• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Not waiting for DDR... Asus A7V decent substitute?

That looks like a damn nice system. I dont know if I would wait , because ddr is so new and there is going to be many bugs with it. I problebly would get a new system now. I dont know if you could have patience to wait either 😛
 
I was going to wait for DDR but instead of purchasing 128MB DDR RAM, I decided to get 256MB of PC-133 RAm to pair with my 1ghz Athlon "Thunderbird." You should be able to build a DDR sysytem soon, but it may be difficult to find all the parts if there is a high enough demand.
 
System looks good. Only thing I'd recommend reconsidering is the WinTV card. My friend had one and it was plagued with problems and incompatibilities.

I didn't wait for DDR. I'm not an early adopter and I usually like to wait and see which motherboards are stable. I also couldn't wait any longer...I'd been waiting since September. Make the family happy and buy it now 🙂
 
If your buying WinME upgrade I'm assuming you already have W98SE? If so keep W98SE, I'm using WinME since it's all I have right now, but I'd go back to W98SE if I could 🙂
 
Don't bother waiting on DDR...you don't want to jump on DDR as soon as boards are available anyways....
Look at all the problems that plagued the AMD750 chipset when it first showed up...I don't expected 760 to be so bad...but I waited 4 or 5 months before I built my athlon system and my AMD750 chipset has been rock solid....I run Win98SE and I don't remember when i last rebooted...been at least 3 weeks..that's pretty good for Win9X.

Besides DDR isn't that terribly much better and will cost alot more (all this BS about manufacturing cost being only 3-5% more is all well and good, but there is alot more than manufcaturing cost that determines the price to consumer). I'd stick to the system you have with the two changes that were mentioned.

I've got an ATi TV-Wonder and my friend's got a WinTV, and while I've never seen his WinTV after seeing my TV-Wonder he really wishes he didn't go for the WinTV. I'd go either TV-Wonder or VoodooTV200

Also WinME...what are you upgrading from? If you are going from Win98SE don't waste the money...if anything it's a downgrade to go from 98SE to ME...at best it's a lateral move...if you have Win95 then you probably want something newer but even then I'd go for 98SE over ME myself.

But for the most part that looks like a pretty rocking system go for it 🙂
 
I wouldn?t wait till DDR ? it will probably be about 6 months before enough supply is out there ? however, this is what I would purchase:

Antec SX1030 Case - http://www.techstore.com/ - Antec newest case ? AWESOME

Mushkin was selling their PC133 Cas2 Rev 1.5 222 for $89.00 since Thanksgiving free S/H ? get at least 256meg of PC133

Purchase your MOBO & CPU at http://www.monarchcomputer.com - see AMD Bundles ? you can get a A7V Rev 1.02, AMD 1000Mhz, & Taisol Heatsink with 3 Year Warranty for $433.00 + s/h

The Hitachi blows ? forget Hitachi ? purchase a SONY G400 19inch ? free s/h at http://www.onvia.com

You are better off with a ATI Radeon ALL-IN-WONDER 32meg DDR ? 247.95 @ egghead.com

I would purchase a EPSON 1240U Scanner 42bit from MWAVE for $165.00 ? I had bad luck with HP scanners ? never owned one ? I own a Epson 1200U ? Awesome!

My Systems Specs are as follows:

Antec SX1030
Asus A7V rev 1.02 w/1000Mhz AMD & Taisol
256meg of PC133 Cas 222 (Mushkin 89*2 = out the door price)
Matrox G450 32meg DDR
2 Sony 19-inch G400 Monitors
Plextor 12/10/32A w/Burnproof (228.95 @ buy.com)
Creative Sound Blaster MP3+ 5.1 w/DTT2200 Speaker System (193.90 @ buy.com)
Diamond SupraMax 56k PCI Modem ? a cheap GREAT Fax/Modem
IBM 75GXP 45gig Hard Drive
HP 970Cxi Printer
NEC 1260 Laser Printer
Pioneer 16X DVD Player ? Tray
3Com Ethernet Card, etc etc etc

If you need any help shopping let me know ? I just built my system a few months ago ? I am building a second currently going with a PIII800Mhz & ASUS CUSL2-C Mobo ? Great Motherboard ? this one has the ATI 32meg DDR

Any questions, send email to wiesiu@yahoo.com

Hope this HELPS!!!!!
 
Thanks wiesiur.

I do like the AIW Radeon 32MB since it has a built in TV tuner. The only problem is that it is clocked slower than the Radeon 64MB. At around the same price, I would rather have faster than more features. I've chosen the Radeon over the GeForce however for its 2D quality and DVD processing ability. I hope to take the 6 analog channels of Dolby Digital sound output and feed them into my Aiwa "dolby digital ready" sound system and enjoy some DVD movies.

