New Computer for School

[prop329]

Hey there. I used to be into the whole overclocking thing and up on the latest and greatest, but i've been to busy with other things.

My current comp is an Xp1800+ and what not and it's time for something new.
Problem is i know nothing about the new stuff on the market.
I hope someone has a lot of time on their hands so they can help me get back into this, and get me a basic setup so i can start researching the parts.
I'm going to college next year, and I'll probably have a budget of around $2000, give or take a couple hundred, and i would like that to include the monitor, and basically everything, speakers, mouse, keyboard, and what not.

Overclocking would be nice,and i've heard a little about DFI, and i would prefer the OEM 3500+, and 1GB of ram, probably just one 74Gb 10,000 rpm drive if they're any good, the logitech 5500's, logitech dinova mouse and keyboard setup if that's any good, and i want quality parts if that's possible. If i have to wait a little while to buy more stuff that's fine. I figure prices will go down a little bit in a couple months, and i'm sure there'll be some good deals out there.

For monitors --> preferably 19' lcd, with 8ms refresh, looking at samsung?
Video Card --> willing to spend some more cash on really nice card, will be used for heavy gaming
Ram--> maybe some good overclocking ram
Hdd--> will 74gb be enough if it's a nice quick one, or should i raid some ?
Case--> black, maybe an antec, really nice and quality, quiet?
PSU--> quiet one, i want a really quiet comp cuz my current has 15 fans in it, lol
Chip--> probably the OEM 3500+, not sure of the different cores
MB--> DFI? i have no idea
Speakers--> Logitech 5500's?
Mouse and Keyboard--> preferably wireless if any good?
Drives--> Dual layer dvd burner, and just a dvd rom or cd burner for the other drive, no floppy

I just want a really nice, clean looking, no ricey looking cases, lol, and something that is just modern, sleek, just nice and easy on the eyes comp. Something really quiet too, that's important.

Am i asking too much for $2000-2200?
Might as well put it on the student loans, lol

I know this is a lot to ask, and i'm sure i forgot something, but any little bit of help is greatly, greatly appreciated

Thank You

 

[Excelsior]

This LCD would work.

If you don't intend on downloading a massive amount of stuff, then one 74GB raptor would be great. No need for raid.

Yes, antecs make good cases, Ill let someone else suggest a certain one.



The venice core is the one to get, IIRC.

Many recommend either the NEC 3520a or the Benq 1620. Either one would be good, both are fairly inexpensive off of newegg.

 

[prop329]

Thx for the quick response. I will definately look into those. Should i be worried about the brand on the monitor, or are they just as good as the samsung's? Also, do they come in black possibly?

Again thx, and any other help is appreciated

 

[Excelsior]

No, many people have had good experiences with that monitor. I believe that is the only color.

 

[Baked]

I think you should look out for deals in the Hot Deals forum for the Dell UltraSharp 20" LCD. Can be bought for as cheap as $415 shipped.

 

[prop329]

Do i need a 20 inch, or would a 19 inch be good enough?
Would it be fuzzy since its so big, or would it be just as good as a 19 inch just a little bigger. Cuz im thinking maybe i'll just get a 19 inch, then buy another one in the future and just run em both. Who knows.

TTT

Any more comments are appreciated. I still need some more help about parts.

THX again!

 

[Excelsior]

need isnt the question really....but rather would you prefer a 20" over the 19". Higher res and of course slightly larger.

 

[akugami]

Dell 2005FPW. You can get them for about $450-500 shipped when it's on sale. There's usually a sale roughly every two weeks for these. Very nice widescreen 20" monitor. I have one of these and I like it very much.

Venice core Athlon64 3200+. You can very very easily overclock this to the same speed as a 3500+ and it's a lot cheaper. You want the retail version. OEM CPU's usually have 30 day warranty I believe while the retail versions have 3 years. $200

Get your choice of nForce4 motherboard. $100-180

Get a 1GB dual channel valueram kit. The price performance ratio between valueram and performance ram is way out of wack. Especially considering A64's perform very well and the higher clocked memory doesn't help as much as on say an Athlon XP system or P4's. $100

Antec Sonata computer case. Excellent case, has a PSU included. $100-120

Seagate 7200.8 200GB HD. It's not as fast as the 74GB Raptors but it's a little cheaper while providing a lot more HD space. Not to mention the fact that it's not heads and tails slower than the Raptor. Seagate HD's also come with 5 year warranties as opposed to most HD's which only come with 3 year warranties. I don't think you can go wrong with this HD. $140-150

NEC 3520A DVD burner. Get one, get two, who cares. They're only about $50 each.

Logitech MX Duo or Logitech MX 3100. The MX3100 combo is nice. It's a wireless Logitech keyboard and the MX1000 mouse. $80-150

Logitech ze5500's are good choices. The only thing is will you have the room for them? $250-300


These are not exact prices and rough estimates. This will come out to about $1800. Just within your budget.

 

[prop329]

Thank you for the replies again. Exactly the type of info i'm looking for. I'll look into these products after work today.

Thx again, and keep em coming.

 

[prop329]

TTT

 

[GuitarDaddy]

I would build something like this

Retail San Diego 3700+ $334

Asus A8N-E nforce4 $125

Sapphire X800XL $319

PQI turbor 1gb(2x512) PC3200 2.5-3-3-7 $80 after $15 MIR

WD 250gb SATA 7200rpm $124

Athena Power 500w EPS12 24pin power supply $57.50

NEC 3520A DVD Burner $49.99

Klipsch 2.1 Promedia $133.95

Turtle Beach Sound Card $49.99

Coolermaster Cavalier Case $56.50

ViewSonic 20.1" 16ms monitor $659.99

That totals $1990

If you wait a couple of weeks you can probabaly get a dual core CPU for $200 more

 

[Mark2582]

^Thats an AGP card with a mobo that supports PCI-E. The good news is that the PCI-E X800XL's are even less.

 

[prop329]

How about the Antec p-180 case? Is it gonna be any good?

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: Mark2582
^Thats an AGP card with a mobo that supports PCI-E. The good news is that the PCI-E X800XL's are even less.

Opps! You are correct!

 

[GuitarDaddy]

Originally posted by: prop329
How about the Antec p-180 case? Is it gonna be any good?

Very nice looking case, should be very quiet! Not sure I like the PS on the bottom?

 

[magomago]

The question is: when are you going to buy? If you are planning to buy come August...then most likely many things will change and prices drop~ Maybe it is in your interests to wait until fall before you go to college? Perhaps 1 month before...

On top of it WILL you overclock? Because earlier you said you wouldn't, which means you don't need to blast $$ on expensive ram, but then you started to talk about overclocking later in the post. I would think you could save a good 100 dollars by going with standard ram vs expensive ram for overclocking...