The new comp I plan on buildling, what do you think?

[DockDuck]

This is what I have compiled so far for the machine I want to buy that gives me some power and leaves me able to play new games for a year or so. Most of these prices are from newegg.com since I have had good luck with them in the past. Please let me know if you see that I am missing anything to make a completely barebones machine. Thanks.

Processor: AMD Athlon XP 2800+ Barton (Retail Box w/Fan) | $166 + shipping (free)
Motherboard (nforce2): Shuttle AN35N-Ultra ATX MB - Retail w/ Audio, 10/100 LAN, USB 2.0 | $75 + shipping (free).
Ram (512 3200 DDR): CORSAIR 512MB PC3200 VALUE SELECT. VS512MB400 DDR RAM - OEM | $85 + shipping (free).
Vid Card: POWERCOLOR ATI RADEON 9700 128MB GOLD DDR CRT+DVI+TV 8X AGP RETAIL | $220 + shipping (free)
Hard Drive: Seagate 40GB 7200rpm EIDE Hard Drive OEM Barracuda 7200.7 ST340014A | $63 + shipping (free)
Case + PSU: FOXCONN SUPER CASE MID TOWER CASE *BLACK* w/ Front Door & 400W AMD | $75 including shipping.
DVD/CD-ROM: Aopen (BLACK) 16X DVD-ROM Drive MODEL DVD-1648/BKH - RETAIL | $34 + shipping (free)
Floppy:SONY 1.44MB 3.5 INCH INTERNAL FDD DRIVE - OEM-BLACK | $20 including shipping.
Sound Card: onboard
NIC: onboard
HSU: comes with Processor.
Fans: (Not sure yet)

Total w/out any extra fans = $738. Not bad considering my budget was $900. Any suggestions with the extra $163?

 

[tapir]

Maybe treat yourself to a better case/PSU. Perhaps add a better HSF and some case fans and you could overclock. Otherwise, you can always add more RAM or upgrade your video card.

 

[bradruth]

Go with the Barton 2500+ and overclock it. Maybe spend the money you save on a bigger hard drive with an 8mb cache.

 

[T3C]

I would got with a bigger HD

 

[filmmaker]

Originally posted by: bradruth
Go with the Barton 2500+ and overclock it. Maybe spend the money you save on a bigger hard drive with an 8mb cache.

 

[DockDuck]

Okie, good suggestions. About the case, I dont need anything really that pretty or light. I dont LAN often and as long as its functional I should be fine as far as that goes. I was thinking maybe more RAM or maybe an upgrade to the 9700 Pro, or possibly 9800. BTW, im not an OC'er =P im just a nerd.

 

[Regs]

Originally posted by: bradruth
Go with the Barton 2500+ and overclock it. Maybe spend the money you save on a bigger hard drive with an 8mb cache.

Spend money on trying to keep the barton cool is more like it.

 

[Ganondorf27]

I'd go with/went with the 9800 series. It has things the 9700 Pro doesn't have... while it's true, these are mostly just small improvements(like SmartShader 2.1 in the 9800 and SmartShader 2.0 in the 9700) they ARE improvements, and the price jump from the 9700 Pro to the 9800 non-Pro is, what, 50 dollars? I would say it's worth it.

 

[bradruth]

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: bradruth
Go with the Barton 2500+ and overclock it. Maybe spend the money you save on a bigger hard drive with an 8mb cache.

Spend money on trying to keep the barton cool is more like it.

My experience with the barton is that it really doesn't run very hot even with a modest overclock. The stock fan will do just fine up to 2ghz without adding too much heat. It's when you start really pumping it up that you run into heat.