New System

[FreshFish]

Ok, so I have decided on attempting to sell the 'ol Sony Vaio RX560 and try to build my own system. I am going out tommorow to a local store (Infotech> www.infotechnow.com) to pick up some of the components. I am not completely sure yet what I want to buy other than a RADEON 9800 Pro 128MB for sure. Infotech's are kinda pricey ~235 so I might order OEM from newegg on that. The rest is sort of up in the air...I know I want to make the switch to AMD though.
So I was wondering, if anyone has some free time on their hands, they could check out www.infotechnow.com and let me know what you think my $ will best be spent on. I have about 900-ish to spend on all components, not including the monitor. Also, the system is being built specifically to be able to run newer games (Doom 3, HL 2, etc.) but will also serve many other functions. My thoughts so far from what Infotech carries are as follows:

Generic 5-5X Case-2000 mid-ATX Black (300W) ($43)
AMD XP 2800+ Barton (OEM) ($106)
Sony 1.44MB Floppy Drive (OEM) ($9)
Maxtor 80GB IDE 7200rpm (OEM) ($65)
LiteOn 8x DVDRW LDW-851S, Black (OEM) ($86)
PC-3200 512M DDR (Samsung / Infinion / Micron) ($100)
ASUS A7N8X-E Deluxe Athlon/XP, DDR400, 8X AGP ($103)
Microsoft Windows Home XP (OEM) ($89)
(then the video card from newegg)
total: ~$805

Any suggestions would be fantastic!! Any components I am missing?? I only want to order online if there is a GOOD reason to (like if infotech only has overpriced or crappy merch).So thankyou and remember: gaming, ~$900. Thanks a lot!

 

[Gurck]

Why not get it all from Newegg? Unless you're not in the US or Canada, but you mentioned that as an option so I'm assuming you are..?

Edit: Whao, don't skimp on the case / PSU!! Just took a look at your list and it looks ok aside from the case, which jumped out at me. Brand name (and thus quality) is more important for a psu than listed wattage generally, and 300w is fairly low even for a quality one to push that kind of system. Case quality is an issue as well, the cheaper ones tend to have lots of sharp edges just waiting to slice you as you build / maintain the pc, many don't fit together well and are flimsy as well. There are various good names for cases, my preference is Antec.

 

[Corporate Thug]

are you planning on overclocking?

 

[akshayt]

For your purpose the minimum you should get is :

AMD 2800 65/2.8c/EE
512*2 DDR 333/400
128(256mb recommended)mb radeon 9800pro

 

[StrangerGuy]

Originally posted by: akshayt
For your purpose the minimum you should get is :

AMD 2800 65/2.8c/EE
512*2 DDR 333/400
128(256mb recommended)mb radeon 9800pro

I'm trying not be too offensive but recommending a P4 EE and a 256MB 9800 Pro shows you know nuts about PCs.

 

[Gurck]

Yeah, I'd stay away from the p4e (Prescott) as well, they run hot enough to cook your meals on and don't offer much if any performance benefit over p4c's (Northwoods). 256mb on a 9800 will help very little, and only then at very high resolutions with aa/af turned on, but will cost more, so 128mb is probably a better choice there as well.

 

[FreshFish]

How about:

Lian Li PC-7H Aluminum Case ($85)
COOLMAX 350W CX-350, SILVER, Taurus CX Series Silent Power Supply; 1 x 120mm fan, 3 Speed Fan Control Switch ( Auto, Low, Medium). ($37 from newegg)

New Total: ~970

that's a lot of dough. Maybe I will just try to get the case at newegg too, though the idea of shipping damage worries me. I want to get as little shipped as possible simply for convienence.

 

[Dman877]

If you wanna oc a little, a 2600+ mobile will cost less then the 2800+ and should oc to 2.4 without breaking a sweat.

 

[Gurck]

Sounds good If you'd rather spend less on the case though, you can get a decent Antec or maybe Enlight with included psu for somewhere in the $50-$70 range, unless you want to overclock, in which case you'll need something beefier than the 300-350w psu's that come with some cases. I've only ordered a case once from Newegg, but it came as quickly as anything else I've ordered from them and, as always, in pristine condition. Newegg pretty much FedEx's *everything* 2-3 day, it's very convenient - if you're in the continental US.

 

[mechBgon]

Originally posted by: FreshFish
How about:

Lian Li PC-7H Aluminum Case ($85)
COOLMAX 350W CX-350, SILVER, Taurus CX Series Silent Power Supply; 1 x 120mm fan, 3 Speed Fan Control Switch ( Auto, Low, Medium). ($37 from newegg)

New Total: ~970

that's a lot of dough. Maybe I will just try to get the case at newegg too, though the idea of shipping damage worries me. I want to get as little shipped as possible simply for convienence.

Antec, Enermax or Fortron would be good PSU brands to start with. If you don't mind having a door over your drives, the Antec Plus1080AMG or the Antec Sonata could be worth a look, they'd look nice with black drives and they have a 430W and 380W TruePower PSU respectively. The Sonata is purpose-built for quietness and I think it's around $100 with the PSU included.


edit: Sonata, $115 shipped

 

[imgodlike1]

i have a 9800pro for sale, if you are interested in it, shoot me a pm. it is less than 3 weeks old, i decided on a 9800xt