1M3) - $12
2 x Speeze 80mm (FD08025S1M4) - $14
-----------------
$299.00 -- nForce2 motherboard & better onboard audio. Pretty cheap case & P/S.
 
The first has the best case & PSU. The second has the best sound.
You could go with the first and keep your SB Live! Value for awhile and get a Fortismo III or Audigy2 later. A bit more overall cost (not sure if the SB Live! supports EAX and the like. If not, a new card will be warranted for gaming), but the case and PSU will get you through a few more upgrades. The only thing is...I don't know that the L7S7A2 will fit that HSF 🙂. It may, but may not. The 5R265B1H3 is $1 more (at Newegg) and would definitely fit.
 
As far as cooling goes, DEFINATELY get a high quality copper heatsink... that will allow you to use a low speed fan and keep the temps pretty low. I'm using an SK-7 with my XP2500 that's oc'd to 2.2 Ghz and it runs idle at 96 F and under load I haven't seen it above 105. I'm using a cheap 70mm 4500 RPM fan off an old heatsink that I origionally bought for an Athlon 1.2 Ghz.

*EDIT* Thermal compound isn't hard to work with, get some AS3 or equivilant... don't apply it with your finger, use a plastic bag because the oils from your skin will contaminate it. Also clean the base of the heatsink and the core of the CPU with rubbing alcohol and allow it to dry before applying the thermal compound.
 
Found a review for the 5R265B1H3 Speeze (aka Spire):
Link
I really liked the quality of this cooler. It has a three prong clip and ball bearing fan. The heat sink itself has a copper center. I have found this to be more effective than a solid copper heat sink. ... I give this cooler an A+ for all stock or mildly overclocked CPU's. The fact that it can provide the same temperatures as the Dynatron without the noise makes me like this cooler for the everyday system.
Click to expand...
Low noise, good for mild overclocking, sounds good to me.

I've been fine with my Live Value so far, so I should be able to get along with that if it'll do better than the onboard AC'97.

The SK-7 is $31, and still needs a fan. Speeze is $13.

There's also the Igloo 2500 Pro - $16, seems to have good reviews, has all copper HS w/ 4500RPM fan.

Link
Consequently, Igloo 2500 and Igloo 2500 Pro score brilliant results! Igloo 2500 Pro topples the last-year record-breaker copper Thermaltake Volcano 7+ being quieter by 10 dBA. Although Igloo 2500 can't beat Volcano 7+, it keeps very close to it having the noise gap over 20 dBA! As a result, Igloo 2500 and Igloo 2500 Pro show the excellently balanced technical characteristics and take prizes in almost all today's ratings.
Click to expand...

I probably will use arctic silver instead of thermal tape. It doesn't sound that bad.
 
I'd go with the NF2 combo but buy the Soltek and use the $17 you save toward still buying the Antec case&PSU. Both the Epox and Soltek both use the ACL650 so you'll be hard pressed to tell the difference in sound quality most likely.
 
If I took the ECS config up there and swapped it with the Soltek, it comes in at $310. $321 w/ 256 x 2 instead of 512 x 1. $338 if I went to the Epox. I guess it just comes down to how much more I want to spend.
 
If the HS fits, then don't worry about that unless it ends up too noisy. Though the Thermalrights are good.

It does come to how much you want to spend...it only takes a little bit more now to get what will cost more to add later on. However, if you don't want to spend over $300 now, then don't. The NF2 boards are good, but cost as much as getting a sound card (if you go 2x256MB). Also, you can get 1x512MB on the NF2 board...the downside of course being that the performance will be the same as the SiS.

There is no perfect answer unless you have a big wad of cash, which most of us don't 🙂.
 
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