I've read several reviews of the Hitachi CM771 monitor and my understanding was that it is a quality flat face monitor. Does anyone know where I can find some good reviews of 19" monitors in the $400 (hopefully less) price range?

On the issue of the case, I don't want a huge case just one large enough and visually pleasing.

I will probably go with a 900MHz T-Bird simply because its $100 less and 100MHz probably isn't worth it. The WinME upgrade will also get cut along with (probably) the TV tuner. I'll wait for the next round of price drops, take your suggestions of where to shop, and hopefully this entire thing can be done for under $3000 (I know the actual computer is only about $2200 but the network hub, printer, scanner, accessories, software, etc. add up!)

I remember purchasing a Pentium 120 with 16 MB or RAM, STB 2MB graphics card, quality 15" monitor, Wavetable sound card, 28.8 modem, 1.6GB hard drive, and
speakers for $3000 in 1995... sigh.
 
On the issue of where to buy... I selected Computers4Sure and Mwave because of their selection (I can get everything on my list between these two companies), prices, and by purchasing a lot from one company my shipping costs are under $100.

How much are we talking for shipping if I get that combo from Monarch wiesiur?
 
I highly recommend the KDS avitron as the 19" monitor of choice.. people here either love them or hate them but am impressed by it. Great price and the screen is so nice... I hate going home to the 19" optiquest at home. The trinitron tube is very pretty for my standards but again I am not a CAD specialist that looks at $2,000 21" screens all day. Best thing is to try to hit a Best Buy or the likes and check em out.. but then probably dont buy from them unless the price is right. I think BB has KDS monitors and that way you could return it if you have any problems... people say they are cheapo monitors but I think it is awesome.. plus they do have a 3year warranty.
 
I think I will also step up to the Hitachi CM772 over the CM711. The CM772 is only slightly more and offers higher refresh rates.
 
I don't know if you are planning on gaming or not, but if you are go for 256 MB Ram. Unrealtournament likes to have more than 128MB. Even if you don't game much the extra memory won't cost much, and is the only thing I can see lacking much in your system. Otherwise it looks good.
 
that is quite the system... and since you are banging out the bucks, why not bump it up to 256 MB ram? um sure you would see a difference with that athlone...
 
DDR doesn't appear to be a quantum leap ahead, so there's no big imperative to wait. Personally I am more intrigued with TBirds in SMP, but that may be 3-6 months away. 128 MB RAM is kind of poor-boying an otherwise high-end system, go for 256 MB while it's cheap. If you buy good stuff you'll always be able to unload it in 6 months or so to somebdy if you eventually go DDR.

Figure out how much hard drive space you will forseeably need and then double it. Amazing how fast you can fill up what seems like a big drive with kids loading all kinds of crap, MP3's, etc. For another $30 you can pick up an IBM 45 gig.

I've had a fair amount of trouble setting up Linksys NIC's (under W2K) compared to Netgears, SMC and Dlink, so I would avoid that brand just because of my personal experiences. They seem to work fine, just have a hard time forcing the card to be recognized.
 
Wow, this system looks a lot like the one I'm building for Christmas! 😀 Check out the specs for the system I'm building here: DC-1.

I too was going to wait for DDR (like it sez on my site) but chose to drop it in favor of the cheap cheap ram these past couple of weeks.

I have two CM771's and highly recommend them.

As with some of the other suggestions, I agree with upping the ram.

The SX1030 case is the same size as the SX830 case. It costs a little more and has a hinged door and more bay's. Since you are going with the Platinum 5.1, I'd recommend getting the SX1030. Protect the Live!Drive IR when you transport the case with the hinged door.

I have the Hauppauge WinTV Theatre, and have no problems with it... some minor issues in Win2k, but it'll work well under WinME. Hauppauge has great driver support for their products.

The Pioneer DVD is a good choice, but you might do better with tray loading. The 12x Toshiba I chose is tray loaded... probably won't notice the speed difference.

In terms of the scanner, Epson owns that area. You might want to consider an Epson scanner such as the 1240u recommended by wiesiur.

Besides the above, I don't really have an opinion on the other components. I suggest dropping DDR though, since it hasn't been released yet and already AMD is having trouble with the chipset.

Don't limit yourself to the two merchants, especially with the heavier items, you'll get killed in shipping. Try to find ones that offer free shipping. I bought my SX1030b case from Onvia, free shipping. Not sure if they are still offering free shipping though. Just keep on the lookout for free shipping offers.
 
Beast1284--I'm sure it was just my stupidity, but did W2k autodetect yours? I've got a LNE100TX that was not autodetected, spent an hour trying to get it to accept drivers from a disk made from a download of the new drivers from Linksys. Very frustrating, but as I said, it works fine now.
 
I think the SX830 case will be fine. The 900MHz Thunderbird should work well and you've sold me on 256MB PC 133 CAS 2 SDRAM. I still can't imagine using 30GB and I am not sure that a 45GB drive would be worth it though...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top