The craziest $1000 you ever did see

[RobertCane]

Hey there... I'm building a computer for my dad on a strict $1000 budget. I need everything except a floppy, NIC, and software, which he gets through work. It's also going to be a business expense, so for accounting purposes he wants it all to come from the same place (i was thinking newegg... let me know what you think). Anyway, here's what I have so far:

Athlon XP 1700+
ABIT NV7-133R
Crucial 512MB PC2100
Maxtor Quietdrive 80GB
Lite-on 32-12-40
Radeon 7500
Microsoft I-net keyboard
Logitech optical mousie
Evercase E4252WEF5
Soundblaster Audigy OEM
Syncmaster 955DF

...there. Am I leaving anything out? I know that getting it all from newegg means I miss out on the hot deals out there, but so it goes. Thanks in advance for your help and comments.

-- Rob

 

[DeviousTrap]

I think that you have a good start but i would change several of the things.

I would change the memory to CL 2
PNY 512MB 64x64 PC2100 DDR RAM INFINEON ORIGINAL chipset, 184-Pin, CL=2.0 - $130

I would switch to a quiter segate drive unless he needs the fastest speed.
Seagate Barracuda IV 80GB 7200RPM ST380021A - $106

Just my $0.02

 

[MasterHoss]

While not the craziest $1000 box, it's a nice one. Crucial CAS 2.5 PC2100 DDR SDRAM is perfectly fine. You'll be able to run it at CAS 2 without any problems on a 133MHz FSB. Fastest HD would be the WD "SE" series drives but the Maxtor you selected should be fine. If you can find it, go for a Radeon7000 since it is for accounting purposes, I assume no gaming will be done on this machine.

 

[RobertCane]

Just to update:

The computer is going to be at our house; my dad does a lot of work from home and he's looking for an upgrade. That means that there will be some gaming on it... does that change your guys' opinion?

Also, I realized that the Audigy is entirely unnecessary with the nforce chipset on the mobo. So scratch that. I like the barracuda suggestion... exactly how much "slower" is it than the WD SE? One other thing: The 1900+ is like $30 more than the 1700+. Is it worth it, especially considering I'm going to cut the Audigy?

Thanks again,

-- Rob

 

[ScottyB]

Get the SE drive, it is really fast. The 1900+ is a good option. I heared AMD just slashes prices last night as well.

 

[Mavrick007]

Yes, definitely don't get the Audigy if you're getting the Nforce mobo. I would suggest getting the 1900+ cpu cause it will be worth it in the long run. Does this mobo have video as well as sound (ie. 420 chipset?)? You may want to wait til the new mobo comes out Nforce 2, cause with that you get GF4 MX graphics which would be probably better than the radeon 7500 and it would save you some money overall as well.

 

[ScottyB]

Newegg has the 2000+ for $115.99 right now(limited quantity). It is just $2 more than the 1900+ so you might as well get that.

 

[majewski9]

you could probaly get a 1800+ or 1900+ for only a few dollars more. You might even consider getting the 2200+ since it runs cooler.

If you are getting a Radeon 7500 stay away from sapphiretech since they are god awful. I dont know how ATI keeps them as partners when they have such a bad rep. !

 

[Mavrick007]

Wow, I didn't realize that AMD did a price drop on their cpus. The 1900+ is under $100 and the 2200+ is around $153 now!

 

[TimeKeeper]

I dont understand why do you spend money on a RAID mobo, (you only getting one HD) while saving money on a video card? (ATI 8500LE, seems to be a better choice)

 

[RobertCane]

I sort of like the nforce chipset... the sound and network onboard save some money. Is there another nforce board you'd recommend?

-- Rob

 

[Tanked]

If your only going to use it for "some" gamng, then just use the integrated video - it's not as fast as a Radeon 7500, but it's not bad, either.

 

[ObiDon]

The computer is going to be at our house; my dad does a lot of work from home and he's looking for an upgrade. That means that there will be some gaming on it.

We're gonna tell the IRS that you're using a business computer to play video games!